English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

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Marcus Aurelius
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Marcus Aurelius »

colin54 wrote: 20 Sep 2021, 6:35pm
Mike Sales wrote: 20 Sep 2021, 5:45pm I prefer strong, sweet, milky tea to any fancy variety, including so called English Breakfast tea. I would even prefer the brew I descibe above.
My tastes are transport caff plebeian.
What should I call my preferred cuppa?
I drink tea the same way, if asked how I like it , I might say; British Standard, milk and two sugars, or two sugars, plenty of milk and leave the bag in please. I do like drinks super hot, I might put it in the microwave for 20 or 30 seconds after adding the milk if I'm making it myself.
You should of course call yours what you like Mike , I call mine a cuppa tea.
Would you call a mug of tea made by yourself builder's tea ?
Now then, this is a whole new level. Originally, milk was added to tea ( milk in the cup first ) in order to protect the fragile China cups From heat shock. Personally speaking, I believe milk in tea is sacrilegious, YMMV.
Bmblbzzz
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Mick F wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 7:12pm :lol: :lol:
Wonderful!

We tried changing languages on ours. Tried French, and it was an irritating bloke doing the voice.
We could understand him ok, but we didn't leave it like that for long.
Have a nice soft-sounding English lady voice now, and one that doesn't say too much! :lol:
ISTR that in the early days of satnavs, manufacturers surveyed markets to find whether they preferred a male or female voice. The answer varied from place to place by Britain mostly preferred a female one.
Jdsk
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Jdsk »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 8:47pm
Mick F wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 7:12pm We tried changing languages on ours. Tried French, and it was an irritating bloke doing the voice.
We could understand him ok, but we didn't leave it like that for long.
Have a nice soft-sounding English lady voice now, and one that doesn't say too much!
ISTR that in the early days of satnavs, manufacturers surveyed markets to find whether they preferred a male or female voice. The answer varied from place to place by Britain mostly preferred a female one.
Local speech pattern is a major factor in deciding where to put call centres.

Jonathan
colin54
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by colin54 »

Marcus Aurelius wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 7:18pm Personally speaking, I believe milk in tea is sacrilegious, YMMV.
Bianchi rider drinks tea shock !
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AlanD
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by AlanD »

It annoys me when I hear the word “stunning” used in an advertising context. For example “Stunning views”.
Stunning is what happens if you touch a live wire. Stunning is what happens to livestock before slaughter.
I also hate the overuse of “passionate” in the context of promoting an interest.
Oldjohnw
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Oldjohnw »

According to the OED stunning means extremely beautiful or attractive.
John
colin54
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by colin54 »

Oldjohnw wrote: 23 Sep 2021, 7:09am According to the OED stunning means extremely beautiful or attractive.
According to my Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, it is a slang term when used in that manner John.
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Jdsk
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Jdsk »

Paradise Lost 1667:

A universal hubbub wilde
Of stunning sounds and voices all confus'd.


That's a long time before anyone touched a live electrical wire. The metaphorical use appeared soon after stun is first recorded in English.

Jonathan
Last edited by Jdsk on 23 Sep 2021, 7:57am, edited 1 time in total.
Oldjohnw
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Oldjohnw »

colin54 wrote: 23 Sep 2021, 7:48am
Oldjohnw wrote: 23 Sep 2021, 7:09am According to the OED stunning means extremely beautiful or attractive.
According to my Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, it is a slang term when used in that manner John.
Fair enough. So more than one view, then.
John
colin54
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by colin54 »

It depends who writes the dictionaries I suppose John, have a good 'un (Slang!).
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Jdsk
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Jdsk »

Doesn't Chambers describe that usage as colloquial rather than slang?

Jonathan
Oldjohnw
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Oldjohnw »

First used as OED describe in 1667.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stunning
John
Bmblbzzz
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Jdsk wrote: 23 Sep 2021, 7:52am Paradise Lost 1667:

A universal hubbub wilde
Of stunning sounds and voices all confus'd.


That's a long time before anyone touched a live electrical wire. The metaphorical use appeared soon after stun is first recorded in English.

Jonathan
But in that example, stunning means confusing, bewildering. The way you might feel if you'd been stunned by a blow to the head; electricity can stun in both senses (neon art for example) but is not intrinsically associated with stunning in either meaning.
colin54
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by colin54 »

Jdsk wrote: 23 Sep 2021, 8:02am Doesn't Chambers describe that usage as colloquial rather than slang?

Jonathan
From my kitchen-Chambers.
P1150145.JPG
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661-Pete
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by 661-Pete »

AlanD wrote: 23 Sep 2021, 2:19am I also hate the overuse of “passionate” in the context of promoting an interest.
In French, passionné can simply mean 'keen' - as in "il est passionné de cyclisme". I don't see anything wrong with adopting that meaning into English - although I'm well aware that many people object to the importing of 'Frenchisms' into our beautiful language. Wasn't there some bloke ( :lol: ) recently who uttered the words "Donnez-moi un break"? Disgraceful! :roll:

Incidentally, the chief meanings of 'break' in French are 1. Estate car, or 2. Break of service (in tennis). So was BoJo asking Macron to give him a car, or challenging him to a tennis match? :wink:
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
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