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

[Oldjohnw]

Announcements on trains: "If myself or one of the crew can assist you..."

[Ray]

If only the misuse of the reflexive 'myself' were confined to train announcements!

[horizon]

I post these little clippings just see what other people think. They are mostly from the Guardian as that's what I read but obviously one expects a high standard of English in the Guardian, indeed it's an expectation they have of themselves. I don't always get it right; in fact I'm looking for some reassurance as much as criticising the paper.

Here's my latest:

Shoreham airshow crash: Trial begins for pilot Andrew Hill

Note that there are two stylistic points raised by the heading.

It's from the following page:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... ndrew-hill

[Cours]

Fare, fair and fayre. And the many ways they are used of context with the wtong spelling!

[thirdcrank]

horizon

I give in. (All I can think of is that the event is called Shoreham Airshow so they can either stick with that or say Shoreham air show. Then, as the colon doesn't start a new sentence, it shouldn't be followed by a capital letter. I cannot imagine that this does your head in.)

[Cours]

horizon

I give in. (All I can think of is that the event is called Shoreham Airshow so they can either stick with that or say Shoreham air show. Then, as the colon doesn't start a new sentence, it shouldn't be followed by a capital letter. I cannot imagine that this does your head in.)

+1 punctuation is a lost art.

[661-Pete]

...but obviously one expects a high standard of English in the Guardian, indeed it's an expectation they have of themselves.

But is not the Guardian, the Grauniad, to most people?

I'm with TC - I'm baffled by your citation, unless it's all to do with capitalisation (which is a very venial offence, methinks).

On the other hand. In recent years I've made some attempts at setting crossword puzzles - with mixed success. I've certainly learnt that not capitalising a word in a clue, which ought to be capitalised, is tantamount to a hanging offence....

[horizon]

horizon

I give in. (All I can think of is that the event is called Shoreham Airshow so they can either stick with that or say Shoreham air show. Then, as the colon doesn't start a new sentence, it shouldn't be followed by a capital letter. I cannot imagine that this does your head in.)

My beef with the Guardian is that while it is attempting to turn itself into an Anglopshere publication, it is becoming unreadable in the process. I 'm getting the impression that it is slowly but deliberately adopting American style in order to appeal to that market. So yes, a capital letter following a colon is just that. There's nothing wrong with that in itself (theoretically you could use either) but it does IMV disrupt the reading as well as telling me that the Guardian is losing its sense of independent thought.
So that's my view and I accept it's a personal one.

But now let's take the second point (I liked your point about airshow but I let it go) - the use of "for" as in "the trial for". This is where I turn to fellow forumites for their views: I've never heard of this so what is going on here? What am I missing? (A life perhaps? Ed.)

[Bmblbzzz]

Perhaps it's not "trial for" but "begins for"? As in, "When I finish my task, the work begins for you."

[horizon]

Perhaps it's not "trial for" but "begins for"? As in, "When I finish my task, the work begins for you."

Thanks for that! I have a feeling you are being too kind to the Guardian but yes, it could be seen as that so I'll sleep better on that basis! Interesting.

[thirdcrank]

I understand your point about trial for, but its effect on me is revealed by my not realising it was one of the things which had led to your post. I can see that trial of might have been better. (Might of been better is a growing usage. )

Were I looking for a spreading American legal usage which grates it would be "appeal" as a transitive verb: appeal a conviction, rather than appeal against a conviction but it's not worth bothering about. Witnesses "taking the stand" is another American usage which is spreading and replacing "going into the witness box," which is itself a circumlocution for "giving evidence." It's not all from the US. There are lots of clichés which seem to be home grown. Courts no longer decide an issue or dismiss an appeal but rather "throw out" the losing case. People arrested by the police tend to be "thrown into a cell" and any custodial sentence is described as "behind bars."

I began reading the Guardian when it was still the Manchester Guardian but stopped buying it as my daily newspaper in the late 60's. Modern newspapers are no better than their spellcheckers etc. "The bonfire of the subs" as it's referred to in one well-known mag.

[Mick F]

Here's one that winds me up.

Busses with the destination displayed on a screen thingy at the front.
For instance, we have a bus going through the village saying Tavistock via Calstock.

Sounds ok?
Not when it's already been to Calstock it isn't!
I want to flag down the driver and tell him he's gone past Calstock!
The display, after arrival in Calstock, should be changed to just plain Tavistock, then the bus would go on its way.

I'm sure in my distant memories, bus drivers and conductors would wind the manual scroll along to show the correct wording.

[thirdcrank]

FWIW, the regulations used to require that the conductor should ensure that the destination display was correct. It appears to have been omitted from the current regs.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/cy/uksi/1990/1020/made

I suppose that the regulations in force when I paid any attention would have been the 1946 version.

I cannot speak for elsewhere, but before the modern LED jobbies, around here bus destinations were shown on a long black roller blind arrangement which was operated with winding handles. IIRC, there was only one "screen" for each direction and no means of removing intermediate places which had been passed.

[661-Pete]

One of our local bus routes (a bus which I never catch, I've got the bike to get around town...) is circular. Round and round. Should it show each destination several times over, to indicate that it's going to visit each place several times in the course of a day?

I have to admit, I don't recall what it says on the front of the bus. I know there's a number, but I don't know what else. Perhaps, next time I pass one, I will take a closer look...

[thirdcrank]

The buses that used to go round Leeds Ring Road in both directions used to have "9 Ring Road." They didn't even say clockwise or widdershins.