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

[Bmblbzzz]

Well dilated pupils can be a symptom of drug use but so can shrunken pupils. So, yes and no, no and yes.

[Cyril Haearn]

Well dilated pupils can be a symptom of drug use but so can shrunken pupils. So, yes and no, no and yes.

You mean *jein*, another German word that could be poached, combines *ja* & *nein*

[Bmblbzzz]

<waggles head in figure 8>

[thirdcrank]

Prevaricate and procrastinate. ...

It's funny how often when something is raised you begin to notice examples. I'm currently reading Rebel Prince by Tom Bowyer. (A fascinating insight into the life of Brian ) A lot of scope for legal action over the contents so you might expect some fine-tooth combing but this has been missed: (p 125)

After endless prevarication and frets that 'We mustn't frighten the horses,' Charles agreed that without Camilla at his side he would risk looking furtive.
(My emphasis.)

"Procrastination" must have been intended there. "Dithering" might have been better.

[broadway]

OED: Prevarication
b. In weakened use: stalling or playing for time by means of evasion or indecisiveness; procrastination, hesitation.

[thirdcrank]

OED: Prevarication
b. In weakened use: stalling or playing for time by means of evasion or indecisiveness; procrastination, hesitation.

Which seems to support Mike Sales' point:

... I appreciate that these days usage is king, but I cannot help regretting that useful words are losing their meaning.
How long does it take for a mistake to become accepted as correct?

There are plenty of words people fret over which have been "misused" for centuries as examples in the OED and elsewhere show. This one seems recent. I tried to illustrate that with reference to different editions of Fowler. IIRC, the OED notes the first recorded use of words like this. Does it have any info about this one?

[Mike Sales]

Here is another which irritated today. The new boss of the Sainsbury/Asda merger interviewed on the radio referred to his colleagues. After a moment I realised he was talking about the shelf stackers and till operators (though these are being automated into redundancy). I first heard this usage from Amazon, I think.
It annoys to hear these people on their huge salaries talking about their hassled and poorly paid employees as if they were all in it together, to use another piece of hypocritical cant.
If these serfs had the same rights as John Lewis employees, "colleague" would be justified.

[thirdcrank]

A bit of insight here into the role of the OED

Two East Anglian dialect phrases for insects are to be added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) this year.

"Billywitch", a Suffolk term for the cockchafer beetle, will be added in June and "bishy barnabee" - a ladybird in Norfolk and Suffolk - will be included later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-43950084

The inclusion of words is to give people meeting them a clue about usage; it's not some sort of hallmark of talking proper.

Re "colleague" I'm under the impression that the first person who began using it in the setting of UK supermarkets was Archie Norman who turned round ASDA in the 1990's. He found all sorts of wasteful perks, one of which was a chauffered limo for the head honcho. Instead of using it when he took that job, he arranged a system which meant some hardworking foot soldier was driven around in luxury for a month(?) In something I read he said that whenever he was rescuing a struggling company, he found that having a helicopter was a sign of a management with no control over profligacy and when he started at ASDA they had two. Whatever his intentions, "colleague" has now come to mean "somebody working here."

[Vorpal]

Whatever his intentions, "colleague" has now come to mean "somebody working here."

Maybe because it sounds a bit nicer than shelf stockers, till workers, and floor moppers.

[thirdcrank]

... Maybe because it sounds a bit nicer than shelf stockers, till workers, and floor moppers.

At a practical level, it can be nonsense eg in-store announcements saying things like "..for further infomation, please speak to a colleague..." Thinks: "What do my colleagues now about this? Wouldn't I be better asking somebody who works here?"

At another level, it's the thought that counts. A similar usage involves an expression like "... members of an ethnic minority." If people start referring to "ethnics" the original praiseworthy aim has not been achieved.

I think colleague is an excellent word. Used appropriately.

[Vorpal]

I mostly agree. 'staff' or some such would be preferable. I was just suggesting a reason that people working in the shops, and even doing the jobs might prefer 'colleague'.

[thirdcrank]

I mostly agree. 'staff' or some such would be preferable. I was just suggesting a reason that people working in the shops, and even doing the jobs might prefer 'colleague'.

In class-based UK, "staff" has a particular connotation, even though that's diminishing.

It's not so long ago that the TV panel show, What's My lLine? played by toffs in black tie and evening dress, had participants begin by explaining that they were, eg salaried, wage-earning, or received fees (no doubt expressed in guineas) whatever.

[Vorpal]

In class-based UK, "staff" has a particular connotation, even though that's diminishing.

'workers' and 'personnel' don't sound much better. I'd rather be a 'colleague', too.

[Mike Sales]

I read in today's paper that the boss of the merged Sainsburys/Asda has been caught on camera singing "We're in the money" and that a number of the "colleagues" are expected lose their jobs. They won't be singing, and I doubt they will get a golden handshake.
If I were a worker worrying about my job I would be insulted to be called a colleague.
Synonyms for colleague are listed as, fellow worker, workmate, teammate, co-worker, associate, partner, co-partner, collaborator, ally, comrade, companion, confederate;
These seem to imply a certain amount of equality.
It seems to me that the use of the word is intended to blur the vast inequality. It is a euphemism, like "pacify" as used by the Americans in Vietnam.
Other euphemisms,
Passed away instead of died.
Correctional facility instead of jail.
Departed instead of died.
Differently-abled instead of handicapped or disabled.
Fell off the back of a truck instead of stolen.
Ethnic cleansing instead of genocide.

[Cyril Haearn]

Probably the whole point of the food store takeover/merger is to reduce the head count and let a few thousand co-workers go

Is there anything super about 'super' markets?