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

[661-Pete]

Have we mentioned the odious "CYCLISTS DISMOUNT" yet on this thread?

Of course they dismount. I do so at the end of every ride. Don't need to be reminded of the fact though.

[661-Pete]

Another thought on road signs. Before Britain adopted the European-style road signs in the 1960s, the NO ENTRY sign was just as it is now, but with the words NO ENTRY written across the white bar.

The USA version is similar, but has the words DO NOT ENTER instead. I don't know about other countries outside Europe.

Any thoughts on which is more pedantically correct?

[Bmblbzzz]

Love it!
Should have been, "No Pedestrian Access"

No dull, commonplace access? You can do better than that; you have under-pedanted yourself!

[Mick F]

How about:
No Access

[landsurfer]

He Medaled, they Summited ..... AGGHHHHHHH !!

[Vorpal]

Another thought on road signs. Before Britain adopted the European-style road signs in the 1960s, the NO ENTRY sign was just as it is now, but with the words NO ENTRY written across the white bar.

The USA version is similar, but has the words DO NOT ENTER instead. I don't know about other countries outside Europe.

Any thoughts on which is more pedantically correct?

I think they are both correct and rather typical of communication differences between the two countries.

[ChrisOntLancs]

has the "i before e" fallacy been mentioned in this thread? if not, i'd like to changed the well known aide to 'i before e except after c, and a bunch of other instances, and in the town i grew up in, which is often now misspelled, to be honest kid it's better to just forget this gem'

[Mick F]

Apostrophes .......... or lack of.

Saw a poster for the movie Patriots Day recently.

I have no idea about the film, so I have no idea if it's a statement in that the word "day" is a verb.
I have also have no idea if there's an apostrophe missing, and if there is one patriot or more than one patriot.

[ChrisOntLancs]

*carefully checks last post for rogue apostrophes... or scarce ones.

[Vorpal]

has the "i before e" fallacy been mentioned in this thread? if not, i'd like to changed the well known aide to 'i before e except after c, and a bunch of other instances, and in the town i grew up in, which is often now misspelled, to be honest kid it's better to just forget this gem'

I learned... "I before e, except after c, or in words that are weird as in neighbor and weigh.*

[ChrisOntLancs]

piece... fierce.... yup and i'm pretty sure that's it.

pierce!

[Mick F]

believe
sieve
grieve
brief
grief
grieve
chief
thief
thieves
pie
tie
lie
cried
tried

There's loads!

[661-Pete]

has the "i before e" fallacy been mentioned in this thread? if not, i'd like to changed the well known aide to 'i before e except after c, and a bunch of other instances, and in the town i grew up in, which is often now misspelled, to be honest kid it's better to just forget this gem'

Riegate??????

[661-Pete]

Talking of anomalous names with "ei" in them - "Leigh" is a very common English placename. The potential trap is knowing how to pronounce each of them correctly.

As well as the Leigh in Greater Manchester, there's:
Leigh, Surrey (near the town I didn't quite mention, above).
Leigh, Kent (near Tonbridge - and for a bonus mark, explain why it's "Tonbridge" but "Tunbridge Wells").
Leigh Green - also in Kent.
Leigh, Dorset.
Leigh, Wilts.
and plenty others.
Full marks if you got each one's pronunciation right. No cheating!

Incidentally, "Leigh" was also the surname of one of my chemistry masters at school. I'm not going to ask you to guess how he pronounced it. Or how we spelt it...

[Bmblbzzz]

Lye? Was his manner caustic?