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

[Cyril Haearn]

Caesar sic in omnibus, Brutus ate a rat

[Bmblbzzz]

Omnibus survived at least into the 80s on signs and as part of company names. This used to slightly confuse me as where I grew up, the bus services were run by "Bristol Omnibus", which I think might have been part of the National Express group, although we lived some 30 miles from Bristol - that part I could accept, but the confusing thing was that the bus itself had "Bristol" written on it. As in:
Bristol bus logo by Antony Theobald, on Flickr

(not my photo)

[Bmblbzzz]

But what I intended to say before I distracted myself with old logos is that the word omnibus survives in certain contexts: specific names, phrases such the man on the Clapham omnibus, and of course omnibus edition, but is certainly not in use as daily word for a mode of transport.

[Audax67]

:lol:

The noun BUS is pluralised by me as wot I thort it shud bee.
Bus pluralised is buses as per the dictionaries, but "buses" would be pronounced bue-sez

Plural of bus should be buzz-ezz as in busses.

In the 1970's southern US, busing was the practice of transporting kids of one race to schools in areas dominated by another, in hopes of desegregation. I could never read it without pronouncing it mentally as abusing without the A.

[Vorpal]

:lol:

The noun BUS is pluralised by me as wot I thort it shud bee.
Bus pluralised is buses as per the dictionaries, but "buses" would be pronounced bue-sez

Plural of bus should be buzz-ezz as in busses.

In the 1970's southern US, busing was the practice of transporting kids of one race to schools in areas dominated by another, in hopes of desegregation. I could never read it without pronouncing it mentally as abusing without the A.

They still do it. Not just in the south, but any place where segregation remains an issue. And it still has most of the issues it had in the 70s. Black kids are bused to schools in white neighborhoods; seldom the other way around.

The system where I went to school had a different (and IMO, much more successful approach). Specialist schools were put in a neighborhood where the majority of residents were black and ethnic minority. The specialist school offered advanced studies, creative and performing arts, and vocational education at a level similar to that of a private school. There were established criteria for attending; testing for the academic & vocational tracks, auditions for the creative and performing arts. It achieved integration and gave a vulnerable population an opportunity for a high level of educational attainment. I didn't realise how rare it was until I went to university and had the chance to tlak to other people about their educational background.

[Mike Sales]

Caesar sic in omnibus, Brutus ate a rat

Brutus adsum iam forte, Caesar aderat, Caesar sic in omnibus, Brutus sic inat.

[Mike Sales]

"Yay"

[Cyril Haearn]

I am quite relaxed about grammar, I do not get excited about apostrophes and the like

Can still be a bit confusing with buses marked 'Corporation of Bristol', a stranger might think the omnibus would take them to Bristol

Locomotive names were fun too, the destination board on the front might display the destination but steam engines had some queer names, Bryngwyn Hall for example
Unfortunately 'Clun Castle' has not been to Clun. Yet

[Mick F]

I am quite relaxed about grammar, I do not get excited about apostrophes and the like.

Sent to me by one of our daughters. She's an English teacher at a senior school.
https://www.weareteachers.com/grammar-p ... e=facebook

[thirdcrank]

"At this time" seems to be displacing "now" or to reinforce an easily understood present tense which would be ok on its own.

[Ray]

"At this time" seems to be displacing "now" or to reinforce an easily understood present tense which would be ok on its own.

Yes, and whereas we once simply said "every day" or "daily", we now hear "on a daily basis".

And don't start me on tautologies!

[Goosey]

"Reaching out to" when they mean contact

[Audax67]

"Reaching out to" when they mean contact

Especially when thrust into the mouth of an actor playing a role set in the 18th century.

[reohn2]

What I find annoying is someone saing "drawring" when it's "drawing".
We had it all through the TV and radio news last night when they were reporting on the Leonardo da Vinchi exibitions up and down the country.

[Audax67]

What I find annoying is someone saing "drawring" when it's "drawing".
We had it all through the TV and radio news last night when they were reporting on the Leonardo da Vinchi exibitions up and down the country.

There are lots of explanations for this on line but they're all full of big words such as epenthetic* - and most of them explain pronunciation in terms of their own dialect, which is usually not mine.

* don't worry, I looked it up.