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

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

Post by Jdsk »

Mick F wrote: 15 Jan 2023, 3:48pm ............ let alone the demise of twice and now replaced with "two times".

The demise of thrice has happened in my lifetime, but what was "four times" called?
Fice or quice?
Wiktionary has fourice and frice. The OED has neither and I suspect that they are modern and possibly humorous extrapolations.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thrice

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

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Manc33 wrote: 15 Jan 2023, 4:39am Hat trick has been said in football for many decades. Brace - maybe 1 year. It's a fad, it will go away again.
We'll know in a couple of decades!
Ray
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Ray »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 15 Jan 2023, 8:25pm We'll know in a couple of decades!
Or even a brace of decades. About 20 years.
Ray
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DaveReading
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by DaveReading »

Sorry, but four times is just boasting ...
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Mick F
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Mick F »

Lionel Richie song.
One time, two times, three times a lady.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Audax67
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Audax67 »

Mick F wrote: 17 Jan 2023, 8:10pm Lionel Richie song.
One time, two times, three times a lady.
Lyricists can draw on a deep well of aberration known as artistic licence. Taking them seriously is the real mistake.
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thirdcrank
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by thirdcrank »

A man has been rescued from the River Severn in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The incident happened at English Bridge, Shrewsbury, at around 03:13 GMT.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said the man was rescued by it's water rescue technicians.

The service said they then left the casualty at around 03:40 GMT in the care of the ambulance and police, who have both been contacted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-s ... e-64931442
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Audax67
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Audax67 »

thirdcrank wrote: 12 Mar 2023, 12:14pm
A man has been rescued from the River Severn in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The incident happened at English Bridge, Shrewsbury, at around 03:13 GMT.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said the man was rescued by it's water rescue technicians.

The service said they then left the casualty at around 03:40 GMT in the care of the ambulance and police, who have both been contacted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-s ... e-64931442
The missing M is as dodgy as the apostrophe. If they'd phrased it as "both of whom have been contacted" they'd probably have got it right, but "who have both been contacted" probably felt funny, if it even crossed their minds.
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thirdcrank
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by thirdcrank »

Audax67 wrote: 13 Mar 2023, 7:44am
The missing M ...
I fear that's lost on me
Jdsk
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Jdsk »

thirdcrank wrote: 13 Mar 2023, 8:23am
Audax67 wrote: 13 Mar 2023, 7:44am The missing M ...
I fear that's lost on me
Who/ whom, and that awkward last phrase.

(It's quite common for people to consider whom when they're writing when they wouldn't when speaking.)

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

Post by thirdcrank »

Things are worse than I thought
colin54
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by colin54 »

Overuse of the phrase ''at this moment in time'' by football pundits.
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Audax67
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Audax67 »

colin54 wrote: 13 Mar 2023, 9:46am Overuse of the phrase ''at this moment in time'' by football pundits.
Anyone who listens to football pundits has only themselves to blame. ;)

"At this moment in time" has a long and ugly history, going back to the 1880's and really taking off in the '60's. Here's an Ngram. My dad always blamed the Americans but it looks as if it started in Britain, for once.
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Jdsk
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Jdsk »

Audax67 wrote: 13 Mar 2023, 10:25am ...
Here's an Ngram.
...
That's interesting. Thanks.

It's an unusual pattern of change... has anyone offered an explanation?

Jonathan

Screenshot 2023-03-13 at 10.29.42.png
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Audax67
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Post by Audax67 »

Not that I'm aware of. Maybe during the first peak people got so sick of it that saying it marked you as a numbskull (or football pundit) so that it fell out of use, only to be rediscovered by the next generation (X?). By then, English tuition had declined (according to a teacher friend of mine) so they never learnt that it was a horrible cliché. Must be fiddly to enter on a phone, though.
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