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

Separate forum to permit easy exclusion when searching for serious information !
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6258
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

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

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Drug as the past tense of drag seems to be more or less in line with other verbs that use a vowel shift to indicate tense: ring, rang, rung; fall, fell; and of course colloquially, bring, brung...
Jdsk
Posts: 24627
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

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

Post by Jdsk »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 10 Jan 2022, 1:18pm Drug as the past tense of drag seems to be more or less in line with other verbs that use a vowel shift to indicate tense: ring, rang, rung; fall, fell; and of course colloquially, bring, brung...
It is. And AIUI one of the theories for the current dialectal US English usage is that it became/was thought to be a strong verb although it hadn't started out that way in British English.

Jonathan
Manc33
Posts: 2218
Joined: 25 Apr 2015, 9:37pm

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

Post by Manc33 »

Mentioning "real estate" when not talking about real estate (property consisting of land or buildings).

For example: "If you are someone who has a 4-inch iPhone and is considering to upgrade to an iPhone X, then one of the things you will be gaining is more screen real estate".

This is used all over the place, here's a bicycle related one (typically about how much room one has on their handlebars):

"I’ve been running the Wolf Tooth Fat Paw grips, which measure 5.3” long, but will switch to the longer ESI grips after I wear these out to give my hands some more real estate to work with."

You must have big hands! :lol:
We'll always be together, together on electric bikes.
User avatar
661-Pete
Posts: 10593
Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

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

Post by 661-Pete »

Manc33 wrote: 11 Jan 2022, 9:05am Mentioning "real estate" when not talking about real estate (property consisting of land or buildings).
I think that's an Americanism. In USA, an estate agent is a 'realtor'.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
User avatar
661-Pete
Posts: 10593
Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

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

Post by 661-Pete »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 10 Jan 2022, 1:18pm Drug as the past tense of drag seems to be more or less in line with other verbs that use a vowel shift to indicate tense: ring, rang, rung; fall, fell; and of course colloquially, bring, brung...
Who would have thunk it?! :lol:
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Jdsk
Posts: 24627
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

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

Post by Jdsk »

Manc33 wrote: 11 Jan 2022, 9:05am Mentioning "real estate" when not talking about real estate (property consisting of land or buildings).

For example: "If you are someone who has a 4-inch iPhone and is considering to upgrade to an iPhone X, then one of the things you will be gaining is more screen real estate".
Thanks for that. I hadn't noticed it before, but there's plenty of it out there.

I imagine that real estate is being thought of as a single thing, and that probably is the most common usage of estate.

But screen estate is very useful. And different from screen size.

Jonathan

PS: There's a widespread myth about the etymology of real estate...
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6258
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

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

Post by Bmblbzzz »

661-Pete wrote: 11 Jan 2022, 9:41am
Bmblbzzz wrote: 10 Jan 2022, 1:18pm Drug as the past tense of drag seems to be more or less in line with other verbs that use a vowel shift to indicate tense: ring, rang, rung; fall, fell; and of course colloquially, bring, brung...
Who would have thunk it?! :lol:
:D
mattheus
Posts: 5043
Joined: 29 Dec 2008, 12:57pm
Location: Western Europe

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

Post by mattheus »

There's an IT-related term that's annoying me, probably cos I don't properly understand it!

"build out" - it was used to describe some sort of spreadsheet upload facility for part of a website calendar.

I think I've heard other integration-related usage.
Slowtwitch
Posts: 744
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 11:35pm

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

Post by Slowtwitch »

When I was at school in geography lessons the word 'drumlin' used to annoy me, for no good reason other than I thought it looked very strange written down.

Now it's a favourite! I wonder if words are like wine, our palate changes as we get older?
Jdsk
Posts: 24627
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

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

Post by Jdsk »

Slowtwitch wrote: 14 Jan 2022, 6:59am When I was at school in geography lessons the word 'drumlin' used to annoy me, for no good reason other than I thought it looked very strange written down.
Did any other words have the same effect, please?

There's a possible explanation...

Jonathan
Jdsk
Posts: 24627
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

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

Post by Jdsk »

Slowtwitch wrote: 14 Jan 2022, 6:59amI wonder if words are like wine, our palate changes as we get older?
What a lovely analogy. And diametrically opposed to the worst aspect of this thread: the view of some that all change is for the worse.

Jonathan
Slowtwitch
Posts: 744
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 11:35pm

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

Post by Slowtwitch »

'inexplicable' used to annoy me, because it was often used in the wrong context. Now I rather like it. Inexplicably 8)

Of course with age, comes wisdom. Oh, wait a minute, that can't be right...!
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6258
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

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

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Slowtwitch wrote: 14 Jan 2022, 6:59am When I was at school in geography lessons the word 'drumlin' used to annoy me, for no good reason other than I thought it looked very strange written down.

Now it's a favourite! I wonder if words are like wine, our palate changes as we get older?
Drumlin always makes me think of a bird. Some sort of wading bird, perhaps like a bittern. I really don't know why.
Mike Sales
Posts: 7882
Joined: 7 Mar 2009, 3:31pm

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

Post by Mike Sales »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 14 Jan 2022, 10:22am
Drumlin always makes me think of a bird. Some sort of wading bird, perhaps like a bittern. I really don't know why.
You are thinking of "dunlin", which is a wading bird.

I like the word drumlin, I am fascinated by how the land surface got the way it is.
drumlin.jpg
drumlin.jpg (11.51 KiB) Viewed 303 times
There is a drumlin field left by glaciation in County Down. There are many small characteristic hills and they extend into Strangford Lough and the Irish Sea where they become islands and reefs called pladdies.

https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/ks3/gsl/educ ... e4000.html
Strangford Lough.jpg
Strangford Lough.jpg (24.89 KiB) Viewed 298 times
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6258
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

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

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Mike Sales wrote: 14 Jan 2022, 10:31am
Bmblbzzz wrote: 14 Jan 2022, 10:22am
Drumlin always makes me think of a bird. Some sort of wading bird, perhaps like a bittern. I really don't know why.
You are thinking of "dunlin", which is a wading bird.
Thank you.
Post Reply