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Post by Carolinian on Jan 28, 2016 23:35:02 GMT -4
I'm annoyed with writers who are sloppy with their turns of speech. I'm reading a promising mystery set in 1881, enjoying the world the author has built, when one character uses the term "skin in the game" and I came to a screeching halt. Really? That term is (inaccurately) ascribed to Warren Buffett, and soooo late 20th c.
In the fall I read a fun SF novel that was set in an generation spaceship-type environment... and late in the book the author slipped and used some herding terms. Uh, no, not when your meat is grown in vats.
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Post by laurenj on Mar 22, 2016 16:21:39 GMT -4
Sneak PEEK, not sneak peak. This is driving me bananas over at PreviouslyTV, where every promo is labeled wrong week after week (or should I say week after weak...)
Also, the Yahoo headline writers continue to write the most confounding story titles, which is perhaps working out for them because I always have to click just to figure out what the hell they're talking about:
Based on the way this is phrased, I actually thought for a moment that "Philip Panzica" was a very tiny country or territory, but nope, it's the name of a man who cheated on his fiancee on a ferris wheel and was later murdered.
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Post by famvir on Mar 22, 2016 18:00:01 GMT -4
After you all turned me onto reddit relationships (because of my whining that there are no updates in most advice columns), I am so over these letter writers that just can't get a handle on I /me, she/her, he/him et al. "Me and him when to the store, but my sister yelled at I because it took to long."
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Post by chonies on May 14, 2016 10:41:23 GMT -4
I'm revising a dissertation for a grad student, and he has used the word 'army' approximately a million times. This is not a problem. However, I've hit my limit for the word--it's become weird to say and read, and has lost all meaning. Is there a word for that phenomenon? Arrrmmyyyyyy.
ETA: I think there should be a law: 'myriad' can be used once per dissertation or year, which ever comes first.
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Post by ladyboy on May 19, 2016 12:22:18 GMT -4
There should be a word for that, Chonies. I get it too and it makes me feel crazy!
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chiquita
Blueblood
Posts: 1,616
Nov 7, 2006 19:00:53 GMT -4
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Post by chiquita on May 19, 2016 21:41:26 GMT -4
ETA: I think there should be a law: 'myriad' can be used once per dissertation or year, which ever comes first. What immediately came to mind was the line in Heathers when the teacher says she's impressed by the proper use of myriad in the suicide note.
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Post by mrspickles on May 19, 2016 22:06:58 GMT -4
ETA: I think there should be a law: 'myriad' can be used once per dissertation or year, which ever comes first. What immediately came to mind was the line in Heathers when the teacher says she's impressed by the proper use of myriad in the suicide note. "eskimo"
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Post by smitten on May 20, 2016 13:55:54 GMT -4
That always bothered me because, no she didn't.
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madangela
Blueblood
We made it! Welcome, President Biden!
Posts: 1,858
Mar 20, 2006 13:52:38 GMT -4
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Post by madangela on May 24, 2016 18:45:56 GMT -4
I'm annoyed with writers who are sloppy with their turns of speech. I'm reading a promising mystery set in 1881, enjoying the world the author has built, when one character uses the term "skin in the game" and I came to a screeching halt. Really? That term is (inaccurately) ascribed to Warren Buffett, and soooo late 20th c. In the fall I read a fun SF novel that was set in an generation spaceship-type environment... and late in the book the author slipped and used some herding terms. Uh, no, not when your meat is grown in vats. I am just getting into "The Other Typist," which is written in the first-person and meant to be taking place in 1924. I have been brought to a screeching halt by the use of "vetting," and of the protagonist referring to Jane Austen as "Ms. Austen." There were a couple of other questionable usages that I forget now. The protagonist is also a typist. She seems to be shaping up to be a little unstable, though I am not sure yet. She claims to type 160 words/minute on the kind of typewriter used in 1924. This seems impossible to me, but i don't know if the protagonist is lying, or if the author is simply sloppy. (Or maybe that speed is possible but I really doubt it.) Did people credit others with having "charisma" in 1924? I feel the need to research these usages that seem bogus to me. But I will probably pour a glass of wine instead, and keep reading. ETA: Yeah, I just did some googling. NFW anyone typed that fast on a 1924 Underwood or whatever. It would be pretty damn impressive even today.
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Post by chonies on May 24, 2016 19:37:53 GMT -4
I'm annoyed with writers who are sloppy with their turns of speech. I'm reading a promising mystery set in 1881, enjoying the world the author has built, when one character uses the term "skin in the game" and I came to a screeching halt. Really? That term is (inaccurately) ascribed to Warren Buffett, and soooo late 20th c. In the fall I read a fun SF novel that was set in an generation spaceship-type environment... and late in the book the author slipped and used some herding terms. Uh, no, not when your meat is grown in vats. I am just getting into "The Other Typist," which is written in the first-person and meant to be taking place in 1924. I have been brought to a screeching halt by the use of "vetting," and of the protagonist referring to Jane Austen as "Ms. Austen." There were a couple of other questionable usages that I forget now. The protagonist is also a typist. She seems to be shaping up to be a little unstable, though I am not sure yet. She claims to type 160 words/minute on the kind of typewriter used in 1924. This seems impossible to me, but i don't know if the protagonist is lying, or if the author is simply sloppy. (Or maybe that speed is possible but I really doubt it.) Did people credit others with having "charisma" in 1924? I feel the need to research these usages that seem bogus to me. But I will probably pour a glass of wine instead, and keep reading. ETA: Yeah, I just did some googling. NFW anyone typed that fast on a 1924 Underwood or whatever. It would be pretty damn impressive even today. I used the Google ngram search to see what they say, and while 'charisma' was in use in the 1920s, it seems like it was almost entirely located in academia, in religious studies or psychology dissertations. I added a few other terms for fun. Link. [click 'search lots of books'] And holy smokes, that would all drive me bonkers. ETA: I just consulted the Oxford English Dictionary and it appears that charisma wasn't used in its modern form until the mid 50s, and even then it was reserved for political or movement leaders, not just a sparky personality.
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