Language/ Grammar Help

[Scout]

Handyman

[evie]

Ejaculator.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I've determined that 95% of the native, English-speaking population doesn't know the difference between lay/lie.

It's time for an intervention.

[Phil]

You should lay yourself down in the road in front of the non-grammatical crowd and lie there until they get it.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I was thinking I'd take hostages and club to death one every hour until they all learn. Bad idea?

[Phil]

Depends. Do they think Rmoney would make a good president?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Oh jeez I don't know.

[Phil]

Club them anyway, just in case.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Good plan.

[Jim]

I just bought a bag of Lies potato chips.

[janine]

Lobstergirl wrote: "I've determined that 95% of the native, English-speaking population doesn't know the difference between lay/lie.

It's time for an intervention."

I don't know the difference. Which is why I try not to use these words.

[Cheri]

While fact checking an article for historical review, I took offense when the author said, "...the wall INFERS that..." and was told to stick to names and dates.

Even the smartest people are still stupid sometimes.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Jim wrote: "I just bought a bag of Lies potato chips."

Oh, is that a new brand?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

janine wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "I've determined that 95% of the native, English-speaking population doesn't know the difference between lay/lie.

It's time for an intervention."

I don't know the difference. W..."

The Dutch cognate of "to lay" is leggen (transitive).

The Dutch cognate of "to lie" is liggen (intransitive)

(Source: Wiktionary)

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Cheri wrote: "While fact checking an article for historical review, I took offense when the author said, "...the wall INFERS that..." "

That is offensive.

[Jammies]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Jim wrote: "I just bought a bag of Lies potato chips."

Oh, is that a new brand?"

It's the House (of Representatives) brand.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

It's making sense now.

[Carol]

let sleeping dogs lie

[Sally, la reina]

Lay down Sally, you don't have to go so soon.

[Félix]

I've been tryin' all night long just to talk to you.

[Cheri]

I was talking with a middle school kid-friend yesterday. He said the bully at school was a 'butt hole'.

I'm wondering if 'butt hole' is OK to say when 'ass hole' is not. Is 'pee-pee head' OK and 'dick head' not? Poo poo vs shit? If an obscene word is babyfied is it still obscene ?

[Félix]

Diminutively (that's not a word) obscene, I think.

[Cheri]

Félix wrote: "Diminutively (that's not a word) obscene, I think."

Neither is babyfied. I made that up but now I like it.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I think butthole is just as crude as asshole. Pee-pee head is less crude than dickhead, and poo poo is much less crude than shit, but I still wouldn't say them in proper company.

[Cheri]

Lobstergirl wrote: "I think butthole is just as crude as asshole. Pee-pee head is less crude than dickhead, and poo poo is much less crude than shit, but I still wouldn't say them in proper company."

Is it OK for middle or high school kids (or anyone) to use these baby words and not have them count as curse words? I mean, if you are going to say the 'F word'(or fudge or fiddlesticks) shouldn't you just say 'fuck'since that is what you really mean?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I think it depends on who your audience is. Among a group of middle schoolers or high schoolers, sure, kids are going to talk like this. I did. But if you throw adults into the group, or much younger kids, the older kids shouldn't be talking like that. Or, I'm not a big fan of profanity in the workplace. I'd rather not work around people who are all "fuck this, fuck that, motherfucker this...." all day long.

[Cheri]

I agree. My speech at work or around strangers is different from my speech at the bar with friends after 3 martinis. I think obscenities are lazy speech patterns. But I question if making an obscenity into baby talk in the workplace, etc softens the word to take the shock value out of it - which is the purpose of the word.

[Phil]

A huge number of Utahns say "frick" instead of "fuck."

They also say "cheerios" for "shit."

Doesn't their god know what they actually mean, and condemn the spirit of the utterance?

[Félix]

It's what's on the surface that counts.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I hate it when journalists misuse disinterest or disinterested. Disinterested means impartial. Not uninterested.

"Akin’s rape remark shows disinterest
in contraception facts — and science" No, not really.

[Sally, la reina]

Huh, I never thought about that one.

[Sarah]

I heard two really weird mispronunciations on the news. One was on NPR, the word "aberrant" said as "a-BEAR-ent," like "apparent" with a bear.

The other was Fox News (via Jon Stewart), on the whole "was Jesus married?" question, pronouncing papyrus as "pappy-rus."

Both really irritated me. I don't mind if normal people do that, but I feel like newscasters should have to say things right.

[Cheri]

I heard the 'papy-rus' too and was surprised.

[Scout]

Someone on NPR today was complaining about her coworkers using the word utilize instead of use, as in, "May I utilize your stapler?" I haven't had this experience, but there is a difference.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I wish I could remember what name from Greek mythology a newscaster in D.C. once butchered. It was so bad you could hear his fellow newscaster snickering off camera.

[Jammies]

Sarah, I once heard a NPR commentator say "indefaggatable" for "indefatigable" and one of our local public radio jockeys once made a lame segue between Herodotus (which he pronounced Hair-o-doh-tus" and the Great Blue Herons which nest in the Cuyahoga River Valley.

[Phil]

There was an ad on TV today for a UCLA Extension program that began with a voice over asking if, "you keep having a reoccurring dream" about something or other.

1. There is no such word as reoccurring. The word is recurring, dammit! You'd think UCLA would know that.

2. If it's recurring, then OF COURSE you keep having it. Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department.

3. Nothing to do with the ad, but why do so many people say "on-ery" when what they mean is "or-nery?"

[Stina]

Phil, you make solid points.

PS. I am one of those on-ery (maybe even on-rey) people. I'll make an effort to correct myself!

[Jammies]

A disc jockey from the local dinosaur rock station conflateed Dian Fossey with Jane Goodall this morning. Somehow, head-dashboard is less safe than head-desk.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Oh, they're the same person in my mind. Just like Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis.

[Martini]

I've got a question concerning the honorific title "Ms.". I've read this several times now, and I'm not sure what it stands for: Miss or Mrs.?
For example, somebody was mentioned in an email as Ms. Baxter. Now I'll be meeting her in real life, and I don't know how to adress her, Mrs. Baxter or Miss Baxter.

In Germany, the title "Fräulein" (= Miss) is no longer used, because it is seen as insulting to consider an unmarried woman as not a whole "Frau" (= woman), only a "little" woman (Frau-lein).
Did this happen in America/England as well?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I'm way behind on my etiquette education. However I would say, if she has already been referenced in an email as Ms., it's safer to call her Ms. than Mrs. or Miss.

Ms. is closer to Miss than Mrs. It's a term created a few decades ago (? I guess) precisely because people were skeeved by the label "Miss" which seemed not feminist enough, and is good to use in situations where you don't know if someone is married or not. "Ms." is more in line with "Mr." - both of them ignore whether someone might be married or not, unlike "Mrs." Nice for men that they get that term "Mr." which doesn't reference marital status at all. I guess "Ms." then is the corresponding term to "Mr."

[Martini]

Ah, so "Ms." is really in linguistic usage, I didn't know that! I thought it was only used in written form, and then one had to find out about them being a Miss or a Mrs. when addressing her in person. Silly me!

I just looked it up, and it seems it is pronounced like "Miss", but with a soft "s", is that correct?

Thank you for the explanation, Lobstergirl. :-)

And yes, it is nice for men that when adressing them, their marital status is never in question.

[Jim]

Barb wrote: "I pronounce it more like "Mz" ... but that might just be me and my cooky ways."

Nope, that's how I pronounce it also. But then I can't remember the last time that I actually used it.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

There was a magazine called "Ms." (I don't know if it still exists) started by Gloria Steinem, a famous and early feminist, to address feminist issues.

I have always heard it pronounced "Mizz."

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I can't remember ever actually saying it, myself. I'm sure I must have. At some point.

[Martini]

Well, if even you all as native speakers seem to use it rarely to never, I don't feel too dumb anymore about not knowing "Ms." existed.

Thanks for your help! :-)