Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol. 6)

[GappySmeg]

Frank7 said:

NoVetec said:

Just insofar as the more general Franco influence in British English. The word comes from the French phrase 'in place of' IIRC which we took on with the F sound for some reason.

I know what you mean, for instance;
I was at a funeral recently, where we were asked to contribute to cancer research, in left of flowers.
Some of the women there wore black trouser suits, in left of dresses.
We drank liquor at the wake, in left of beer.
After a lot of drinking, there were long queues for the lefts.

nice one Frank!

[Shakermaker]

21st Century Man said:

Channel 5 is much the same, with the addition of programme titles that contain a supposedly intriguing hook, suggesting new revelations, "Titanic, what really happened", "Mystery of the Pyramids, revealed", but nothing new, we know what happened and there is no mystery, just 10 mins of actual content spread thinly over an hour with summarys and recaps before/after numerous advert breaks. And don't even get me started on st like "World's Greatest Suspension Bridges, was it Aliens?" and such like.

I've noticed a real drop in quality on some of the Discovery/Nat Geo programmes over the last year or so. The talking heads that they get on have suddenly all become extremely upbeat to the point of being patronising towards the viewers.

[Frank7]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

English is an idiosyncratic language with many rules and even more exceptions to those rules.

Your frequent use of Americanisms (eg. "liquor") and arguing in favour of American pronunciations makes me think you'd be happier moving to America. Certainly we would be happier if you did, if nothing else.

Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Monday 9th March 08:58

Thanks for caring CC, by liquor I meant spirits, e.g. vodka, gin, whisky etc.
I don’t think that I’ve lobbied for American pronunciations, just that I think that loo sounds better to me than left, for lieu.
I didn’t think that there was an English spelling of liquor, if you’re thinking of liqueurs, aren’t they things like Baileys, Amaretto, Cointreau?
There was a time when I mused with moving to the U.S., but there were so many hoops to jump through, that I put that way on the back burner, eventually extinguishing it completely.
For a long time, I pushed for a move to south central France for when I finally quit work, this fell on stony ground, due to my wife’s inability to either speak, or indeed learn the language.
You, for some inexplicable reason might be happier if I moved to the Land of the Free, but the best that you can hope for is that I win and we move to La France.
I’m pretty sure that I’d still be able to post from Limoges, or Clermont-Ferrand though, as I’ve posted in the past from Richmond VA.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Frank7 said:

You, for some inexplicable reason might be happier if I moved to the Land of the Free, but the best that you can hope for is that I win and we move to La France.

It was said tongue-in-cheek.

It's fair to say that you are a fan of American culture and all things American. Certainly this is the impression given by many of your posts. One might even be forgiven for assuming you were American, were it not for you frequently name-dropping that you are not.

[Frank7]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Frank7 said:

You, for some inexplicable reason might be happier if I moved to the Land of the Free, but the best that you can hope for is that I win and we move to La France.

It was said tongue-in-cheek.

It's fair to say that you are a fan of American culture and all things American. Certainly this is the impression given by many of your posts. One might even be forgiven for assuming you were American, were it not for you frequently name-dropping that you are not.

I hoped that it was tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not always easy to discern from the written word.
It’s true, I like the U.S., and have spent a lot of time there, visiting many of the lower 48.
One time, I was 39 or 40, and bemoaning the fact that I was flying home in a couple of days, when my American girlfriend said, “Doesn’t have to be Frankie boy, have a shave, and we can go get a licence and a few days later get married in City Hall, then you can stay.”
I said, “It’s a nice thought, but I can’t see myself driving a Yellow Cab, I’d never earn what I can with my Black Cab in London.”

[DoubleD]

I thought Frank was taking the piss when he wrote liquor rather than spirits!

[Derek Smith]

Frank7 said:

NoVetec said:

Just insofar as the more general Franco influence in British English. The word comes from the French phrase 'in place of' IIRC which we took on with the F sound for some reason.

I know what you mean, for instance;
I was at a funeral recently, where we were asked to contribute to cancer research, in left of flowers.
Some of the women there wore black trouser suits, in left of dresses.
We drank liquor at the wake, in left of beer.
After a lot of drinking, there were long queues for the lefts.

Is that in lieu of a reasonable argument against traditional pronounciation? There's a lot of history in the way English is spoken. It's in the culture.

[Frank7]

Derek Smith said:

Is that in lieu of a reasonable argument against traditional pronounciation? There's a lot of history in the way English is spoken. It's in the culture.

I’m not arguing about traditional pronunciation, I don’t wish to argue about anything come to that.
Yes there is a lot of history in the way that English is spoken, but it’s very difficult to accept that the four letters “lieu”, (instead of), should be pronounced as left in the word lieutenant.
After all, if you have a day off work after working a Bank Holiday, it’s termed a lieu day, (loo day).
Rather than have a difference of opinion, I’ll say leftenant if it makes everyone happy.
(I have my fingers crossed behind my back!)

Edited by Frank7 on Monday 9th March 18:24

[droopsnoot]

Frank7 said:

but it’s very difficult to accept that the four letters “lieu”, (instead of), should be pronounced as left in the word lieutenant.

Welcome to the beauty of English.

Yours,
Eric Featherstonehaugh
Lord Lieutenant of Cholmondeley.

[DoubleD]

droopsnoot said:

Frank7 said:

but it’s very difficult to accept that the four letters “lieu”, (instead of), should be pronounced as left in the word lieutenant.

Welcome to the beauty of English.

Yours,
Eric Featherstonehaugh
Lord Lieutenant of Cholmondeley.

Is that near Loughborough?

[nicanary]

droopsnoot said:

Welcome to the beauty of English.

Yours,
Eric Featherstonehaugh
Lord Lieutenant of Cholmondeley.

There's people reading this who won't understand your post. Those 2 surnames are those that I always use as examples. There's also Fanshaw and Chumley.........

[gregs656]

Frank7 said:

I’m not arguing about traditional pronunciation, I don’t wish to argue about anything come to that.
Yes there is a lot of history in the way that English is spoken, but it’s very difficult to accept that the four letters “lieu”, (instead of), should be pronounced as left in the word lieutenant.
After all, if you have a day off work after working a Bank Holiday, it’s termed a lieu day, (loo day).
Rather than have a difference of opinion, I’ll say leftenant if it makes everyone happy.
(I have my fingers crossed behind my back!)

Edited by Frank7 on Monday 9th March 18:24

Of all the hills to die on - trying to apply logic to the English language surely is one of the most pointless? Isn't part of the joy of our language its weirdness when it comes to spelling, pronunciation, grammar and fault tolerance?

There is an excellent poem called The Chaos which explores this weirdness excellently.

[gareth_r]

DoubleD said:

Is that near Loughborough?

Would a Frenchman consider Loughborough to be "un beau lieu", like, for example, Beaulieu, or, for that matter, Bewley Common?

Edited by gareth_r on Monday 9th March 19:16

[Clockwork Cupcake]

gregs656 said:

Of all the hills to die on - trying to apply logic to the English language surely is one of the most pointless? Isn't part of the joy of our language its weirdness when it comes to spelling, pronunciation, grammar and fault tolerance?

Indeed.

[popeyewhite]

gregs656 said:

There is an excellent poem called The Chaos which explores this weirdness excellently.

Excellent.

[NoVetec]

People who believe in blank-slate psychology.

[Europa1]

gregs656 said:

Of all the hills to die on - trying to apply logic to the English language surely is one of the most pointless? Isn't part of the joy of our language its weirdness when it comes to spelling, pronunciation, grammar and fault tolerance?

There is an excellent poem called The Chaos which explores this weirdness excellently.

It's one of the things that embarrasses me when I go to, say, France, and so many of the locals have a reasonable grasp of English yet some of the expats in the Dordogne are barely beyond beyond the 'speaking English loudly and slowly' level. If the locals can get to grips with such a willfully awkward language as English, can we as a nation not get to grips with French which is far more structured?

[borcy]

nicanary said:

droopsnoot said:

Welcome to the beauty of English.

Yours,
Eric Featherstonehaugh
Lord Lieutenant of Cholmondeley.

There's people reading this who won't understand your post. Those 2 surnames are those that I always use as examples. There's also Fanshaw and Chumley.........

How would you pronounce those names?

[talksthetorque]

In a restaurant tonight the waitress in a sing-song voice

“There you go for you”

Not sure if overriding emotion was anger, contempt or pity.

Thinking back it was hunger.

[deeen]

borcy said:

How would you pronounce those names?

Whoosh... splat!