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#160698 06/26/06 01:26 AM
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Jackie Offline OP
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Didj'all see this article Anu linked to in AWADmail Issue 215?
web page

It's pretty good. I love this: The conflict arises because linguists champion scientific description of language while the grammar police want to save civilization from decline.

#160699 06/26/06 09:25 AM
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If they want to save civilization from decline they should be directing their attention to things that really matter; things like basketball. Harrumph!®

#160700 06/26/06 02:17 PM
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Some of that sounds familiar. It is all but too late to rescue English from the DOC but at least there is basketball, replete with role models.

#160701 06/28/06 10:50 PM
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I like eggcorns. My former boss had the bad habit of calling any topic he didn't wish to discuss a "mute point."

#160702 06/29/06 06:10 PM
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So there is at least one other individual who says that; incredible! Was thinking (or perhaps hoping) it was unique, from the same source that brought us "manneurism". [This term was defined by Aramis as 'a burst artery in one's personality'.] Is that what eggcorns are, or is that a model term?

Last edited by Aramis11; 06/30/06 03:13 PM.
#160703 06/29/06 08:17 PM
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>So there is at least one other individual who says that; incredible!

if you're referring to "mute point"s, I'm afraid they're all too often voiced.

#160704 06/30/06 03:23 PM
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Well,that sounds conveniently ambiguous.
Not an 'eggcorn', but here is a weatherman gem from this morning:

Quote:

"Once we get to our peak temperature of the day, we'll start to cool down."




Maybe that was from the textbook Meteorology Duhs. [Just wanted to share.]

#160705 07/01/06 12:14 PM
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Quote:

"Once we get to our peak temperature of the day, we'll start to cool down."




And what's the problem with it?

Scenario A)

Temperature rises slowly till 10:30AM when a cold front comes through causing a decrease in the temperature.

Scenario 2)

Temperature rises slowly till 2:30PM at which time it levels off and remains at the high for the day till 7:00PM when it starts to cool off.

I submit that your weatherman quote applies only to the first scenario.

#160706 07/03/06 03:04 PM
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Quote:

Quote:

"Once we get to our peak temperature of the day, we'll start to cool down."




And what's the problem with it?
...
I submit that your weatherman quote applies only to the first scenario.




Even if you're going to let a peak be a plateau and "once" mean "any time after" instead of "as soon as", I think the only alternative to this forecast is for it to stay exactly the same temperature until midnight - daytime temperature and temperature of the day aren't equivalent to me.

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Well since it was a real weather report, science fiction was not given consideration at the time. Some of those Jules Verne concepts did become reality after all.

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Science fiction? Whurrat?

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Just remembered, the same boss used to ask us to take an outline and "flush it out" into a report.

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Ack. I read an online post the other day which, once again, wondered whether somebody was being a "pre Madonna". I deserve a present from Miss Manners for refraining from comment.



I want my present!

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Jackie Offline OP
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"pre Madonna". Is she related to Lake Juanita?

I want my present! Okay, here:pre-Madonna

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Quote:

Just remembered, the same boss used to ask us to take an outline and "flush it out" into a report.




Would that mean to add crap until you reached the requisite number of pages?

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I had a military boss, an obnoxious AF major, who announced to us one day that he was at last going to get some "face time with the general" to discuss my project, but that it would not be necessary for me to go along to explain it since all I would have to do would be to give him some cryptic notes that he could look at if the general asked him a question.

Was he pissed when he discovered that I had given him two pages of encoded questions-answers. What probably pissed him off the most was that he didn't look at them before-hand. What was I trying to do, screw up his career? (actually, yes).

So I just handed him his email along with the dictionary open to the word cryptic and said, "Hell, I couldn't figure out why you wanted it this way, but you've told us for over a year now that you don't want us questioning your orders."

Old Ron retired as a major, and I like to think I helped.


TEd
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