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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Do you have to get loose before you lose it or do you lose it then break loose. I"m lost. If I could figure out how to put in a weird whacked out face here, I'd loose it on you.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Don't you mean gets loose with it?Freudian slip. It reveals my own desire to let loose, in the manner of one of my favourite new idioms "to go postal." 
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
my own desire to let loose, in the manner of one of my favourite new idioms "to go postal."Using the term loosely, I hope?? 
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Using the term loosely, I hope??Use it or loose it! 
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3 |
I'm more worried about one other thing- should I go along with current threads and should I mention such "errors" to people who make them? After a recent attempt to do so resulted in being reminded that English _is_ a changing language... (I was trying to point out that the word 'their' is plural and was informed that it had drifted to being singular now.)
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
at least there is an 'explanation' of sorts for using their in a singular construction. the only explanation for using their and they're (and the like) interchangeably is laziness or ignorance.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Another construction, which has crept into everyday usage and appears in all sorts of documents, is the use of "their" to cover the issue of possession by an unknown third person, as in
"He or she should look to their laurels".
It's so common that I don't wince quite as painfully as I used to when I see it!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3 |
ahh. but since when did the evolution of language come out of planning rather than just because :)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
..laziness or ignorance..which, once considered faults, have become pardonable, and are on the way of being regarded as endearing
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>should I go along with current threads and should I mention such "errors" to people who make them?
A few of us (including some of the most guilty – moi?), agreed a while ago that we wouldn't go around correcting each other’s errors. There were two reasons (a) Too many of us type this stuff rather rapidly, either early in the morning or late at night to be able to guarantee no typos or spelling errors. The spell-checker is US-centric at best (and eccentric) at worst, so some of us can't be bothered using it. (b) We include in our number some serious pedants - it goes with the territory, if we corrected every error we may not get too far discussing anything and we'd scare off any newcomers.
If you think an error is worth mentioning then a private message is fine, if you dare. That allows the person to either correct their error or explain their logic in using the term. We've discovered that many, so called "errors" - (which may, or may not, include momentarily and orientate) are little more than regional variations. Occasionally there are a few posts that point out errors and cause some amusement.
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