|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
As some of you may know, I have been a loyal supporter of Arsenal Football Club for some 20 years now. Last week was a rough one for the team, but they came through well in the end. My loyalty, however, does not extend to defending ghastly coinages like this one, from an article in The Grauniad:
-----------------------------------------------
Wenger then added a new word to football's lexicon. "We can do better footballistically but the spirit is there," he said.
-----------------------------------------------
Sacré rouge!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
Oh, I don't know, Max. I think it'll replace my former(ly) favorite adverb (from my government employee husband): They contacted us telephonically... Footballistically definitely tops that. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Faldage! You read my mind! Or rather, I must have read yours--we both picked out the same word. I wonder why he was so puzzled over the use of spirit. And why he didn't put the Arsenal Football Club...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
> I wonder why he was so puzzled over the use of spirit. And why he didn't put the Arsenal Football Club...
OK, now you'll have to 'splain. What is the big deal with "spirit" in this context? I did say that I had a problem with his coinage, and "spirit" didn't seem to be one.
As to the Arsenal FC, that's not its name. It's name is simply Arsenal FC. For about three years in the late 1920s it was known as "The Arsenal", but the then manager, Herbert Chapman, changed its legally incorporated name to try and ensure that it always came first in any alphabetical listing of English football clubs.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
What is the big deal with "spirit" in this context?
Ya been whooshed, mate.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Well, its name might be "simply Arsenal FC", but it is still the Arsenal FC.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
>whooshed.
I figgered that was the case. I'm used to being a whooshee, but was surprised by your fellow-whooshrix. all I can say is tgif (here, at any rate).
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I'm not really too interested in football but I am amazed that Wenger should have chosen a first name to match his club. Or was it the other way around?
It is not customary over here to use 'the' before the name of a football club. We would never say: "The Bolton Wanderers have for once survived the season without entering the relegation zone".
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
surprised by your fellow-whooshrix Heh, heh! I try to space things like that ju-u-ust far enough apart that people forget I do it! It works on my husband, anyway: for his last birthday I gave him several "coupons" (that I'd created, straight from phone-book ads) for various sessions that a metrosexual would love, knowing that he is not the type. He thought they were real! The efforts he made to be a grateful recipient were quite comical.
I got to thinking about the use of "the" for teams in the U.S. As far as I can tell, we leave it off when mentioning only the team's location; as in, we'd say, "The Brooklyn Dodgers are playing today", but "Brooklyn did well in last week's game". I have never heard a team name used without 'the', as in Dodgers did well. [shudder]
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Pssssssst! Jackie! It sure shows you aren't a very avid baseball fan, either. The Dodgers haven't been in Brooklyn in a coon's age or longer. http://www.thebaseballpage.com/present/fp/nl/la.htm
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Heh, heh! "Not very avid" is something of an overstatement.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
From a spelling bee some years back:
"Johnny, spell 'Philadelphia.'"
Jophnny replies, "Philadelphia, P-h-i-l-d-e-l-p-h-i. Philadelphia."
Teacher: "Johnny, what happened to the a's?"
Johnnie replies, "Oh, they moved to Kansas City."
Which also had two a's. And then to Oakland. Another city with two a's.
TEd
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,916
Posts230,469
Members9,211
| |
Most Online17,319
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
