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Joined: Jan 2004
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veteran
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OP
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
I just read a blog entry about riffing, (i.e., reduction in forces, being downsized, pink-slipped, fired, etc.), except the term was a South African English one: retrenching. The AHD gives: "vi. 1. To cut down; reduce. 2. To remove, delete, or omit. / vt. To curtail expenses; economize." Makes sense. Have any of you run across this meaning? http://oreneta.com/baldie/blog/archives/2004/10/a_south_african.asp
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Good heavens, I thought riffing was a spontaneous solo on a musical instrument! Couldn't find any other mention of retrenching, but I did find something fascinating:
The most noticeable difference in pronunciation is probably the flat "i", so that "six" is pronounced in a way sounding like "sucks", and "today" like "to die". This is a part of the vowel shift that has occurred in South Africa as well as New Zealand. Below, the latter word is how the former word sounds to the ears of a non-South African: Rewrite in IPA
pan --> pen
pen --> pin
pin --> pun
pun --> pan One difference between (white) South African English and New Zealand English is in the pronunication of 'ar' and 'ow', as in the pronunciation of the sentence 'park the car downtown'.
New Zealand: pahk the kah dehwn tehwn
South Africa: pawk the kaw dahwn tahwn From http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/South-African-English
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Retrenchment was the word used in Jane Austen’s time to describe the act of cutting back financially. For example:
In “Persuasion”:
She consulted, and in a degree was influenced by her in marking out the scheme of retrenchment which was at last submitted to Sir Walter.
In “Mansfield Park”:
"Lady Bertram, I do not complain. I know I cannot live as I have done, but I must retrench where I can, and learn to be a better manager. I have been a liberal housekeeper enough, but I shall not be ashamed to practise economy now.”
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Yes, the cutting back of expenses I was familiar with, but not with the cutting back of the workforce itself. Makes sense, of course.
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
Retrenchment used that way is not only a Seth Effrican English word, it's in fairly common use here in Zild too.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Retrenchment was the word used in Jane Austen’s time to describe the act of cutting back financially.
All references to Jane Austen earn the referer a bit of time off from Purgatory, which matters, of course, only to those who believe in Purgatory.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
So do I get double time off for mentioning two books?
I seem to keep bumping into Jane - like at her museum in Bath and then there's a house she lived in somewhere just off the Hog's Back that I stumbled across one time.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
You goin' for a quadruple, dxb?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Don't tell my sweet bride but, for Christmas, she is getting a six-DVD set of the BBC productions of Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. These just became available in August of this year. Maybe that means I get sextuple time off from Purgatory!
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 72
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 72 |
Maybe that means I get sextuple time off from Purgatory!
...or maybe just sex!
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