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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
First the bouquet, I came across this in a Latham novel and liked it:
"An eminent jurist once observed that a word is only the skin of a living thought. Its color and content vary with time and circumstance."
The same day I saw a professionally produced poster at work that annoys me more than it probably should:
"Do you have heart disease?
Are you overweight or a smoker?
Do you want to live a healthier lifestyle?
If you answered “True” to any of these you are eligible ..."
The answers should be yes/no not true/false. Aargh.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
You're absolutely right. I couldn't agree with you more. It does annoy you more than it should. Answering "True" to any of those questions, while perhaps not the first choice, is certainly well within the range of options in the English language.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
The brick, I'll do the brick then: The multiple choice system has contributed largely to the growing incapacity of people to form correct sentences. (hope this one is)
It also works negative for 'newcomers' to learn the host land's tongue.
Whenever I have to fill out an inquiry or enquete in this 'dots and quadrangles system' I do it swearing and then I use up all the provided space where you can add something to explain what I really mean.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
enquête
Inquiry. Whence English inquest. From the Latin via the French.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
thanks, z. I did look it up, but it is a word that I have never seen.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
but it is a word that I have never seen
Brannie drops a lot of French inter her posts. I guess we should be grateful she doesn't drop Frisian or Flemish words to confabulate us. The bouquet of the OP made me wonder if English bucket is related. Nope. French bosquet 'thicket' < Germanic bosc 'woods'. And, an anthology is Greek for 'a bunch of flowers', cf. Latin florilegium. Brick on the other hand, is from good old Middle Dutch, bricke, though the OED1 sez it might be from French brique. Dutch has briket from French briquette, (though brik 'brick' is still a dialect word in southern Dutch. English briquets tend to be made out of proto-diamonds, rather than backed stones.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Ha! The pot accuses the kettle that it is black.  Enquete is the loanword from French; we have no other word for it. Knowing you have a whole department of loanwords from French yourselves, I assumed this one would have been domesticated too. quote: "With her other hand she lifted her glass and smiled at him with brief and terrified coquetry." (William Faulkner) How's that ? ( to go in cricket terminology.) What's a proto-diamond?
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I guess we just say survey.
where-ever we stole that from....
:¬ )
and briquet for me is charcoal for grilling!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
And those outdoor days are coming! Just wanted to ask Zed what is the difference between no not true and / false?
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