Steve Austin is here!!
Jasper - 19/5/11 at 12:29 PM
This is quite amazing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13378036
blakep82 - 19/5/11 at 12:39 PM
wow! 
Ninehigh - 19/5/11 at 04:07 PM
That. Rrrrrrrrrocks
Macbeast - 19/5/11 at 04:18 PM
The BBC should know that " electrocuted " means " killed by electricity 
. Comes from USA capital punishment - Executed by
electricity.
blakep82 - 19/5/11 at 04:25 PM
the bbc should know a lot of things 
last week on the regional news they were talking about the last man to be executed for stealing a horse in scotland. they said he was hung.
shouldn't that be 'hanged'? anyway, never mind that, this is awesome
coyoteboy - 19/5/11 at 04:51 PM
quote:
The BBC should know that " electrocuted " means " killed by electricity . Comes from USA capital punishment - Executed by
electricity.
Glad it's not just me that found that intensely irritating.
David Jenkins - 19/5/11 at 05:28 PM
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
the bbc should know a lot of things
last week on the regional news they were talking about the last man to be executed for stealing a horse in scotland. they said he was hung.
shouldn't that be 'hanged'? anyway, never mind that, this is awesome
Perhaps he was "hung" !
Jasper - 20/5/11 at 10:48 AM
The one that really gets me, and EVERYONE uses it, including all BBC presenters:
Jealous - when people really mean envious. An example would be 'I'm really jealous of his car' - unless his car is having it away with
his wife, he actually means envious, but everyone uses it this way now.
That's my real pet hate 
David Jenkins - 20/5/11 at 02:14 PM
The English language changes over time, and there's nothing that can be done about it. I no longer think that it's important to be
pedantic.
I used to get annoyed when a news-reader said "a team had been decimated by illness" or some similar phrase. Literally, that mean that one
tenth of the team had been beaten to death by the rest of the squad! In Roman times, if a legion had shown cowardice in battle, they would be ordered
to decimate the ranks - one tenth of the legion would be killed by the remainder. If they didn't do this then the whole lot would have been
killed by other legions.
coyoteboy - 20/5/11 at 02:31 PM
quote:
The English language changes over time, and there's nothing that can be done about it. I no longer think that it's important to be
pedantic.
That's a lazy way of looking at it, words generally change in spelling and commonality of use, not meaning. Most people completely mis-use words,
things like bought and brought. Doesn't mean it should be tolerated and ignored as it's wrong and inhibits communication to greater and
lesser degrees depending on where it's used. It also widens the gulf between the lay person and various fields of knowledge which isn't
helpful to progress society. How can society improve if its language is constantly simplified and made more ambiguous?
Peteff - 20/5/11 at 02:32 PM
What annoys me is when people write "would of" instead of "would have" Cool hand though
AndyW - 20/5/11 at 02:45 PM
yea, wot gets me right iz dat in modern timez, talk is gonna change. Like, if its "bad" its actually good. No one uses money anymore,
it's skrilla. Check it out.....
Cool hand
Ninehigh - 20/5/11 at 02:50 PM
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
The English language changes over time, and there's nothing that can be done about it. I no longer think that it's important to be
pedantic.
That's a lazy way of looking at it, words generally change in spelling and commonality of use, not meaning.
Ah, so are you still gay about getting a new job?
Didn't know "jealous" meant "cuckolded" though... And "electrocuted" does get me, mostly because it's great
fun telling someone who's recieved an electric shock that they haven't been electrocuted otherwise when's the effing funeral you
gimboid!
blakep82 - 20/5/11 at 03:05 PM
if people get annoyed with the way people write stuff, why ain't they speaking in the way shakespear wrote? or even older fashion that that? lol
coyoteboy - 20/5/11 at 03:37 PM
quote:
Ah, so are you still gay about getting a new job?
To be honest, I've used gay in that context, yes, despite the smiles from others 
quote:
if people get annoyed with the way people write stuff, why ain't they speaking in the way shakespear wrote? or even older fashion that
that? lol
Because I think we've developed the language further than that point in time, so using that would be a step backwards - many of their words were
ambiguous and now we have words and grammar to separate the meanings. Using an existing word incorrectly because you don't know or can't be
bothered finding the correct word is not exactly sensible is it? That's like saying "I'm going to the apple" to mean
"I'm going to the shops" and then getting upset when people say "umm, 'apple' doesn't mean 'shops'".
We all make mistakes at times but you'd hope a British broadcasting company could at least spare the time to use the correct words that already
exist to do the job, at least people on forii (forums?) are likely to be rushing and their posts are unlikely to be criticised or held up as examples
of how do do things.
Ninehigh - 20/5/11 at 04:10 PM
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
if people get annoyed with the way people write stuff, why ain't they speaking in the way shakespear wrote? or even older fashion that that? lol
Because since his day we've invented spelling... the "most famous English writer" hasn't (as far as our evidence shows) spelt his
name the same twice
David Jenkins - 20/5/11 at 04:20 PM
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
The English language changes over time, and there's nothing that can be done about it. I no longer think that it's important to be
pedantic.
That's a lazy way of looking at it, words generally change in spelling and commonality of use, not meaning.
Not lazy - practical. I try very hard to use the correct words at the appropriate time, but I won't criticise other people who use words in
their colloquial sense, or in their common usage.
If you want to see how the meaning of words has changed with time, have a look at World Wide Words
- you will be astonished at the number of words that have completely changed their meaning over the centuries (even over the decades). If you like
words, this is a VERY rewarding site.
coyoteboy - 20/5/11 at 04:38 PM
quote:
Not lazy - practical. I try very hard to use the correct words at the appropriate time, but I won't criticise other people who use words in their
colloquial sense, or in their common usage.
I wouldn't criticise someone on a forum....no, I might if it was the bought/brought sort of confusion as these are things that need to be stamped
out - they cause confusion with everyone concerned. It is lazy, it has nothing to do with practicality - it's just someone who didn't
realise it was the wrong word (but should have as they're paid to write news!). But someone in the media, presenting through an international
portal should be correctly using words and grammar, it's their job to put stories into the correct structure and words! Don't get me wrong,
I've every sympathy for people who struggle to spell things due to learning difficulties or not knowing the correct word as they've never
been taught it, but those who choose to mis-use words and can't be bothered annoy me as well as those in the media who do it perpetuate the
problem.
Reading the work of dozens of degree-level technical students it can be quite shocking how poorly they seem able to put a point across and it
doesn't seem to be improving with time, which doesn't bode well for skills, understanding and advancement of the UK.
On forums it's a bit more acceptable, people tend to be quickly rattling out a few sentences.
[Edited on 20/5/11 by coyoteboy]