Misused words/expressions

[ensiform]

Like Melba, I also hate it when people say cuttle-ry. Other pet beefs - some of which are shared- are "aks" instead of "ask", "nucular" instead of "nuclear", "Isreal" instead of "Israel". However my biggest issues these days are with the written word, especially the misuse of homonyms: eg  "your" instead of "you're", "their" or "there" instead of "they're", "to" instead of "too" - you get my drift! The other growing problem, at least in Australia, is the insertion of apostrophes in to random plural words, usually those ending in a vowel, but not always.... Eg I've seen "2 pizza's for $10" advertised, and many other examples - even in school newsletters! When, how and WHY did this start? Do others notice this too? (Not "to"!)

Pet... beefs?

[mkenuk]

Interesting.
COD shows that 'beef' (=meat) has two plurals, 'beefs' in US and 'beeves' elsewhere, although as it is normally used as an uncountable / non-count noun, they both seem strange.
'beef' (= 'gripe' or 'complaint' ) which is a count noun, apparently has only one plural: 'beefs'.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if 'beeves' is in Chi's lexicon? I can't remember it ever appearing, but it's possible (with, eg, 'reversible' as a potential keyword)

MK 

[Alan W]

Yes, MK, beeves is an acceptable Chi word. It is rare, as beef always should be. It has been playable twice, and both times with REVERSIBLE as the big word, as you anticipated.

Interestingly, there is a singular form, beeve, which was added to our list way back in 2007 following a suggestion from birdy. When I inserted beeve as a rare word it didn't occur to me to flag beeves as a plural, so both words are acceptable. I think that is probably as it should be, since beeve is a back formation from beeves and, I suspect, much less well known than the plural form these days.

[yelnats]

As for spelling in English, it's interesting to read the history of English spelling. (I forget the link) It was not codified until well after the first English dictionary. Look up Shakespeare's will; he spells his surname 3 different ways.

The Germans take delight in mentioning that spelling competitions are weird. They suggest that a spelling competition in German would be as interesting as asking what number comes after 106. German is FONETIK!

[Tom]

Castilian Spanish, also, is a phonetic language. Learn a few simple rules of pronunciation and the rest kinda follows.

[yelnats]

íSi, y me gusta castellano! My Spanish friend tells me 'pendrive' (USB memory stick) is pronounced as it is in English, and 'violincello' picks up the Italian 'chello' although it can be written violinchelo'. íTwo exceptions is not bad!

[Calilasseia]

On the subject of apostrophe misuse, this web page has been covering the topic with an amusing cartoon for a long time. I think the original image dates back to the late 1990s.

[Les303]

Maybe it's time they did a reprint. ''''''

[TRex]

íSi, y me gusta castellano! My Spanish friend tells me 'pendrive' (USB memory stick) is pronounced as it is in English, and 'violincello' picks up the Italian 'chello' although it can be written violinchelo'. íTwo exceptions is not bad!

Do some English speakers not pronounce violincello and cello with the 'ch' sound?

[yelnats]

I think all English speakers pronounce cello as chello but Spanish is supposed to be phonetic but say violincello as chelo.

[a non-amos]

I am guessing that the universal "chelo" pronunciation might stem from an Italian root.

[Les303]

I know that it was not your intent so please do not be offended that i could not help but have a little giggle when i saw your post.
I can just picture a very excited Italian lady in the midst of ecstasy repeatedly screaming out CHELO.

 ( root is a rather crude bit of Australian slang used to describe the act of sex )   

              

[Les303]

I can't believe that nobody included my pet gripe which is " you know ". although maybe it is only rampant here in Australia.

"You know" what i mean though when people " you know" can't start , complete or finish a sentence without a " you know " after every few words as if they are continually "you know " looking for some sort of "you know " affirmation of what they are telling me although there is never a pause for any response as the sentence just "you know " continues.
How on earth do they know or not know what i know.

I only came across this thread as i was looking for an appropriate link to highlight a bit of slang that i had never heard before & was included in Pat's latest nature pic.
The word was "gaff " which she was using to describe a bunch of crap photo's .. much nicer than the term i would might have used ...oops i already did.

[Les303]

Bugger , it was actually " naff " wasn't.

BIRD IS THE WORD

▶ 4:38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OXVPgu6urw

[Les303]

Note to self ...Excessive alcohol & Posting do not mix. :'(