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Pedants' corner

When did X become Y?

(108 Posts)
Wheniwasyourage Sun 15-May-16 17:54:36

When did "riding" become "horse-riding"? (Bicycle riding is "cycling".)

When did "skating" become "ice-skating"? (Roller-skating is a different activity.)

When did "nightlights" become "tealights" - and what on earth Is a tealight anyway?

I blame the Americans for the first two, but really don't understand the third one. Anybody got any ideas or any other suggestions?

Atqui Tue 17-May-16 16:51:03

And you wonder why I don't post much Bags?

thatbags Tue 17-May-16 16:32:42

My last post should have had a sarc emoji. What I said was what the previous poster seemed to me to be saying, except I put her rude comment in plain language to make its nastiness clear.

She's not the only one on this thread who seems to think no-one is allowed to express a different (and sweetly reasonable wink) point of view.

NonnaAnnie Tue 17-May-16 16:03:56

I hate train station too, and the other one that drives me nuts is season instead of series. Grrrrrrrr!

MaizieD Tue 17-May-16 15:58:19

And to think people on Gransnet think that Mumsnet is scary! I don't think you could get a cigarette paper between them.

thatbags Tue 17-May-16 14:04:52

And people who moan should always get what they want. People who disagree with them should shut the fuck up and bugger off.

You don't post much, atqui.

Atqui Tue 17-May-16 14:00:36

I suppose the incorrect combination of HENCE and WHY will soon be deemed to be grammatically correct. ( That's my personal grouse)

Atqui Tue 17-May-16 13:57:43

Isn't it human nature to want someone to agree when 'having a moan'. The last thing you want is a Pollyanna telling you to get over it !( or whatever the correct phrase might be). That's presumably why people post on this particular forum.

MaizieD Tue 17-May-16 13:37:17

I think we most of us appreciate that language changes over time, but does it have to change so flipping fast?

My D announced yesterday that she'd had a 'brain freeze' . Where has that come from?

thatbags Tue 17-May-16 08:45:25

My sweet reasonableness, as you so sweetly call it, farnorth, needn't be seen as a grumpiness damper. People who want to be grumpy will be and that's fine, but I shall continue to call unreasonbleness/grumpiness what it is if I feel so inclined. No hard feelings at all, I'm just saying what I think, as one does. [friendly wave] ?

ffinnochio Tue 17-May-16 08:30:32

My grand children are American/British and live in America, so I don't get to I'm not able to see them more than once a year, if that. So when I visit, I am very happy to use the Americanisms venacular. In fact, I find their accent and way of speaking delightful.

Adaptability is the name of the game.

FarNorth Tue 17-May-16 07:51:51

that bags your sweet reasonableness is ruining all the grumpy fun of this thread. grin
Btw, the grin at my own comment is not bad manners, it's to indicate that I consider the comment grin-worthy and not grumpy.
[sweet smiles a-plenty]

thatbags Tue 17-May-16 07:43:06

Other alternatives:

Could I have x and y, please?

I'd like ... please.

I was taught to say Please may I have...? but I've always thought it had rather a clumsy, contrived feel. Please can I have...? feels more 'comfortable' to me, more natural.

When I was training as a TEFL we were taught that what native speakers say naturally is what we should be aiming to teach as good English. So, for example, when someone asked me during a practice if they could borrow my ruler (rule for the pedants), I responded with "Yeah, sure" and gave it to them. Various other replies would also have been "correct English".

Can I get...? is becoming correct English English (it has been correct American English for ages) because it's what (some) people say. Preference for it is probably a generational thing, as with lots of diction. Minibags uses words that I'm very sparing with in a much more casual way than I do because, among her peers, they simply are more casual.

I find it all very interesting, hearing spoken language evolve, rather than irritating.

grumppa Mon 16-May-16 23:40:14

"Can I get ..? comes, I think, from TV series like Friends. DD uses it all the time in coffee shops, to my intense irritation, but all is not lost. In the school tuck shop her son says "Please may I have...?"

Lilypops Mon 16-May-16 23:19:11

Funny gran,, yes "can I get a. "" really grates, where and how did that come from ,, also when I give my name over the phone to say ,, utilities , they say "fantastic, I never thought my name was fantastic, also I booked my car in for service last week, the receptionist said, Not a problem, !!!

yogagran Mon 16-May-16 23:13:47

grandMattie - I'm also extremely irritated by cupcakes instead of fairy cakes angry

Bellanonna Mon 16-May-16 22:26:31

GOW Alert: Can't say I care for that habit of putting stops after single words
??

thatbags Mon 16-May-16 22:19:35

All words are made up. Every. Single. One.

Full stops after single words like that is a relatively new phenomenon. I think it can be quite effective but do feel free to grump away about it smile.

Off to the land of nod. Sweet dreams, all. ??

sugargran Mon 16-May-16 22:03:04

When did "patient" become "service user" ?

GandTea Mon 16-May-16 22:02:28

"grumpiness" now there is a made up word if I ever heard one smile

I am working on a sentence that includes all of your worst grump words. grin

FarNorth Mon 16-May-16 21:22:14

"Do the math." annoys me although I know it's silly. It's a perfectly good abbreviation, but still.

pollyperkins Mon 16-May-16 20:36:46

The boning/deboning comment reminded me that inflammable used to mean it would burn. Then people thought it meant the opposite ie flame proof which is obviously potentially dangerous so now labels say 'flammable' which is clear even if it's a made up word!

thatbags Mon 16-May-16 19:38:15

What I find surprising about this kind of moaning and intense irritation is the very fact that people are willing to express publicly their intolerance of other people's way of speaking. I'd be ashamed to speak of it if I felt such annoyance.

It does give the impression of a high level of grumpiness. There, I've said my bit. I'll leave yous all to be grumpy old women together.

Emelle19 Mon 16-May-16 18:16:22

Train station drives me mad!! It's railway station :-)

GandTea Mon 16-May-16 17:56:25

Very often words that we think of as modern slang or lax English are in fact very old words.
We recently went to a talk about cocktails, and when asked when and where the term became used, most said 1920s America. How surprised we were that the first reference was in the the March 20, 1798, edition of The Morning Post and Gazetteer, a long-defunct London newspaper. It is thought that the term Cocktail referred to the practise of cropping the tail of a mixed breed horse. (hence a mixed drink)
And before you ask, yes we sampled quite a few.

leemw711 Mon 16-May-16 17:49:43

I agree with Lilyflower - "train station" is ugly and clumsy and makes me wince every time I hear it on TV or wherever. As an ex-teacher I have to say that standards or grammar and vocabulary seem a lot lower now than they were in our day!