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Rings and bands...

(37 Posts)
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Jane10 Thu 02-Aug-18 14:42:23

Ooh lovely. I do enjoy a brass band!

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Anniebach Thu 02-Aug-18 14:22:00

? coming from South Wales valleys, it Collery Brass Band for me

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Jane10 Thu 02-Aug-18 14:12:25

I do enjoy a pipe band!

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Anniebach Thu 02-Aug-18 14:06:54

I had a wedding band 50 years ago

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Bathsheba Thu 02-Aug-18 13:25:18

And I'm totally with Jane10 here - how boring would Pedants' Corner be if only pedants were allowed in. Everyone would be grumbling away together and endlessly agreeing with each other hmm

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Bathsheba Thu 02-Aug-18 13:22:25

There are lots of things in the English language which have more than one word to describe them - box/carton/packet, bowl/basin/dish, vase/ewer, jug/pitcher, build/construct, and so on. Why not ring/band? confused

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stella1949 Thu 02-Aug-18 13:15:37

Surely a band is a thin flat strip of any sort of material, which is wrapped around something. Ergo, a band can be a ring around the finger . It's origin is either Old French bende or Old High German binta meaning to bind.

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Jane10 Thu 02-Aug-18 13:06:14

Pedants don't own this thread! It's something I'm pedantic about!

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Witzend Thu 02-Aug-18 12:03:15

No, it doesn't matter, Jane, but this is Pedants' Corner, where we're allowed a little (usually lighthearted) grumble about things that don't matter in the great scheme of things.

I'm not sure why non pedants visit here, except to ask why things that don't matter, matter to some of us!

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winterwhite Thu 02-Aug-18 11:27:50

I’ve noticed it and assumed it was a marketing term, to make something traditionally plain sound more special.

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Jane10 Thu 02-Aug-18 11:07:12

Does it matter?!

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Witzend Thu 02-Aug-18 11:03:13

I know I am BU and a grumpy old hag to boot, but the increasing use of 'band' for (wedding) ring does irritate me.

I thought it had probably come into US English via German (same as 'dumb' from 'dumm' meaning stupid) but being unsure I looked up 'band' in my ancient German dictionary.

There is no mention of 'ring' but one of the meanings given is 'bond, fetter, chain' !!
So maybe I was right after all....
(Not that I look on my own wedding ring in that light!)

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