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Pedants' corner

Is it only me that goes grrr at this phrase?

(116 Posts)
phoenix Mon 30-Dec-19 23:47:23

An email from Waitrose asking about plans for (and I quote) "New Years"

There is New Years Eve, and New Years Day, but there is NOT "New Years"

absent Wed 01-Jan-20 03:53:44

jacalpad I know just how you feel about gateaux's – a double offence with both an apostrophe and and an s. I feel the same way whenever I see paninis, given that panini is already plural. The use and then misuse of foreign words when there are perfectly adequate English ones is pretentious and unnecessary.

absent Wed 01-Jan-20 03:59:24

Nannarose The word coleslaw is derived from Dutch – koolsla, meaning cabbage salad.

JackyB Wed 01-Jan-20 07:46:12

A propos decades:why do people insist on pronouncing it "decayed".,wirh the emphasis on the 2nd syllable?

Baggs Wed 01-Jan-20 08:24:20

I thought it was The Jones’

Joneses is plural

Apostrophes indicate possession or something missing, never plurals, though they are widely used incorrectly.

So you could refer to the Jones' car, meaning the car of (belonging to) the Joneses.

Baggs Wed 01-Jan-20 08:25:27

Or, say, Alec Jones's car.

Baggs Wed 01-Jan-20 08:26:54

I'm getting confused now!

Did I mean, when referring to the car belonging to the Joneses, "the Joneses' car"?

I think I did.

Baggs Wed 01-Jan-20 08:27:33

I expect the Waleses have several.

Callistemon Wed 01-Jan-20 10:15:47

grin
If it was Alec's car then perhaps Tess has her own, ie Tess's car

So it would be the Joneses' cars ?

Or, if people prefer the grocer's grammar: the Jones' car's.
Or if more than one grocer...

Oh, Happy New Year

rubysong Wed 01-Jan-20 10:25:18

Thanks Kryptonite for engaging with my rant about the decade. (It was late and post-sherry). I'm comfortable with ' we are now in the twenties', which to me is a different thing.
I love this thread.

Witzend Wed 01-Jan-20 10:35:22

I always thought ‘Kohl’ was German for cabbage, which amused me when they had an eminent politician by that name. Dare say I have mis-remembered my very rusty German, though.,

Whatever they call it, my own ‘cabbage salad’ is a winter staple here - cabbage , carrots, celery, onion and apple, all chopped or shredded small, with just enough mayonnaise to bind it.
Goes v nicely with cold ham and baked potatoes, guess what we’re having tonight....

Callistemon Wed 01-Jan-20 10:47:17

rubysong if the new Millennium began in 2000 AD then now is the beginning of a new decade - the Tolerant hmm Twenties.

Of course AD is a moot point too, could have been 3 BC (that wouldn't be right either, would it).

Baggs Wed 01-Jan-20 10:57:27

Some say it was 6AD.

Perhaps it's safest to use CE, Current Era.

grannypiper Wed 01-Jan-20 17:33:30

It is Ne'erday

NotAGran55 Wed 01-Jan-20 17:53:49

As this is pedants’ corner Phoenix smile I think you will find it is New Year’s Eve not New Years Eve .

Nannarose Wed 01-Jan-20 18:03:36

Thank you absent! And JackyB - I picked up 'come round mine' when I lived in Suffolk!
I feel rather like a magpie, picking up all sorts of odd sayings from places I lived and people I have known - funny how some stick and others don't.
I love hearing different expressions and ways of speaking - some I like and some I don't, but they rarely annoy me the way they do some on here.