Very unique!

Apologies for the poor spacing- it looked OK in the preview.

FannyCornforth

StarDreamer

The misuse of the word 'contemporary'.

Contrived example:

The house was built 400 years ago and there is an exhibition of contemporary furniture on display on the first floor.

When was the furniture made?

Answer: at the same time as the house.

This use of contemporary isn’t incorrect.

Most of the other bugbears eg ‘very unique’ are called tautologies (I think!)

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONTEMPORARY ...

2 :existing or happening in the same time period:from the same time period

The book is based oncontemporary accounts of the war. [=accounts of the war that were written when the war was happening

www.britannica.com/dictionary/contemporary

Isn't it simply this meaning?

I think because it's either unique or it isn't, choughdancer. It therefore can't be almost unique, just not unique.

Say there were 2,000 green widgets and 1 blue one, the blue one would be unique. If there were 2,000 green ones and 2 blue ones, not unique! That's how I see it.

You can use pre-modifying expressions with unique. The OED says:

Unique - the only one of its kind; having no like or equal; unparalleled, unrivalled, esp. in excellence. Later also in extended use (especially with pre-modifying expressions): uncommon, unusual, remarkable.

Use in the comparative and superlative and with modification by words such as absolutely, fairly, quite, thoroughly, very, etc., has been criticized on the grounds that an adjective meaning ‘that is the only one of its kind’ should not be not gradable, but in many contexts this meaning is not readily distinguishable from the extended use. Examples:

1908 Kenneth Grahame Wind in Willows ‘Toad Hall,’ said the Toad proudly, ‘is an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence, very unique.’

1934 George Bernard Shaw On the Rocks Too True to be Good You don't appreciate him. He is absolutely unique.

2015 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Mar. 14/1 Spotted nutcrackers are fairly unique, even among seed-caching birds, because they rely on the seeds from just one kind of tree.

Wheniwasyourage

Oh yes, CountessFosco. Every time I hear it, or its friend "almost unique", I can picture my DM with steam coming out of her ears. In fact, that whirring sound you hear as I type this will be her spinning in her grave!

Why isn't 'almost unique' acceptable? 'Very unique'; 'rather unique' are definitely wrong, but I think 'almost' is okay.

PS although ‘contemporaneous’ would be better perhaps

StarDreamer

The misuse of the word 'contemporary'.

Contrived example:

The house was built 400 years ago and there is an exhibition of contemporary furniture on display on the first floor.

When was the furniture made?

Answer: at the same time as the house.

This use of contemporary isn’t incorrect.

Most of the other bugbears eg ‘very unique’ are called tautologies (I think!)

I find it a bit irritating when after I confirm my address they reply "Excellent!"
Then add "excellent" to every reply I give.

It’s useless information, though, Oldnproud. What is the point of telling anyone that?

I get peeved by 'the vast majority' when what is actually meant is 'most'. And why does it always have to be 'vast'

If 50 people were voting on an issue and 26 voted in favour while 24 voted against, the majority in favour would be 2. That's not 'most' (or vast)

I have had a similar problem, being told that the name the road where I grew up was wrong, despite my having lived there until I married, and that the name of my dearly loved first pet was also incorrect. In the end I gave up and dealt with my issue in a different way.

I get annoyed by "what was your name again?"
When not only have I not given my name, but I wasn't asked the first time.

StarDreamer

This may be straying off-topic, but related, is that some organisations purport that "security" is satisfied if the caller correectly states the name, address and date of birth of the person he or she is claiming to be.

Also, the utter silliness of some organisations trying to use Mother's Maiden Name as a security check.

I was asked my mother's maiden name as a security check on the phone, and when I told him and spelt it out, they replied 'No, it isn't'!
I assured him this was my mother's name, and that whoever had put it into the computer had made a typo. I then asked if the name in front of them was one character different, or had 2 letters reversed. I got through security eventually.

SueDonim

Oldnproud you’ve quantified your sentence by telling us that Goldie was a guide dog. If you’d said ‘Goldie is one of the only dogs allowed on the bus,’ that wouldn’t be telling us anything. One of the only what dogs?

Without qualifying it (which I only did to give context), the sentence tells us that the number or type of dogs allowed on the bus is limited in some way, but that Goldie fits the criteria, and that on this occasion, the speaker doesn't deem it necessary to spell them out.

This is absolutely perfect!

My Latin teacher insisted that perfect can never be qualified, and now I come to think of it, so did my English mistress.

The Danish version of the Co-op jumped on the band-wagon of using English as a gimmick in the 1980s and called their new range of stores "SuperBest"

The stores are still with us, and nobody has managed to convince them that you cannot qualify best either, and if you insist on so doing then you should at least hyphenate Super-Best!

tv presenters 'i'll just repeat that again' is another bugbear

It’s the inconsistency in the course of a single piece which is annoying. Pick your pronoun and stick to it!

Germanshepherdsmum

It always annoys me when television presenters and journalists veer between referring to a company in the singular and plural. A company is a single entity.

Not sure I understand what you mean. A company is certainly a single entity, but the use of they as a singular pronoun in increasingly evident.

It always annoys me when television presenters and journalists veer between referring to a company in the singular and plural. A company is a single entity.

Honeysuckleberries

I hate ‘mental health’ when it’s used for someone who has problems. We all have mental health. It’s just sometimes good or bad in varying degrees.

I agree Honeysuckleberries also "I have blood pressure" we all do otherwise we would be dead.

The 'very unique' comment always grates on me as well.

I also notice when television presenters use "company" and "firm" as if they mean the same, sometimes using one then later the other, when referring to the same business entity.

Journalists often seem to try not to use the same word twice in one piece of text.

I think it is optional in British English, but I notice when "different to" is used rather than "different from".

My bugbear is the often heard 'SNP Party'

AussieNanna

StarDreamer

Then there are those with something missing.

For example, in an email:

Please find attached a PDF

what is wrong with that sentence?

or do you mean it says that when no PDF is attached?

PDF means Portable Document Format.

So it should be

Please find attached a PDF document

as PDF is the format, not the document that has been constructed in accordance with that format.

StarDreamer

Then there are those with something missing.

For example, in an email:

Please find attached a PDF

what is wrong with that sentence?

or do you mean it says that when no PDF is attached?

This may be straying off-topic, but related, is that some organisations purport that "security" is satisfied if the caller correectly states the name, address and date of birth of the person he or she is claiming to be.

Also, the utter silliness of some organisations trying to use Mother's Maiden Name as a security check.