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Pedants' corner

Little things which really annoy!

(77 Posts)
Foxygloves Wed 16-Aug-23 19:34:58

I hesitated about whether I should perhaps have put this in TV etc but I know I am being pedantic.
It’s little things like mispronunciation of place names or getting them just wrong.
Edinburgh grans may wish to correct me but in tonight’s Annika, they referred to the Walter Scott Memorial.
All my life I have known it as the Scott Monument.
No?

grandtanteJE65 Sat 19-Aug-23 12:22:44

Definitely the Scott Monument in my usage too.

What really gets my goat, re Edinburgh is Holyrood House being written as Holyroodhouse! I admittedly have only seen this on the Internet, but even so, I find it annoying.

Another moan: as a child I was taught by my paternal grandparents who both grew up in Edinburgh that Holyrood House was correct. Now television precentors, writers on the Internet etc. are using the form "The Palace of Holyrood House"

I have yet to hear the Palace of Windsor Castle- logically Holyrood cannot both be a palace and a house any more than Windsor could be both a palace and a castle!

Surely the name is Holyrood House and its function is that of the royal palace of Edinburgh.

grandtanteJE65 Sat 19-Aug-23 12:30:44

And on the subject of regional pronunciation;å: when will the English get round to saying "loch" so it ends on the ch they are perfectly capable of starting words like "church" or "chair" with instead of talking about Scottish locks?

Locks are made by locksmiths - they have no connection at all with lochs.

Wheniwasyourage Sat 19-Aug-23 12:41:36

But the 'ch' in 'loch' is not the same as the 'ch' in 'chair'!! it is like the "ch' in German words, or the 'g' in Dutch! It's in the throat. You're quite right about locks though.

biglouis Sat 19-Aug-23 12:50:14

People who have "been disappeared"

Credit/debit cards that have "become expired"

Straightaway as opposed to straight away.

Alot as opposed to a lot (this is a commun student error).

Theexwife Sat 19-Aug-23 12:52:18

Floradora9

There is a hill in Dundee called the law . The locals go mad when people call it the Law hill as law means hill . Not something that would bother me but many people find it irritating.

Naan is another example of that, it means bread therefore does not need to be called naan bread.

Germanshepherdsmum Sat 19-Aug-23 13:17:42

‘Alright’ always annoys me. I know there are different schools of thought about it but to me it should be ‘all right’.

Ditto ‘anymore’.

Grandma70s Sat 19-Aug-23 13:30:09

I agree about ‘alright’. Should be ‘all right’.

My mother didn’t like people saying Lake Windermere. Mere means lake, so why say it twice?

Elegran Sat 19-Aug-23 13:31:36

grandtanteJE65

And on the subject of regional pronunciation;å: when will the English get round to saying "loch" so it ends on the ch they are perfectly capable of starting words like "church" or "chair" with instead of talking about Scottish locks?

Locks are made by locksmiths - they have no connection at all with lochs.

But a loch is not a "lotch", with the "ch" said with the tongue pushed forward to just behind the teeth as in "church or chair", it is said with the tongue pulled well back and flattened out sideways. Try it and feel (and hear) the difference.

Sparklefizz Sat 19-Aug-23 13:34:58

"Gone extinct" instead of "become extinct" annoys me.

"Bored of" is also annoying instead of "bored with"

Georgesgran Sat 19-Aug-23 16:31:51

I’ve just bought DD2 a voucher for Miller & Carter. Beautifully presented but the logo says ‘for people that like steak’. I would always use ‘who’ for people. So, I say animals that like grass, or people who like steak.

Germanshepherdsmum Sat 19-Aug-23 16:41:11

I agree. If it’s a paper voucher and I were sending it to my son I’d correct it very obviously. He would do exactly the same.

Grandma70s Sat 19-Aug-23 16:56:22

Oopsadaisy1

Choughdancer critique is indeed a verb, it means to evaluate something, usually an essay or book. Criticise has different meaning.

Using ‘critique’ as a verb is American usage, not English. It makes me cringe!

Callistemon21 Sat 19-Aug-23 20:07:12

Elegran

grandtanteJE65

And on the subject of regional pronunciation;å: when will the English get round to saying "loch" so it ends on the ch they are perfectly capable of starting words like "church" or "chair" with instead of talking about Scottish locks?

Locks are made by locksmiths - they have no connection at all with lochs.

But a loch is not a "lotch", with the "ch" said with the tongue pushed forward to just behind the teeth as in "church or chair", it is said with the tongue pulled well back and flattened out sideways. Try it and feel (and hear) the difference.

I'm trying!

Now, does anyone want to try: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?

NotSpaghetti Sat 19-Aug-23 20:51:02

RE Credit/debit cards that have "become expired"

I agree - I hate it when they reach their "expiration date"
grin

Bella23 Sat 19-Aug-23 20:55:00

Grandma70s

I agree about ‘alright’. Should be ‘all right’.

My mother didn’t like people saying Lake Windermere. Mere means lake, so why say it twice?

You are so right. They say it for Derwentwater and others the name tells you it is a water. Thirlmere is a made-up name and as is the the reevoir itself yet people insist it is a lake. It's a reservoir like Haweswater.
Lots of names in Cumbria are miss pronounced even by locals from 20 miles away. My DH calls a village Torpenhow just as you read it it is pronounced locally as Tropenna.
The one that really gets me is calling the man in the song Ken John Peel. He is John Peel, to ken someone is to know them as in the Scots.

nanna8 Sun 20-Aug-23 08:27:31

Callistemon21

Elegran

grandtanteJE65

And on the subject of regional pronunciation;å: when will the English get round to saying "loch" so it ends on the ch they are perfectly capable of starting words like "church" or "chair" with instead of talking about Scottish locks?

Locks are made by locksmiths - they have no connection at all with lochs.

But a loch is not a "lotch", with the "ch" said with the tongue pushed forward to just behind the teeth as in "church or chair", it is said with the tongue pulled well back and flattened out sideways. Try it and feel (and hear) the difference.

I'm trying!

Now, does anyone want to try: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?

I think I’m going to learn it in honour of the great great grandma! It will give me great personal satisfaction.

Oopsadaisy1 Sun 20-Aug-23 08:44:31

But isn’t the plural of Loch pronounced as a C

Lochs? Or are people writing Locks?

Aveline Sun 20-Aug-23 10:07:49

The plural of loch is never locks. The ch sound is a voiceless velar fricative (as we say in the trade)

Elegran Sun 20-Aug-23 10:20:41

The plural of loch definitely isn't locs, locks (no keys needed to fall into them) or lotches. If you don't follow Aveline's official definition, try doing the same thing in your throat as you would if you had a bit of bread stuck there and want to shift it upwards.

Apply rather less definition and urgency than if that were true, obviously, or you could cause yourself to throw up. Practice in private before a public performance.

Aveline Sun 20-Aug-23 10:32:38

😂

MrsKen33 Sun 20-Aug-23 17:43:22

I can do that one Callistemon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

MrsKen33 Sun 20-Aug-23 17:43:57

Off of is another one that annoys.

Callistemon21 Sun 20-Aug-23 17:45:20

Elegran

The plural of loch definitely isn't locs, locks (no keys needed to fall into them) or lotches. If you don't follow Aveline's official definition, try doing the same thing in your throat as you would if you had a bit of bread stuck there and want to shift it upwards.

Apply rather less definition and urgency than if that were true, obviously, or you could cause yourself to throw up. Practice in private before a public performance.

DH just asked if I needed a thump on the back 😁

Blondiescot Sun 20-Aug-23 18:27:45

grandtanteJE65

Definitely the Scott Monument in my usage too.

What really gets my goat, re Edinburgh is Holyrood House being written as Holyroodhouse! I admittedly have only seen this on the Internet, but even so, I find it annoying.

Another moan: as a child I was taught by my paternal grandparents who both grew up in Edinburgh that Holyrood House was correct. Now television precentors, writers on the Internet etc. are using the form "The Palace of Holyrood House"

I have yet to hear the Palace of Windsor Castle- logically Holyrood cannot both be a palace and a house any more than Windsor could be both a palace and a castle!

Surely the name is Holyrood House and its function is that of the royal palace of Edinburgh.

I've never known it as anything other than the Palace of Holyroodhouse - and that's what it is referred on to the official website too.
www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse

Elegran Sun 20-Aug-23 19:17:55

Callistemon21 Clearly the public performance was a bit premature. more private rehearsal needed. Try a bit less hawking and add a light touch of gargling.