Grammar Discussions

[MEL_Traveller]

Attorneys General is really weird and another that does not sound right to me.

"There are 2 Attorneys General arriving!"

Same as the plural of Governor-General - as in 'there are two former Governors-General at the event today'.

 

[medhead]

Marshall or martial?

Attorneys General is really weird and another that does not sound right to me.

"There are 2 Attorneys General arriving!"

"There are 2 Brigadier Generals arriving!"

Extremely confusing language.

They are normally called Brigadier in casual language. So it would be 2 brigadiers arriving.

 

[Hvr]

They are normally called Brigadier in casual language. So it would be 2 brigadiers arriving.

Actually we don't have Brigadier-Generals in the Australian Army, the rank is Brigadier.

 

[mhen]

My understanding is that in compound nouns like court martial and attorney general one word is the principal word and rest the modifier which provides additional information. So plurals are formed by using the plural of the principal word hence courts martial and attorneys general. Similarly brothers in law, governors general and lieutenant governors.

 

[serfty]

Boar
Bore
Boer
Boor

Or

Board
Bored
Baud
Bawd

Bored on board without any baud! Way too many similarities.

That's a list of homophones ... not really anything to do with "Grammar" ...

 

[JohnK]

That's a list of homophones ... not really anything to do with "Grammar" ...

I guess you have a point but have you seen people trying to spell them?

 

[JessicaTam]

I guess you have a point but have you seen people trying to spell them?

Certainly have. Spelling of homophones was the catalyst for this thread.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

brothers in law,

Although, (with my apologies for the current MH tragedy) isn't it "brothers in arms" rather than "brothers in arm"?

 

[anat0l]

Although, (with my apologies for the current MH tragedy) isn't it "brothers in arms" rather than "brothers in arm"?

I'd be tempted to say "brothers in arms", as that's how I would perceive it.

Could be wrong on that count...though suffice to say, "brothers in arms" is more a phrase rather than a compound word, as opposed to brother-in-law (pl. brothers-in-law).

 

[get me outta here]

I think that we have 2 arms sways things.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I think that we have 2 arms sways things.

Are combat arms related to human arms?

 

[get me outta here]

Hmm, well you know why we have armies, it's to hold our handies on.

Are combat arms related to human arms?

 

[SeatBackForward]

Hmm, well you know why we have armies, it's to hold our handies on.

Don't forget our right to bare arms and bear arms also.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Don't forget our right to bare arms and bear arms also.

To bear arms with bare arms is probably against OH&S :shock:

 

[Major]

To bear arms with bare arms is probably against OH&S :shock:

You also use your bare arms to pass out alms

 

[Warks]

Another new Weird Al video today - not so much attacking bad spelling and grammar this time but the butchery of the language we all know and love (loathe) as "corporate w@nkspeak".

[video=youtube;GyV_UG60dD4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4[/video]

Which expression do you dislike the most?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Which expression do you dislike the most?

I particularly dislike the word "contextualise". What a joke.

I also despise using language to soften a crime or criminal behaviour. Paedophile instead of child molester and shrinkage instead of plain simple theft seems to give some perverse legitimacy to things which are plain and simply wrong in our society.

 

[JessicaTam]

I didn't watch the video but I cringe at "growing a business"! You build a business, and a business grows. 'To grow' is intransitive in this context.

 

[anat0l]

I particularly dislike the word "contextualise". What a joke.

I also despise using language to soften a crime or criminal behaviour. Paedophile instead of child molester and shrinkage instead of plain simple theft seems to give some perverse legitimacy to things which are plain and simply wrong in our society.

There is a lot of corporate "W" speak out there... we use a lot of the same words in research; unlike in corporate, we like to think (and I certainly try to) we use those words as carefully as possible, not because we are trying to cover something up!

It's odd how sometimes you have to be careful in what you say and sometimes select the right words. My biggest experience of this was writing emails, of all things. Depending on who you were talking to, and what you wanted out of the exchange, you had to get the right words, the right language and the right length of text. Sometimes you use big words and sometimes you didn't. It would do your head in sometimes when you reckoned up the amount of time required just to knock up an email and a proposal.

In my opinion, W words are often conceived with better intentions, but due to their inconsistency with their practice in real life, they slowly but surely have fallen into disrepute.

"Contextualisation" wouldn't have too many uses. Might save some space on a flow diagram, but simply saying "establish context" or similar in place doesn't use too many more characters and is more descriptive.

As for the criminal behaviour thing, I don't quite get that either, although at least these days "paedophile" is already deep enough in terms of having a negative connotation - doesn't matter if you're a "paedophile" or "child molester", either way you're as good as dead to many people! To put an alternative spin on things, if someone was falsely accused as being such a person (and it has been known to happen, unfortunately), until they were to clear their name, I don't think living with either "paedophile" or "child molester" as a title will really do much for their well-being.

I've never heard of "shrinkage" in place of theft - theft is theft - pretty basic - and I'm not sure what it should be named either way or that, except perhaps the not-so-different "robbery". I believe in the Old English days, theft was bundled in with the broad range of crimes known collectively as "felonies".

 

[JessicaTam]

There is a lot of corporate "W" speak out there... we use a lot of the same words in research; unlike in corporate, we like to think (and I certainly try to) we use those words as carefully as possible, not because we are trying to cover something up!

It's odd how sometimes you have to be careful in what you say and sometimes select the right words. My biggest experience of this was writing emails, of all things. Depending on who you were talking to, and what you wanted out of the exchange, you had to get the right words, the right language and the right length of text. Sometimes you use big words and sometimes you didn't. It would do your head in sometimes when you reckoned up the amount of time required just to knock up an email and a proposal.

In my opinion, W words are often conceived with better intentions, but due to their inconsistency with their practice in real life, they slowly but surely have fallen into disrepute.

"Contextualisation" wouldn't have too many uses. Might save some space on a flow diagram, but simply saying "establish context" or similar in place doesn't use too many more characters and is more descriptive.

As for the criminal behaviour thing, I don't quite get that either, although at least these days "paedophile" is already deep enough in terms of having a negative connotation - doesn't matter if you're a "paedophile" or "child molester", either way you're as good as dead to many people! To put an alternative spin on things, if someone was falsely accused as being such a person (and it has been known to happen, unfortunately), until they were to clear their name, I don't think living with either "paedophile" or "child molester" as a title will really do much for their well-being.

I've never heard of "shrinkage" in place of theft - theft is theft - pretty basic - and I'm not sure what it should be named either way or that, except perhaps the not-so-different "robbery". I believe in the Old English days, theft was bundled in with the broad range of crimes known collectively as "felonies".

Shrinkage has actually been around for ages. As well as ullage which is breaks/spills.