It is in the UK.
http://www.ukstudentlife.com/Travel/Transport/Taxi/TaxiCab.jpg
― jaymc, Thursday, 16 August 2007 19:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Is it something you have to specify at any point? Like, are there yellow cabs and black cabs and one's worth more or less than the other, and you have to say to someone "Hey, I think he's a black-cab driver, let's ask him for a ride"?
― Will M., Thursday, 16 August 2007 19:53 (sixteen years ago) link
"Hey, you --- you black cab-driving jerk!" = comes off racist "Hey, you --- you black cab--driving jerk!" = doesn't
― nabisco, Thursday, 16 August 2007 19:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Further confusion is added when you realise there are no* black black-cab drivers in London.
*or if there is I've yet to see one
― onimo, Thursday, 16 August 2007 19:59 (sixteen years ago) link
or if there are
― onimo, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:00 (sixteen years ago) link
they'd be black-^2-cab drivers
― nabisco, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:03 (sixteen years ago) link
Is it something you have to specify at any point?
Apparently.
― jaymc, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:11 (sixteen years ago) link
er, yes: ie to differentiate between a dude who drives a minicab and a dude who drives a black cab.
― grimly fiendish, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:19 (sixteen years ago) link
minicabs = unlicensed black cabs = licensed, have to pass an exam where everything within a certain radius is
― mark s, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:27 (sixteen years ago) link
not all black cabs are black these days
pedant.
;)
― grimly fiendish, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:37 (sixteen years ago) link
IT'S MY JOB
AND YOURS
AND MORBSES
LUCKY US
― mark s, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:42 (sixteen years ago) link
praise be! w00t, etc.
actually, i got asked in the pub last night what subeditors actually did.
"everything".
― grimly fiendish, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:59 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm glad I do "everything" in the US, since I'm not sure I like what the "sub-" prefix implies. Nor do I like your period outside the quotes, but we've been over that.
― jaymc, Thursday, 16 August 2007 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link
actually, no, you're right; shoulda been inside there.
as for the "sub" bit ... people infer all sorts of oddness. at the first (very small) place i was a staffer, i went from being a subeditor to being assistant editor.
"oh," said a relative. "so, you were ... umm, demoted?"
― grimly fiendish, Thursday, 16 August 2007 22:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Hi there. Few questions...
1. Is the word "quintessence" an absolute? I mean, is it alright to say "the most quintessential" for instance?
2. This is down to style really, but what do you prefer - If referring to oneself in, say a review, do you say I/We/You/One?
― the next grozart, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 00:25 (sixteen years ago) link
I've got a question:
long johns (the kind that keep you warm in winter)
Is this an Americanism?
― Maria :D, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 01:48 (sixteen years ago) link
maria: i don't think so, no. i'd call a pair of long johns a pair of long johns before anything else.
TNG: 1) i think it is. "most quintessential" just sounds tautological.
2) "I". i think all else looks like you once read somewhere that you shouldn't use the word "I" in a review, so you're feebly trying to avoid it ;)
― grimly fiendish, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 10:31 (sixteen years ago) link
You can't be a bit quintessential any more than you can be a bit unique or a bit pregnant: it's an absolute. It's also a cliche, but that's by the by.
Re: using first person in copy, I'm tacitly happy to use "I" in a review, but I'll pretty much always favour "we" in a feature.
― CharlieNo4, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 10:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Or a bit dead! The unique thing, man that drives me CRAZY.
― Laurel, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 11:34 (sixteen years ago) link
"Hey, you --- you black cab--driving jerk!"
Dear Efrim, this is the silliest name yet, but good work on the dash differentiation.
Thangyewverymuch, and apparently I won't be here all week, since it took me a week to reply to that and all.
(I love this thread! I'll stop ruining it now.)
― a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 12:10 (sixteen years ago) link
hahaha, the BBC News website is such shit. They do this kind of thing with a little too much frequency:
The 23-year-old is due to make her first public appearance since attending rehab at the award ceremony.
― Rock Hardy, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 18:34 (sixteen years ago) link
these data vs this data
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 21:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Webster's says that both are standard. My inclination would be to go with "this data," since "these data" is starting to sound stuffy, but I suppose there's a place for the latter if it's actually in reference to multiple, discrete pieces of information.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 21:52 (sixteen years ago) link
the AMA likes stuffy, it seems.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 21:53 (sixteen years ago) link
how about "this data translates" vs "these data translate"
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 21:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Guardian style guide says
data takes a singular verb; like agenda, strictly a plural, but no one ever uses "agendum" or "datum"
which is even more liberal than it used to be; it used to say something like "the battle over data being a plural is now lost", which at least conceded that it was once a contentious issue. And I think that scientific publications might still go the traditional route but yeah, for everyone else data is now a mass noun, so "this".
― ledge, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 21:56 (sixteen years ago) link
What do this/these data translate to? If it's a single conclusion or result or whatever, then the singular makes even more sense to me, on the logic of a one-to-one translation: X means Y.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 22:01 (sixteen years ago) link
i gen agree.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 22:03 (sixteen years ago) link
I saw "datum" in print last week and was momentarily amazed.
― nabisco, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 22:19 (sixteen years ago) link
is the word "actress" as anachronistic in 2007 as "comedienne"? It seems odd to me to see, say, Diana Rigg referred to as "an actor". Am I over-reacting?
― CharlieNo4, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 13:52 (sixteen years ago) link
Read a bit in the Grauniad where it said that "actress" still had some uses, gave the example of some not gay chap's obit where it said "he developed an interest in young actors".
― ledge, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 13:55 (sixteen years ago) link
My latest peeve word—"rationality." Uh, you mean "reason?" My BP and I have been using it as often as possible, appending even more syllables.
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 13:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Calling women "actors" seems forced to me, too, but my very good friend who is a lady actor does it, and she's a huge grammar stickler.
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 13:58 (sixteen years ago) link
A hate the way "waitress" and "waiter" are being subsumed by "server."
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 13:59 (sixteen years ago) link
xxpost, cf. v. burglarize from n. burglar from v. burgle.
― caek, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:00 (sixteen years ago) link
And "massage therapist" ascends because nobody can figure out that a "masseuse" is a gal and a "masseur" is a guy.
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:00 (sixteen years ago) link
And, I guess, v. orientate from n. orient from v. orient.
― caek, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:01 (sixteen years ago) link
And, a moment of silence for "stewardess."
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:01 (sixteen years ago) link
aksherly both burgle and burglarize come from burglar - so burgle is a back formation and arguably less correct than burglarize.
― ledge, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:02 (sixteen years ago) link
how about actorette?
― CharlieNo4, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:02 (sixteen years ago) link
My BP Oops. MR BP.
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:03 (sixteen years ago) link
Is "dominatrix" the only "-trix" that's survived (while "aviatrix," "editrix," etc., have disappeared)?
― jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:03 (sixteen years ago) link
whoa hold up, they're not the same thing! my sister is a (qualified) massage therapist, but i can tell you in no uncertain terms she is not a "masseuse" and she will kick the puny ass of anyone who calls her one! (trust me on this)
― CharlieNo4, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:04 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh, sorry. I don't want to get all those massage therapists mad at me, because the sad truth is, my ass IS puny. I love the verb "burgle." The good thing about moving toward gender-neutral job titles is that you can trot out the gender-specific ones when you want to be catty.
― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:06 (sixteen years ago) link
burglarise/ize is american isn't it? i don't remember ever having seen it in a uk publication.
― CharlieNo4, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:09 (sixteen years ago) link
When did people start saying 'in agreeance' instead of 'in agreement'? It just doesn't seem cromulent.
― moley, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link
yep. Burglarize and burgle were both coined around the same time, late 19th century. xp.
― ledge, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 14:12 (sixteen years ago) link
xpost Since 1540?
― jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 15:18 (sixteen years ago) link
I have a question on the usage of “says x”. E.g.:
Says Joe Scatterbrain, “We must fight them over there so that we don’t have to fight them over here.”
I think it looks ugly as sin, but I have encountered quite a few good writers employing it. Is it acceptable in formal writing?
― Jeb, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 16:43 (sixteen years ago) link