When it's used after a massive great cliché I can read that as sarcasm, but it seems to be used at all points along the scale from genuine coinages through "I heard this last week, do you like it?" to all levels of cliché-dom that it doesn't seem to mean anything at all.
(like half of everything ever said, then, but it bothered me when I was younger because I wasn't sure if I might be misunderstanding it completely)
― falling while carrying an owl (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 26 March 2010 15:57 (fourteen years ago) link
xp, Zelda Zonk probably otm
if people are that defensive about their usage of cliches perhaps they shouldn't use them in the first place JUST AN IDEA
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 26 March 2010 15:57 (fourteen years ago) link
this isn't really a grammar thing
― Mr. Que, Friday, 26 March 2010 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link
what cliche are we talking about, for the record.
any cliche
but yeah i think people just basically have no idea what it means now, and i am astonished at how irritated this makes me. "to coin" is a wonderfully evocative verb!! keep your hands off if you don't know what you're doing
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 26 March 2010 15:59 (fourteen years ago) link
funny, i would almost say to coin a phrase is a cliche
― Mr. Que, Friday, 26 March 2010 16:00 (fourteen years ago) link
that's true - if one used "to coin a phrase" in its modern, TOTALLY WRONG sense, one might feel obligated to continue stupidly tacking on "to coin a phrase" in some kind of recursive, infinite spaz reflex
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 26 March 2010 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm
― Mr. Que, Friday, 26 March 2010 16:06 (fourteen years ago) link
where should I post something about when people say "I'm such an X geek!!!" or "I'm such a nerd for X!!!!" all the time wherein X is a subject of which they seemingly have only an elementary awareness/a superficial interest? it's here
― conrad, Friday, 26 March 2010 16:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Phrases you hate...
― village idiot (dog latin), Friday, 26 March 2010 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link
coldnrad
― 51ocki (k3vin k.), Friday, 26 March 2010 16:54 (fourteen years ago) link
jeez, do you know someone who's mentored is a "mentee"? I would've guessed "mentoree."
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 April 2010 16:19 (fourteen years ago) link
those seem like they are both right?
― Mr. Que, Friday, 2 April 2010 16:20 (fourteen years ago) link
yes, and also their first name is 'hugh'
― ain't no thang but a chicken ㅋ (dyao), Friday, 2 April 2010 16:21 (fourteen years ago) link
Right, cos I'm an employeree of the company I work for...
― Madchen, Friday, 2 April 2010 16:52 (fourteen years ago) link
but you're not employered by them
― ailsa, Friday, 2 April 2010 17:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Ah, bless our wonderful language. I'm not really sure why this is an argument - there is no such word as mentoree (cf. tutoree).
― Madchen, Friday, 2 April 2010 17:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Wiki says Mentee. And Wiki is always right, obviously.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentor#.22Mentee.22
― ailsa, Friday, 2 April 2010 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
You now have used the word "mentoree", therefore it exists, albeit tenuously. BTW, I have now used it, too. It burgeons apace.
(Hurrah! I legitimately squoze an "albeit" into a sentence. Time for a beer!)
― Aimless, Friday, 2 April 2010 17:24 (fourteen years ago) link
I legitimately squoze an "albeit"
how is Thailand, anyway
― STAY ALIVE USING EQUIPMENT (HI DERE), Friday, 2 April 2010 17:26 (fourteen years ago) link
I believe the correct word is "Mentos"
― Loup-Garou G (The Yellow Kid), Friday, 2 April 2010 21:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Haha WP: "The student of a mentor is called a protégé. More accurately, for the recondite, the protégé would be called the telemachus (pl. telemachuses or telemachi)."
I think that's weak-ass reconditeness though, should obv be telemakhos (pl. telemakhoi) for maximum pedantry.
― anatol_merklich, Saturday, 3 April 2010 22:16 (fourteen years ago) link
All typos are not created equal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/19/penguin-cook-book
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, 19 April 2010 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link
that is fantastic
― don't you steal my Sunstein (HI DERE), Monday, 19 April 2010 17:40 (fourteen years ago) link
and probably not as spicy as it should be.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, 19 April 2010 18:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Can I get some suggestions for writing 'rock n roll' and its derivatives? (Rock and Roll feels pompous and unwieldy).
Rock'n'roll and thus r'n'r, is what I'm going for at the moment (no spaces, no caps). Rock 'n' roll looks stilted to my eye, even worse when it becomes r 'n' r.
Any takers for R'n'R, which presumably entails Rock'n'Roll? Dispense with the apostrophes entirely? That looks odd in abbreviation tho, I think.
God, I know it's a totally trivial thing, but it's really making my fingers itch.
― Remember me, but o! forget my feet (GamalielRatsey), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:13 (fourteen years ago) link
rock and roll
― conrad, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:16 (fourteen years ago) link
^ agreed
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:20 (fourteen years ago) link
in lowercase
Rock&Roll
― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:22 (fourteen years ago) link
Rock And Roll
Rock/Roll
Rocandrol.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:23 (fourteen years ago) link
The 'n' is part of the whole rock 'n' roll icongraphy. 'Rock and roll' might be at home in a textbook but not emblazoned on the back of a leather jacket.
― the big pink suede panda bear hurts (ledge), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:24 (fourteen years ago) link
rock-n-roll
― just darraghmac tbh (darraghmac), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Yep, ledge, that was my feeling as well.
I like the look of lower case rock and roll as relatively unobtrusive though.
There's a couple of added problems, I'm quoting a magazine article which has it as 'rock'n'roll'. Do I silently change that or just as silently ignore it when using the same phrase? I'm then quoting someone (recorded voice) who says 'rnr' and am not sure which way to do it.
Fuck it, knew I shd've been a popist. A phial of rocandrol looking v appealing at this point.
― Remember me, but o! forget my feet (GamalielRatsey), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:29 (fourteen years ago) link
You interviewed someone who said "R and R" meaning rock and roll?? Jesus, who says this? "R & R" means "rest and relaxation". This person is a freako.
If it were me I would change any quoted text from another publication to house style. But I guess that depends on, er, house style.
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:32 (fourteen years ago) link
'I still believe in the r'n'r dream, r'n'r as primal scream' is the actual quote, which will probably set off alarm bells for some. (For the others it's from 1978's Live at the Witch Trials by The Fall).
But yes, you're right about changing it to 'house' style, which in this case happens to be whichever style I want it to be.
― Remember me, but o! forget my feet (GamalielRatsey), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:43 (fourteen years ago) link
Style guidehttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uB-0D-gV8mY/SduQwobgGxI/AAAAAAAAUo0/2cvmNcYXLa0/s400/ramones.jpg
therefore: ROCK N' ROLL
(see also Guns n' Roses, but not Sweet 'N Low)
― broad layering (onimo), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 14:52 (fourteen years ago) link
Our style guide says rock'n'roll cf drum'n'bass (cf fish'n'chips).
-----------------------
Question: "There are less than two weeks to consider the policies, arguments and past performance of all the parties across the country and MPs in your constituency.
There is less than two weeks? There are fewer than two weeks? it's making my head hurt.
― Background Zombie (CharlieNo4), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 09:41 (fourteen years ago) link
"There's less than two weeks" is probably more correct actually, as in "There's plenty more where that came from" ?
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 09:48 (fourteen years ago) link
i.e. "There is" is describing a singular situation - the fact that fewer than 14 days remain until the election, not the 14 days (or two weeks) themselves
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 09:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Right. Actually, I think "We have less than two weeks... ... our constituencies" sidesteps the issue neatly! Ta.
― Background Zombie (CharlieNo4), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 09:54 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah perfect.
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 09:59 (fourteen years ago) link
My God, Merriam-Webster accepts "transition" as a verb.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transition
We've lost.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 14:03 (fourteen years ago) link
Wasn't aware that "transition"-as-verb was contentious in the way that "impact"-as-verb is.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 14:05 (fourteen years ago) link
hahah yeah it's a v. popular verb in my place of employment. i'm actually in the process of transitioning some projects right now.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 14:05 (fourteen years ago) link
hmm I would have written "there are less than two weeks left" or "less than two weeks are left"?
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 14:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah... "There's plenty more where that came from" would seem to work with a continuous substance e.g. paint, but say for apples, I would probably have said "there are plenty more..." and therefore "there are less than two weeks left".
― Not the real Village People, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:02 (fourteen years ago) link
but weeks are countable so you have to saw "fewer", yet saying "fewer" sounds arseholey
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:04 (fourteen years ago) link
hahah yeah it's a v. popular verb in my place of employment.
No no, I'm saying that I wasn't aware that people were *bothered* by "transition" as a verb, whereas I'm fully aware that "impact" as a verb raises a lot of hackles.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link