• merc@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      Incidentally, I really hate that the UK expression for when someone is feeling sick is “poorly”.

      It’s got the “ly” ending which is one of the clear signs of an adverb, and in other contexts it is used as an adverb. But, for some reason the British have turned it into an adjective meaning sick. Sometimes they use it in a way where it can be seen as an adverb: “He’s feeling poorly”, in which case it seems to be modifying “feeling”. In the North American dialect you could substitute the adjective “sick”: “He’s feeling sick”. But, other times they say “She won’t be coming in today, she’s poorly”. What is the adverb modifying there, “is”?

        • merc@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          Why fluid, not liquid? Air is a fluid too. Is it in gaseous form?

          Also, why “washing-up”? Was “washing” not enough? Was a direction strictly necessary?

  • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    And I’m still gonna bitch about it if they’ve reduced the usefulness of a word due to habitual misuse!

  • michaelmrose@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Well. Sort of.

    Some terminology is better defined by how the relevant experts use it. It’s singular and precise definition is required for any useful dialogue. If 99% of people call a kidney a liver but doctors call it a kidney its a kidney.

    Some terminology evolves and is used differently by different groups. Sometimes the more illiterate group flattens the language by removing nuance or even entirely removing a concept from a language with no replacement. Arguably both definitions may be common usage but one is worse and using it means you are.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Some word usage just becomes so common everyone, even generational gaps understand it. If you talk to an 18 or a 65 year old and say the word blowjob, they both know what you mean, yet they aren’t out there blowing on dicks or trying to force air up urethras… Hopefully…

      • ameancow@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        yet they aren’t out there blowing on dicks or trying to force air up urethras… Hopefully…

        I see you don’t regularly read the sex forums and questions on reddit.

  • Rachelhazideas@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    For all intensive purposes, the meaning of words matters less than how we use it. Irregardless of how we decimate it’s meaning, so long as we get the point across there is no need to nip it in the butt. Most people could care less.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    “Everyone” meaning the social media someone and their social set get their info and cues from, not the rest of the people around them.

  • wowwoweowza@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    What if I told you that if everyone uses a word the “wrong” way, in slightly different ways, it’s wrong?

  • Bluewing@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Languages are living things. And living things always change. Note the Great English Vowel Change. Even the Norwegian my Grandfather spoke and that I learned from him was virtually a dead language that modern Norwegians stopped using in the 1850s. And the English spoken in the UK is different than the American English I speak. Spanish spoken in Spain isn’t the same as someone from Mexico speaks.

    And when conversing with someone, (in the language of your choice), the words you choose to use are defined by the context you use them in. Words can have multiple meanings, but it’s the context and tone clarifies those meanings. Consider all the meanings of the single word ‘fuck’.

    But problems start with written words. And many people have poor written communication skills. It can be hard to parse meaning from poorly written words because there is little context and tone that comes through with a typed sentence.

    We are all just baying at the moon like any pack. And hoping some understands us.

    • Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      Written word is a facsimile of a facsimile of what we’re actually communicating. We go from nebulous thoughts, concepts not bound by language, to sounds that roughly convey those concepts, and then to squiggly lines that roughly convey those sounds, and then back up the chain in the other person. Really, it’s a miracle we understand each other at all.

      • Bluewing@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        And I don’t want any of your shit.

        I grew up on dairy farm and it was one of my chores to shove the shit and then spread that shit nearly everyday. So I’ve had enough shit. I’m so done with that shit and the assholes it came out of. And I don’t need anyone giving me shit anymore either.

        So you just keep your shit to yourself.

    • Victor@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I can’t tell if you’re using this idiomatic expression in the wrong way on purpose for a great joke, or in an annoying, unaware way. 😅

  • zxqwas@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    English is confusing enough. For the sake of future generation I’ll correct you for using litterally like figuratively even if I’m the last person on earth that uses it correctly.