Posted on 08/23/2020 5:36:22 PM PDT by IrishPennant
Did you study maths?
Always sounds weird to me, but on the other hand, we don’t say, “I studied mathmatiC”, we say “mathmaticS”, so really, “maths” is, technically correct.
The English speak English. Americans speak an English dialect, American English or as I like to call it, American.
If you’ll pardon a shameless Star Trek (2NG) reference, my mirthful responses speak to the vagaries and sometimes needless nuances of the English language. In the episode “Darmok” our fearless friends encounter a race of beings whose language consists of cryptic metaphors: “Temba, his arms wide”. Our intrepid crew must find a way to communicate or face dire circumstances (as was usually the case in each episode). The clock is running!
The fate of the human race doesn’t rest upon my deciphering the gradations of meaning between “going to hospital” and “going to the hospital” and to any criticism on (of?) my deficiencies in English I blame the advent of mini skirts in junior high school (I didn’t get much done my entire sophomore year ;’}
We go toward. She goes towards.
As a language maven I thank you for this thread!
Did you consider “-ward” or “-wards” as a combining form?
Few today see any need for particular clarity in expression, but many of our expressions come from another time when such was appreciated.
See a difference in the use of “backward” and “backwards”? How about “froward” or “forward” and “forwards”? What if “toward” had a different specific meaning and application than “towards”, what might it be? I offer a suggestion with no claim of authority.
A ward is among other things a defensive position in fencing. There are many of them. I use the word guard mostly. If your attack is specific and pointed, use “toward” as a singular, if general and sweeping then use “towards” as a plural. Never expect anyone to notice you have carefully used any apropos expression.
Why say “toward” when you could just say “to”? You can kick me to the curb, or you can kick me toward the curb or even kick me towards the curb, either way it’ll hurt, and you will have done a good thing, a service to humanity.
Please forgive my awkward comments, and please know that I am only a lover of the language not the ward of it. If you are moving towards greater beauty of expression and greater love of our lovely language, then let me direct sincere admiration toward that good part of your soul.
The ‘fate of the human race’ may not be at risk; but sometimes it’s enlightening and useful to understand little nuances of languages and cultures.
I could only hope you have no reason to read the subject matter of grief and bereavement support, if you get my meaning...
But unfortunately, if you do, they're all on Amazon, B&N, Audible etc...under the author R. Glenn Kelly.
But listen, if you DO have need, let me know...and my thoughts are with you. It would be my honor to send a fellow FReeper-in-need an eBook version of any of any title...free, of course. If you want, look them over on my site - rglennkelly.com. It's a secure site. Navigate to the Legacy Healings Book Store page and FReepmail me any or all titles you might like to read....
And also thanks to you....I've learned much in your response...I take it all in like a sponge!!!!
Danke SJ...sometimes I realize why my HS Guidance Counselor recommended I persue a vocational career versus an academic....
I learned a different type of lesson when I was doing some deep dives into religious forums as part of book research - boy, I've never seen commenters go after each other so harshly for slight differences of opinions. I guess we're all warriors behind a keyboard with no brake peddle on civility!!!!
Well, I’m going after YOU, now.
I want to see ‘deep dive’, ‘impactful’, and ‘unpack’ removed from the English language - or at least see a moratorium declared on those.
(We seem to have gotten rid of ‘point in time’ and almost rid of ‘problematical’. But even worse seem to have sprouted up.
Yay! Can we go after “deconstructed” too? I hate that word, especially when used in culinary context.
You’ll have to argue with Derrida over that - I never paid much attention, except to rail against the ultimately meaningless gobbledygook of words.
(But it IS amazing how many academics, over the last couple of decades, have made a lot more money than I - and perhaps you - have ever made, by filling young brains with nonsense. Deconstruction may have some weird, narrow usefulness somewhere in the study of language and semiotics; but beyond - and perhaps even including - those, I think it will ultimately come to no good and a fool’s errand.)
I’ve never seen it used in a ‘culinary’ sense - unless, dumbed-down, it just means examining the various parts, and coming up with viable substitutions.
Cooking is actually a very practical, hands-on, down-to-Earth art; it’s not Ivory Tower, pie-in-the-sky, navel-gazing...:-)
Which now piques my desire for a good Shepherd's Pie, thank you very much!
Wait...or is that Sheperd's Pie?
Whatever floats yer boat - as long as it gets the message across.
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