QuoteNow that's definitely evil!Originally Posted by noby
Not sure if left-handedness is genetic.An outie is just a hernia at birth.
Could happen to anyone!
The others are surely genetic?
They say that left handed people live longer so I'd say that it's the rest of us who're fukked!
Plus it's the opposite; they (we) don't live longer. It's to do with a lot of things set up for a right-handed world.
Rolling your tongue is genetic. As is liking cucumber.
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Now that's definitely evil!
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
As a language teacher, let me shed light on the subject (!!).
Choosing "in" or "on" is determined by the amount of freedom allowed to the item which is contained. A person in a car is relatively confined space-wise. A pen in a pocket is likewise confined. Also, a cup in the cupboard.
A person on a bus/train has relative freedom to move around without undue effort. A book on a table has freedom to be moved about without undue effort.
Note that we would say a book is "in a bookcase" but "on a bookshelf" as the word "case" suggests the book it totally surrounded, while the word "case" suggests that there are sides where the book is not surrounded. (in other words-in the open. Explain that!!
There are exceptions such as a person in a bus station, but this is to avoid confusion as to whether the person is inside the building or on top of the building. This confusion doesnt really exist as to whether the person is travelling in or on the car.
Last edited by osarusan; 13/09/2006 at 4:02 PM.
We came to a similar conclusion here in work.
TO TELL THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY
The ONLY foot.ie user with a type of logic named after them!
All of this has happened before. All of it will happen again.
Argue me into a corner, shut me up with a quick word or a wisecrack and book me a holiday to Mauritius. All of which she did today. God, I love that woman...Hmmmm... she sounds interesting. What else can she do?
PP
Semper in faecibus sole profundum variat
Language usage is dynamic, which is of course to be welcomed in most contexts, but just lately I have noticed a blurring of many of the rules that I thought were fixed. Either that or people just can't speak properly any more. I was on a train from London to Hull two nights ago when the train manager announced that we would be "terminating into Hull at 2206". "Terminating into"? WTF?? I nearly choked on my beer at that. "Arriving into" is also a common phrase that I hear; surely "arriving at" is the proper usage?
Am I just being pedantic for hankering after proper sentence construction or are people really losing their ability to communicate clearly?
Semper in faecibus sole profundum variat
I often hear them saying on trains here that "this is the last and final stop"!!!Language usage is dynamic, which is of course to be welcomed in most contexts, but just lately I have noticed a blurring of many of the rules that I thought were fixed. Either that or people just can't speak properly any more. I was on a train from London to Hull two nights ago when the train manager announced that we would be "terminating into Hull at 2206". "Terminating into"? WTF?? I nearly choked on my beer at that. "Arriving into" is also a common phrase that I hear; surely "arriving at" is the proper usage?
Am I just being pedantic for hankering after proper sentence construction or are people really losing their ability to communicate clearly?
TO TELL THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY
The ONLY foot.ie user with a type of logic named after them!
All of this has happened before. All of it will happen again.
There are a lot of expressions like that, just listen to George W Bush.
A few that annoy me - "very unique". Unique already means completely different, it isnt possible to be more than completely different.
A recent quote from a CNN program in Africa about a war camp - "some of the people who end up here seldom make it alive."
But even though it is not grammatical, the expression I dislike most is when somebody says "my next guest is person who needs no introduction before going on to introduce them, usually at great length.
Seriously though, there are theories that as email, and especially text messaging of the C U L8R variety become more popular, we are losing our skill at writing and expressing ourselves.
Here in Japan, basically everybody has a 携帯電話, or cell phone. As you can see, Kanji is a pretty difficult language to write. Now, with predictive text messaging, the phone basically guesses the kanji for you, so a lot of younger kids, while able to read them, are unable to write them.
It is creating quite a stir here.
First off, noby is right, us lefties live an average of 7 (!) years less than our oddball counterparts, I read only yesterday.
Secondly, and probably in sharp contrast to the above sentance, the mangling of English is a pet hate of mine too, so it is for itself.
The one that's really getting my goat at the moment, though it's not really in the same vein, is the removal of the 's' sound of the letter x in the word sixth, rendering it as 'sikth', principally by UK newsreaders but now by pretty much everybody. Listen out for it, it's been happening for a few years and is now totally endemic (that another one, osarusan?) on TV.
As if we needed anymore proof that the blahs were weirdos!
Have Boot Disk, will travel
Been in Japan for 5 years, so might have missed the "sikth" revolution.
Totally endemic...............let me get back to you!!
Another one I dislike is the use of 'literally'.
Kevin Keegan - "(that striker whose name I cant remember) literally has no left foot........(pause)......well, not literally."
People struggle with the basics like,
there, their, they're
your, you're
been, being
its, it's
quite, quiet, etc. and you want them to be more considerate when using the word "literally"?
Have Boot Disk, will travel
Surely it's basic too: do not use the word literally to emphasise or stress a metaphor.
"That band were so loud they literally blew the roof off."
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