(English) Pet peeves

[aam1234]

Mine are:

Than & Then. Just hate it when people mix-up the two.

What's yours.

[CyberDyneSystems]

American-ised English like "forty" "defense" "theater" "center" .... the last of the two don't even work as a root any more... they are so butchered.

[thomascanty]

I used to edit an e-zine so I have a lot. It really bugs me when I catch myself using the wrong word, and that happens more often than I care to admit.

[Scottes]

A large part of the English language drives me crazy.

Don't get me started.

[aam1234]

I bet Scottes will have a blast with this thread. Just watch :D

[aam1234]

WOOW. You said that as I was typing!

[Scottes]

I bet Scottes will have a blast with this thread. Just watch

:-)
I'm being good.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Don't go getting all Theatrical on us...

Plus you need to watch your blood pressure as you approach fourty

[Scottes]

Approach Fourty? That went by a while ago.

(OK, a few months...)

[Scottes]

You know, "forty" really does tick me off. It's stupid what they did to that poor word.

And speaking of numbers, who the heck did we get words like "first" and "second" out of "one" and "two" anyway? Granted, "oneth" would be a stupid word, and "twoth" would just add another silly homonym to the ones we have already. At least they wouldn't be "onerd" and "tword" like that ridiculousness with "third".

Thinking about numbers always makes me think of measurements, which makes me think about the fact that there are 12 inches in a foot. But English measurements are a whole 'nuther thread so don't get me started.

So these number suffixes are bad enough, but at least they aren't as bad as all the ridiculous prefixes we have. (Or should that be prefices?) Especially the ones that basically mean the same thing, like un- and non-. Take a box. Try to pick it up. If you can pick up that box could be described as "pickupable" right? You are able to pickup the box. Pickupable. But what if that box were too heavy, or simply too large to get your arms around? Well, would the box be unpickupable or nonpickupable? Or hell, how about impickupable, which would really mean the same thing at pickupable given our history with imflammable, right?

What, you don't like it? TOUGH!

Tough - what the heck's up with this crap? How does "ough" sound like "uf" ? Although it doesn't always sound that way. Words like this make the language tough to use, even though they shouldn't. I cough because my throat is rough. I bought the dough although it was tough. I thought I was thorough, but not thorough enough. Enough already!

I knew a new gnu that you knew as a ewe.
They're there for their beards, but I hear they're here for their hair.



Oooooooooooo.............

[PacAce]

You know, I can find "defence" in an American dictionary and in an Oxford dictionary but nowhere can I find the word "fourty". Are you sure someone didn't make this up? ???

[PacAce]

Mine are:

Than & Then. Just hate it when people mix-up the two.

What's yours.

"too" and "two", too.

But, in all fairness, some of the "misspellings" can also be attributed to the fingers getting ahead of the brain and typing whatever instead of what the brain really wanted. I've do that all the time and only catch myself when I'm proof-reading my post before hitting the submit button.

[aam1234]

Leo, we all mis-spell and think faster than typing. But "too" and "to" are not one of those.

[HJMinard]

"Seen" when they should be saying "saw". These might be local problems, but I'm also irritated by people added a "t" or "ed" to across (e.g., acrosst the street) or add an "s" to a corporate name (e.g., Fords for Ford Motor Company or Meijers instead of Meijer).

Scottes ... you're doing an old Gallagher bit ...

[Scottes]

Scottes ... you're doing an old Gallagher bit ...

Sorry. All original.

[HJMinard]

Sorry. All original.

He did something similar ... using bomb, comb, tomb, etc. :)

[wintoid]

It's its! That drives me round the twist.

Funniest one is the french word voila, which is usually spelled viola (a musical instrument), or even *shudders* wallah!

[aam1234]

Another one, and it's rampant in DPR.

One would say "let me show you a couple of pics" and he shows 3-4 photos!! I thought a "couple" means two? or am I wrong.

[aam1234]

Ha ha. "wallah" is the grand dady of them all :D

[CyberDyneSystems]

He's "Forty" ?

Does that mean he is as strong as Fort Knox?

"Theater" (pronounced by most yokels as "theeeter") gets me the most.. having worked in it most of my adult life.

Inflammable and indestructable and inpenetrable... yep.. that all makes sense... but at least we were not scared to maintain the "ble" at the end... in this day and age it's a wonder they haven't all been re-written as inflammabel, indestructabel, and inpenetrabel ... :lol:

[CyberDyneSystems]

Another one, and it's rampant in DPR.

One would say "let me show you a couple of pics" and he shows 3-4 photos!! I thought a "couple" means two? or am I wrong.

Thare are more words for two than is acceptable...

Couple, as you point out, Pair,. Brace, Twin, (like Brace.. implies a near identical "Pair") Dual,.. etc...

[samdring]

Inflammable....

...meaning flammable!

[neil_r]

I have a problem when people are just plain lazy with their English.

The misuse of apostrophes, the total disregard of colons and semi colons and the creeping influence of txt spk , if u no what I mean (c me l8tr if u don’t)

But one word that really annoys me is “gotten” having said that, I guess it is not English, it is an example of the new language that is currently being promulgated around the world by Mr Bill Gates “English American”

Pip pip

N

[aam1234]

The misuse of apostrophes, the total disregard of colons and semi colons

Neil nailed it :D

[Jemmind]

I have a problem when people are just plain lazy with their English.

The misuse of apostrophes, the total disregard of colons and semi colons and the creeping influence of txt spk , if u no what I mean (c me l8tr if u don’t)

N

Or just because we're online does it mean we totally disregard punctuation altogether?
I hate it when people don't use periods at the ends of sentences.
Definition of a period:
# A punctuation mark ( . ) indicating a full stop, placed at the end of declarative sentences and other statements thought to be complete, and after many abbreviations.
When people don't use periods it makes me think of a deranged person who is just rambling on, one that doesn't finish a thought before saying the next one!
Julie

[aam1234]

When people don't use periods it makes me think of a deranged person who is just rambling on, one that doesn't finish a thought before saying the next one!Julie

Not only that, but a lazy deranged one too.

Or when they don't put space after a comma or period.Like this one :evil:

[dispatchermike21]

Try to explane "pretty ugly" or "awfuly good" to someone learning english

[KennyG]

rant mode

My absolute pet hate, and I would like all US members to apologise to the rest of the English speaking world for creating it is - "My bad".

My bad what? Bad breath, bad English, just exactly what does this bastardisation of the English language mean? I'll forgive poor punctuation, even incorrect spelling of common words, but to leave a sentence hanging in the air with "My bad" just plain annoys me.

/rant off

[Scottes]

Along the same lines, "Have you ever been?" as in "I was just in Hollywood! Have you ever been?"

[PacAce]

How about LABOR instead of LABOUR or COLOR instead of COLOUR? ???

But wait a minute. Let's really check this out.

labour
chiefly British variant of LABOR


labor
Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French labur, from Latin labor; perhaps akin to Latin labare to totter, labi to slip



colour
chiefly British variant of COLOR


color
Etymology:Middle English colour, from Anglo-French, from Latin color; akin to Latin celare to conceal

So, I guess in this case the Americans can take credit for fixing something that was broken ages ago, huh? :confused:

:wink: :mrgreen: :lol:

[defordphoto]

Effect and Affect. When the heck to use them? :lol:

[dispatchermike21]

To what effect do you want to use them to affeck something. :confused:

[PacAce]

Effect and Affect. When the heck to use them? :lol:

The misuse these words is really does affect a lot of people, doesn't it, and often to the effect of driving some really crazy? :mrgreen: :lol:

[defordphoto]

To what effect do you want to use them to affeck something. :confused:

You must be talking about Ben Affleck maybe?

[defordphoto]

There and Their: (Sorry CDS ;) )

Er... Im not sure it is a good idea to take someone elses work and host it on your server without there permission FIRST. :(

Some apostrophe stuff going on there too. ;)

[aam1234]

Man, there are classics here: like Leo's "to, too, and two"

Or there, their.

[aam1234]

CDS? CDS is a misspelling of SDC :D

[RockOne]

Sight and site

[defordphoto]

ALL the "ough" words.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Opps,. typed that wrong did I

My Bad

But it happens to all of us
Havent you ever been typing to fast to put in an apostrophe

:lol:

[aam1234]

Heard a lot of people complaining about "my bad". Don't quite understand what's wrong with it. Find it "kindda" hip.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I've honestly never said it before in my life.. 'till today ;) :lol:

[PacAce]

Opps,. typed that wrong <no comma> did I <no punctuation mark>

My Bad<and no punctuation mark>

But it happens to all of us<no punctuation mark>
Havent<no apostrophe> you ever been typing to fast to put in an apostrophe<no punctuation mark>

:lol:

My, my, my. I think someone is going to get that lightning bolt from RockOne's avatar and throw it at you, CDS. :lol:

[charlesu]

"Your" all wrong!! You're all right? That one drives me nuts.

"it's" meaning "it is" being confused with "its" meaning possession.

Can you "except" my examples?

[aam1234]

"Your" all wrong!! You're all right? That one drives me nuts.

Damn, been trying to come up with that one but couldn't remember it. But it doesn't beat "than" and 'then". My car is faster "then" your car :mad:

[JAZZ D.P.G.]

Threw and through are a good pair of wixed up mords.

Wanted to add my two cents, too.

Colour and labour are good ones for me too, I always use the English spelling and it never passes spell-check.

Aside to Pekka: Can we add spell check to the post script? Would help!

Language is fun, sometimes.

[Moppie]

Ahhhh, it's (as in it is) nice (not the french town) to be able to read a forum and feel young again. :p

The english language is in a constant state of change, always has been and always will be.
Its a bastard language by nature, and part of its power is its ablity to accept new words and new gramatical forums while shedding or replacing older ones.

[defordphoto]

Opps,. typed that wrong did I

My Bad

But it happens to all of us
Havent you ever been typing to fast to put in an apostrophe

:lol:

Nope. Ive never had that prob.

[neil_r]

Havent you ever been typing to fast to put in an apostrophe:lol:
That is a bit like talking too fast to breathe :confused:

N

[marie]

I have a problem when people are just plain lazy with their English.

The misuse of apostrophes, the total disregard of colons and semi colons and the creeping influence of txt spk , if u no what I mean (c me l8tr if u don’t)

But one word that really annoys me is “gotten” having said that, I guess it is not English, it is an example of the new language that is currently being promulgated around the world by Mr Bill Gates “English American”

Pip pip

N
wot's pip pip en ? ( I mean kneel) ?

http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

[Sicily1918]

Complete lack of punctuations (I believe this was mentioned).

How about failing to capitalize proper nouns (e.g., "English")?

The frequent and incorrect uses of i.e. and e.g..

My favorite: TYPING WITH THE CAPS-LOCK KEY DOWN.

[Cadwell]

My pet peeve would be grumpy old men moaning about spelling, punctuation and grammar. :p

[Ikinaa]

I think it's always the problem with your native language : You english-speaking folks are sometimes making errors where I (English is only my fourth language...) ask myself : 'How can one make this error'? Like the ones mentioned before : its and it's or then and than. I find it rather easy to not make this error.

On the other hand, I noticed that the french make a lot of errors writing their language. The french language has these special letter-configurations : 'éàèçù' but the french often leave these add-ons to the letters out. I think it's funny reading french written by french people... Now I don't know about french-canadian (or are they canadian-french) I just know they have some funny words in their french and a funny accent when speaking french (sorry... no offense...)

When I read german in some forums or even in online magazines, they also make errors, but they have an excuse, they had an orthographic and grammar change some years ago and still can't decide which they like better, the actual or the previous.

My native tongue is more difficult, we have a lot of special signs (the sum of the french and german special signs in fact), grammar is rather difficult and orthography too... That's probably the reason why everyone writes like he speaks, which is funny too.

[dewmuw]

This may (might:) ) only be appropriate to my region, the North West, but it is pronounciation that drives me to distraction. For example:

chimley - chimney
lickle - little
pacific - specific
hospical - hospital

My 4 year old son is currently learning to read and it does highlight the, sometimes, bizarre nature of the language. We had trouble with blue, too, two and threw recently.

As much as I hated studying Latin when I was at school it did provide some basic foundations for the proper rules of grammar.

Docus in se semper devitias habet

[ssim]

lens vs lense

Main Entry: lens
Variant: also lense /'lenz/
Function: noun
1 : a curved piece of glass or plastic used singly or combined in eyeglasses or an optical instrument (as a microscope) for forming an image
2 : a device for directing or focusing radiation other than light (as sound waves, radio microwaves, or electrons)
3 : a highly transparent biconvex lens-shaped or nearly spherical body in the eye that focuses light rays entering the eye typically onto the retina, lies immediately behind the pupil, is made up of slender curved rod-shaped ectodermal cells in concentric lamellae surrounded by a tenuous mesoblastic capsule, and alters its focal length by becoming more or less spherical in response to the action of the ciliary muscle on a peripheral suspensory ligament —lensed adjective —lens·less adjective

[Claire]

Hm, I'm sure I could come up with tons of things for this thread, but for now I think of "too" and "to" along with "off" and "of". "It's" and "its" are classics. Mainly I get mad at the fact that you spell words one way and pronounce them differently. It took me ages to learn the pronounciation of "Leicester" and similar.

Oh, and I what really gets me is that Swedish kids nowadays spell and speak English better than their own language!I'm substitute teaching nowadays and sometimes I want to yell "you're not supposed to write/spell the way you speak, or the way you write on MSN!!!" I've seen essays where they skip words, spell them like you'd do in a chatroom, and also interspersed with English here and there. Let's not forget all the text message variations either...

[JZaun]

My pet peeve is never writen. Its only spoken. I am not aware of anyone other than us Americans that cannot speak with out saying , "and ah", "Ahhhh", "uhm" or "like" after every other aahhh word and ahhhh like its not real and ahhhh you can only like hear it here uhm and on ahhhhhh every newscast and ahhhhh speach at like any public meeting, uhmmm maybe we like just studder like all the ahhhh time.


JZ

[smudge]

Language evolves, as does society. Otherwise we would all be thee- ing and thou- ing and asking "where for art thou...' and " from whence hast thou come fair maiden " So with that in mind, imagine the future when our childrens children are trying to correct people in the prper wy 2 typ, n e 1 cn typ if they jst concn tr8.

[ssim]

Being Canadian has a uniqueness eh!

eh interj.
Used in asking a question or in seeking repetition or confirmation of a statement.
Chiefly Canadian. Used to ascertain or reinforce a listener's interest or agreement.

[Scottes]

OK, I guess a couple of my other pet peeves are the large number of words that have very slightly different meanings. Of course I can't think of any right now...

But there are just too many words in the language. Many are superfluous, like superfluous. Why not just say "unnecessary" and get rid of "superfluous" altogether?

And there are tons of words that are just not needed at all, IMHO, like "the" - come on, is "the" really necessary? "Look at the cat" versus "look at cat" - is there any doubt that we're supposed to lay our eyes across a feline, and that's there's only one of them? (Not "look at gray cat" thus implying more than one...)

I read a book several years ago, a sci-fi novel, that was written in "fast speak" or "speedtalk" or something. It took 5 or 10 pages to get used to it, but once you did you were ingesting information at twice the normal reading rate.

650,000+ words is too much. There's really no reason to have more than a couple hundred thousand. And even then most of them could be trimmed.

[KennyG]

We Brits have lots of extra bits in our words - programme and colour spring to mind. Why were the extra letters lost? They were there when the pilgims left our shores. Did they fall overboard mid-Atlantic?

[dewmuw]

OK, I guess a couple of my other pet peeves are the large number of words that have very slightly different meanings. Of course I can't think of any right now...

But there are just too many words in the language. Many are superfluous, like superfluous. Why not just say "unnecessary" and get rid of "superfluous" altogether?

And there are tons of words that are just not needed at all, IMHO, like "the" - come on, is "the" really necessary? "Look at the cat" versus "look at cat" - is there any doubt that we're supposed to lay our eyes across a feline, and that's there's only one of them? (Not "look at gray cat" thus implying more than one...)

I read a book several years ago, a sci-fi novel, that was written in "fast speak" or "speedtalk" or something. It took 5 or 10 pages to get used to it, but once you did you were ingesting information at twice the normal reading rate.

650,000+ words is too much. There's really no reason to have more than a couple hundred thousand. And even then most of them could be trimmed.
I enjoyed the perspicacity of your arguement. But would question the veracity of such a suggestion. Do you really believe that a world denuded of words would in any way be ameliorated? The fecundity of the English language is to be celebrated rather than decried.
Speedtalk translation – No way mate.

[Longwatcher]

Not exactly a pet peeve, but it was something that made me think.
a few years back I was working with the Japanese military and closely working with one of their liasons and he asked me
Which is the higher form "I apreciate it" or "Thank You". It was actually important to him, although for me I used both words depending on the circumstances and had never thought about it before.
My answer was something along the lines of
1. Thank You, I appreciate it (add "really" if will be expecting a favor back)
2. Thank You
3. I Appreciate it
4. Thanks

I thought it was interesting as it made me think not only about the language, but the culture behind it. I will always argue that language both effects and is affected by the culture. English is an outstanding technical language, I think it is one of the best in the world since its form is more like a math formula and less context driven then a lot of other languages. But then I have enough trouble with English and despite a year of french, year of German, two years of Spanish and three of Latin, with a smattering of Japanese written; I still am only good at English (although I can understand most written forms of european Latin derivitaves most of the time.)

Otherwise everyone has caught all my pet annoyances with the English Language.

[PacAce]

We Brits have lots of extra bits in our words - programme and colour spring to mind. Why were the extra letters lost? They were there when the pilgims left our shores. Did they fall overboard mid-Atlantic?

You must have missed this one, Kenny: :mrgreen:

How about LABOR instead of LABOUR or COLOR instead of COLOUR? ???

But wait a minute. Let's really check this out.

labour
chiefly British variant of LABOR


labor
Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French labur, from Latin labor; perhaps akin to Latin labare to totter, labi to slip



colour
chiefly British variant of COLOR


color
Etymology:Middle English colour, from Anglo-French, from Latin color; akin to Latin celare to conceal

So, I guess in this case the Americans can take credit for fixing something that was broken ages ago, huh? :confused:

:wink: :mrgreen: :lol:

[PacAce]

I enjoyed the perspicacity of your arguement. But would question the veracity of such a suggestion. Do you really believe that a world denuded of words would in any way be ameliorated? The fecundity of the English language is to be celebrated rather than decried.
Speedtalk translation – No way mate.


Ummm, say wa? <<==Another expression originated in the US, I presume :lol:

[NJDrew]

Double negatives, "I don't want nothing." :mad:

[roanjohn]

YO!!! - to acknowledge. As in "YO!! WHATSSUP??!!!"
AITE!! - alright.
PHAT!!! - pronounced FAT!!! but means GREAT!!!
KICKING!!! - strong........As in "YO!! Your breath be mad kickin!!!" (you have very bad breath!!).
MAD - replaces "VERY"...........As in "THats MAD COOL!!!"......(thats very cool!!!).

...............and there's KEWL, DAWG, CHILZZ, WORD UP!! or just WORD (meaning, I see what you mean......."

Teenage talk............its so addictive!!! And very unprofessional!!!

Ro1

[defordphoto]

Jewlary (Jewelry) Quite often heard in professional Jewely commercials

Libary (Library)

Basketti (Spaghetti)

Aks or Akst (Ask, Asked)

Febuary (February)

Warsh (Wash)

Warshington (Washington)

Or-ee-gone (Oregon; Phonetic: Oragun)

[roanjohn]

"Hows about if we..........."
"What say you if I............"

And my personal favorite..

"As a person, I think........." like what other things can you be??!!?? "As a cat??" or "As a table??!!!??".............

There's too many to mention!!!

Ro1

[Bodryn]

I hope all youse guys are patient with usuns. I was borned in northern Minnesota but listened to CBW Manitoba (Winnipeg) and had a knock-down drag-out argument with my first grade teacher about how to pronounce "schedule". She won da argument. We also had a Canadian edition of the Book of Knowledge encyclopedia, 20 volumes, and so I had to relearn how to spell a bunch of wordz, like colour, honour, etc, etc. Never ben da same cents. :(

(I am not under the anfluence of inkohol, regardless of what thinkle might peep.)

[thomascanty]

My step-dad used to tell people he worked at a pharmistry until my mom finally corrected him and made him stop. I don't know where he got that one from.

[defordphoto]

My step-dad used to tell people he worked at a pharmistry until my mom finally corrected him and made him stop. I don't know where he got that one from.

College.

:)

[stoneylonesome]

The book that I read is red, and is now ready for you to read. :lol: :lol:

Hey I'm in engineering, we're not supposed to be good at this anyway. :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

[FlyingPete]

Worsened. I hate that word, when did it get invented.

Also how about these double bangers:
minute (size or time)
desert (pudding on sand)
tear (rip or cry)
subject
live
resort...

[thomascanty]

desert (pudding or sand)

If it's pudding, it has two esses. "dessert"

[FlyingPete]

If it's pudding, it has two esses. "dessert"

:oops:
How about sand and to leave?

[imanewbie]

Here's a question I've never been able to figure out...


When is it 'who' and when is it 'whom'?

And while we're at it, does anyone know when we're supposed to use 'lie', 'lay', 'laid', etc?

[Moppie]

It was lie, I did not get laid while I had a lay down on the couch.

Who was I lieing about? Well, whom does it concern?

[Bodryn]

We were on the lookout for a lookout so we could look out upon the canyon. Let me warn you though, if you find that lookout, you better look out!

We had made advance reservations but we learned we would be staying on a reservation and so we had reservations. We reserved judgment though and found our fears were unfounded.

After returning from our drive along the parkway, we parked in the driveway.

[NickC]

We Brits have lots of extra bits in our words - programme and colour spring to mind. Why were the extra letters lost? They were there when the pilgims left our shores. Did they fall overboard mid-Atlantic?

Part of the reason for words getting shortened over the years is the publishing industry. In the grand scheme of things it would save money to drop letters here and there when you are paying typesetters to either keystroke or pull lead type slugs out of the racks. This is the origin of the terms "upper case" and "lower case" -- the "case" being a boxful of type as single letters, there being two racks of cases of type, one higher than the other, or the "upper" case. Er, I digress.

Perhaps common language usage of shortening words also helped it along.

Anyway, time is money so the fewer letters, the better. That is, if you can get away with it (or would that be, "if with it you can get away"? ;).

Yes, I was a journalism student in college, back in the seventies. We learnt this stuf. ;)

[slejhamer]

Supposably. Supposably? Supposably!



:rolleyes:

[Pekka]

Here's a question I've never been able to figure out...


When is it 'who' and when is it 'whom'?

http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/w/who-whom.html

- Whom did you gave your L?
- I gave my L to John
- to whom? John who?

[stoneylonesome]

Irregardless instead of regardless. Talk about adding extra letters when you don't need to. :lol: :lol:

[sdommin]

This is one that I just can't figure out, and I'd like some of my British friends to explain:

(Brits) "Canon are making a profit this year".

(U.S.) "Canon is making a profit this year".

I thought that the subject (Canon, a singular company) had to match the tense of "is", but I always see British publications use the word "are" in cases like this.

[Scottes]

We've still got some of those depending on the word - words like group or team or data.

[cmM]

just like ssim mentioned, the most commonly misspelled word on this forum is "lens" (spelled as "lense").
It bothers me when I see it (I just changed my signature this morning.... :))

As for teen talk...I hear it all the time, but try not to use it as much as possible.

You must have forgotten the newest synonym of "yo"; it's "b". Yes, "b" is a word LOL; as in: "What's up b?"

[PacAce]

just like ssim mentioned, the most commonly misspelled word on this forum is "lens" (spelled as "lense").
It bothers me when I see it (I just changed my signature this morning.... :))

As for teen talk...I hear it all the time, but try not to use it as much as possible.

You must have forgotten the newest synonym of "yo"; it's "b". Yes, "b" is a word LOL; as in: "What's up b?"

And speaking of your signature, not exactly English but along the same lines, BOKEH was derived from Japanese, right? The Japanese word is BOKE (two syllables). So what's with the H prefixed to the end of it? Someone decided to add that H there because too many people were mispronouncing the word, as a one syllable word instead of two. Ironically, the H just made the mispronunciation worse with people stetching out the last syllable instead of cutting it short like it's supposed to be. :mrgreen:

But, as someone pointed out earlier, words will get used and misused and if enough people say it or use it often enough, the word will become part of the vernacular and eventually become part of the language. :confused:

[marie]

just like ssim mentioned, the most commonly misspelled word on this forum is "lens" (spelled as "lense").
It bothers me when I see it (I just changed my signature this morning.... http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)



not too sure if you are saying lens or lense is correct Chris
but think you mean 'lens' ( is the correct version)


in collin's dictionary it's spelt lens
we were always taught (and thought http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif ) it to be 'lens'

lens : a piece of glass or other transparent material with a curved surface or surfaces used to bring together or spread rays of light passing through it
used in cameras, telescopes and spectacles

there is no mention of the word lense in any of my dictionaries and when I see it on the forum I wonder is it spelt that way in the states and elsewherehttp://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_confused.gif


edit .. few minutes later

just saw Sheldon's reply on page three (I think)

sorry
saw you mentioned him
but didn't realise he had said the same thing (almost)

[Jon]

new-ku-lar and eye-rak.

OTOH, anything other than Bahs-tun sounds wrong . . .

[Scottes]

"Bahs-tun" ? You mean Boston?

Pronounced "BAWE-stin" - at least by me, but I don't have much of a Boston accent. :wink:

[Jon]

That's the place, but my fohmativ yeahs weh in Mayun and Rhoe Deylin.

[cmM]

And speaking of your signature, not exactly English but along the same lines, BOKEH was derived from Japanese, right? The Japanese word is BOKE (two syllables). So what's with the H prefixed to the end of it? Someone decided to add that H there because too many people were mispronouncing the word, as a one syllable word instead of two. Ironically, the H just made the mispronunciation worse with people stetching out the last syllable instead of cutting it short like it's supposed to be. :mrgreen:

Actually, the english word is "bokeh", according to the dictionary (and "h" is a suffix by the way :-P). It is derived from Japanese though.
My signature, however reffers to another (Japanese) meaning of the word bokeh, as someone pointed out in a thread here not long ago, a meaning not related to photography.

But I was reffering to my previous signature, which was about the word "lens".

[cmM]

not too sure if you are saying lens or lense is correct Chris
but think you mean 'lens' ( is the correct version)


in collin's dictionary it's spelt lens
we were always taught (and thought http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif ) it to be 'lens'

lens : a piece of glass or other transparent material with a curved surface or surfaces used to bring together or spread rays of light passing through it
used in cameras, telescopes and spectacles

there is no mention of the word lense in any of my dictionaries and when I see it on the forum I wonder is it spelt that way in the states and elsewherehttp://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_confused.gif


edit .. few minutes later

just saw Sheldon's reply on page three (I think)

sorry
saw you mentioned him
but didn't realise he had said the same thing (almost)
Yes, "lens" is correct (that's what I was implying). A very large group of people on here spell it "lense" though, which is wrong.

[stoneylonesome]

Yes, "lens" is correct (that's what I was implying). A very large group of people on here spell it "lense" though, which is wrong.

I think the confusion comes in when they try to make it plural as in lenses
can't have the double ss :lol: :lol:

[JZaun]

You would think a photo store as big as B&H would get it right :)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=FetchChildren&Q=&ci=9823

JZ

[PacAce]

Actually, the english word is "bokeh", according to the dictionary (and "h" is a suffix by the way :-P). It is derived from Japanese though.
My signature, however reffers to another (Japanese) meaning of the word bokeh, as someone pointed out in a thread here not long ago, a meaning not related to photography.

But I was reffering to my previous signature, which was about the word "lens".

Doh! Suffix. Of course, i knew that. But my brain was trying too hard not to mess it up and while the brain was going "prefix, suffix, prefix,suffix...", my fingers were going, "Ah, I'll pick one if you can't decide. I'll take the first one." :confused:

And sorry, I wasn't targetting you with that thing about the BOKEH. It just reminded me about it.

And, yes, the English word is "BOKEH", but only because a few English speaking people decided to make it so. :) But I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, the Japanese did the same with English, such as PASACON for Personal Computer and WAPURO for Word Processor. :rolleyes: Now that's more than bastardization. That's outright word mutilation. :mrgreen: :lol:

[PacAce]

You would think a photo store as big as B&H would get it right :)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=FetchChildren&Q=&ci=9823

JZ

What am I missing? I looked twice but can't see anything the matter with the page. Let me take another look at it.

[JZaun]

What am I missing? I looked twice but can't see anything the matter with the page. Let me take another look at it.


LOL :)


"Digital Camera Lenses & Accessories"

JZ

[PacAce]

LOL :)


"Digital Camera Lenses & Accessories"

JZ

I must really be BOKEH today because I still don't get it. ???

[cmM]

I must really be BOKEH today because I still don't get it. ???

ROFLMAO!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
I've been bokeh for a week. But I don't see anything wrong with that either.

[CyberDyneSystems]

This is one that I just can't figure out, and I'd like some of my British friends to explain:

(Brits) "Canon are making a profit this year".

(U.S.) "Canon is making a profit this year".

I thought that the subject (Canon, a singular company) had to match the tense of "is", but I always see British publications use the word "are" in cases like this.


It can be either,. and it depends on the users interpretation or intention of the proper name Canon,...

We can think of it as a singular entitiy,. ie: the large corporation...

But we can also think of it as the group or conglomerate that makes up the company,.. I mean "Canon" is not a single individual.. it is tens of thousands at least.

[JZaun]

ROFLMAO!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
I've been bokeh for a week. But I don't see anything wrong with that either.


Ok, I am nuts! Now I can see the "S" in "lenses" I couldn't see it for some reason before but now can.All I could see was lense! Must be me reading too much or just getting %$# old :)

JZ

[belmondo]

Jerry:

Maybe you need a new lense in your bifocals. :lol:

[PacAce]

It can be either,. and it depends on the users interpretation or intention of the proper name Canon,...

We can think of it as a singular entitiy,. ie: the large corporation...

But we can also think of it as the group or conglomerate that makes up the company,.. I mean "Canon" is not a single individual.. it is tens of thousands at least.

As in: The police are coming to arrest you. (A couple of cops in a squad car are coming)
and: The police is looking into this matter. (The police department is looking into it)

[PacAce]

Ok, I am nuts! Now I can see the "S" in "lenses" I couldn't see it for some reason before but now can.All I could see was lense! Must be me reading too much or just getting %$# old :)

JZ

Ah, so, it's you, Jerry. Not me. OK, you must have a BOKEH lense. Time for a new one, as Tom suggested. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JZaun]

Ah, so, it's you, Jerry. Not me. OK, you must have a BOKEH lense. Time for a new one, as Tom suggested. :lol: :lol: :lol:


Me and my PC are breaking down together :? One day its the PC the next day its me. One or the other or both have problems. :)


JZ

[Sicily1918]

Both dictionary.com and Merriam Webster list lense as an accepted variant.

From Merriam Webster's (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=lense&x=0&y=0) site:

Main Entry: 1lens
Variant(s): also lense /'lenz/
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin lent-, lens, from Latin, lentil; from its shape

But the Oxford English Dictionary (http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50131831?query_type=word&queryword=lense&first=1&max_to_show=10&single=1&sort_type=alpha) states that it is a verb:

[OE. hlhttp://dictionary.oed.com/graphics/parser/gifs/mbi/aeacu.gifnsian, f. hlhttp://dictionary.oed.com/graphics/parser/gifs/mbi/aeacu.gifne lean; cf. clhttp://dictionary.oed.com/graphics/parser/gifs/mbi/aeacu.gifnsian to cleanse.] a. trans. To make lean; to macerate. b. intr. To become lean.

So once again the English language's first rule -- that there are no absolute rules -- holds true {sigh}... I give up; I'm going to go take some photos.

:mrgreen:

[sdommin]

and: The police is looking into this matter. (The police department is looking into it)

I don't know about that one, Leo. I don't think that the above version is ever correct, unless it is used as:

"The Police is the name of Sting's previous group."

[PacAce]

I don't know about that one, Leo. I don't think that the above version is ever correct, unless it is used as:

"The Police is the name of Sting's previous group."

From my online dictionary but I'm sure you'll find the same in any other dictionary:

Main Entry: police
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural police
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French, from Old French, from Late Latin politia government, administration, from Greek politeia, from polit*s citizen, from polis city, state; akin to Sanskrit pur rampart, Lithuanian pilis castle
Date: 1716

....
3 a : POLICE FORCE b plural : POLICE OFFICERS
4 a : a private organization resembling a police force *campus police* b plural : the members of a private police organization