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cprlcoffee wrote:

cprlcoffee wrote:
All in all, meeh, so what?

The problem is that bad English makes you sound laxadaisical.

When I see posts that use bad English, I usually assume that the poster went out drinking that night and got totally obliviated.

While that might be true, I didn't think that I was being graded or that this board was some kind of axis of multiple dimensions that the improper use of grammar would cause the known universe to collapse.

Well, now you know. You are, and it is, so let's try to be a little more careful, OK?

A malaprop example? I always liked the all too common 'enormity' for 'enormousness'. And I like the bilingual expression 'per say', whose meaning no one seems to really know.

Our local university newspaper is a treasure trove of these (like yours isn't), and when I get a moment I'll transcribe.

Linus Van Pelt wrote:I like the bilingual expression 'per say', whose meaning no one seems to really know.

Do you mean "per se"?

As in: "Republicans are evil per se."

cprlcoffee wrote:

Just because I type like a lazy gimp gives you no right to assume I am.

sure, we have every right to assume you are a lazy gimp if you type like one.

re laziness, malaprops are particularly lazy, b/c they suggest that the person 'knows' the word or phrase but hasn't taken the time to think about what it means. it's just used to fill a gap.

i think that's why malaprops bother me more than spelling--it's an issue of attention and understanding as opposed to knowing exceptions to the rules. people spell shit wrong all the time. it bothers me as well, but i am willing to shoulder some of the blame for being bothered. i think it displays a certain lack of generosity on my part. at least they are using the right word.

i know wonderful people who both spell badly and use malaprops all the time.

'pre-madonnas'--maybe that was exactly what the guy meant.

did you know 'accidently' is a word? i didn't until yesterday. i thought it had to be 'accidentally.' 'expresso?' also a real word, evidently.

Nobody's being graded. I didn't mention any names or call anybody out.

I think malaprops can be interesting when the wrong word used creates a new or tangential meaning. Like "absorbent salaries." Maybe these huge salaries absorb all the money that could've been used to pay other people.

some favorites: "day and day out" "worst comes to worst" and it's not quite a malapropism but id do get a kick out of the rampant misuse of "literally" about which i think there is another post somewhere.


on a sort of related note, the retail chain i work for recently issued a memo about being sensitive to the disabled and included some suggestions like "do not get worried when you say 'did you hear about?' to a deaf person or 'see you later' to a blind person" which i agree with in sentiment but not in execution for the latter example. why should i get worried if i say "see you later" to a blind person, i will see them later, at no point in my salutation do i say "You will see me later"

tmidgett wrote:malaprops bother me more than spelling

I agree, anyone who only knows a word through hearing it could be forgiven for spelling it wrong. Anyone who has heard a word but doesnt listen carefully enough and pronounces it as something else, that's their fault.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:

Linus Van Pelt wrote:I like the bilingual expression 'per say', whose meaning no one seems to really know.

Do you mean "per se"?

As in: "Republicans are evil per se."

I meant 'per say'; 'per se' would be the correct spelling.

A student of mine once used the word "crucifiction" in an essay condemning the commercialization of Xmas ("with the mark of an 'X,' they take 'Christ' out of 'Christmas"). I was telling my colleagues about this over lunch, and a buddy of mine said, chuckling, "I never knew you could spell it that way." I said, much to the chagrin of my mostly Baptist co-workers, "Personally, I've always spelled it that way."

I malaprop'd just the other week, but I caught myself on it just shortly thereafter

bad, mattw, bad wrote:
"It was becoming more bureaucracized..."

"Sorry that I've been so untalkative"

I know for sure the first one is wrong. It is bureaucratized.

The second one, I don't know. It doesn't sound right.

I hate when I misuse the English language. It is a beautiful thing, I want to make love to it. I especially dislike when someone tortures it w/ gleeful abandon.

"irregardless".