Discrepancies in the english language

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Specineff
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Post by Specineff »

Icarus wrote:
neorichieb1971 wrote:One of the reasons might be that its influenced by all 4 corners of the globe.
What a weird saying. A globe is a sphere, not a square/cube. ^_-
Sorry, but that is correct. It refers to the four cardinal points. :wink:
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Ganelon
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Post by Ganelon »

landshark wrote:"I could care less"
But that's just the modern idiot's version of "I couldn't care less" so does that count?
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landshark
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Post by landshark »

Ganelon wrote:
landshark wrote:"I could care less"
But that's just the modern idiot's version of "I couldn't care less" so does that count?
It's a common phrase. Though in english class back in grade school we were taught to say "I couldn't care less". But I believe the common phrase is "I could care less."

Rando - that would explain your explaination ;)
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Post by neorichieb1971 »

What does IE mean?


IE.. What does IE mean? :lol:
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BulletMagnet
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Post by BulletMagnet »

I think it abbreviates the Latin "ipse est," or "that is"...not sure though, it's something like that.
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elvis
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Post by elvis »

neorichieb1971 wrote:What does IE mean?


IE.. What does IE mean? :lol:
Abbreviation: Latin Phrase - "Translation"

i.e.: id est - "That is".

e.g.: exempli gratia - "For example"

et al.: et alii - "And others"

etc.: etcetera - "And the rest"

If you have others you want to check, try http://dictionary.reference.com/

I'd say roughly 1/3 of english actually dates back to any real anglo-invented words. The linguitst in here would probably have a more realistic statistic than that. I know Shakespear invented quite a large volume of words which are still with us today.

But on the whole, English is a mash of the latins (latin/greek/french) and the germanics. End result is an absolute bitch of a language because all the "rules" that apply to english come from all over the globe. Hell, it's my first language, and the only language I speak, and I still get it wrong on a regular basis!

Here's some more for you:

The apostrophe - ' - is for conjunctions and ownership.

Is not = Isn't. Did not = Didn't, etc.

The ball belongs to Harry = Harry's ball.

The exception to the rule is "its" and "it's". Possessive "it" has no apostrophe.

It is cloudy today = It's cloudy today.

It has a nose = Its nose (no apostrophe).

What a bloody horrible language! :)

[edited for spelling - LOL!]
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Minzoku
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Post by Minzoku »

Icarus wrote:
neorichieb1971 wrote:One of the reasons might be that its influenced by all 4 corners of the globe.
What a weird saying. A globe is a sphere, not a square/cube. ^_-
It may be from when people thought the world was flat...
neorichieb1971 wrote:"wanting your cake and eat it" is a stupid phrase too.

"its always in the last place you looked" is a stupid phrase too.
Having your cake and eating it, too, refers to the desire to do two contradictory things--you want to eat the cake, but you still want to have it so you can eat it later.

It's like how supporters of "Intelligent Design" want to push it on schools as mandatory teaching while at the same time abolishing the teaching of evolution, even as theory. You can't enforce only your way over everyone else's.

OR

You want to have a "Shmuppers Only" club, but you want to have your friend along who doesn't like shmups, just because you enjoy his company. Congratulations, you've defeated the purpose of the club by including him.

The other *should* be "It was in the last place I *would have* looked," such as looking for a child who doesn't want to take a bath in the bathtub. [subliminal reference to Calvin and Hobbes]
Ganelon wrote:
landshark wrote:"I could care less"
But that's just the modern idiot's version of "I couldn't care less" so does that count?
In modern usage, one means there is the possibility that the person could muster the ability to care even less than s/he does now. The other means what the first is suggesting and likely came about from laziness [not necessarily stupidity], like how "would've" means "would have" but lazy brains interpret it as "would of" [which makes no sense at all].
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Post by BulletMagnet »

Minzoku wrote:The other *should* be "It was in the last place I *would have* looked," such as looking for a child who doesn't want to take a bath in the bathtub. [subliminal reference to Calvin and Hobbes]
Believe it or not, I know exactly which strip you're talking about. I hafta get out more, heh heh.
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Post by Kiken »

BulletMagnet wrote:
sffan wrote:Why is "Number" abbreviated "No." ? Where did the "o" come from?
Heh heh, sort of like "lb." for "pound" and "oz." for "ounce."
lb comes from Latin (libra, a unit of weight).
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