The Grammar, Spelling and Pronunciation Thread!

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#3309125 14-Nov-2024 19:44

Rikkitic:

It doesn't give you extra credit.

True, but it does give you a little perspective when you are person struggling to find the right word when talking to an official who does not speak English.

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Wheelbarrow01

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#3309971 17-Nov-2024 21:54

It wasn't until I worked in telco that I heard the phrase "do the needful".

An example of this used in a sentence: "I've done the needful and the customer is now reconnected".

I guess it's a shorter way of saying "I did what needed to be done" or "I did what was required" but with less words. I'm not having a crack at people who use it - I actually quite like the economic use of syllables.

Behodar

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#3309991 18-Nov-2024 07:45

"Do what's needed" uses the same number of syllables :)

floydbloke

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#3310004 18-Nov-2024 08:20

Behodar:

"Do what's needed" uses the same number of syllables :)

"Fixed" is far more economical and just as meaningful.

Thanks for explaining "plethora".

It means a lot.

Eva888

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#3310008 18-Nov-2024 08:38

Years back someone with English as a second language called a rooster a man chicken. Made perfect sense but had me in fits. He often came up with the most practical words that weren’t correct but so easy to understand what he meant.

English is a very difficult language with so many rule variations and it’s not particularly phonetic either. Knight night, write right.

I especially notice that with only typing these days if I hand write I’ve become slower and often doubtful of my spelling and I was a straight A student in English and spelling. You can’t only rely on spell check. Mine is just plain stupid and comes up with non words and wrong suggestions. It just came up with scawy as I typed the word suggestion and has now promptly red underlined it.

Rikkitic

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#3310025 18-Nov-2024 09:40

I use a (very) old version of Word as a spell checker. Works fine, gets a lot wrong, but serves its main purpose, which is to alert me to my many old age typos.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

FineWine

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#3310087 18-Nov-2024 12:26

I do a lot of reading from fiction to non-fiction. Though I have never been a good speller (remember those spelling books - shudder) I like to think my spoken English expresses what I want to say without having to use several words when one is enough - but sadly that is not the case in todays world.

Got queried by someone when I used the word 'bespoke' for our dinning table. Oh, why didn't you say 'custom made'. My reply was 'why use two words when one will suffice'. I have also been picked upon, recently, for using 'formulaic' to describe tv soap opera's which we do not watch.

Another pet peeve at the moment in books, is when the author uses the word shake or shook the head to indicate the affirmative, when it should be nodded.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

SaltyNZ

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#3310104 18-Nov-2024 13:15

Wheelbarrow01:

It wasn't until I worked in telco that I heard the phrase "do the needful".

An example of this used in a sentence: "I've done the needful and the customer is now reconnected".

I guess it's a shorter way of saying "I did what needed to be done" or "I did what was required" but with less words. I'm not having a crack at people who use it - I actually quite like the economic use of syllables.

That's a genuine dialect flavour there. Typical of Indian English - where most if not all educated Indians learn English from a very young age. Arguably, therefore, it isn't 'bad grammar' as such.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

eracode

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#3310368 19-Nov-2024 04:41

robjg63:

A lot of people (yes here on GZ) want "advise".

I advise them to get some advice on how these words should be used.

NZ Herald guilty of this one in a bold headline today.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

eracode

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#3310369 19-Nov-2024 04:45

I think more than half of people get it wrong and say ‘restauranteur’ - correct word is ‘restaurateur’.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Paul1977

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#3310613 19-Nov-2024 13:52

When people say they did something "on accident" I go into an internal rage.

When people say something is "addicting" instead of "addictive".

jonathan18

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#3310750 19-Nov-2024 19:21

The Americanism of ‘burglarize’. I get that it’s acceptable but it’s such an ugly, ungainly and unnecessarily long word. Give me ‘burgle’ any day! (Just not my house…)

floydbloke

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#3310808 20-Nov-2024 07:28

This sign at the bottom of the ramp into the basement of the office.

I'm all for employer loyalty and I'm usually compliant, but I'm not about to self-mutilate.

Thanks for explaining "plethora".

It means a lot.

caffynz

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#3311262 21-Nov-2024 09:23

jonathan18:

As for pet hates, one of my biggest is the use of ‘literally’ when the user clearly means ‘figuratively’ - it literally blew his mind!!!!’. I totally get that language changes and adapts, but the use of the word in a way that is essentially the opposite of its standard meaning is a step too far for me.

From this morning's Spinoff Bulletin:

"To finish this morning, I thought I’d share a cool (literally) video. Auckland Zoo’s last elephant, Burma, recently travelled to her new home in Adelaide. The safari park where she now lives has been sharing videos of her settling in, and it appears all is going well. Here she is enjoying an elephant-sized ice block. I’d love one too, if it was a grapefruit Fruju."

The video itself isn't cold...

ANglEAUT

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#3318416 9-Dec-2024 14:30

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

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