Classy bit over here (the official Inter.. i mean joke thread) (6 Viewers)

[Henry]

i'd say a that a (fan)atic (tm) is a combination of the two, right? or am I misunderstanding? english is my second language...

 

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[Martin]

i'd say a that a (fan)atic (tm) is a combination of the two, right? or am I misunderstanding? english is my second language...

No, one definition is for fanatic, the other for fan.

So you can be a fanatical fan if you want

 

[Red]

The term 'fan' probably originally came from the word 'fanatic', though.

 

[Henry]

that would be a (fan)atic though, correct? or 2 x Fan + -tic?

 

[Martin]

Check this out:

(do)or

However, door does not imply do, strangely enough

 

[Henry]

have you ever tried to do a door? you should

 

[Martin]

have you ever tried to do a door? you should

You know what, every house I've ever lived in they've already been in place, so had no reason to do one from scratch. Might be fun though.

 

[Red]

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/fan_2?view=uk

 

[Henry]

you could also try to fan a fanatic

 

[Martin]

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/fan_2?view=uk

Etymology is beside the point. What the word derives from doesn't determine its current meaning. Lots of words have meaning almost contrary to their origin.

 

[Red]

It is often foolish to disregard a word's origins when considering its meaning.

 

[Henry]

you're both correct.

 

[Martin]

It is often foolish to disregard a word's origins when considering its meaning.

historical meaning yes. current no.

 

[Henry]

I think it is, as it prevents the erosion of a language's vocabulary and the evolution of meaning to the point that words have no connection to their roots.

 

[Martin]

I think it is, as it prevents the erosion of a language's vocabulary and the evolution of meaning to the point that words have no connection to their roots.

Why should a word be connected to its root? What is the root of do?

It makes no difference. Language evolves, words change meaning.

 

[Red]

I don't like the way language is heading.

It's becoming too informal.

 

[Martin]

I don't like the way language is heading.

It's becoming too informal.

Which language? Personally I think it's a great boon to us that we can do away with the formality crap that imo plagues certain languages. I hate saying "does the man know what time it is" in polish which is the polite form and the compulsory one.

I got an email from an italian webstore the other day and guess what, they wrote "tu", the informal you. Excellent.

 

[Red]

I can only comment on English.

Minor informalities perfectly acceptable.

I'm talking about when it gets to the point where text talk is allowed in exams.


The standards of language and grammar you see from folk these days is appalling, and I'm talking about folk who are leaving school with decent qualifications not the borderline illiterate.

 

[Martin]

I can only comment on English.

Minor informalities perfectly acceptable.

I'm talking about when it gets to the point where text talk is allowed in exams.

Well, "informal" would be a strong euphemism for that kind of thing. I agree that's really sad.

The standards of language and grammar you see from folk these days is appalling, and I'm talking about folk who are leaving school with decent qualifications not the borderline illiterate.

Yeah, and I also feel like the standard of language is falling. If you go back to some decades back it seems to me papers and tv used to be a lot more intellectual, also in language (talking about English language here). And now they write more or less they way they talk.

Not sure how different it is US <-> UK, perhaps you guys are still living up to a higher standard in print.

 

[Red]

It's all part of the general dumbing down of society.

Sad, really.