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Never said it wasn't obvious, I just never thought about its constituent words before.
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Mar 15, 2021 04:34
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Jabberlock posted:I just figured out Mediterranean means "between lands", as in it's the sea between Europe, Asia, and Africa. There’s an American Mediterranean Sea (It’s the Caribbean.)
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Mar 15, 2021 09:07
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Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line):Inzombiac posted:straight-laced Len posted:staticy
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Mar 15, 2021 19:11
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Harvey TWH posted:is spelled strait-laced. Staticy is also a legitimate variant spelling.
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Mar 15, 2021 19:35
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Today I heard a radio ad for Home Depot and realized that the popular refrigerator brand Frigidaire is a portmanteau of frigid and air. Yes, you may laugh at me.
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Mar 15, 2021 19:43
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Harvey TWH posted:is spelled strait-laced. It's used in the sense of strict or narrow. You sure about that? I was assuming it was related to straight-and-narrow. We're splitting hairs at the micron level so I don't think it matters.
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Mar 15, 2021 19:49
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Scarodactyl posted:No it isn't, or rather it can be but absolutely not to the exclusion of the significantly more common "straight-laced". "Straight-laced" doesn't make any sense, though. But then again most people would struggle to explain the meaning behind a whole lot of everyday sayings and idioms, and the original meaning of some of them (like "highfalutin") have been lost altogether. Silver Falcon posted:Today I heard a radio ad for Home Depot and realized that the popular refrigerator brand Frigidaire is a portmanteau of frigid and air. Etymology online suggests is might come from the Latin frigidarium: "a cooling room in a bath."
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Mar 15, 2021 19:53
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Snowglobe of Doom posted:"Straight-laced" doesn't make any sense, though. But then again most people would struggle to explain the meaning behind a whole lot of everyday sayings and idioms, and the original meaning of some of them (like "highfalutin") have been lost altogether. My vague mental explanation was that it was something to do with extremely precisely-tied laces on boots or whatever, like somebody extremely prim and fastidious might care about.
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Mar 15, 2021 19:59
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Captain Hygiene posted:My vague mental explanation was that it was something to do with extremely precisely-tied laces on boots or whatever, like somebody extremely prim and fastidious might care about. Yeah, that was it for me too. Like something hard to achieve and relatively unimportant.
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Mar 15, 2021 20:09
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Harvey TWH posted:Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line): "Straight-laced" (hyphenated or not) accounts for 66% of modern usage. It's swiftly becoming a lost battle, even though you're correct about its origin (which has to do with corsetry, and dates back to the early 1500s in its metaphorical sense; in its literal sense, it's first attested in 1430!). The "k" after in -ic words seems to be regional or personal preference. I haven't found out where it originated, but I didn't look very hard. Inzombiac posted:You sure about that? You'll be chagrined to learn that it's actually "strait and narrow" - yes, two words that mean the same thing - from Matthew 7: quote:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: But again, the battle is likely lost on this one.
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Mar 15, 2021 20:17
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"Strait" is archaic outside of a few very narrow contexts (ha) and the original context is long gone, so it isn't surprising the spelling has drifted.
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Mar 15, 2021 20:22
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Scarodactyl posted:"Strait" is archaic outside of a few very narrow contexts (ha) and the original context is long gone, so it isn't surprising the spelling has drifted. It's a bit more familiar if you live in the southern half of Australia next to the part of the ocean called Bass Strait and you grew up listening to the band Dire Straits  "Australia - we're archaic as gently caress!"
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Mar 15, 2021 20:38
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We got a Hecate Strait in this part of the world. It's pronounced "heck-it."
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Mar 15, 2021 21:16
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There are a lot of Straits around the world Strait of Gibralter, Hormuz, Malacca, Georgia (Vancouver), Cook (between NZ north and south islands) Dover (narrowest part of the English Channel) etc etc. It's a common geographic term to describe a narrow body of water between 2 landmasses. There's also The Straits Times newspapers in Malaysia and Singapore.
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Mar 16, 2021 00:35
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Harvey TWH posted:Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line): Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line): language evolves by consensus, spellings and grammar change and the original spelling or even meaning of a particular word or phrase is not the True Meaning That Must Always Remain and which people need to be corrected on. The only time people need correcting on that stuff is if they ask for help or possibly if they're a language learner but even then the better tactic is to model the correct usage for them rather than correct directly. It's annoying at first to have to ignore the little ping in your brain that says "wrong!" because it doesn't match the pattern of the language as you know it, but trust me it's much more freeing than policing everyone's language use when there are always going to be more and more examples of people doing it "wrong" because that's how language works and always has worked.
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Mar 16, 2021 05:00
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I think you’ll find that English was handed down to Jesus by god himself and has been unchanged since.
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Mar 16, 2021 05:59
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Captain Monkey posted:I think you’ll find that English was handed down to Jesus by god himself and has been unchanged since. God created English, and Noah Webster made it intelligible. My heart goes out to all the Angloinfected countries speaking an inferior tongue to standard American English
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Mar 16, 2021 06:02
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Organza Quiz posted:The only time people need correcting on that stuff is if they ask for help or possibly if they're a language learner but even then the better tactic is to model the correct usage for them rather than correct directly. But then people won't know you're smarter than them, which is the goal of every social interaction.
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Mar 16, 2021 06:10
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Organza Quiz posted:Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense Snowglobe of Doom has a new favorite as of 09:37 on Mar 16, 2021 |
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Mar 16, 2021 07:28
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Silver Falcon posted:Today I heard a radio ad for Home Depot and realized that the popular refrigerator brand Frigidaire is a portmanteau of frigid and air. The Fresh Quince of Frigid Aire.
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Mar 16, 2021 08:53
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Silver Falcon posted:Today I heard a radio ad for Home Depot and realized that the popular refrigerator brand Frigidaire is a portmanteau of frigid and air. The fun part of that is learning that we use the term “fridge” not as a short form of refrigerator, but because of the brand name Frigidaire. Or the term at least became popular because of the brand.
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Mar 16, 2021 14:20
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Organza Quiz posted:Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line): language evolves by consensus, spellings and grammar change and the original spelling or even meaning of a particular word or phrase is not the True Meaning That Must Always Remain and which people need to be corrected on. The only time people need correcting on that stuff is if they ask for help or possibly if they're a language learner but even then the better tactic is to model the correct usage for them rather than correct directly. Except French, where it's actually regulated. In Quebec those assholes even have an enforcement arm.
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Mar 16, 2021 14:52
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St_Ides posted:The fun part of that is learning that we use the term “fridge” not as a short form of refrigerator, but because of the brand name Frigidaire. Or the term at least became popular because of the brand. I hate that neither refrigerator not Frigidaire have a D before the G, but fridge does.
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Mar 16, 2021 15:02
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Gaius Marius posted:God created English, and Noah Webster made it intelligible. My heart goes out to all the Angloinfected countries speaking an inferior tongue to standard American English Noah Webster was a hack, and your regional dialect's stubborn refusal to stay inside the pit that spawned it is no problem whatsoever because dialects are cool and it's good to learn them
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Mar 16, 2021 15:17
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Organza Quiz posted:Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line): language evolves by consensus, spellings and grammar change and the original spelling or even meaning of a particular word or phrase is not the True Meaning That Must Always Remain and which people need to be corrected on. The only time people need correcting on that stuff is if they ask for help or possibly if they're a language learner but even then the better tactic is to model the correct usage for them rather than correct directly. This is all very true. Language is fluid and ever-changing. But I still hate "literally" used for emphasis. I know it's a losing battle. But I hate it.
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Mar 16, 2021 15:38
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RoboRodent posted:This is all very true. Language is fluid and ever-changing. I made my peace with it when I realised it's the exact same thing as happened to both 'really' and 'very'. 'Really' comes directly from 'real', and 'very' is from Latin 'verai' (roughly 'true'), but both shifted to be intensifiers and no one bats an eye about them.
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Mar 16, 2021 15:57
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I think I'm figuring out that linguistics nerds are literally the worst kind of nerd.
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Mar 16, 2021 16:04
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fizzymercury posted:I think I'm figuring out that linguistics nerds really are literally the very worst kind of nerd.
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Mar 16, 2021 16:35
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it's definitely still weebs, but linguistics nerds do get angry a lot and provide us with good meltdowns
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Mar 16, 2021 16:38
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It's Critical Role fans now.
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Mar 16, 2021 16:57
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St_Ides posted:The fun part of that is learning that we use the term “fridge” not as a short form of refrigerator, but because of the brand name Frigidaire. Or the term at least became popular because of the brand. Yeah, this makes me feel less bad about not realizing what the word means. Mentally I always thought of it more like "fridge-idaire." It was the way the radio guy pronounced it that made me realize it was frigid air.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:01
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Organza Quiz posted:Stuff I can't believe people haven't figured out (aiming to be helpful in a useful-going-forward sense, not rude, but I know it's a fine line): language evolves by consensus, spellings and grammar change and the original spelling or even meaning of a particular word or phrase is not the True Meaning That Must Always Remain and which people need to be corrected on. The only time people need correcting on that stuff is if they ask for help or possibly if they're a language learner but even then the better tactic is to model the correct usage for them rather than correct directly. *Académie française intensifies*
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Mar 16, 2021 19:02
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Super hot take incoming but while yes words and their usage change over time, words also convey meaning, and the battle over how words can or should be used is a really important one that has deep historical, political and social ramifications beyond somebody on the internet getting mad about "irregardless." And it's a battle that has to be taught and reinforced in some way by our educational institutions so that the definitions we prefer are ones people become accustomed to using. So while I'm not a prescriptivist I also don't think it's smart to be completely iconoclastic about language either, since most of us would agree that certain words can or should have an irreducible significance in addition to the ones we'd like to change or reclaim.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:37
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It’s a battle that’s like 95% rooted in race/classism though.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:44
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exquisite tea posted:Super hot take incoming but while yes words and their usage change over time, words also convey meaning, and the battle over how words can or should be used is a really important one that has deep historical, political and social ramifications beyond somebody on the internet getting mad about "irregardless." And it's a battle that has to be taught and reinforced in some way by our educational institutions so that the definitions we prefer are ones people become accustomed to using. So while I'm not a prescriptivist I also don't think it's smart to be completely iconoclastic about language either, since most of us would agree that certain words can or should have an irreducible significance in addition to the ones we'd like to change or reclaim. As in "lol global warming's just a theory", where by theory they mean "some koo-koo idea a hare-brained academic had once" but there are real stakes behind it meaning "hypothesis supported strongly by the evidence"
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Mar 16, 2021 19:46
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If global warming is real why is winter sometimes?
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Mar 16, 2021 19:49
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if globe warming why me cold
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Mar 16, 2021 20:00
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I've got a few feet a yer global warming piled up outside my door
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Mar 16, 2021 20:03
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Captain Monkey posted:It’s a battle that’s like 95% rooted in race/classism though. Maybe but you kind of ignore these semantic battles at your own peril, it's called "framing the debate" and racists and classists are really good at sounding like they're making common sense arguments because they've already defined terms like "welfare" to mean A Bad Thing instead of what the word literally means.
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Mar 16, 2021 20:05
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Climate change is so fun because now October is 85F and mid March has frost until the afternoon. If it just meant the general patterns were shifting (so summer was colder and winter was warmer) I would be kinda okay. Instead we're gonna die. COOOOOOOL
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Mar 16, 2021 20:47
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