Thursday, November 10, 2005

No Wait for Probate..

Wow, this probate thing, whatever it is and which normally takes up to 2 weeks to get, is ready after just 2 days…and I can go in and get it myself, so I don’t even have to rely on the Post Office.

So I can go here…






and catch the train to here…



when I would rather be here…




Just as in the summer my pedantic English teacher’s ear has been picking up a few “developments” in the English language which I don’t like. First of all, there is the question of the emphasis on the word “research”.
On tele at least everyone seems to say, “re- search” with the emphasis firmly on the “re”. This is the American pronunciation. We should say, “re-search”, when we mean the kind of things that scientists do and reserve “re-search” for talking about searching for something again.

This is mildly irritating.

Rather more irritating is the use of the superlative when comparing only two things. The Chelsea manager Mourihno started this when he said “the best team lost” referring to the semi-final of the Champions’ League semi-final last season (I seem to recall that Chelsea lost to Liverpool, could it be?? Ha!!).

As you all know, if there are two objects being compared you use the comparative, “better than…”, bigger than…”, “more expensive than…” and when there are three or more objects you can use the superlative; “the best”, “the biggest”, “the most expensive”. Well, Mourihno is not a native speaker so he can be forgiven – grudgingly – for not getting it right. But when I find the same mistake in today’s Times…uh oh.

So that’s the kind of mistake which makes me flinch.

The mistake which really gets my back up and pumps up my blood pressure is also on the increase even on the BBC. It is when people try to say, “6th”.

It is “six” with a “th” added on; i.e. “sixth” or for challenged pronouncers, “si-ks-th”.

It is NOT “sikth”!!!

So, do you say “siXth” or “siKth”? Are you prejudiced against “x”?

It makes me “sik”.

And to finish on a learnéd note with a little Latin,

“Caesar et sum iam, Caesar sic in omnibus”

2 comments:

Doris said...

I don't know about the Latin but I am with you on the enunciation!

Neutron said...

Aye, the Latin is a bit wonky! I am glad to know I am not alone in my pedantry though.
There are 2 of us!