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Thought of a pretty common exception to the "periods and commas always go inside the quotes" rule: titles of works.
For example: Growing up, I loved the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". Because the punctuation isn't a part of the title, it should live outside the quotes, no?
thx!
-Andy in North Park
All the talk about dinner vs. supper reminded me of an exchange from one of my favorite movies of all time:
Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
[Aragorn stares at him, then walks off.]
Merry: Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.
Court! That's one of my favorite scenes in the LOTR movies, too. You have to say "What about second breakfast?" just like Pippin does. See the actors doing that scene, and referencing it in real life, here.
Having served in the navy years ago, I love the bawdy euphemisms. Never heard the "pump and dump" version, but it brings to mind clear images of boot camp and what a Company Commander might say.
I am disappointed to see so few comments on the "man about a horse" euphemism as there are many like it which are much more colorful. Specifically for urination for instance, there are male and female versions, like "draining (or wringing out) the lizard" for men, and "shaking the dew off the lily" for women - although I've heard the latter used by men.
Alida said:
Re “charney” or maybe czarny
The ear is a wondrous thing. When the lady from West Virginia called about the word meaning dirty I heard/ imagined czarny. That is Polish for black - and my grandmother used an expression nie czarny - not black meaning she had cleaned the house.My brain made the following trip: czarny= black = sooty = coal
Many Polish immigrants wound up working in coal mines in Pennsylvania, like my grandfather or West Virginia, like his cousin.This may be a pseudo attribution, but I thought I would share it. English, after all has a habit of blending in foreign words…
I second the notion.
I was listening to the podcast and it only took a split-second to arrive to the same conclusion.
I've been living in Poland for the past 6 years, and although I can attest that Poles don't use the word to talk about the state of their houses' cleanliness, it seems fitting: it means what it means.
Glad that you thought the same.
The commentator/commentate discussion reminded me of an element of aviation terminology that has always annoyed me. When the FAA pronounces an airplane design airworthy, the aircraft is said to be "certificated" instead of "certified," which would make much more sense. "Certificated" seems to imply (to me, anyway) that the characteristics of the aircraft are irrelevant; it's the little piece of paper (the airworthiness certificate) that carries all the significance.
I know it's obscure, but if I don't let these out, they fester. Not pretty.
Dan
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
The school district in which I teach uses 'certificated' to refer to teachers and other professionals who must have a current certificate from the State of Illinois. The district also uses 'certified' to refer to people such as custodians and food service employees, who have passed their probationary period but who do not have certificates.
In this case it is not elegant but is useful.
In response to the post about Candian usage of dinner and supper:
My family spends summers on Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables. People there do in fact refer to their noontime meal as dinner and the evening meal as supper. I don't think I ever heard lunch being used on PEI. Granted, our home is ina very rural region, where many people are still farmers, and most families used to be if they aren't now. It may be that different terminology is used in the (two) cities on PEI.
I'm pretty sure I've also heard it used in Maine, so if it is a regional difference, it could be maritime Canada, spreading into the northeasterjn U.S. I don't think it goes as far as Massachusetts, though. I grew up there, and ate breakfast, lunch, and then dinner or supper, used interchangeably. After noticing the difference on Prince Edward Island, I came to the conclusion that others on the forum have expressed, that supper is the evening meal and dinner is the biggest meal of the day, regardless of time. Since then, I've used supper for the evening meal, and dinner has mostly dropped out of my speech.
In the early seventies, I visited the Lodge of the Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. The front and stock report pages from the Wall Street Journal (I think) were posted on bulletin boards above the urinals.
So a man could check his stocks while he was , er, "checking his stocks."
Emmett
Regarding Biweekly and Bimonthly.
I heard somewhere that the use of Bi- as twice a week or twice a month probably came from the doctor's prescription shorthand
"bid - bis en die, twice each day "
I long ago stopped using the term because of the possibility of misunderstanding, and will always email or call to verify what someone wants. (I once had in one day, two memos from the same person wanting biweekly meetings for two different projects, one was for twice a week and the other was for every other week.)
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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