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Touchy, Touchy Terms


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Tolerance my friends, tolerance. Most of the comments are about the translation from the spoken language to the written. Written language has gramatical rules and standardized spelling with "accepted" pronouncitation. Spoken language varies often by geographic, ethinc or gender interpritation. Various local dialects add color and character to a given portion of society and immidately identifies the group to which the speaker belongs. Spoken language is much more diverse and colorful than written.

Written language is at best a gross representation of spoken language. We do not speak as we write. Think about it. Language generally flows without the pauses we put between the words in writting. When you read you hear your own dialect in you mind. Occationally some one(See Mark Twain) will attempt to write the spoken language to show the character and variety of spoken language. It is quite difficult to do well.

So my point is that if some one writes, standardiztion is nessesary to communicate because to try to write in dialect can be very confusing because we have accepted the combined symbols of a word to have a specific meaning. In any given area of the world, the people have a group of combined sounds that have meaning. So, when speaking a dialect, one is stating their group affiliation and comunicating with their peers.

I would contend that Texting is very much a dialect as well. The young people have developed abreviation with their peers. The problem arrises when they try to use them outside their peer group. It can be very anoying to those of us who see it as poor spelling. It is not that, it is a differant language that we don't speak.

I can only assume this was a joke?

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Along the lines mentioned above about "writing in dialect" and therefore being somewhat illiterate, here's one I just saw for the umpteenth time.

"Waiting with baited breath..."

Eewww...what did you have for lunch? An anchovy sandwich?

It should be "bated breath," using a shortened form of the word, "abated," meaning held back or lessened - you're holding your breath.

"Bated and baited sound the same and we no longer use bated (let alone the verb to bate), outside this one set phrase, which has become an idiom. Confusion is almost inevitable. Bated here is a contraction of abated through loss of the unstressed first vowel (a process called aphesis); it means “reduced, lessened, lowered in force”. So bated breath refers to a state in which you almost stop breathing as a result of some strong emotion, such as terror or awe."

Edited by sjordan2
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Actually, yes:

"Before the pre-eminence of internal combustion engines, electric automobiles held many speed and distance records. Among the most notable of these records was the breaking of the 100 km/h (62 mph) speed barrier, by Camille Jenatzy on April 29, 1899 in his 'rocket-shaped' vehicle Jamais Contente, which reached a top speed of 106 km/h (66 mph). Before the 1920s, electric automobiles were competing with petroleum-fueled cars for urban use of a quality service car.[21]

Proposed as early as 1896 in order to overcome the lack of recharging infrastructure, an exchangeable battery service was first put into practice by Hartford Electric Light Company for electric trucks. The vehicle owner purchased the vehicle from General Electric Company (GVC) without a battery and the electricity was purchased from Hartford Electric through an exchangeable battery. The owner paid a variable per-mile charge and a monthly service fee to cover maintenance and storage of the truck. The service was provided between 1910 to 1924 and during that period covered more than 6 million miles. Beginning in 1917 a similar service was operated inChicago for owners of Milburn Light Electric cars who also could buy the vehicle without the batteries.[22]

In 1897, electric vehicles found their first commercial application in the U.S. as a fleet of electrical New York City taxis, built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia. Electric cars were produced in the US by Anthony Electric, Baker, Columbia, Anderson, Fritchle, Studebaker, Riker, Milburn, and others during the early 20th century.

Despite their relatively slow speed, electric vehicles had a number of advantages over their early-1900s competitors. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline cars. They did not require gear changes, which for gasoline cars was the most difficult part of driving. Electric cars found popularity among well-heeled customers who used them as city cars, where their limited range was less of a disadvantage. The cars were also preferred because they did not require a manual effort to start, as did gasoline cars which featured a hand crank to start the engine. Electric cars were often marketed as suitable vehicles for women drivers due to this ease of operation.

In 1911, the New York Times stated that the electric car has long been recognized as "ideal" because it was cleaner, quieter and much more economical than gasoline-powered cars.[23] Reporting this in 2010, the Washington Postcommented that "the same unreliability of electric car batteries that flummoxed Thomas Edison persists today."

Truthfully when I was young, every time I heard that term motor car spoken I immediately though of an electric trolly/streetcar.

I know the Race(said to be the first automobile race in this country) that started at the site called "The Rock" in Chicago had an electric car in it.

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More that I don't quite get, that are found commonly:

"Tom graduated high school in 1985": Why not "graduated FROM high school?"

"Tom added a couple ideas to the discussion." Why not "added a couple OF ideas..?"

And this one, found often in newspaper car ads...

"Engine needs fixed," or similar. Why not engine needs TO BE fixed"?

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More that I don't quite get, that are found commonly:

"Tom graduated high school in 1985": Why not "graduated FROM high school?"

"Tom added a couple ideas to the discussion." Why not "added a couple OF ideas..?"

And this one, found often in newspaper car ads...

"Engine needs fixed," or similar. Why not engine needs TO BE fixed"?

You axe too many questions...

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Calling a Christmas Tree a Holiday Tree is a touchy term, sorry that one just bugs the you know what out of me

I wanted to say to who ever said Happy Holidays to me, what Holiday are you talking about?, should I have a happy 4th-ole July?, Memorial Day? Labor Day? :lol:

I know in other parts of the globe, they say Holiday for every Holiday( unsure if Christmas is said), to me, its Merry Christmas.

Sorry for the rant ;)

Edited by martinfan5
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More that I don't quite get, that are found commonly:

"Tom graduated high school in 1985": Why not "graduated FROM high school?"

"Tom added a couple ideas to the discussion." Why not "added a couple OF ideas..?"

And this one, found often in newspaper car ads...

"Engine needs fixed," or similar. Why not engine needs TO BE fixed"?

Maybe it is a bit too frisky! :lol:

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Yaw: Like where yaw been? (The rotation about a vertical axis that passes through the car's center of gravity.)

Wander: I wander where he has been? (A condition in which the front wheels of an automobile tend to steer slowly one way and then another, and interferes with directional control of stability)

This could keep ya busy... http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/

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"Motor" versus "Engine" : Why is the lubricant called Motor Oil instead of Engine Oil ?

How about "'Motor' Mount" instead of "'Engine' Mount" ?

Here's another one : "Valve Cover(s)" . Aren't they technically Rocker Arm Covers ? Cam Covers ? Perhaps "Valve Cover(s)" dates to the days of Side-Valve ( "Flat Head" , et al.) engines ?

How about "Manual" brakes ? Unless one is using hand controls , the brakes should be Pedal . Then there's "Manual" steering (isn't all steering manually-operated ?) and "Roll-Up" windows ( a.k.a. , "Manual" windows ) ; wouldn't Digital be the correct term ?

I love colloquialisms !

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