I’m fed up with hearing that something or someone is “almost unique”.
“Unique” does not mean “very special” or “very unusual”.
It means “one of a kind, with nothing else exactly like it anywhere in the world”.
The word is not a qualifier, it is an absolute. There are no grades or shades of uniqueness: a person or a thing is unique, or it is not.
And I’m equally fed up with hearing something described as the “ultimate” book, music CD, or hair preparation.
“Ultimate” does not mean “latest” or “best”.
It means “last, final, utmost” – “the ultimate deterrent”,
“our ultimate destiny” – though people don’t usually say, “The ultimate bus stop on the route”!
Mind you, I wouldn’t mind an “ultimate diet book” if it really WAS going to be the last diet book ever!
******
Note: I’m rather freely defining the words whose common usage I’m having a go at, cos my dictionaries are packed for a house move!
You can go into Google [other search options are available!] and type “define: unique” [without the quotes] if you don’t own a dictionary yourself or can’t be bothered to find it and look up the words – though most of the “define: ultimate” hits seem to confirm the common misuse of the word.
About Me
- Frances will do
- London, England, United Kingdom
- I'm severely visually impaired [so be gentle with my typos!] and have an inoperable injury to my lower spine: apart from that, I'm as miserable as the next person! That's not my real star-sign on my profile, but my dad died on my birthday in 2001, so I now share his
Showing posts with label My Room 101. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Room 101. Show all posts
Friday, 1 January 2010
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Like I don’t like it
Use of the word “like” when people really mean “as” or “such as”.
A book I read recently was full of this [British History For Dummies]: when I read, “People like the Romans or Ancient Greeks …” my immediate reaction was “Can’t they like both?”
Even the Beeb is doing it: “People like the Nazis”. Do they? I wonder why?!
That this is a losing battle doesn’t stop me from fighting it, any more than it stops me fighting the use of “data” as a singular.
When someone says to me, “Like I was saying …” I have to bite my tongue so as not to reply, “No, I don’t.”
Like = similar to;
Like = affection
Nothing more!!!!
New uses of “like”:
Like you like it – Shakespeare
Like time goes by – song in C-like-ablanca !!!
Like with gladness men of old – hymn
Like tears go by – pop song
Anyone got any more?
A book I read recently was full of this [British History For Dummies]: when I read, “People like the Romans or Ancient Greeks …” my immediate reaction was “Can’t they like both?”
Even the Beeb is doing it: “People like the Nazis”. Do they? I wonder why?!
That this is a losing battle doesn’t stop me from fighting it, any more than it stops me fighting the use of “data” as a singular.
When someone says to me, “Like I was saying …” I have to bite my tongue so as not to reply, “No, I don’t.”
Like = similar to;
Like = affection
Nothing more!!!!
New uses of “like”:
Like you like it – Shakespeare
Like time goes by – song in C-like-ablanca !!!
Like with gladness men of old – hymn
Like tears go by – pop song
Anyone got any more?
Eextendable dog leads
The whole point of having dogs on leads is to keep them under control.
These extending dog leads are basically bits of string on a reel, and how much control do you have with a bit of string?
Besides, with a standard lead with a loop handle, if you need to exert a bit more leverage, you can slip the loop about your wrist and wind your hand round the lead so that it's not just your fingers that are taking the strain - how do you do that with a lump of moulded plastic?
Theoretically you can wind the lead in to bring the dog closer to you and more under your control, but that’s assuming that the dog doesn’t out-strength either the spring in the reel or the person that’s holding it!
I can remember walking with a friend who had a yapper-type dog on one of these leads: even though the lead was fully wound in, the dog was darting all over the place, in front of me, around me – more than once it almost had me over. Even though fully wound in, the lead [and the person holding it!] exerted about zero control over the dog.
And it’s even worse when you’re visually impaired!
I can see a person standing on one side of the pavement. I can see a dog at the kerb. But how am I expected to see the thin bit of string that’s linking them until I trip over it?
If you’re too fat or too lazy to run with a dog to exercise it properly, don’t have a dog!
These extending dog leads are basically bits of string on a reel, and how much control do you have with a bit of string?
Besides, with a standard lead with a loop handle, if you need to exert a bit more leverage, you can slip the loop about your wrist and wind your hand round the lead so that it's not just your fingers that are taking the strain - how do you do that with a lump of moulded plastic?
Theoretically you can wind the lead in to bring the dog closer to you and more under your control, but that’s assuming that the dog doesn’t out-strength either the spring in the reel or the person that’s holding it!
I can remember walking with a friend who had a yapper-type dog on one of these leads: even though the lead was fully wound in, the dog was darting all over the place, in front of me, around me – more than once it almost had me over. Even though fully wound in, the lead [and the person holding it!] exerted about zero control over the dog.
And it’s even worse when you’re visually impaired!
I can see a person standing on one side of the pavement. I can see a dog at the kerb. But how am I expected to see the thin bit of string that’s linking them until I trip over it?
If you’re too fat or too lazy to run with a dog to exercise it properly, don’t have a dog!
Silent films that aren't
I’ve thrown several Chaplin videos away because of this – I tried watching them with the sound right down, but even then it didn’t work – the music is supposed to help with the mood, and not being able to hear it made a difference.
They were full of sound effects, bongs and bangs, bells and horns, you name it: one even had “yakkety-yak” noises for background talking.
Yet if I were to suggest that they voiced Chaplin instead of using captions, people would be horrified. “It’s a silent film!” they’d cry.
Well, let it be silent!!!
I want to see the films as they were first seen … silently. I don’t mind the piano accompaniment giving cues; that’s how it was done then. Or the occasional drum “bong”, for similar reasons.
But let it be just that!
They were full of sound effects, bongs and bangs, bells and horns, you name it: one even had “yakkety-yak” noises for background talking.
Yet if I were to suggest that they voiced Chaplin instead of using captions, people would be horrified. “It’s a silent film!” they’d cry.
Well, let it be silent!!!
I want to see the films as they were first seen … silently. I don’t mind the piano accompaniment giving cues; that’s how it was done then. Or the occasional drum “bong”, for similar reasons.
But let it be just that!
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