Pain in the English

Forum for the gray areas of the English language

Archive for the ‘Expression’ Category

Green eyes

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 by Eunice Ng

Could you please tell me what it means if someone calls you “green eyes”, but you don't actually have green eyes.

We're trying to figure out if it means envy/jealousy, being temperamental, or something else?

Please be advised….

Monday, December 1st, 2008 by Gidgegary

My local Public transport company has started delivering recorded messages on the train platform “Please be advised that patrons must wait till the train has come to a complete stop before crossing the yellow line”. I find this message completely grates on me, and I suffer it each time I wait on the train platform for my train.

“Please” is a polite request for me to take some form of action. I have a choice. I can comply with the request or I can refuse the request.

If an instruction is given to me with the precursor “Please be advised” then I am presented with a fait accompli and have no opportunity to decide whether I will comply with the request or not. It is not, in fact, a request in any form and does not provide the recipient with any capacity to dismiss or refuse the request. For this reason, I consider it to be manglish.

Can you confirm that “Please be advised” is manglish?

Let's you and me/I

Sunday, April 20th, 2008 by RFW

Is it correct to say “Let's you and I” or “Let's you and me”?

Big, red bull vs red, big bull

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 by nick brock

Why is it more appropriate to say the big, red bull was running fast, rather than the red, big bull was running fast?

Try and

Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 by Dredsina

I'm wondering about the phrase, “try and.” (Used like this: “I'm going to try and stop him.”)

I know that it's technically grammatically correct, but is it okay to say it? Would it be better to say, “I'm going to try TO stop him” instead?

As it were

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 by niskys

I've heard people say “as it were” quite often. It doesn't even sound wrong to me anymore. But shouldn't it really be “as it WAS” instead, for proper subject verb agreement?

Sings like a canary

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 by Janine

Where does that phrase come from and what does it mean?

Origin of the saying "off with their heads"

Monday, November 19th, 2007 by Off with their heads

I know the saying was popularized from the movie Alice in Wonderland. Did the expression “off with their heads” have it's origin in England or France?

Head shot

Friday, October 19th, 2007 by goossun

As nasty as it sounds, for a translation I just need to know what the word is for the shooting into head of an executed person after being shot by the fire squad. Is it a head shot? Or there is a military jargon for it?

Canadian-speak

Thursday, October 18th, 2007 by justine

When I lived in Canada (I'm Australian) I noticed a common phrase used by interviewers and reporters was “could you speak to that” used in the sense of “Prime minister I believe you have discussed changes to the immigration policy… could you speak to that?” I found it a little uncomfortable and wondered if it was a new journalistic lingo phrase or a perfectly correct Canadian expression.
Could any Canadians speak to that? : )