Hairy Scot
Joined: January 31, 2011
Number of comments posted: 299
Number of votes received: 130
Expat Scot now living in NZ. Home town was Greenock. Achieved SCE(H) levels in a number of subjects. Was employed by a multi-national company so spent a fair bit of time in other parts of Europe. Moved to South Africa in 1981 and then to NZ in 2007.
Questions Submitted
“Harsh but true” vs “harsh but fair”
Discussion on appropriate use of these two phrases came up o...
“deal to”
Another oddity from my favourite source, The New Zealand Her...
Preferred forms
What would be the preferred form of each of these:- ...
intend on doing?
“I intend on doing something about that” Just came across t...
“make a decision” or “take a decision”
Does one make a decision or take a decision? I favour the f...
“in regards to”
It’s one I had not encountered before moving to NZ. Now I he...
“it caught on fire”
In NZ I have often seen in print and heard people say “it ca...
“nearby to where he lives”
Another interesting phrase from The Independent: “nearby to...
“Liquid water”?
The phrase “liquid water” seems to have become very much in ...
“Bring” vs. “Take” differences in UK and American English
English (other than American English) has a clear differenti...
“get in contact”
Pet peeve 3 Saying “get in contact’ or “keep in contact”...
Pronouncing “mandatory”
Pet Peeve 2. People pronouncing “mandatory” as “mandayt...
Pronouncing “début”
Pet Peeve 1. Lots of antipodeans (particularly sports com...
Use of “their” as a genderless singular?
We often hear sentences like:- “Your teen is more at risk w...
“As per ....”?
I have noticed that here in NZ a lot of people use the phras...
Difference between acronyms and initials?
I have always believed that an acronym had to be a pronounca...
-age words
New Age Words? Just how far will the practice of adding “...
How to use floccinaucinihilipilification
I recently stumbled across the word “floccinaucinihilipilifi...
Unusual use of “trespassed”
Yet another antipodean oddity? Found these examples of an u...
The Best Euphemism for Shithouse?
What is the best euphemism for shithouse and/or urinal? I...
Perpendicular
When did perpendicular lose its verticality? I have always ...
“would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
The phrase “would of” seems to be coming more and more commo...
Stood down
In the antipodes it is common to use “stood down” as a synon...
“I’ve got” vs. “I have”
Is there not a redundancy in the use of “got” with “have”? ...
Signage
The word signage seems to keep popping up more and more and ...
Correct preposition following different?
I am sure most of us will agree that “from” is the only prep...
Recent Comments
on: You’ve got another think/thing coming
I too am an older person, fast approaching my three score an...
on: “Harsh but true” vs “harsh but fair”
@WW Private Messages...
on: “Harsh but true” vs “harsh but fair”
@WW I'd like to have a chat with you outside PITE. I hav...
on: “Harsh but true” vs “harsh but fair”
@WW SNAP!! Very close to the examples I quoted....
on: “deal to”
@WW I have oft commented on what I refer to as "antipodean ...
on: Team names — singular or plural
Teacher in a South African school asks class, "What is wrong...
on: “deal to”
@WW Oddity is the spice to life? :-))...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
@WW Been taking lessons from DAW? :-)) Words like abe...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
@WW In the first 35 years of my life, which I spent in Scot...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
@WW OK, I will rephrase that. In my opinion "different t...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
@ Joshing Certainly not! I was merely quoting examples ...
on: “gift of” vs. “gift from”
Between you, me, and the gatepost, I agree with mshades and ...
on: “Me neither.” or “Me either”
@WW I agree. It is plain that we are on the same plane! ...
on: hanged vs. hung
@WW Not so much a thing about hung, more about illustrating...
on: hanged vs. hung
This little tale illustrates one of the few times when hung ...
on: Impact as a noun
@WW During my career in IT we had a similar thing going at ...
on: “get in contact”
@WW Thanks. Made my day. :-)) ...
on: Impact as a noun
@WW I'm with you 100% on that. I will admit that I used to...
on: optimiSe or optimiZe ?
The push for "ize" is obviously a plot by Scrabble players. ...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
@WW I noticed when I worked in Germany in the seventies t...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
@WW There was a wee clue in the bottom left hand corner, ...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
Just as a point of interest: the use of "must" instead of "h...
on: “in regards to”
I'd normally plump for "regarding" in most cases, although "...
on: Pronunciation of indefinite article “a”
@WW You could add "Breakfast/brekfast" to that list....
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
@WW While I do strive to avoid the use of "I have got" or...
on: One of the most...
Back in the 70s a teacher friend asked her class to write do...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
I'd have thought this one would have petered out by now, 22 ...
on: One of the most...
I tend to use both depending on context. "That is one of ...
on: “as long as” vs. “so long as”
"She is not so pretty as I expected" sounds a little stilted...
on: “my” vs. “mine” in multiple owner possessive
@Warsaw Will "Mine" is only used on its own, not before a n...
on: Preferred forms
Thanks Skeeter. Even after 30 years away from Scotland I ...
on: Preferred forms
@WW RP? ...
on: Preferred forms
Reading the latest Baldacci offering and have just come acro...
on: Preferred forms
@WW I have heard "an 'otel" and even "an 'istoric" instead ...
on: Preferred forms
EEK!! It had to happen! Good old 'erb has just cropped...
on: Preferred forms
Since I did not wish to influence the discussion I did not m...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
anent anent. :-) Rather like it myself. It's a shame it ha...
on: intend on doing?
@goofy I must admit that does surprise me....
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
@WW In a moment of madness I have decided to use some of my...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
PS I often wonder how many issues such as this arise from:-...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
@Warsaw Will I think Stan's graphs certainly indicate the g...
on: hanged vs. hung
I fall in with the "objects are hung", "people are hanged" l...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
There are a couple of interesting graphs here :- http://sta...
on: Correct preposition following different? Redux
As the originator of the original thread, an educated Scot, ...
on: who vs. whom
@W Will Thanks for the references. I'll try to have a look ...
on: Pronunciation of indefinite article “a”
@Warsaw Will At least we agree on some things. :-)) I too...
on: Pronunciation of indefinite article “a”
@porsche Yes, I can relate to the chants from the crowd or ...
on: Pronunciation of indefinite article “a”
@Warsaw Will Another mystery which is perhaps only of inter...
on: Pronunciation of indefinite article “a”
@JimJ123 Have a look here :- http://painintheenglish.com...
on: who vs. whom
@porsche Sorry about that. I do take your point, but I may ...
on: who vs. whom
@Warsaw Will As a matter of fact I do try to keep to what...
on: who vs. whom
@Warsaw Will Perhaps you could consider the reverse of your...
on: Resume, resumé, or résumé?
In my book a résumé is a shortened CV, and resume is a ver...
on: who vs. whom
As a purist I can only say AARRGGGHH!!!! ...
on: Pronunciation of indefinite article “a”
Would anyone care to explain the (apparently American) prefe...
on: Medicine or Medication?
Another example of the "think it's classy/clever" genre is:-...
on: Medicine or Medication?
@Warsaw Will I have no issue with signage when it is used c...
on: Medicine or Medication?
LOL Like me you have a dyslexic koybeard. I have some mo...
on: Medicine or Medication?
Skeeter, I think "There are those who think it is classy" s...
on: American versus British question
@Warsaw Will I must confess that I am not the author of t...
on: American versus British question
:-))...
on: American versus British question
To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sov...
on: You’ve got another think/thing coming
@Warsaw Will This is an excellent example of the type of ev...
on: “Liquid water”?
That should be "as being odd"...
on: “Liquid water”?
@Warsaw Will Article was indeed related to cosmology, and w...
on: “He gave it to Michelle and I”
A few years ago while listening to Classic FM in the UK a ch...
on: “Liquid water”?
Have seen it used in a number of reports, latest of which wa...
on: “Bring” vs. “Take” differences in UK and American English
Hi Warsaw Will, It was Eugene who mentioned the blurring. ...
on: “Bring” vs. “Take” differences in UK and American English
To get back to my original question:- Why and how did thi...
on: “Bring” vs. “Take” differences in UK and American English
@Warsaw Will All of what you say is of course true. Howe...
on: “Bring” vs. “Take” differences in UK and American English
@Eugene Ryder @Warsaw Will I was being neither condescen...
on: “get in contact”
@Warsaw Will I quite agree with your point on pet peeves....
on: Use of “their” as a genderless singular?
@goofy I have crossed swords with DAW on another topic so...
on: Use of “their” as a genderless singular?
@goofy I'm sorry, but I seem to have missed the part wher...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
@Anwulf Glad to see you're back on form. Interesting that ...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
With Collins inviting the public to submit entries for its l...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
Oxford Dictionary to cease after adding ‘amazeballs’ Februa...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
@AnWulf Completely off topic, and nothing to do with langua...
on: “get in contact”
@Anwulf As I said, personal preferences and opinions. Wh...
on: Molotov Cocktails
@D.A.Wood Please take a look at the thread on acronyms. ...
on: “get in contact”
I agree that no justification should be necessary. All too ...
on: Pronouncing “mandatory”
@D. A. Wood @Mediator 100% agreement. You have both hit...
on: “get in contact”
Personal preference mainly, they just don't sound right, kin...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
The OED on my desktop has: /ˈɡaːlə/ /ˈɡeɪlə/ Etymology: <...
on: Molotov Cocktails
Al, You could well be correct. ...
on: Molotov Cocktails
I would like to express my regrets and offer my apologies to...
on: Molotov Cocktails
Dear DAW, In my 60+ years on this planet I have learned qui...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
Probably the same with data. But what about baba, java, g...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
Never could decipher those hieroglyphics that are used to in...
on: Molotov Cocktails
@D.A.Wood Have you ever ventured outside of America? ...
on: Molotov Cocktails
@D.A.Wood Not sure where you get the idea that my vocabular...
on: Pronouncing “gala”
You must have seen the same newscast as I did last night!!...
on: Molotov Cocktails
It is really amazing that D.A.W. manages to use so many word...
on: Molotov Cocktails
Nobody in America knows what a petrol bomb is? That is real...
on: Use of “their” as a genderless singular?
@goofy @D.A.W. I did not complain about Webster's diction...
on: Pled versus pleaded
@DAW Yes I am aware of the construction, just too lazy to...
on: Use of “their” as a genderless singular?
@Brus How about "To turn a fox into a dog your marry it/h...
on: Pled versus pleaded
@DAW My favourite German tongue twister is "Zugang zu den...
on: Pled versus pleaded
Collins, Chambers, and OED seem to be unanimous:- Pled ver...
April 29, 2013, 5:01pm • 0 vote
on: “make a decision” or “take a decision”
@WW As I said in my opening post, I favour "make a decision...