Hairy Scot
Joined: January 31, 2011
Number of comments posted: 299
Number of votes received: 131
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: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Warsaw Will I did not say that anyone had accused me of be...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
&Chris B I agree. Porsche's comments are normally worth rea...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Warsaw Will " different in British English, to that in Ame...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
@Porsche What utter balderdash! ...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
I still think "I have a lovely bunch of coconuts" sounds so ...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
@Porsche How about "I have to go" vs "I have got to go"? o...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
Give us one example of a site or publication that states tha...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@JJMBallantyne None so blind as he who will not see....
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
Your name is well chosen....
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
There seem to be lots of sites and sources which show "If I ...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
And another:- http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-su...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
I am obviously better educated than the Red Goofy...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
One more for the good guys:- http://iconlogic.blogs.com/w...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
I was taught English in the 1970s at the Berlitz School in M...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
There are many sources that state that "If I were" is the co...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@JJMBallantyne We have already established what is correct....
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Warsaw Will Like you I was expressing an opinion. Do you h...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Hairy LOL...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
The most annoying thing about pedants is that they are usual...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
I took Latin in high school (don't ask me why, I have forgot...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Porsche @JJM My apologies, you are absolutely correct. ...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
There are a number of discussion forums covering this topic,...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
The statement "It may seem that was is crowding out subjunct...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@goofy Yes, I agree. But you did say "how good writers act...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@goofy "If I were....." formal, written "If I was ...." i...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
Why is being correct labelled as pedantry? English is my se...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
I thought this one had been done to death. Advocating adher...
on: “would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
@Jor Please don't get me started on the misuse of apostroph...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
Looks like some unregistered bozo has found a way to make us...
on: “would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
Never seen the "ov" form, but "would ov" is no more correct ...
on: “would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
@AnWulf "The Coffin Dancer" by Jeffery Deaver. (Whose fath...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
@AnWulf Surprised to see that you haven't climbed into the ...
on: What is the word for intentionally incorrect spelling?
Isn't it called an Americanism? :) ...
on: “enamored with” and “enamored by”
Try searching for enamoured, you'll find lots of info: enam...
on: What can I do besides...
@dogreed Sorry dude, you got it wrong. Besides appears in ...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
@Anwulf As one whose native tongue was all but eliminated b...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
Since AS is your hobby I will bow to your superior knowledge...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
@Anwulf Maybe you should join the Anglish community. As lo...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
Tung:- Old High German Etymology Cognate with Old English ...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
Yes indeed, well said Valentina....
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
Thank you Valentina....
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
@Anwulf You are even more close minded and dogmatic than th...
on: Prepositions at the end of a clause
Regardless of correctness or elegance, terminal prepositions...
on: Over exaggeration
OMG! We are doomed!...
on: Over exaggeration
So one can then underexaggerate?...
on: Over exaggeration
Would you use phrases like "reverse backward", or "advance...
on: Over exaggeration
@Anwulf The words in the post are not mine, I was merely pr...
on: Over exaggeration
From http://www.grammarist.com/usage/overexaggerate Exag...
on: Over exaggeration
@JohnnyM Pedantic: yes, condescending: perhaps, offensive: ...
on: Backward vs. Backwards?
@Meg The OED and Chambers disagree. Both list the "s" form...
on: Usage of ‘I have doubt that’
@porsche "I have doubt" may be grammatically correct but it...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
@evath You could be right! :) ...
on: Over exaggeration
A lot of drivel being spouted here. Despite what Merriam-We...
on: Usage of ‘I have doubt that’
One can say "I doubt ......." or "I have doubts................
on: “Under urgency”
@AnWulf Yes, I am in NZ. I "googled" the phrase and the ...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
@porsche, Hairy Scot I too am guilty of of being dismissive...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
@porsche Thanks for pointing that out. I'll admit I tend t...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
The only true gospel for the English language is the OED, al...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
@Remek Should the media, whether in print, on radio, or on ...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
Surely evolution should lead to improvement, not the dumbing...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
Unfortunately Merriam-Webster tends to reflect only what is ...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
In common with the majority of the English speaking world I ...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Brus I have agreed with you all along. It's just that we c...
on: whensoever vs. whenever
I think "whensoever" is archaic and was superceded by "whene...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
??...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Brus We are obviously casting our pearls before swine. I ...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@goofy The difference lies in the use of subjunctive vs ind...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
Both idiolect and counterfactual appear in OED but, strangel...
on: What happened to who, whom and whose?
@Brus I agree 100%. Unfortunately the demon of common usag...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
Another example of how "common usage" leads to deterioration...
on: What happened to who, whom and whose?
@Kyle I agree that language evolves, but unfortunately al...
on: “My writing books” or “Me writing books”?
"My writing.........." is correct....
on: Stood down
The opposite of "to be stood up"??...
on: Stood down
Hello acorn1. Please see my response in the other thread. ...
on: Someone else’s
@Scott @Acorn1 I also have a sense of humour, which it s...
on: Someone else’s
The use of phrases like "in America', or "in the US", or "ac...
on: Impact as a noun
As joshelson stated:- "The use of terms such as "impact on"...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
I did not expect so much debate on this. My own feeling is ...
on: Signage
@porsche I agree that some of the examples may be correct...
on: Signage
I think you may even find one example there where it appears...
on: Signage
Rather than list examples I suggest you take a look at this ...
on: Signage
@Bryan M Yes, my thoughts exactly. However, "common us...
on: “identical to” and “identical with”
Has to be "identical to" "similar to" "same as"! With does ...
on: Correct preposition following different?
Oops! My initial post was obviously not clear. I was thi...
on: Fora vs Forums
@CA-Rooster Regarding "debut" I must admit that the kiwi ...
on: Fora vs Forums
@CA-Rooster. Sorry if you found my post insulting, it cer...
on: Fora vs Forums
Last sentence of previous post should read:- However I fe...
on: Fora vs Forums
Wish I had found this thread earlier! Would have loved to a...
November 16, 2011, 3:45pm • 0 vote
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
@Warsaw Will I too am over 60, educated in Scotland during ...