Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

cancuckft

Member Since

August 26, 2010

Total number of comments

4

Total number of votes received

17

Bio

Latest Comments

Use of “Referenced”

  • February 9, 2011, 2:10pm

It is heard when people say something like "In his speech he referenced the effect of climate change on the arctic." instead of "...he referred to the effect...".

“Self-confessed”

  • February 9, 2011, 11:50am

I tend to think that the "self-" is a sloppy redundancy that is intended to somehow reinforce the fact that an individual has confessed rather than being accused. The term is usually used when someone admits to something a bit embarrassing, silly or unexpected - "The English professor is a self-confessed lover of romance novels." The meaning would be unaltered if one said "The English professor is a confessed lover of romance novels." As has been stated, no one but the professor could have done the confessing.

hanged vs. hung

  • August 26, 2010, 7:15am

The question is not one of grammar, but of usage. Hanged is the traditional usage but hung is not incorrect.

As a Canadian I was always puzzled by the "oot and aboot" thing. When, after many years, I finally did a very careful analysis of the sounds I discovered that I, and I assume I am too untypical, really turn the "ou" into two sounds. It comes out as something like "owoot". I notice that the final position of the lips is the slightly pursed extended position of the "oo" sound.

My daughter goes to a international school with many Americans and they love to get her to say "oot and aboot".

Questions

Use of “Referenced” February 9, 2011