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

jayles

Member Since

August 12, 2010

Total number of comments

748

Total number of votes received

229

Bio

Latest Comments

“Anglish”

  • October 17, 2011, 12:35pm

was at a fordeal >>> had the upperhand?? held sway??
was at an afterdeal >>> had lost the upperhand??
Thanks for "slighting" -- pejorative

“Anglish”

  • October 16, 2011, 5:32pm

advantage >>> upside,
disadvantage >>> downside, drawbacks

“Anglish”

  • October 16, 2011, 2:00pm

intentional >>> willful
pejorative >>> ???
introspective >> inward-looking
Q: is "headstrong" pejorative or not???

“Anglish”

  • October 12, 2011, 12:01am

"What can I do besides complain" : sounds okay to me too
"Besides complaining,.... " Okay too.
Besides is grammatically described as both an adverb and preposition so it doesn't matter too much how one uses it. English grammar is as long as a piece of string. What sounds okay IS okay.

"Would betold be befuddled with told?" let us not forget that "bezahlen" is german for to pay, as in : "Wollen wir die Rechnung bezahlen, oder einfach....na los!!!"
One day you might need "betel/betoldl" instead of "pay/paid"??

“Anglish”

  • October 9, 2011, 3:19pm

1) Isn't it strange how latinate (and greek) words sound stuffy, snobby, or one-up, whereas words like 'baksheesh' and 'bazaar' (vasar in hung) just sound colourful?

2)BTW my laptop just died... can't get Ubuntu to reinstall. Saxons never had this prob.

“Anglish”

  • October 3, 2011, 5:25pm

Angelfolc: perhaps you could modernise the months; my OE is limited. Is Weod like Wednesday? Why not Midsummer month? "Easter" sometimes falls in March not April.

Anwulf: I chickened on "jock itch"; "tinea cruris" sounds less "rustic" ..... "ringworm" sounds horrible...

Txs

“Anglish”

  • September 30, 2011, 5:28pm

so would you tell your girlfriend you have :
a) jock itch
b) tinea cruris
c) ringworm
d) athlete's foot
choose mindfully... you are not willing to put her off...

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2011, 9:23pm

I just meant they sound the same

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2011, 4:15pm

Sadly "hoar" is also spelt "whore"; so "whore-iness" could be misunderstood.

“Anglish”

  • September 20, 2011, 6:09pm

Q: "parents" >>> "elders" or ????
"grandparents" >>> ????
"ancestors" >> forefathers
grandmother >> ??mother.