Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

AnWulf

Member Since

June 19, 2011

Total number of comments

616

Total number of votes received

571

Bio

Native English speaker. Conversant in German, Russian, Spanish, and Anglo-Saxon.

Ferþu Hal!

I hav a pilot's license (SEL certificate); I'm a certified diver (NAUI); I'v skydived and was qualified as a paratrooper in the Army (Airborne!); I was a soldier (MI, Armor, Engineer).

I workt for a corporation, was a law enforcement officer, and a business owner.

Bachelor's in Finance; minor in Economics
Masters of Aeronautical Sciences

Strong backer of English spelling reform.

Browncoat

Now I'v written my first novel [ http://www.lulu.com/shop/lt-wolf/the-world-king-book-i-the-reckoning/ebook/product-22015788.html ] and I'm working on others.

http://lupussolus.typad.com
http://lupussolusluna.blogspot.com
http://anwulf.blogspot.com

Latest Comments

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2012, 7:42am

I meant to say that folks wouldN'T sully their Latin with English words.

applicant - seeker
application - seeking ... job seeking

I don't mind the short words like "chair" so much but I will shun them when I can. It's not so much of "un-Latinizing" English as to not shun the Anglo-Germanic-Teutonic (AGT) rooted words. Often, not always, but often speaking the AGT words hav fewer syllables and can be said quicker and are more eathly understood. Writing ... no so much as the not only the consonant clusters but also the screwy spelling of English sometimes takes as many if not more stafs (letters). Thus noting the AGT words is often more streamline(d):

Job Seeking - three syllables; 10 stafs (inholding the space)
Job Application - five syllables; 15 stafs (inholding the space)

English has a way of streamlining Latinates, fb ... app (from application) is now it's own word, bus (from omnibus). I daresay that in a few years, if not alreddy, most folks won't know that app is short for application anymore than they know that bus is short for omnibus.

When a Latinate streamlines the tung or fills a gap, it's not a big deal. But when it only makes things longer, more ravell'd, and is noted more to show off than to share knowledge ... then it's time to toss it and find a short, sharper AGT.

The plight is that so many of the AGT word that are still there hav gather'd dust and aren't as well known. They can only become well-known by noting them. Keep in mind that a lot of folks don't truly know what the overblown Latinate means ... they only nod their heads and keep going. Between the screwy spelling and the over-noting of Latinates, it's little wonder that there is such a high illiteracy (unreadingness?) among nativ English speakers.

So there you are ... It could streamline the tung and raising the readingness among nativ English speakers.

“Anglish”

  • September 25, 2012, 7:44pm

It's not unwonted to hear, "I put in for that job."

The word France comes from the word for Frankish. Sadly, the Franks, after beating the Romans, settled in and took in so many Latinates as to make Frankish die out. See tho, that many of the Frankish words for war (such as war) liv'd thru. These cognates were eathly taken into English. The French should be looking to ed-quicken those Frankish words as well!

The Norman-French takeover itself likely wouldn't hav had a great change for English but for that it set up the French-Latin-is-good; English-is-crude mindset. The few early ME writings in English that we hav truly didn't hav that many Latinates and many of those were from the church (and, in the end Greek) but then most folks wrote in Latin and French and would sully their French with a lot of English words.

Sadly, to make things worse than they seem, there are Latinates that are wrongly given as Middle English from French but truthful are Old English from Latin. Passion is found in OE c805 ... nearly 300 hundred years before the Norman-French takeover, yet most etyms are "ME from French." ... Tho the Middle English Dictionary credits OE and B-T credits Latin.

“Anglish”

  • September 23, 2012, 7:24am

For "transit lounge" ... lounge is good to go so we only need a word for "transit". Here, "faring" (as in a journey) would work ... faring lounge.

Station, as in "bus station" or "train station", meaning the big, open hall/building ... English too has the word "hof": http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hof ... No reason not to swap in. So you see, these words haven't gone away ... they're still there only waiting to be dusted.

As for the word bus itself ... if one truly wanted to bestead it, one could note "folkwain" or "streetwain" or "roadwain" so something like that, however, that's a lot for the word "bus" which, by itself, means nothing in Latin. Bus comes from a Latin word that is so chopp'd up (by English speakers I believe) that no Roman would know it. In Argentina, a bus is call'd a "collectivo" (a collector) they look at you funny if you ask about an "autobus". I think that the word "bus" is common among the Germanic tungs (aside from Icelandic).

“Anglish”

  • September 16, 2012, 11:02am

Here an englishening of a German loanword: zeigeisty http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zeitgeisty meaning "contemporary", "trendy", "modern".

“Anglish”

  • September 14, 2012, 4:01pm

M-W has had some fetching WOTDs for the past few months ... skirl, wifty, welkin, wetware ... only three Anglo-Teutonic rooted words so far this month.

My wisse (rule) of thumb is that any word found in B-T or Clark's Concise is good to go. It'll be fetching to see what the Univ. of Toronto's project to foregather every known A-S word turns up!

Can I make a suggestion? ... Can I put out a thought?
Suggetion / proposal ... Foreset http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foreset (noun and verb), to suggest/propose ... put forth
Giv up "proper" in a sentence that is bothering you.
disappear (3 syllables) ... lost to sight (3 syllables), lose from sight, melt away, die out, dwindle, fordwine (for-dwine) http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fordwine

Here's another fetching word that means extinguish, blot out, delete: adwesch (a-dwesch) http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adwesch

“American”

  • September 14, 2012, 2:40pm

Yvetter ... read up above and see why you're wrong ... this ground has already been cover'd.

BTW, just yesterday I was in a medium sized town in Argentina ... I met a Chilean lady in the lobby of the hotel and we chatted. I told her that I was from the United States. Her friend came down from upstairs, an Argentine. When she introduced me to him (in Spanish) she told him that I was an "americano" (and no, there was no norte in front of it ... and she said it again a few minutes later). But that is neither here nor there as we're talking about English and not Spanish.

Past tense of “text”

  • September 6, 2012, 12:31pm

OK, once again ... text has been in English language as a VERB for over 400 ... that's four HUNDRED years. For those four hundred years, the past tense has been "texted". This is not something new!

If folks want to try to change it strong, irregular verb ... giv it a try. But as it stands now, the right past tense is "texted".

obliged or obligated?

  • September 5, 2012, 10:24am

^^^Oops ... CAN'T blame or credit the Americans.

obliged or obligated?

  • September 5, 2012, 10:13am

Bischoppe Cesariense..reconsilede to God a man ***obligate*** to the deville for þe luffe of a mayde. -Higden's Polychronicon, c1475

obligate (v.) 1540s, "to bind, connect;" 1660s, "to put under moral obligation," from L. obligatus, pp. of obligare

Obligate is not an Americanism ... It's been in English since about 1475 ... which is before Columbus stumbled over the Americas. As a verb since the 1540s which is before Jamestown ... You can giv credit ... or blame ... the Americans for this word.

“American”

  • August 31, 2012, 9:12am

@Arturuo
1. The article states:
The seven-continent model is usually taught in China, India and most English-speaking countries.
The six-continent combined-America model is taught in Latin America ... (the other one in Spanish also says Spain).

No surprise there. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. That folks from Latin America wish to call themselves Americans is a nod to the United States and when the US was a beacon a freedom and the LA countries were dictatorships, it was understandable. But given that the US is marching towards a police state while many LA countries are now freer, they might want to rethink that.

Perhaps you can tell me when Latin Americans started calling themselves an "Americanos". What is the date of that first use that you can find?

Again, we're talking about what is right in English here. In English, it is North and South America.
3 ... You're missing the point. "Arqueología Suramericana/Arqueologia Sul-Americana" (South American Archaeology) is publish'd by South Americans ... (Colombia and Argentina). It not "Arqueología de América".
4. No, not in English. For byspel ... The two major dialects of English are American English and British English. American-made means made in the US. In English, an American is someone from the US. Otherwise, one must specify.

Questions

What can I do besides... October 8, 2011