Moot? Who uses that silly word? Yes, it has few synonyms and it's meaning is clear, but I find it irritating. It's the kind or word which when I hear it used, I think, wow, how long have you been waiting to slip in that silly word? What's more disturbing about this silly word is that it was in the lyrics of a popular 80s era ( I think) song. Does anybody know what song?....a challenge!
The Love Child of the Return of The Thread on Word Usage that Grates like Blackboard Fingernails...
Thu, 2010-05-13 18:39
#52
Thu, 2010-05-13 22:01
#53
Let's see, there was The Moot Moot Song, by Betty Everett back in the 50s.
"Silly" has an interesting history. It used to mean "deserving of sympathy" back in the 15th century, then by the 16th century "silly" came to mean "defenceless" (as in women and children) and "weak," "poor" or "trifling." It acquired something like its current meaning later in that century, as it became synonymous with "unsophisticated," "rustic" and "ignorant."
1576 first saw it written with the meaning you seem to intend above:
.5.a Lacking in judgement or common sense; foolish, senseless, empty-headed.
1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 24 Wee sillie soules, take the matter too too heauily. 1598 Florio s.v. Zane, A sillie Iohn, a gull, a noddie. 1611 Bible 2 Tim. iii. 6 Of this sort are they which creep into houses, and leade captiue silly women. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 3 A wise and good Man...will neither be so stupid, as to be surpriz'd with any Disaster, nor so silly, as to encrease it by a fruitless Anxiety. 1728 Young Love of Fame v. 212 Her soul is silly, but her body's wise. 1766 C. O'Conor Dissert. Hist. Scotl. 64 Silly Man! The Ridicule recoils doubly on his own Head. 1833 H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. v. 77, I should be very silly to pay when I might have them without. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iii, 'Heaven help this silly fellow,' murmured the perplexed locksmith. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 312 The gentlemen often came into the drawing-room with glassy eyes, and silly of speech.
5.b Of words, actions, etc.: Evincing or associated with foolishness.
1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 77 By vertue thou inforcest laughter, thy sillie thought, my spleene. 1590 - Mids. N. v. i. 212 This is the silliest stuffe that ere I heard. 1639 Fuller Holy War i. viii, His silly looks carried in them a despair of any worth. 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 461 He writes every week the silliest, foolishest stories in the world.
Thu, 2010-05-13 23:07
#54
The Moot Moot song? Good trick...you win the challenge...cheque is in the mail.
Fri, 2010-05-14 01:49
#55
So what's wrong with "moot?" I like it.
The only problem I've ever seen with it is when someone says, "That's a mute point," which isn't poor old moot's fault anyway.
Wed, 2010-06-09 13:25
#56
I just read someone use "relevancy" in a sentence. This sounds like Sportscaster's English, so I looked it up in the Canadian Oxford and found it listed as a noun. I then checked my 1983 edition of the Concise Oxford and found only "relevance," which is how God intended the citation to read.
Wed, 2010-07-21 12:19
#57
The torture never stops...
Why do those in control of these sorts of things use "IED" (Improvised Explosive Device) instead of "bomb?" Do the extra syllables make these bombs more dangerous? Is "booby trap" too sexually suggestive?
How are these IEDs "ïmprovised" anyway. Does some guy walking along the road see some sticks and rocks, then in a jazzy state of creativity arrange them into something explosive?
I like the French term, bombe artisanale. This term at least gives the bomb-maker some credit for planning and strategy.
Mon, 2010-08-09 12:52
#58
I would think that the fact that there are so many of them being made would imply that they're more planned than "improvised".
Mon, 2010-08-09 13:05
#59
How are these IEDs "ïmprovised" anyway. Does some guy walking along the road see some sticks and rocks, then in a jazzy state of creativity arrange them into something explosive?
The recent history of IEDs and preferred car bombing techniques since the 1980s is considered explosive. Best not go there.
Mon, 2010-08-09 17:04
#60
.... last month's meeting was chaired by ME. This of course brings us to ...now we're using "chair" as a verb.
"Chair" as a verb, i have come, reluctantly, to accept. I'm still not sure about the same "chair" as a noun - meaning the person who presides over a meeting; that is, occupies the actual "chair" [item of furniture designed for a single human beings to sit in or on; the particular chair referred to in this context being located at the head of a conference table; in modern times, it may resemble all the other seating in the room, but in the past, would usually have been superior to every other chair in the room and often been the only such furniture in the room, hence: The Chair].
However, my real problem is with the rejection - and imminent extermination - of the objective pronoun me. "He gave George and I a wonderful present." Or "This news was devastating to Tony and I ." It seems that so many people who paid no attention in English class, when they said something like: "Me and Tracy went shopping," were corrected so often ["Tracy and I"] that they simply gave up on me. This is true of politicians, news broadcasters and other persons ostensibly trained in public speaking, as well as the uneducated.
But that's not even the worsest, most chalkboardiest thing. The worst is a form of quantitative description that has recently come into vogue: "two times larger" or "ten times less toxic ". Does three 'times more' mean the original amount multiplied by three, or the original amount plus the original amount multiplied by three, or the original amount cubed...? How much is 5 times less than 2? Oh well, it doesn't matter, because no original amount is ever stated.
Mon, 2010-08-09 18:51
#61
How about using "decimate" to mean "destroy," or "light years" to refer to a long time?
"Chair" as a verb? That would be like saying Elizabeth II thrones over us, I suppose.
Fri, 2010-08-20 10:47
#62
Kaberle Sr., who also coached elite teams in the Czech Republic, has spent considerable time around the Air Canada Centre since his son joined the Leafs in 1998. And it sounds like he emphasizes with Leafs president Brian Burke, whose club finished 29th in the 30-team NHL last season.Hockey season is coming soon
Tue, 2010-09-14 17:37
#63
Here's another one from the world of pro sports. Yesterday I heard a bobble head (the sports version of a talking head) say that Eric Tillman is about to "take ownership" of the Edmonton Eskimos.
This "ownership" term is dumb enough, beyond its implications of possessive individualism, but whoever owns the Eskimos has "ownership." Tillman is merely going to be the manager.
Wed, 2010-10-13 10:54
#64
The CBC, which lately has taken to butchering some six or seven dozen words at a breakfast, has this bit of good news on its website today:
Shouldn't that be "Loonie hones in on parity"?
Sun, 2010-11-28 00:58
#65
It has been 24 months since Burke took over the reigns. Whatever he decides to do, this much is certain: The long-suffering fans deserve better than this.
Get a horse, Mike; you don't know the meaning of suffering.
Sun, 2010-11-28 01:21
#66
"Tinfoil hat" and "conspiracy theorist": esp. when they're used by people who themselves can't seem to provide any evidence for their argument, possibly don't understand what it is, and almost always have contributed nothing of any substance to the debate.
Ironically enough, these terms are used most by people who claim to use the scientific approach and claim to understand what "evidence-based" means. 
Sun, 2010-11-28 12:59
#67
"Tinfoil hat"
Did you notice how I was able to post in a closed thread? Through my nefarious use of fluoride, not to mention my trusty black helicopter, I flew straight into the thread, typed in some thermite-laced letters, and snuck out without being seen.
Explain that one, science-boy.
Sun, 2010-11-28 14:29
#68
My theory would be that you clicked "Post comment" at the same time Maysie did. But hey, your theory is much more colourful. You have a very fanciful imagination. Would you like to tell us about how the far right has infiltrated anti-fluoridationist cells? 
Sun, 2010-11-28 14:35
#69
Catchfire
Hi friends. Let's leave this thread to word abusage, malapropisms and grammar gaffes. Please don't use it to run flanking maneuvers on battles taking place in other threads.
Sun, 2010-11-28 16:23
#70
I'm glad you said it. I was concerned that babble's 9-11 disease was about to take over this thread. By the way, does it drive anyone else nuts when someone says "nine-one-one" when referring to the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre?
Sun, 2010-11-28 17:00
#71
I think the word proof and even the phrase, 'proof beyond a doubt' could be used a lot more often by investigative news journalists and sometime before or hopefully not very long after sovereign countries are attacked and occupied militarily without an official exit plan in place. And come to think of it, investigative news journalism seems to have gone to the dogs since approximately nine years ago. They say the number nine in English sounds a lot like the German word for no.
Sun, 2010-11-28 17:35
#72
Hi friends. Let's leave this thread to word abusage, malapropisms and grammar gaffes. Please don't use it to run flanking maneuvers on battles taking place in other threads.
Sun, 2010-11-28 17:44
#73
Okay, al-Q, it's your personal thread and sanctuary from 9/11 truth talk from here on out. We won't counter razz you anymore. At least not here.
Sun, 2010-11-28 17:50
#74
bagkitty
I'm glad you said it. I was concerned that babble's 9-11 disease was about to take over this thread. By the way, does it drive anyone else nuts when someone says "nine-one-one" when referring to the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre?
It is not so much the shorthand reference that annoys me as it is the creeping Americanism of the form this shorthand date reference employs.
With the possible exception of whatever company got the sweetheart deal with the Canadian federal government who insist references be in the order of year, month, date (something really, really annoying when you (or me, as a volunteer Financial Agent during election campaings) are trying to enter data for Elections Canada reports) practically everyone uses the ascending order (smallest to largest) of date, month, year - which would make the the correct form of the reference: eleven-nine. Damn 'mericans!
Sun, 2010-11-28 19:00
#75
M. Spector
Shouldn't that be "Loonie hones in on parity"?
[url=http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/homehonegloss.htm][c....
Sun, 2010-11-28 19:18
#76
I'm glad you said it. I was concerned that babble's 9-11 disease was about to take over this thread. By the way, does it drive anyone else nuts when someone says "nine-one-one" when referring to the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre?
What is babble's "9-11 disease"? You seem to be the first one to mention this, and the first one to bring up 9/11 in this thread. If you don't want it discussed, why would you bring it up? It's kind of like you're obsessed with it.
Sorry, but if you're going to derail your own thread, I'm not going to stay politely away.
Sun, 2010-11-28 19:21
#77
al-Q, just because you start a thread doesn't mean you get to troll in it while others don't. Of course, I could be wrong about that. Maybe check with the mods.
Sun, 2010-11-28 19:27
#78
Oh yeah, M. Spector? Next you're gonna tell us that "honing pigeons" is a howler?
Sun, 2010-11-28 19:53
#79
Catchfire
jas and Fidel, you're trolling this thread and using it to score points in another thread. That's not allowed. Don't post in this thread again unless it's on topic.
Sun, 2010-11-28 20:12
#80
Um, actually, it was al-Q who started the trolling. He also makes it a habit to troll in every thread where he thinks there might be "conspiracy theorists". But glad you're on it, Catchfire.
Sun, 2010-11-28 21:06
#81
Catchfire
jas, don't be obtuse. Your comment #65 is a clear attempt at trolling. al-Q obliged. Don't do it again.
Sun, 2010-11-28 21:26
#82
It was an on-topic post that also allowed me to express my frustration with Babble reactionaries. It was absolutely on topic, and is also a fairly serious problem here, one that warrants comment, and this was a very effective way of making that comment.
The terms "tinfoil hat" and "conspiracy theorist" tend to be used most by people who have the least to offer intelligently in a discussion. When used pejoratively, they are terms of last resort for someone who either can't argue on credible terms or who has run out of arguments, or is refusing to acknowledge information that is being shown to them.
This is a very good thread in which to draw attention to where such terms are being used incorrectly and inappropriately.
Sun, 2010-11-28 22:13
#83
Shouldn't that be "Loonie hones in on parity"?
[url=http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/homehonegloss.htm][c....
The OED begs to slightly differ, or is it that I'm begging the question?
hone, v.4 orig. U.S.
Brit. /həʊn/, U.S. /hoʊn/
[Apparently an alteration of home v. (see sense 5 s.v.), originally by confusion with hone v.3]
intr. to hone in. To head directly for something; to turn one's attention intently towards something. Usu. with on. Cf. home v. 5.
1965 G. Plimpton Paper Lion (1967) 51 Then he'd fly on past or off at an angle, his hands splayed out wide, looking back for the ball honing in to intercept his line of flight. 1967 N.Y. Times 5 Nov. iii. 10/1 A few who know the wearer well recognize that something is different without honing in on the hairpiece. 1983 E. Figes Light vii. 53 A wasp had begun to circle round the bowl‥, gradually honing in on the ripe glistening fruit. 1995 For Him Mag. Sept. 78/3 He hasn't spotted me. I hone in, but he slips out of range just in time. We cat and mouse for what seems like an eternity. 2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Dec. 35/3 Balanchine's classes were famous for honing in on the basics.
Sun, 2010-11-28 22:54
#84
So "cat" is a verb? Who kmew!
Sun, 2010-11-28 23:24
#85
Shouldn't that be "Loonie hones in on parity"?
[url=http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/homehonegloss.htm][c....
- loonies hone in on those who dare question Official Narratives ....
Mon, 2010-11-29 01:22
#86
So "cat" is a verb? Who knew!
I think the verb is to "cat and mouse," which isn't really any better.
Sun, 2011-01-02 12:11
#87
The World Juniors are on now, so we're exposed to a lot of Pierre McGuire, who has elevated his discourse in terms of the use of trite phrases such as "he gets it."
Sat, 2011-02-05 17:46
#88
These would be good examples for Catchfire's 2010 word/expressions list, but I disremember where that is:
- "perfect storm"
- "on a daily basis" (why not "every day"?)
- "end game"
Sat, 2011-02-05 18:02
#89
Don Taylor grates but in a Canuckian, good kinda way.
Moen faucets one.
In Moen-ian fashion?
Bwaha! Priceless
Sat, 2011-02-05 20:08
#90
While he's parodying Danny Gallivan's "Savardian Spin-a-rama," Taylor is nevertheless a scintillating commentator, cannonading out those verbal gems in rapier-like fashion.
Sat, 2011-02-05 20:16
#91
Catchfire
I recall "perfect storm" being on the 2008 (if not earlier) kill list for words. Sadly, it's a survivor.
Sat, 2011-02-05 21:56
#92
While he's parodying Danny Gallivan's "Savardian Spin-a-rama," Taylor is nevertheless a scintillating commentator, cannonading out those verbal gems in rapier-like fashion.
"Christoph Schubert, with a Tchaikovsky of a goal!" Bwaahaha! He's way worse with ramdom commentaries on NHL number whatsit for EA Sports video game play, as EA game play goes.
Sat, 2011-03-05 19:01
#93
M. Spector
"If that's what you think, you've got another [url=http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/thing.html]thing[/url] coming".
Wed, 2011-03-16 10:28
#94
Catchfire
TSN announced that Washington won a 4-2 "decision" over Montreal in last night's hockey game. Where the hell did that usage come from? Boxing? Baseball, I suppose? I do not see how it applies to hockey.
Sun, 2011-03-27 12:39
#95
Yesterday a guest expert on CBC's White Coat, Black Art used the expression, "Canary in a minefield."
Sun, 2011-03-27 12:43
#96
Catchfire
I like that one.
Sun, 2011-03-27 12:59
#97
Yeah, it's so bad it's good, like an Ed Wood movie or Don Cherry saying "rocket surgery."
Sun, 2011-03-27 13:32
#98
Q. if the UN "sanctions" a state's actions...
is it forbidding them, or approving them?
Sun, 2011-03-27 14:40
#99
In the house of commons, they keep saying, "Let me make myself clear..."
I've been hearing the media using "big-time" as if it's a legitimate phrase. Like, "if they don't manage to cool the cores, there could be radioactive contamination big-time." I think Matt Galloway has said it.
Tue, 2011-04-05 11:19
#100
In the house of commons, they keep saying, "Let me make myself clear..."
Richard Nixon used to be famous for saying "Let me make myself perfectly clear."
I just heard Pollyanna Tremonti say someone "waded in" to a discussion. Maybe she was on the shores of a minefield.
I suppose her term sounds more logical that the traditional "weighed in."
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Fri, 2011-04-15 11:33
#101
I believe I've mentioned my distaste for the use of that "take ownership" term in situations that are unrelated to possession. A somewhat similar term that also bugs me is to call someone a "consumer of news" or a "consumer of culture."
Not only do these usages just plain sound wrong, they reflect the creeping into our consciousness of an insidious attitude in which we think we are mere agents of consumption or possession, and not full human beings.