OT - Grumpy Old Man Thread

[iahawk15]

I can't say if it's universal, but at least in the Midwest, "could of" and "could've" sound identical, which may be the origin story for "could of". Written is obviously another matter.

The old Iowa Rivals board had a long-running thread for "WOBs", which started when someone typed "want of bees" instead of wannabes. "Pre-Madonna" is one of my favorites. A WOB of my own from my childhood was "for all intensive purposes".

[utee94]

The old Iowa Rivals board had a long-running thread for "WOBs", which started when someone typed "want of bees" instead of wannabes. "Pre-Madonna" is one of my favorites. A WOB of my own from my childhood was "for all intensive purposes".

Yeah those are message board staples throughout the land.  "Mind-bottling" is another one.

Not a message board mistake, but something my best friend in high school always said, when attempting to use the colloquialism "Six of one, half a dozen of the other" to express indifference when faced with two options with seemingly equivalent outcomes-- he'd say "One half dozen of the other." 

It always made me crack up and no matter how many times I explained it to him, he still always got it wrong.

[Brutus Buckeye]

There's someone either here or another board that routinely substitutes "rather" for "whether." 

"rather or not..." 

[847badgerfan]

Maybe, but you can "engineer" poorly as well.  Anything produced by engineers, is engineered.  And I've encountered some very bad engineers performing some very poor engineering, over the decades.

I have as well. They got fired.

[MikeDeTiger]

That reminds me of a pivotal scene in Inglorious Bastards.....the way of holding up '3' with the character's fingers gives him away as a spy. 
Are Tarantino films that influential??

I've thought of that exact scene many times and wondered if there was a connection.  Though I didn't start seeing this trend until probably like ten years after that movie came out.  

[utee94]

I have as well. They got fired.

Oh yeah for sure, same here.  Well, except for the ones that got promoted into management.  

But my point with that was, we could also just as easily say, "Well, the QB just managed to engineer a 3-play drive for negative 27 yards and a blocked punt that was returned for a TD."

That would be kind of a fun change of pace.

[utee94]

I've thought of that exact scene many times and wondered if there was a connection.  Though I didn't start seeing this trend until probably like ten years after that movie came out. 

I have not noticed this out in the world.  I still count "the right way." 

[MikeDeTiger]

When I use teach Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew, I would use the word ball to show that the dictionary does not define a word but the context of a word gives it meaning.  Did I mean a round object, did I mean a dance event, do I mean having a good time.  Only context gives it meaning. 

Maybe now I'm just being cantankerous, but this is the grumpy thread, so.....

In your example, one thing "ball" absolutely will not and cannot mean, is "not ball."  That's not how language evolves, and if it does, it's dumb.  This is not an arbitrary distinction, it's an objective one.  The word "merry" may have been once understood as courageous and now be understood to generally mean "happy," or whatever.  But notice it did not come to mean "not courageous."  Because that would be dumb, and would erode the etymological principles on which language is built, which would ultimately leave us with no discernible language at all if taken to its logical conclusion.  

Which is exactly what's going on with "regardless" and "irregardless."  The latter of which I hope James Murray comes back from the dead and exorcises it out of the Oxford dictionary like the demon-monster it is.  

[SFBadger96]

I have not noticed this out in the world.  I still count "the right way."

The scene is memorable. I have no idea when I started counting 3 with my last three fingers, but I will say that it is a more comfortable way to hold up the number compared to the middle three fingers. Thumb, index and middle is weird.

[jgvol]

The scene is memorable. I have no idea when I started counting 3 with my last three fingers, but I will say that it is a more comfortable way to hold up the number compared to the middle three fingers. Thumb, index and middle is weird.

I am also "OK" sign (last 3 fingers = 3 guy).  

I've heard that it's racist, however.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

"I could care less!"

Me: "Could you really?"

My first boss after college was Pakistani, and so English wasn't really his native language. 

He would get exasperated and wouldn't say "I could care less" or "I couldn't care less"...

He'd just break out:

"You know, I care less!"

Although, come to think of it, remembering him doesn't make me grumpy lol... Good boss.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Went to go meet a CPA for the first time yesterday to try to establish as a new client. It did not go well.

I swear, she couldn't get over the fact that I have made my peace with the idea that I have high capital gains and I am just going to have to sell and pay taxes. That my stocks are in a VERY cyclical industry and that no, I can't hold these until 2028 or longer in the hopes that I can slowly sell piecemeal and income below certain levels to avoid certain tax levels... If I wait until 2028 or beyond, I don't know how much capital gains I'll still have--that solves my tax problem, but in the worst possible way. 

Do you ever go through life wondering how people get into certain professional jobs when spending only a little bit of time with them, you realize they're idiots? 

The worst was that this one was a personal recommendation. 

[MikeDeTiger]

Do you ever go through life wondering how people get into certain professional jobs when spending only a little bit of time with them, you realize they're idiots? 

Sometimes, but often I'm wondering why I'm not great at any professional job (or anything else) when I'm not an idiot.  I can't think of anything, really, I'd consider myself a go-to guy for.  It's enough to make me rethink the idiot thing.  After all, an idiot plausibly wouldn't know he's an idiot, right?  

My wife thinks I would've made a great on-air cfb analyst because of how often I'll saying something and then the tv people say the same thing....penalties, play-calling, prediction, context, etc.  But, I think they're mostly all idiots, and I'm afraid that kind of confirms my suspicion.  

[Riffraft]

Maybe now I'm just being cantankerous, but this is the grumpy thread, so.....

In your example, one thing "ball" absolutely will not and cannot mean, is "not ball."  That's not how language evolves, and if it does, it's dumb.  This is not an arbitrary distinction, it's an objective one.  The word "merry" may have been once understood as courageous and now be understood to generally mean "happy," or whatever.  But notice it did not come to mean "not courageous."  Because that would be dumb, and would erode the etymological principles on which language is built, which would ultimately leave us with no discernible language at all if taken to its logical conclusion. 

Which is exactly what's going on with "regardless" and "irregardless."  The latter of which I hope James Murray comes back from the dead and exorcises it out of the Oxford dictionary like the demon-monster it is. 

that is one "bad" take.  Not do I mean good or not good.