![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
i is snitching
Oct. 19th, 2004 03:12 pmI am reading Roald Dahl's BFG to my ill child and here is how he speaks:
"Human beans from Panama is tasting very strong of hats."
"You is not very clever."
"This is a serious and snitching subject!"
J.K. Rowling snitching from others' works, anyone? And not the smallest whiff of Gollum there, either...
While I'm here, a handful of pet peeves:
Peeve the First:
minuscule
That is a word in the English language whose etymology goes back to the Latin word for 'very small': minusculus.
miniscule
There is no such word!!! You cannot stick the suffic 'scule' onto the word 'mini' and be thinking that you have constructed a word meaning 'tiny'!! That's not how words get made. Otoh, I guess I could coin the following phrase: "Oooh, you're as hard and maxiscule as a snozzcumber!"
Peeve the Second:
amused
This is a word in the English language, meaning 'having been made to laugh or smile'.
bemused
This is a word in the English language, meaning 'confused, stupefied'.
These two words are not interchangeable! Yet one would think they were, judging from the number of times I have read men in fic being confused and stupefied in situations that would call for mild amusement. Or perhaps slashmen just are like that...?
Peeve the Third:
en route
This is a French expression, meaning 'to be on one's way to somewhere'.
on route
This formulation does not exist in the English language. One can be on form, one can be on song, one can even be on offer -- but one cannot be 'on route'. Homonymic acoustic effects do not the spelling of the English language guide.
The Only Time I Can Condone Erroneous Spelling:
liek omg h'es so kewl 111 wtf
Can you tell I'm in a bit of a state because of
a) job interview next Tuesday
b) Open Evenings at secondary schools for t'son
c) illness of t'other son
d) frazzled brain
"Human beans from Panama is tasting very strong of hats."
"You is not very clever."
"This is a serious and snitching subject!"
J.K. Rowling snitching from others' works, anyone? And not the smallest whiff of Gollum there, either...
While I'm here, a handful of pet peeves:
Peeve the First:
minuscule
That is a word in the English language whose etymology goes back to the Latin word for 'very small': minusculus.
miniscule
There is no such word!!! You cannot stick the suffic 'scule' onto the word 'mini' and be thinking that you have constructed a word meaning 'tiny'!! That's not how words get made. Otoh, I guess I could coin the following phrase: "Oooh, you're as hard and maxiscule as a snozzcumber!"
Peeve the Second:
amused
This is a word in the English language, meaning 'having been made to laugh or smile'.
bemused
This is a word in the English language, meaning 'confused, stupefied'.
These two words are not interchangeable! Yet one would think they were, judging from the number of times I have read men in fic being confused and stupefied in situations that would call for mild amusement. Or perhaps slashmen just are like that...?
Peeve the Third:
en route
This is a French expression, meaning 'to be on one's way to somewhere'.
on route
This formulation does not exist in the English language. One can be on form, one can be on song, one can even be on offer -- but one cannot be 'on route'. Homonymic acoustic effects do not the spelling of the English language guide.
The Only Time I Can Condone Erroneous Spelling:
liek omg h'es so kewl 111 wtf
Can you tell I'm in a bit of a state because of
a) job interview next Tuesday
b) Open Evenings at secondary schools for t'son
c) illness of t'other son
d) frazzled brain
