Pedants United

A section to discuss matters not related to Chess in particular.
Neil Graham
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Neil Graham » Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:57 pm

Neville Twitchell wrote:
Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:49 pm
Perhaps this thread ought to be called Pedants Revolt rather than Pedants United. Or Pedants Revolting or even Revolting Pedants!
Which reminds me of the joke about the leader of the Pedants Revolt who should have been called Which Tyler not Wat Tyler.
This reminds me of the episode of Dr.Who where he was identified as the Wizard "QuiQueQuod" by another character. I have just entered this in Google which asks "Do you mean QuickQuid?"

Ian Thompson
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Location: Awbridge, Hampshire

Re: Pedants United

Post by Ian Thompson » Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:49 pm

One that irritates me every time I see it, which, today, is twice. I've received two letters signed by Susan Smith (names changed to protect the guilty) in this way:
Yours sincerely

pp Susan Smith

David Jones

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MJMcCready
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Re: Pedants United

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:11 pm

What about 'fun' being used as an adjective and a noun, for example it was funner (or more fun) than last week. Or the funnest time of my life was...' I've heard it enough times.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Location: Millom, Cumbria

Re: Pedants United

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:21 pm

I have seen "winningest" used more than once in a chess context (one example being the "infamous" Warriors Of The Mind)
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Wed Oct 14, 2020 7:10 pm

"winningest" was created by our American friends I believe.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Pedants United

Post by MJMcCready » Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:39 pm

That is about as crude as it gets.

Paul Habershon
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Paul Habershon » Fri Oct 16, 2020 8:55 am

Notice on door of gents' toilet at my local Debenham store:

'CLOSED FOR MAINTAINENCE'

In the old days you could say there was no dictionary to hand, but now just look it up on your phone or a mate's for goodness' sake!

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Oct 16, 2020 1:38 pm

Latest Covid-19 guidance from the Government includes (as an exception to isolation)

"for elite sportspeople and their coaches if necessary for competition and training, as well as parents or guardians if they are a child"

I realise you can be a parent if you're a child, but I don't think it's legal for a child to be a guardian...

Paul Habershon
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Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:51 pm

Re: Pedants United

Post by Paul Habershon » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:52 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 1:38 pm
Latest Covid-19 guidance from the Government includes (as an exception to isolation)

"for elite sportspeople and their coaches if necessary for competition and training, as well as parents or guardians if they are a child"

I realise you can be a parent if you're a child, but I don't think it's legal for a child to be a guardian...
Kevin, at least in my previous post 'maintainence' has a clear meaning. I can't work out the intention of your Government example. Has some word like 'supervising' (a child) been omitted?

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:11 pm

Paul Habershon wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:52 pm
I can't work out the intention of your Government example. Has some word like 'supervising' (a child) been omitted?
It's a direct quote from the ECF website.

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/covid-19-update/

In turn that links to
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-covid ... vel-medium
which also contains the quoted material.

Nick Ivell
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Nick Ivell » Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:54 pm

I really shouldn't be pedantic about Kramnik's excellent English, but the following snippet amused me:

'Black overtakes the initiative.'

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:06 pm

'Black overtakes the initiative.'

That is a good one - I assume he meant "takes over", but it is complicated in other languages. What he said was quite poetic though.

Alistair Campbell
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Alistair Campbell » Sun Oct 18, 2020 7:52 pm

Another quibble - the difference between "league" and "division", particularly with regard to sporting competitions.

As far as I am concerned, a league is made up of divisions. These divisions may be based on merit or geography (and possibly other criteria that I can't think of). I was comfortable with the distinction in England between the Premiership and Championship, as these were competitions run by two different, albeit related, organisations. I am less so with the SPFL calling its second tier "the championship".

(To be fair, when one set of fans (in the old days when fans were allowed into grounds) chants "we're top of the league and you're no(t)", I'm yet to hear the reciprocal chant "technically you mean "division".)

Veering off-topic, I like to think of a chess match as a collection of games, and not as a single encounter. Is there any technical basis for this belief other than common usage?

Paul Habershon
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Paul Habershon » Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:46 pm

Alistair, even before I reached your last paragraph I was thinking about the distinction between match and game.

We quite happily refer to a football match when it's a game between two teams. However, the nature of chess competition should demand a distinction between match and game. A county or a league match consists of a number of games, so we don't ask a player whether he won his match - it's his game. Similarly a chess match between two individuals implies a multi-game contest (e.g. a World Championship).

I used to tell junior beginners that if they called a rook a castle it would show they were not a proper chess player. I could almost say the same of those who misuse game/match in a chess context.

Roger Lancaster
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Roger Lancaster » Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:22 am

Paul Habershon wrote:
Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:46 pm
I used to tell junior beginners that if they called a rook a castle it would show they were not a proper chess player.
LOL, whereas, in many European [French = tour, German = Turm] countries, it would seem odd to call a tower a black bird. Such eccentricities are, however, expected of the British.

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