More words: Peaked versus piqued.

March 03, 2021, 09:33 AM

When I was in grade school we were taught Synonyms Antonyms and Homonyms.

Are these no longer taught to kids in school?
.

March 03, 2021, 01:34 PM

arfmel

Incredibly, there are lots of people that use “pasted” in place of the words “past” and “passed”.

But, maybe we’re expecting too much (or allot) from folks who interchange “then” and “than”.

March 03, 2021, 02:26 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by OKCGene:

When I was in grade school we were taught Synonyms Antonyms and Homonyms.

Don't forget Eponym.

March 03, 2021, 02:41 PM

pedropcola

That was my favorite REM album.

(it’s a joke literal guys lol)

March 05, 2021, 02:48 PM

cne32507

In a current thread in the Lounge, "breeched" is used instead of the correct "breached"; as in "the fence was breached". Breeched is a word, but may be an anachronism.

March 05, 2021, 04:16 PM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by cne32507:
In a current thread in the Lounge, "breeched" is used instead of the correct "breached"; as in "the fence was breached". Breeched is a word, but may be an anachronism.

That's the past tense of putting your pants on. "I picked up my breeches and then breeched myself."

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers

The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...

March 05, 2021, 09:41 PM

Rey HRH

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:

That's the thing... Reading is the best way to build vocabulary.

And what's written today has been dumbed down for the lowest common denominator.

I liked fiction stories as a kid right after I learned how to read. But what increased my vocabulary was that, in the Navy, when standing watches, you can't read anything other than technical manuals or the dictionary. Each engine room had the latest Oxford illustrated unabridged dictionary. Reading technical manuals was boring. So I spent a lot of hours perusing the dictionary in between taking engine room readings.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

March 06, 2021, 05:17 AM

egregore

quote:
When I was in grade school we were taught Synonyms Antonyms and Homonyms.

Circa the 5th or 6th grade it was made a homework assignment to come up with as many homonyms as we could find. There were literally a ton of them.

Despite rants of my own, I still keep seeing "ordinance" (local level law or regulation) when it should be "ordnance" (military weaponry).

March 06, 2021, 07:38 AM

pedropcola

Remember Readers Digest? They had that game, building your word power or some such. If you told a young adult that today they couldn’t even conceive how that could be considered a game.

Technology has uplifted us and hobbled us at the same time. In my hand I can hold the entire collected knowledge of mankind. Yet that doesn’t mean you necessarily understand any of it. That is the conundrum. (see what I did there. he he he)(which is old man for lol)

March 06, 2021, 03:26 PM

tsmccull

Who’s going to figure out whose problem this is?

March 06, 2021, 05:49 PM

.38supersig

Pare a pair of pears?

March 06, 2021, 06:37 PM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by .38supersig:
Pare a pair of pears?

Well, I too will go to where two pairs of pears are, just to pare them.

March 08, 2021, 02:47 PM

rsbolo

Cool info on what I thought was a southern colloquial expression.Thanks guys

March 09, 2021, 05:04 AM

chongosuerte

quote:
Originally posted by Mazzer:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by sigfreund:

"mispronounced a word that he had only seen in writing. That’s something I’ve experienced personally many times because I read a lot. Now, though, I suspect the opposite is becoming true more often: hearing a word on the TV or other visual source, but without seeing it in print."

I've often done the same, finding out in a high pressure meeting that "segue" sounds like the thing you ride (Segway).
I've often bemoaned falling literacy rates in this country; especially among youngsters, Just thinking about it makes me feel, well...peaked.

My wife makes fun of me frequently when I do that. Say a word a thousand times in your head only to find out you've been saying it wrong the whole time.

That’s a trade off of marrying someone smarter than me I suppose (the ex-wife wouldn’t have known the difference).

Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here.

Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard.
-JALLEN

"All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones

March 09, 2021, 09:55 AM

pedropcola

Don’t feel too bad. If you are a big reader then you might have only heard the pronunciation in your head. Think of it like reading sci-fi. The goofy names and such are pronounced however your brain perceives them. Then you go watch GOT and you’re like, oopsie.

March 09, 2021, 10:24 AM

V-Tail

quote:
GOT

March 09, 2021, 10:30 AM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
GOT

Game of Thrones.

aka,

Gambit of Thorns