The Newsroom

Diction

(May 2010)

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FR
freddy
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.
MD
mdtauk
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.


I believe it is spelt differently in the US, as is the case with Aluminium and Aluminum
DB
dbl
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.


I believe it is spelt differently in the US, as is the case with Aluminium and Aluminum


It's the same spelling.
ST
Stuart
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.

Perhaps that is, in part, due to the mispronunciation used by one Homer Simpson! Laughing

In fact, I'm surprised there aren't children asking to be taught how to play a 'saxa-ma-phone'. Laughing
DA
davidhorman
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.

Perhaps that is, in part, due to the mispronunciation used by one Homer Simpson! Laughing


I thought it was (more worryingly) down to George W. Bush...

Quote:
In fact, I'm surprised there aren't children asking to be taught how to play a 'saxa-ma-phone'. Laughing


Tramampoline!

David
MI
Michael
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.

Perhaps that is, in part, due to the mispronunciation used by one Homer Simpson! Laughing


I thought it was (more worryingly) down to George W. Bush...


And Peter Griffin.....
NG
noggin Founding member
Pronouncing 'nuclear' as 'nucular' always irritates me.


I believe it is spelt differently in the US, as is the case with Aluminium and Aluminum


Nope - no spelling difference between the US and British spellings.
CO
Colm
Another one - the use of the verb "slammed" as a synonym for "criticised". Are you inferring someone did a wrestling move on an individual or a group of people rather than said something they did wasn't right?
RM
Roger Mellie
Col posted:
Another one - the use of the verb "slammed" as a synonym for "criticised". Are you inferring someone did a wrestling move on an individual or a group of people rather than said something they did wasn't right?


Good work Colin, that's a good example of where infer would be ambiguous if we lost imply. Although being the clever chap you are, I bet you did that deliberately Very Happy

Well I'd like to infer from "slammed", that certain politicians were being pile-drived by a wrestler-- conjures up a nice image don't you think? Well it's not as though anyone would try a half-Nelson on John Prescott mind...
TE
Telefis
Interestingly, refute first emerged in the early 1500s as meaning what most people take it to mean today: to reject or refuse. Indeed this is how the form of the word came into existence.

It was only later, in the mid-1500s, that it came to mean to rebut or disprove. Therefore, the modern meaning is not without precedent, and given the structure of the word, it is an understandable interpretation. Similarly, it has become so utterly accepted in use as to make its correct employment topple into the realm of pedantry.

In broad agreement with the gist of the thread though. The incorrect use of disinterest amongst even the supposedly most learned of public figures is one that never fails to astonish.
TC
TonyCurrie
Why do people say AXE instead of ASK. It drives me MENTAL!!!!

Someone should axe them why!


It may drive you mental, but it isn't actually wrong. "Aks" is the Old English version of the word, and it was that version (to use a computer software simile) of English that was exported, resulting in many of African descent using the original version rather than the later 'ask'. "Aks" is also still used in some parts of England.
IS
Inspector Sands
Not 'diction' as such but where has this word 'lockdown' suddenly come from? It's being used loads today in connection with the Cumbria shooting incident but I'm still not sure what it actually means.... what's wrong with 'locked in'?

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