[kenberg]

Some years ago I had the following memorable experience.. I was teaching a large enrollment math course of a modest level of difficulty. The sort of thing English majors take to "satisfy the math requirement". There is a lot of money to be made for the publisher of the required text in such a course so anyone teaching it gets samples of possible textbooks and visits from sales reps. One of the sample texts was particularly error probe and I explained this to the sales rep. It developed like this:

Me: What you need to do, after you believe that the book is ready for publication, is to hire some mathematics graduate students to read it over carefully and give then fifty dollars for each error that they find.

Book Rep: Fifty dollars! That would be far too expensive.

Me: Exactly.

[chasetb]

Very nice ken. I've been charged over $150 for beyond Calculus math books, and publishers are getting rich while putting out sub-standard books for those not mathematically-inclined.

I know I am backtracking a little, but last month this thread started talking about literally versus figuratively. Only today did I catch up on this thread, and I just HAVE TO link to this comic strip that nicely covers that topic: http://xkcd.com/725/

[barmar]

Zelandakh, on 2012-December-11, 04:54, said:

See meaning #9 and the last line of the etymology. Not that I would have written that. Most likely it started as "engulfed in flame" or similarly overblown newspaper language but had to be edited down hurriedly due to space requirements.

I suspect it started out as "in flames", and someone thought that "inflamed" meant this.

I've been reasonably certain that newspapers got rid of proofreaders many years ago. They rely on spell-checking software, which is not helpful when the mistake results in a correctly spelled word. I see homophone errors frequently in our town newspaper.

On the other hand, I can't recall ever noticing one in any of the magazines I read: Bridge World, ACBL Bulletin, or Scientific American. I suppose when a magazine gets most of its material submitted by outsiders, the need for editing is more obvious. Newspapers and newsfeed services apparently assume that their staff writers know what they're doing and don't need double checking. But just because you can put together clear sentences doesn't mean you can spell worth a damn.

[gwnn]

(just about every time I use 2-digit numbers that start with a 1 or end in a zero in a conversation with foreign people)
Me "It cost seventy euros"
Them "Seventy? really"
Me "Yes, seventy."
Them "Seven zero or one seven?"

Could we please stop it with this crap. There is no loud music around and I am speaking clearly enough. If you are unsure what the difference between 'ty' and 'teen' is, please consult a kindergarden textbook. Alternatively, at least ask 'seven times ten or seven plus ten?' for a change.

oops, I thought this was the pet peeve thread, sorry folks

[kenberg]

Ah yes, but then there was this crash on Mars or somewhere because no one thought to check "Is that centimeters or inches?". Diecisiete might work.

Actually 17 vs 70, and the like, is often a problem, and not just because my ears are, well, 70. And some.

And yeah, this thread is only for grammatical fussbudgeting. Hey. You! Get off of my cloud.

[gordontd]

kenberg, on 2012-December-11, 18:08, said:

Actually 17 vs 70, and the like, is often a problem, and not just because my ears are, well, 70. And some.

When calling out results for a scorer in the EBU, we say "seven-tie" or "four-tie" to distinguish them from "seventeen" & "fourteen". Not that we often call out results for scorers any more.

[mycroft]

Heh, I do the opposite. "Seventy" vs "one-seven".

But the best one I ever learned was "Top" vs "eight-spot".

[barmar]

gordontd, on 2012-December-12, 03:16, said:

When calling out results for a scorer in the EBU, we say "seven-tie" or "four-tie" to distinguish them from "seventeen" & "fourteen". Not that we often call out results for scorers any more.

Don't English directors know about using nicknames for the numbers, like "piano" for 88?

[gordontd]

barmar, on 2012-December-12, 11:36, said:

Don't English directors know about using nicknames for the numbers, like "piano" for 88?

I think we'd be more likely to call 88 "two fat ladies", but it's not the most efficient way to get the job done.

[barmar]

gordontd, on 2012-December-12, 11:57, said:

I think we'd be more likely to call 88 "two fat ladies", but it's not the most efficient way to get the job done.

Apparently that's a Bingo tradition over there. Googling "nicknames for numbers" finds lots of sites about bingo calling (including a Wikipedia article with the list). There may be sites with the corresponding bridge tradition, but I can't find them (I admit that I only spent a few minutes using google -- maybe it would be better to start at some bridge link sites).

[kenberg]

So 17 is Fermat 3, or maybe Fermat 2, depending on how you number the Fermat primes. 19 could be a "no hands" since there is no cribbage hand with a score of 19. So I recall anyway, it's been a while. Of course 13 is bad luck. 16 is sweet, 15 is jailbait.

I think we can do this.

[mycroft]

"Cribbage fail" :-)

"par"

It's when they start using U.S. Sports references that I can't follow (I've threatened to retaliate with CFL or more-obscure-than-99,66,or 87 NHL). Sweetness == 34? Seriously? And I'm supposed to know that?

I do like some of the pairings though - "convenience store", "weak NT", "Normandy"...

[Vampyr]

barmar, on 2012-December-11, 16:19, said:

I've been reasonably certain that newspapers got rid of proofreaders many years ago. They rely on spell-checking software, which is not helpful when the mistake results in a correctly spelled word. I see homophone errors frequently in our town newspaper.

Here too. I think that "lead" instead of "led" is the most common misspelling I see in these forums. My own worst spell-check fail is exchanging "form" and "from". But I am old-fashioned, and proofread my writing.

[kenberg]

My wife Becky is currently reading Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn.She recommends it, but this note is because it has a connection with the original theme of the thread. Nick and Amy, husband and wife, take turns narrating the novel. Amy buys a car.. Her account:

[Quote]
The couple selling the Ford seemed as interested in discretion as I. The woman remained in the car the whole time, a pacified toddler in her arms, watching her husband and me trade cash for car keys. (That is the correct grammar, you know: her husband and me.)
\Quote]

Whatever other traits this woman might have, she knows her grammar!

Anyway, Becky says it is a fun read if you are looking for some pleasure reading.

[mike777]

Agree a good read...is the husband a killer and cad or is the wife an evil witch or abused spouse or other?