"I could care less"
"It's besides the point"
"Nucular"
Any others?
"Like" - I will turn off any audio/video that can't use it properly.
Typing out the word "um". Say "of" instead of "have"... "I could of killed that bitch!"
Acronyms, abbreviations, and slang. Besides having multiple meanings, we're online and all we have to communicate is language. There's many people who are not from your country, and it won't make sense, but I've learned that most people won't bother to ask what something means because they're too self-conscious.
(Oh my gosh, I'm listening to a news reporter say "like" every other word on a very popular show)
Like, you mean like all those, like, videos of like interviews with like college age kids?
Yes, 'could of, would of, should of' really sticks in my craw too.
I think some people love to use lesser known acronyms and initializations because it makes them feel important when someone 'not in the know' has to ask them about it. I've known people to do that in real life too.
(When professional journalists and newsreaders - who use language as a tool of their trade - screw the simple things up it's especially irritating.)
Today's journalism is rushed and sloppy. "News" channels are only interested in ratings and ad revenue, not accurate and professional reporting. Online "news" articles are there to generate clicks (more clicks = more ad revenue).
shareIt wasn't like that 50 years ago, when the news division always lost money, but the networks considered those public services. I wonder if people my age even know about The Fairness Doctrine, Equal Time Clause, etc.
shareWhen the FCC did away with policies like the fairness doctrine and equal-time rule it was the beginning of the downfall of journalism. This allowed all the fringe "news channels" to come into being, which is another contributor to the fragmentation and polarization of our society.
I was a mass communication/journalism major in the 1980s but never finished due to multiple circumstances. I used to regret this, but after seeing what passes as "professional" journalism today, I would be ashamed to be included in any part of it.
Interesting - thanks for sharing your story. Out of curiosity, who are those you would consider professional back in the day? It's day and night watching something on YouTube from 50-60 years ago, and compare it to the present day.
The media now is akin to wrestling, and not the real kind.
This may sound cliché, but I am going to name Walter Cronkite, since this is whom I was most familiar with growing up. He had recently retired (1981) and his influential presence in the field was felt for the remainder of the decade.
The standards for journalism classes were stringent when I was enrolled. Here are some examples:
• Correct spelling and proper grammar were mandatory.
• Students were expected to keep up with current events. Pop quizzes were administered to see how aware we were of what was going on. AND... if you misspelled a person's name in one of your responses, the entire answer was marked WRONG.
• Checking and double-checking facts was the norm before anything was published.
• A general knowledge of the economic system was required, which made sense since most news stories do involve the stock market, the consumer price index, inflation and like topics. Those micro- and macro-economic classes were brutal.
I don't know how the schools of journalism operate today, but the results we are now seeing point to a definite degradation in standards.
It's interesting that you compare the media to WWE wrestling. The nightly network newscasts are now rapid-fire presentations loaded with sound bites and flashy graphics. Today's newscasters are forced to pander to viewers with shortened attention spans and their need for constant sensory stimulation.
Things started degrading in the 1990s with the proliferation of cable "news" channels.
In the 90s, I remember journalists blaming the Nexus, instead of taking responsibility for lack of fact-checking
Sy Hersh doesn't ever reveal sources, but I don't remember a time he had to retract. Same with Wikileaks. I like Glenn Greenwald, but I think they know their audience is pro-Russian, and there's a lot of similar (just not as good). Whitney Webb is good when it comes to US "intelligence"
But, with video, a lot of this is going to be entertainment-based -- how a video is choreographed, how pretty Whitney Webb is, etc..
"Jaw-dropping"
"Heart-melting"
... and other ridiculous hyperboles used to get someone to click on a news article, which most of the time isn't news; it's just clickbait to get you to sit through a bunch of ads.
These are the two I see most often. I can't think of the others at the moment.
'Destroyed'
'Incredible'
Bingo! “Incredible” means “not credible;” in other words, “preposterous” or “absurd” or “ ridiculously stupid.”
Stan fucking Lee was NO linguist, children.
Well the definition of incredible I'm talking about is 'difficult to believe or extraordinary'. I'm ok with Stan using that to describe The Hulk.
What annoys me is that it's so often used for the most mundane things and things that are just a little bit unexpected.
[deleted]
"Ten things that ____insert clickbait subject____ #8 will shock you!"
shareOr "You will be amazed at what these 90s stars look like today." One time I clicked on one of those "articles" because the linking image featured one of my favorite actresses. I went through thirty pages of images with the accompanying ads and the actress featured wasn't even included. A total waste of my time, but the site got their share of clicks, which is the only thing they wanted.
shareOld trick, everyone falls for it once.
Once.
Could of (should of, would of)
[Could have, should have, would have]
Using the word "impact" to mean affect or influence.
Traditionally, impact means a violent collision between two physical objects. It can also be used to refer to crowded teeth - impacted molars.
At 2:00 minute mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aIk3UWuWNo
The country currently being invaded by Russia is called Ukraine, not "the Ukraine."
The capital of the United States is Washington, not "Warshington." There is no R in the name, yet I have heard it pronounced this way.
Man I'm sorry I said that, learn to let it go.
shareI’ve never even heard of this Yoocrane in Yurrip. Is it a tropical paradise?
share"The country currently being invaded by Russia is called Ukraine, not "the Ukraine.""
Some names of countries and other places don't sound right without "the," and the Ukraine has been one of them for as long as I've been alive. The recent trend toward convincing everyone to ditch the "the" in front of "Ukraine" (I've even seen a Reddit bot dedicated to that "mission") is ridiculous.
Also, why are they cherry picking the Ukraine? What about the USA / United States of America? Does the song go "Born in the USA" or "Born in USA"? How about the USSR / Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Does the song go "Back in the USSR" or "Back in USSR"? Of course, the word "the" isn't an official part of either country's name, but like the Ukraine, they don't sound right without it.
What about the UK / United Kingdom? What about the Bahamas? What about the Czech Republic? What about the Dominican Republic? What about the Netherlands? What about the United Arab Emirates? Are you going full-in on your "ditch the 'the'" position, or does your position only apply to the Ukraine, which, "coincidentally" is also a new trendy position in general?
The article "the" is used in conjunction with a noun. Country names that use this article contain nouns. Here are the ones you listed:
• the United States of America
• the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• the United Kingdom
• the Bahamas = the Bahama Islands
• the Czech Republic
• the Dominican Republic
• the Netherlands (the name means "the low-[lying] countries" due to a large part of the terrain being below sea level)
• the United Arab Emirates
We don't refer to Canada as "the Canada" or to Japan as "the Japan." The same applies to "Ukraine." It's the name of the country.
Kowalski has missed you 😘
shareI kind of doubt that.
I check in here mainly just to see if anyone has a question regarding one of my messages. I don't make any new posts as I am phasing out the time I spend here, basically tying up loose ends. There are other projects I am involved with that I would rather concentrate my efforts on.
This site isn't what it used to be. I am disappointed in the caliber of some of the posters that are starting to show up here. It looks like it's time to move on.
"The article "the" is used in conjunction with a noun. Country names that use this article contain nouns. Here are the ones you listed:"
All country names are nouns; proper nouns specifically. It doesn't matter if a name contains a common noun, because the words collectively become a proper noun. There are a lot of people who have names that, outside of the context of a person's name, are common nouns, but that doesn't mean we use "the" in front of their names. One of the most common names, Smith, is a common noun:
smith
noun
noun: smith; plural noun: smiths
a worker in metal.
"we do not know whether the metals were mined and smelted by the smith or purchased from miners"
Do we refer to someone named Jack Smith (two names which, individually, can be common nouns) "the Jack Smith"? Do we call Maryland "the Maryland"? Do we call Rhode Island "the Rhode Island"? Do we call Washington, D.C. "the Washington, D.C." ("D" stands for "district")?
There is no rule about this like you suppose. Like with everything else in the English language, it's a matter of convention, and "the Ukraine" has been the convention for as long as I've been alive, and probably a lot longer. It's only recently that there's been an astroturfed campaign to ditch the "the," for no good reason. I don't play along with attempts to alter longstanding English language conventions by fiat.
For the record, you trying to apply your not-really-a-rule to "the Bahamas" by adding in a common noun that isn't even used when people say "the Bahamas," not even in abbreviated form, is bizarre.
"Bahama" means "large upper middle island" in the Taino language. One of the islands in the archipelago is called "Grand Bahama."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bahamas#Naming_and_etymology
Yes, proper names are also nouns. A person's surname doesn't have "the" attached to it.
""Bahama" means "large upper middle island" in the Taino language. One of the islands in the archipelago is called "Grand Bahama."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bahamas#Naming_and_etymology";
In the English-speaking world during most of the 20th century, Ukraine (whether independent or not) was referred to as "the Ukraine".[23] This is because the word ukraina means 'borderland'[24] so the definite article would be natural in the English language; this is similar to Nederlanden, which means 'low lands' and is rendered in English as "the Netherlands".[25] However, since Ukraine's declaration of independence in 1991, this usage has become politicised and is now rarer, and style guides advise against its use.[26][27] US ambassador William Taylor said that using "the Ukraine" implies disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty.[28] The official Ukrainian position is that "the Ukraine" is both grammatically and politically incorrect.[29]
We have a long thread going here over the use of a definite article.
The only way to settle this argument would be to ask the citizens of Ukraine what they prefer to call their own country.
I'll repeat:
So according to your own reasoning (which you used with the Netherlands and others), it should be "the Ukraine."
Your tacit concession on that matter is noted, which means the argument is already settled, since that's the entire point of contention in the first place.
"The only way to settle this argument would be to ask the citizens of Ukraine what they prefer to call their own country."
You started with a grammatical argument. You said:
"The article 'the' is used in conjunction with a noun. Country names that use this article contain nouns. Here are the ones you listed:"
And as I've already pointed out, according to your own argument it should be "the Ukraine," just as it always has been. Now that you realize that your grammatical argument was actually in favor of "the Ukraine" you've shifted to something completely different. What's preventing you from admitting you were wrong and that you're in favor of omitting the "the" because you'd rather be "politically correct" than grammatically correct?
With regard to your backpedaling: what the citizens of the Ukraine think about it is irrelevant. They aren't an English-speaking country therefore they have nothing to do with the conventions of the English language.
Okay. Whatever.
shareOne of the mothers in my daughter’s year comes from the county in question. I will ask her and report back to you (I’m not kidding, I’m honestly being genuine).
shareOne of the mothers in my daughter’s year comes from the county in question. I will ask her and report back to you (I’m not kidding, I’m honestly being genuine).
shareI would be interested in what she says. From what I've read, the Ukrainian language sounds pretty complex. Nouns have genders, like in German. I wonder what their rules regarding definite articles consist of.
shareI’ve been following this thread with interest, so I’ll get it from the horses mouth.
shareMy bad
Boots on the ground
Vaccines into people's arms
Going viral
Any other "cool" phrase or word that people latch onto. Sheep.
"You must have a lot of time on your hands"
People who say this are almost always passive aggressive. It actually means: "I use my time wisely and am very busy. You do things that I wouldn't do so you must not be as busy and wise as I am." or "I lack any creativity whatsoever and must attack anything I think is weird"
"Decimate"
It means to kill one tenth or 10% destruction, not utter destruction. The Romans would line up the the survivors of a conquered army and kill every tenth man. This is where the term comes from. "Deci" is even in the word! C'mon!
Right before I read your post I linked above to a scene from Monk where he points this out.
share