| Author |
Message |
Paul Wolff
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:01 am
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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In message <MPG.1c03381f5aee5d6698aa22@news.individual.net>, the Omrud
<usenet.omrud@gmail.com> writes
| Quote: | Mike Lyle typed thus:
While watching the trains at Richmond and Reading today, I even mused
on the possibility of using "co-co" in a recondite railway pun on
this very phrase in this very newsgroup. By the time I was waiting at
Bristol Parkway, the idea had lost its savour, as I realized that
probably only Mike Powell, Mark Brader, and your upright self would
get it. But then things of all kinds -- even, perhaps, unto life
itself -- tend to lose their savour when you're waiting at Bristol
Parkway.
Temple Meads always sounds posher than Parkway. But what can compete
with Winnersh Triangle?
Microsoft is to the Winnersh triangle as _____ is to the Bermuda |
triangle. (5 marks)
Note for non-locals: Microsoft has a, er, facility in Winnersh.
--
Paul
In bocca al Lupo!
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:02 am
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | I will be missing tomorrow as I have to go to Bracknell. I sometimes
praise my management for paying me so well for the simple job of
driving down motorways.
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That's nothing. I was well paid for sitting in airplanes and limos. I
never traveled for business on my own time. When I traveled on a weekend, I
took compensatory time off.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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Adrian Bailey
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:02 am
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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"the Omrud" <usenet.omrud@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c0322575e39d00e98aa1d@news.individual.net...
| Quote: | FB typed thus:
On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 18:42:19 GMT, Adrian Bailey wrote:
It is. Next question: is the phrase "for aught I know" still used?
Indeed. (smiling face)
Likewise, I don't know yet if "oftener", which word, I must say, I've
never read in a modern text, can ever be used nowadays.
I should coco.
I don't get it. To me, "coco" only means "cocoanut" or "head" in AmEng.
It's a fixed phrase of indeterminate origin which means something
like "You cannot possibly be serious", or "Pull the other one, it's
got bells on".
I see that many online references suggest that it's rhyming slang for
"I should say so", said sarcastically, but that seems rather like a
solution looking for a problem. Until I started searching, I would
have capitalised Coco, assuming it to be somebody's name, and hence:
"I should, Coco". It's even given as "I should cocoa" in some, which
just looks silly.
|
Anyway, in re: "oftener"... I like such words, but it's fair to say they're
no longer mainstream. The tendency is towards using "more ..." rather than
"...er" as the comparative. Thus you'll find many instances of "more happy"
(or, in the vulgar tongue "more happier") instead of "happier". Google
throws up many hits for "oftener" but most of them are in computer-generated
texts.
Adrian
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Carmen L. Abruzzi
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:00 am
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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Paul Wolff wrote:
| Quote: | In message <MPG.1c03381f5aee5d6698aa22@news.individual.net>, the Omrud
usenet.omrud@gmail.com> writes
Temple Meads always sounds posher than Parkway. But what can compete
with Winnersh Triangle?
Microsoft is to the Winnersh triangle as _____ is to the Bermuda
triangle. (5 marks)
Note for non-locals: Microsoft has a, er, facility in Winnersh.
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Satan! |
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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:00 am
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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"Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2vsmnrF2onqssU1@uni-berlin.de...
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
FB typed thus:
On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 18:42:19 GMT, Adrian Bailey wrote:
It is. Next question: is the phrase "for aught I know" still
used?
Indeed. (smiling face)
Likewise, I don't know yet if "oftener", which word, I must say,
I've never read in a modern text, can ever be used nowadays.
I should coco.
I don't get it. To me, "coco" only means "cocoanut" or "head" in
AmEng.
It's a fixed phrase of indeterminate origin which means something
like "You cannot possibly be serious", or "Pull the other one, it's
got bells on".
I see that many online references suggest that it's rhyming slang
for
"I should say so", said sarcastically, but that seems rather like a
solution looking for a problem. Until I started searching, I would
have capitalised Coco, assuming it to be somebody's name, and
hence:
"I should, Coco". It's even given as "I should cocoa" in some,
which
just looks silly.
But it's a silly phrase, so why demur at a silly appearance? I have
no firm view on the matter; but "cocoa" feels right to me. It's not
in Partridge _Historical Sl._.
While watching the trains at Richmond and Reading today,
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In your anorak? |
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M. J. Powell
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:00 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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In message <2vss6bF2lf6lqU1@uni-berlin.de>, Skitt <skitt99@comcast.net>
writes
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
I will be missing tomorrow as I have to go to Bracknell. I sometimes
praise my management for paying me so well for the simple job of
driving down motorways.
That's nothing. I was well paid for sitting in airplanes and limos. I
never traveled for business on my own time. When I traveled on a
weekend, I took compensatory time off.
|
My bosses used to pay me to go to football matches.
Mike
--
M.J.Powell |
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Will
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:00 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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"Adrian Bailey" <dadge@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<Slbmd.36419$Q7.18331@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk>...
....
| Quote: | Anyway, in re: "oftener"... I like such words, but it's fair to say they're
no longer mainstream. The tendency is towards using "more ..." rather than
"...er" as the comparative. Thus you'll find many instances of "more happy"
(or, in the vulgar tongue "more happier") instead of "happier". Google
throws up many hits for "oftener" but most of them are in computer-generated
texts.
|
Whatever you do, don't mention "funner". Oops.
Will. |
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Laura F Spira
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:00 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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Mike Lyle wrote:
| Quote: | Jess Askin wrote:
"Mike Lyle" [...]
While watching the trains at Richmond and Reading today,
In your anorak?
In my grey Loden, weekend bag at my feet, I'm afraid. Not a thermos
flask in sight.
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Of course! Didn't someone ask about lodenberries? They must be little
fruit in duffle coats! (ObSpelling: Duffel?)
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email) |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:00 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
|
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Jess Askin wrote:
| Quote: | "Mike Lyle" [...]
While watching the trains at Richmond and Reading today,
In your anorak?
|
In my grey Loden, weekend bag at my feet, I'm afraid. Not a thermos
flask in sight.
Mike. |
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Adrian Bailey
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:01 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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"Will" <billrigby@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d36f7597.0411160418.3653e785@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | "Adrian Bailey" <dadge@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<Slbmd.36419$Q7.18331@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk>...
...
Anyway, in re: "oftener"... I like such words, but it's fair to say
they're
no longer mainstream. The tendency is towards using "more ..." rather
than
"...er" as the comparative. Thus you'll find many instances of "more
happy"
(or, in the vulgar tongue "more happier") instead of "happier". Google
throws up many hits for "oftener" but most of them are in
computer-generated
texts.
Whatever you do, don't mention "funner". Oops.
|
I don't remember hearing anyone round here use that word, which goes to show
that the traffic is moving heavily in the other direction. Notice how there
are many more hits for "more funny (than)" than for "funner (than)".
Adrian |
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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:01 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
|
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"Alan Jones" <atj@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:kc8md.35897$Q7.12802@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
| Quote: |
"Mark Brader" <msb@vex.net> wrote in message
news:10pi2f69f0d7ed9@corp.supernews.com...
F. Balducci:
After perusing several dictionaries, I haven't yet realized whether
"aught"
is still used in the phrase "for aught I know".
Most people would not use this. It would be seen as archaic (or perhaps
dialect) usage.
Likewise, I don't know yet if "oftener", which word, I must say, I've
never
read in a modern text, can ever be used nowadays.
In very informal speech some people sometimes use inflected forms that
are not normal usage, just for fun, expecting them to be understanded
(that was an example); and that's the only sort of situation where
I'd expect to come across "oftener" today, although a google search
reveals that it has seen some use as a normal word. In fact, the first
several hits in the google search are dictionary entries for the word,
and similar things -- clear evidence that it is now little used.
"Oftener" is fine with me (UK). But the -er and -est forms are slowly
dying
out even in BrE, and rather faster in LeftPondia, I think. Years ago, I
remember, my school pupils regarded as an eccentricity my use of
"commoner"
instead of their "more common". "Aught" is probably used only in the
expression "for aught I know", and that only as if it were a quotation or
old saying. The form spelt "owt" is still current in some Br dialects.
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Do people still load their shotguns with double-aught buckshot? |
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Jens Brix Christiansen
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
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the Omrud <usenet.omrud@gmail.com> wrote in message news:<MPG.1c034547ba6578698aa24@news.individual.net>...
| Quote: | Mike Lyle typed thus:
the Omrud wrote:
Temple Meads always sounds posher than Parkway. But what can
compete with Winnersh Triangle?
Hmm. I'd say practically anything on the planet could compete, with
an excellent chance of success, with Winnersh Triangle. But why did
Martin have a Heron? And why name a lame-crane substitute for a
railway station after the phenomenon?
I mean the name, rather than the station. How perverse to name a
railway station after a geometric shape.
|
That is popular in other languages too. In Berlin there is a U-Bahn
station called Gleisdreieck (literally "track triangle").
Confusingly, the modernn day station is a cross-over between two
lines. |
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: duffle/duffel [WAS: "Aught" and "oftener"] |
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Laura F Spira <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | Of course! Didn't someone ask about lodenberries? They must be little
fruit in duffle coats! (ObSpelling: Duffel?)
|
I remember from earlier discussions that you find it both ways.
Duffel cloth and duffel coats come from the town of Duffel, Flanders
(Belgium), so it makes sense to spell those like the proper name.
Duffle bags do not appear to have the same origin -- it's a much newer
word, the bags are *not* made of duffel cloth, and there was a
little-known 19th c. use of "duffle" for "junk, stuff, miscellaneous
items" that I suspect gave rise to "duffle bags".
--
Best -- Donna Richoux |
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M. J. Powell
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:03 pm
Post subject: Re: "Aught" and "oftener" |
|
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In message <kc8md.35897$Q7.12802@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, Alan Jones
<atj@blueyonder.co.uk> writes
snip
| Quote: | "Oftener" is fine with me (UK). But the -er and -est forms are slowly dying
out even in BrE, and rather faster in LeftPondia, I think. Years ago, I
remember, my school pupils regarded as an eccentricity my use of "commoner"
instead of their "more common". "Aught" is probably used only in the
expression "for aught I know", and that only as if it were a quotation or
old saying. The form spelt "owt" is still current in some Br dialects.
|
As in:
See all, hear all, say nowt.
Eat all, sup all, pay nowt.
If thee must do owt for nowt,
Do it for thee sel'.
Mike |
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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:00 pm
Post subject: Re: duffle/duffel [WAS: "Aught" and "oftener"] |
|
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"Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote in message
news:1gncs8x.v6s116fpvzb4N%trio@euronet.nl...
| Quote: | Laura F Spira <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
Of course! Didn't someone ask about lodenberries? They must be little
fruit in duffle coats! (ObSpelling: Duffel?)
I remember from earlier discussions that you find it both ways.
Duffel cloth and duffel coats come from the town of Duffel, Flanders
(Belgium), so it makes sense to spell those like the proper name.
Duffle bags do not appear to have the same origin -- it's a much newer
word, the bags are *not* made of duffel cloth,
|
Not any more, but didn't they use to be?
| Quote: | and there was a
little-known 19th c. use of "duffle" for "junk, stuff, miscellaneous
items" that I suspect gave rise to "duffle bags".
|
Or the other way round?
All the dictionaries I have access to seem to think the same word is used
for both cloth or bag, and accept both spellings. Google is roughly neutral
(296,000 for "duffel bag" vs. 217,000 for "duffle bag"). What saith the OED? |
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