| Author |
Message |
Laura F. Spira
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 9:17 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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Donna Richoux wrote:
| Quote: | Linz <spam@lindsayendell.org.uk> wrote:
ArWeGod wrote:
I meant buy a pen in a store that had a sign outside saying it was a
Stationary store (ie: one that sells paper, and [one would think] pens
with which to write upon the stationary) the quotes were because of
the dual meaning of stationary, the other one being "to stand still".
But it is also a mislabeled store in that it housed more trinkets and
statues (also stationary, I suppose...) and gift wrap than things to
do with writing - its presumed purpose in life.
To sum up: they had no pens! :-(
Well, no. You'd want a stationery store for pens.
Maybe it was one of those shops in a railway station. Muffins, though,
is what they usually have.
|
Around here, many of the shops on stations that sell muffins are not
stationary but are elaborate cart structures that can presumably be
moved about. One example, AMT, is a family business run by former
students of mine, one of whom also worked for my husband at one time.
They were rubbished in a TV progranne by one of those business gurus but
they seem quite successful. I don't get free muffins, though.
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
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Bill Bonde ('by a commodi
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 10:58 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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Armond Perretta wrote:
| Quote: |
Donna Richoux wrote:
He told us, he uses a spelling checker. That means he can't spell.
Is this always sew?
Often on usenet it is due to people not wanting to go back and reread |
what they power typed in. A spellchecker sometimes catches typos. Of
course why does English need all those words pronounced the same but
spelt differently? And why don't spellcheckers automatically flag them
and give meanings for both possibilities so the writer can more easily
make the right choice? I think that would be better for Gates to work on
than some wholly holely and unholy Active X feature no one will use but
hackers and spyware authors.
--
"Throw me that lipstick, darling, I wanna redo my stigmata."
+-Jennifer Saunders, "Absolutely Fabulous" |
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Bill Bonde ('by a commodi
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:38 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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ArWeGod wrote:
| Quote: |
"Bill Bonde ('by a commodius vicus of recirculation')"
John.Methuen@magersfontein.co.uk> wrote in message
news:435D258B.CE2CF474@magersfontein.co.uk...
Mike Lyle wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
But was he being ironic with <I tried
to by a pen in a "stationary store" >?
I'll give him the "by" as a typo, and "stationary" as how the
store
mistakenly labeled itself?
Quite possible, of course, but charitable, as you say. I never know
how to take inverted commas from unfamiliar and excited posters.
It can't be "with a pen" or he'd not convey motion. You don't go to
store with a car. That would be weird. Plainly "pen" should be in its
instrumental case.
I meant buy a pen in a store that had a sign outside saying it was a
Stationary store (ie: one that sells paper, and [one would think] pens
with which to write upon the stationary) the quotes were because of the
dual meaning of stationary, the other one being "to stand still".
But as has been pointed out, that's "stationery" and "buy", not |
"stationary" and "by". You seemed to be saying, at least to me, that you
were going to a non-moving store using a pen for your transportation,
maybe like a Wiccan who's given up mopping for signing autographs.
| Quote: | But it
is also a mislabeled store in that it housed more trinkets and statues
(also stationary, I suppose...) and gift wrap than things to do with
writing - its presumed purpose in life.
To sum up: they had no pens! :-(
So I'm not supposed to take your last line as a metacomment pronounced |
with a vowel somewhere between how I usually say "pens" and how I
usually say "puns"?
--
"Throw me that lipstick, darling, I wanna redo my stigmata."
+-Jennifer Saunders, "Absolutely Fabulous"
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:59 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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Bill Bonde wrote:
| Quote: | Armond Perretta wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
He told us, he uses a spelling checker. That means he can't spell.
Is this always sew?
Often on usenet it is due to people not wanting to go back and reread
what they power typed in. A spellchecker sometimes catches typos. Of
course why does English need all those words pronounced the same but
spelt differently? And why don't spellcheckers automatically flag them
and give meanings for both possibilities so the writer can more easily
make the right choice? I think that would be better for Gates to work
on than some wholly holely and unholy Active X feature no one will
use but hackers and spyware authors.
|
The way I use my OE with QF, the spelling checker cannot do its job
automatically. I look on that as a Good Thing. There's no automatic
conversion of simple typos into words that are inexplicable in context.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 12:20 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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Laura F. Spira wrote:
| Quote: | Mike Lyle wrote:
Laura F. Spira wrote:
[...]
Stationary has no dual meaning. It means standing still. Stationery
comprises pens, paper etc - the articles sold by a stationer. OED
is
not very helpful on the possible link between the two words.
You disappoint me. I'd always believed it was because stationers were
licensed to keep permanent shops, unlike chapmen, pedlars, Kleen-eze
men, and those blokes you see with suitcases of tat on the footpath.
But why would that be so? Stationery is, after all, so eminently
portable. (Note to self: must have a quick drool at the Levenger
website. And where is Jacqui these days?)
|
But OED offers a clue if you look at the entry for "stationer" (1)
"[ad. L. stationarius (see stationary), in med.L. used subst. for a
tradesman (chiefly, a bookseller) who has a station or shop, as
distinguished from an itinerant vendor. Cf. early Sp. estacionario
bookseller, It. ?stazioniere shopkeeper.
The direct adoption of the Latin word is accounted for by the fact
that in the Middle Ages booksellers with a regular 'station' or shop
were rare except at the universities; the typical example of such a
trader was the stationarius licensed and controlled by the academic
authorities, whom he was sworn to obey.] "
And one of the OED's earliest cites for "Stationery" is "Stationers
[sic] wares".
So it seems portable stationery was the rule but it got its name from
the exception.
And where, indeed, is Jac? If you have access to the Oxford University
talk boards she may well be there.
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Bill Bonde ('by a commodi
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 4:50 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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Skitt wrote:
| Quote: |
Bill Bonde wrote:
Armond Perretta wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
He told us, he uses a spelling checker. That means he can't spell.
Is this always sew?
Often on usenet it is due to people not wanting to go back and reread
what they power typed in. A spellchecker sometimes catches typos. Of
course why does English need all those words pronounced the same but
spelt differently? And why don't spellcheckers automatically flag them
and give meanings for both possibilities so the writer can more easily
make the right choice? I think that would be better for Gates to work
on than some wholly holely and unholy Active X feature no one will
use but hackers and spyware authors.
The way I use my OE with QF, the spelling checker cannot do its job
automatically. I look on that as a Good Thing. There's no automatic
conversion of simple typos into words that are inexplicable in context.
But under the assumption that not everyone knows or remembers the |
sixteen different meanings a word has that sounds like another word that
also has sixteen different meanings in other spelling, the spell checker
I described could be helpful.
--
"Throw me that lipstick, darling, I wanna redo my stigmata."
+-Jennifer Saunders, "Absolutely Fabulous" |
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No Spam
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 5:43 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
"ArWeGod" <ArWeGod?@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:D147f.5521$BZ5.3808@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
| Quote: | "Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote in message
news:1h4xo26.5d31lozc646kN%trio@euronet.nl...
ArWeGod <ArWeGod?@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Presumptious? Humpty Dumptious? Hmmm... I would think spell checkers
would be de rigueur on a.u.e!
Spelling checkers don't know "rigeur," apparently.
How fascinating. Do they know the word I used?
|
Can they tell "stationary" from "stationery"? |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 5:45 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
Bill Bonde ('by a commodius vicus of recirculation') wrote:
| Quote: | Skitt wrote:
Bill Bonde wrote:
Armond Perretta wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
He told us, he uses a spelling checker. That means he can't
spell.
Is this always sew?
Often on usenet it is due to people not wanting to go back and
reread what they power typed in. A spellchecker sometimes catches
typos. Of course why does English need all those words pronounced
the same but spelt differently? And why don't spellcheckers
automatically flag them and give meanings for both possibilities
so
the writer can more easily make the right choice? I think that
would be better for Gates to work on than some wholly holely and
unholy Active X feature no one will use but hackers and spyware
authors.
The way I use my OE with QF, the spelling checker cannot do its
job
automatically. I look on that as a Good Thing. There's no
automatic
conversion of simple typos into words that are inexplicable in
context.
But under the assumption that not everyone knows or remembers the
sixteen different meanings a word has that sounds like another word
that also has sixteen different meanings in other spelling, the
spell
checker I described could be helpful.
|
I think it's a good idea. And certainly no harder to program than the
M$ multi-choice grammar checker. It still wouldn't be soldier-proof,
but what would be?
--
Mike. |
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Charles Riggs
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 7:16 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 16:52:22 +0200, trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux)
wrote:
| Quote: | Mike Lyle <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Laura F. Spira wrote:
[...]
Stationary has no dual meaning. It means standing still. Stationery
comprises pens, paper etc - the articles sold by a stationer. OED
is
not very helpful on the possible link between the two words.
You disappoint me. I'd always believed it was because stationers were
licensed to keep permanent shops, unlike chapmen, pedlars, Kleen-eze
men, and those blokes you see with suitcases of tat on the footpath.
What we still don't read is unequivocal evidence as to whether or not
our correspondent can spell.
He told us, he uses a spelling checker. That means he can't spell.
|
So everyone who uses a spelling checker can't spell? I never knew
that. Now I feel so ashamed over using one I should turn off the
feature in Agent, Eudora, and Word.
--
Charles Riggs |
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TakenEvent
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:42 pm
Post subject: Re: e vs. a |
|
|
"Laura F. Spira" <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote in message
news:djkmu3$8bc$1@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
| Quote: | ArWeGod wrote:
"Bill Bonde ('by a commodius vicus of recirculation')"
John.Methuen@magersfontein.co.uk> wrote in message
news:435D258B.CE2CF474@magersfontein.co.uk...
Mike Lyle wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
But was he being ironic with <I tried
to by a pen in a "stationary store" >?
I'll give him the "by" as a typo, and "stationary" as how the
store
mistakenly labeled itself?
Quite possible, of course, but charitable, as you say. I never know
how to take inverted commas from unfamiliar and excited posters.
It can't be "with a pen" or he'd not convey motion. You don't go to
store with a car. That would be weird. Plainly "pen" should be in its
instrumental case.
I meant buy a pen in a store that had a sign outside saying it was a
Stationary store (ie: one that sells paper, and [one would think] pens
with which to write upon the stationary) the quotes were because of the
dual meaning of stationary, the other one being "to stand still". But it
is also a mislabeled store in that it housed more trinkets and statues
(also stationary, I suppose...) and gift wrap than things to do with
writing - its presumed purpose in life.
To sum up: they had no pens! :-(
Stationary has no dual meaning. It means standing still. Stationery
comprises pens, paper etc - the articles sold by a stationer. OED is not
very helpful on the possible link between the two words.
|
http://www.stationary.org/ -- uses both spellings for some reason. Google
hits? |
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TakenEvent
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:57 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
"Bill Bonde ('by a commodius vicus of recirculation')"
<John.Methuen@magersfontein.co.uk> wrote in message
news:435D23DB.D658C67E@magersfontein.co.uk...
| Quote: |
ArWeGod wrote:
"TakenEvent" <lightbulbsnickety@chartermi.net> wrote in message
news:ev86f.13587$E17.9805@fe03.lga...
"Tony Cooper" <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:t9thl193cuot4p7cgg51daqcqj31m1r6ne@4ax.com...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:24:51 -0400, "TakenEvent"
lightbulbsnickety@chartermi.net> wrote:
Popular US terms for cellular phones:
cell: "Give me a call on my cell tonight." IMO, this usage sounds
terrible -- pretentiously kitschy, if that's possible. This usage
seems
to be gaining popularity in the under-22 crowd.
I call it my "cell", or "my cell number", and I'm almost double that
demographic. But I mostly don't tell people what kind of phone it is. My
phone is my phone. I say, "Call me at 7 o'clock." or whatever. The item
I use to talk on never really comes up.
Referring to a mobile phone as a "cell" is common in the US, being
neither pretentious nor kitschy, unless you confer those on anyone using
other than a landline phone. "Let me call you back on a land line" is a
part of some positively cool conversation too. In order to heighten the
note of pretence, I tend to refer to my mobile as "my Mot". Almost no
one has any idea what I'm talking about. Perfec'.
|
Land line -- good.
Cell -- oversimplified just to be different, even elitist, and tweaked just
to tweak. And it's becoming more common. Can't speak like ma + pa. Is it
premature to start the backlash against text message-speak? There've been
complaints, sure. I'm all for the evolution of language, but at what point
do the returns start to diminish?
When a phone becomes a "cell." It's a shortcut that should elicit cynical
murmuring, or a sharp blow to the back of the head. It's a phone, a cell
phone, even a mobile phone, though not for much longer. Even Amazon.com is
offering "Cell Phones & Service."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/301185/ref=sd_allcatpop_wi/102-3933055-1880944
Are jump ropes called "jumps?" Are portable phones called "portables?" Not
really, even though some may do so when in a hurry. |
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Mark Brader
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:14 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
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| Quote: | When a phone becomes a "cell." It's a shortcut that should elicit cynical
murmuring, or a sharp blow to the back of the head. ...
Are jump ropes called "jumps?" Are portable phones called "portables?"
Not really, even though some may do so when in a hurry.
|
Are taxicabs called "taxis"? Are kiwifruit called "kiwis"? Is soda
pop called "pop"? Really.
--
Mark Brader | "Unless developers are careful, good software
Toronto | attracts so many improvements that it eventually
msb@vex.net | rolls over and sinks..." --Ben & Peter Laurie |
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Skitt
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:53 pm
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
Charles Riggs wrote:
| Quote: | (Donna Richoux) wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
Laura F. Spira wrote:
[...]
Stationary has no dual meaning. It means standing still. Stationery
comprises pens, paper etc - the articles sold by a stationer. OED
is not very helpful on the possible link between the two words.
You disappoint me. I'd always believed it was because stationers
were licensed to keep permanent shops, unlike chapmen, pedlars,
Kleen-eze men, and those blokes you see with suitcases of tat on
the footpath.
What we still don't read is unequivocal evidence as to whether or
not our correspondent can spell.
He told us, he uses a spelling checker. That means he can't spell.
So everyone who uses a spelling checker can't spell? I never knew
that. Now I feel so ashamed over using one I should turn off the
feature in Agent, Eudora, and Word.
|
Only if you are brave enough. Mine is turned off as a "feature" of
QuoteFix, although I wasn't using a spelling checker before acquiring QF. I
do know how to spell most words, and when I'm not sure, I look in a
dictionary. In other words, I know when I don't know.
--
Skitt
Any time you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right,
there's a 90 per cent probability you'll get it wrong. |
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R H Draney
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:23 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
TakenEvent filted:
| Quote: |
Land line -- good.
Cell -- oversimplified just to be different, even elitist, and tweaked just
to tweak. And it's becoming more common. Can't speak like ma + pa. Is it
premature to start the backlash against text message-speak? There've been
complaints, sure. I'm all for the evolution of language, but at what point
do the returns start to diminish?
When a phone becomes a "cell." It's a shortcut that should elicit cynical
murmuring, or a sharp blow to the back of the head. It's a phone, a cell
phone, even a mobile phone, though not for much longer. Even Amazon.com is
offering "Cell Phones & Service."
Are jump ropes called "jumps?" Are portable phones called "portables?" Not
really, even though some may do so when in a hurry.
|
I'm about to put my lunch in the microwave and slip in a video...wonder if
that'll generate more heat here or wherever TakenEvent is....r |
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Bill Bonde ('by a commodi
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:56 am
Post subject: Re: US cell phones |
|
|
TakenEvent wrote:
| Quote: |
"Bill Bonde ('by a commodius vicus of recirculation')"
John.Methuen@magersfontein.co.uk> wrote in message
news:435D23DB.D658C67E@magersfontein.co.uk...
ArWeGod wrote:
"TakenEvent" <lightbulbsnickety@chartermi.net> wrote in message
news:ev86f.13587$E17.9805@fe03.lga...
"Tony Cooper" <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:t9thl193cuot4p7cgg51daqcqj31m1r6ne@4ax.com...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:24:51 -0400, "TakenEvent"
lightbulbsnickety@chartermi.net> wrote:
Popular US terms for cellular phones:
cell: "Give me a call on my cell tonight." IMO, this usage sounds
terrible -- pretentiously kitschy, if that's possible. This usage
seems
to be gaining popularity in the under-22 crowd.
I call it my "cell", or "my cell number", and I'm almost double that
demographic. But I mostly don't tell people what kind of phone it is. My
phone is my phone. I say, "Call me at 7 o'clock." or whatever. The item
I use to talk on never really comes up.
Referring to a mobile phone as a "cell" is common in the US, being
neither pretentious nor kitschy, unless you confer those on anyone using
other than a landline phone. "Let me call you back on a land line" is a
part of some positively cool conversation too. In order to heighten the
note of pretence, I tend to refer to my mobile as "my Mot". Almost no
one has any idea what I'm talking about. Perfec'.
Land line -- good.
Cell -- oversimplified just to be different, even elitist, and tweaked just
to tweak. And it's becoming more common.
Since everyone seems to have a mobile phone now, it's hard to claim it |
is "elite" behaviour.
| Quote: | Can't speak like ma + pa. Is it
premature to start the backlash against text message-speak? There've been
complaints, sure. I'm all for the evolution of language, but at what point
do the returns start to diminish?
When a phone becomes a "cell." It's a shortcut that should elicit cynical
murmuring, or a sharp blow to the back of the head. It's a phone, a cell
phone, even a mobile phone, though not for much longer. Even Amazon.com is
How can you complain about "cell" and defend that by saying "phone"? |
Aren't they "telephones"?
| Quote: | Are jump ropes called "jumps?" Are portable phones called "portables?" Not
really, even though some may do so when in a hurry.
They are often called portables from what I hear. You won't get much |
traction telling people not to cut compounds to the quick for the quick.
--
"Throw me that lipstick, darling, I wanna redo my stigmata."
+-Jennifer Saunders, "Absolutely Fabulous" |
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