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17 votes
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From respair to cacklefart – the joy of reclaiming long-lost positive words
8 votes -
On communicating accurately with Americans
11 votes -
The melancholy decline of the semicolon
17 votes -
Longstanding discourse w/ my SO about the phrase "a couple of..."
#couple Defined as: noun: couple; plural noun: couples 1. two individuals of the same sort considered together. "a couple of girls were playing marbles" a pair of partners in a dance or game....
#couple
Defined as:noun:
couple;
plural noun: couples
1.
two individuals of the same sort considered together.
"a couple of girls were playing marbles"a pair of partners in a dance or game.
MECHANICS
a pair of equal and parallel forces acting in opposite directions, and tending to cause rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane containing them.
2.
two people who are married, engaged, or otherwise closely associated romantically or sexually.
"in three weeks the couple fell in love and became engaged"3.
INFORMAL
an indefinite small number.
"he hoped she'd be better in a couple of days"
verb:
couple;
3rd person present:
couples
past tense:
coupled
past participle:
coupled
gerund or present participle:
coupling
1.
combine."a sense of hope is coupled with a palpable sense of loss"
join to form a pair.
"the beetles may couple up to form a pair"2.
mate or have sexual intercourse.
"as middle-class youth grew more tolerant of sex, they started to couple more often"
#Discourse of the use of the word/phrase in this particular case
You
"how many would you like?"
Them
"just a couple."
When someone requests 'a couple of...' I respond with something similar to: 'How many do you want specifically?', which leads to the discourse of, 'A couple is two, a few is >2, several is <x' and so on.
I agree with the first two clearly stated definitions of 'couple', but in the informal use of a couple (eg. a depiction of a quantity) is not specifically two...nor is 'a few' three. How many specifically is several..?
I understand the semantics within the conversation. But, the expectation of understanding that two, and only two, is implied in the use of the phrase 'a couple' in a request; is ambiguously stating what one party desires. I'm the asshole now, just tell me how many you want.
And now...your thoughts, please.
12 votes -
Ace Linguist: Dialect Dissection: ABBA
5 votes -
Dead as a doornail
3 votes -
Gender in Latin and beyond
3 votes -
Kempt, couth, ruth: On the disappearing antonyms of “grumpy” words
7 votes -
I signed up to write college essays for rich kids. I found cheating is more complicated than I thought.
29 votes -
Change in the implied meaning of "masked men"
Has the sentence "the masked men entered the store" changed meaning post the pandemic. I think it feels less ominous than perhaps it used to. Now the words could imply "responsible men that wear...
Has the sentence "the masked men entered the store" changed meaning post the pandemic. I think it feels less ominous than perhaps it used to. Now the words could imply "responsible men that wear masks in accordance with guidelines entered a store" where it would previously almost certainly imply "robbers entered the store". Since I'm not a native speaker I'm curious if this is just in my head or a more general thing? Are there other similar statements that has change?
11 votes -
Surprising shared word etymologies
10 votes -
Tower of Babble: Non-native speakers navigate the world of 'good' and 'bad' English
4 votes -
Why the Buzzfeed News style guide will no longer hyphenate "antisemitism"
6 votes -
A brief overview of popular slang of the 1920s in the US
2 votes -
Are there any gender-neutral or non-binary honorifics?
I've been thinking a good bit about gender-neutral language lately, and I've been making an effort to eliminate unnecessarily gendered language from my day-to-day speech. However, there are a few...
I've been thinking a good bit about gender-neutral language lately, and I've been making an effort to eliminate unnecessarily gendered language from my day-to-day speech. However, there are a few sticking points for me that I am having a hard time with finding my way around. One of the most difficult for me, having been brought up in the deep south and still living there, are honorifics like "sir" and "ma'am". I use these when addressing pretty much anyone, and it's a habit I'm having a hard time breaking. It's got me thinking about whether there are any good alternatives that would feel respectful of the person I'm addressing while not sticking out too much. If that's not an option (and I suspect it would be asking too much) then what are your ideal alternatives, either neologisms, borrowed from other languages, or just repurposed words that are in current use?
Examples of usage that I would love to replace:
"Yes, sir/No, ma'am"
"Excuse me, sir/ma'am"
"Mr./Mrs./Ms." (I use this less often but still catch myself at times. I also think this one has the best alternative currently in use, with Mx. catching on in some places)Also, if this question is missing the mark or disrespectful in any way, please let me know. I'm still learning!
21 votes -
Why is the shape (❤) called a heart? And why is biological heart called a heart as well?
4 votes -
Why we say "OK"
7 votes -
Paul Taylor - #Franglais - Bilingual stand-up comedy
7 votes -
War of words as Nigerian English recognised by Oxford English Dictionary
8 votes -
Ə: The most common vowel sound in English
14 votes -
500-year-old manuscript contains earliest known use of the “F-word”
9 votes -
Appalachian English
6 votes -
United Nations guidelines for gender-inclusive language in English
16 votes -
The History of English Podcast
6 votes -
Why I'm possessive about apostrophes
13 votes -
Merriam-Webster's Time Traveler: Words by year of appearance
6 votes -
A dialect dissection of Britney Spears
8 votes -
Medieval Myth Busting - Arrows vs Armour, using historically accurate reproductions from time of the Battle of Agincourt (1415)
MEDIEVAL MYTH BUSTING - Arrows vs Armour from Tod's Workshop YouTube Channel Other extra videos in the series: Find out More - The Battle Find out more - The Armour Find out More - Medieval Arrows...
MEDIEVAL MYTH BUSTING - Arrows vs Armour from Tod's Workshop YouTube Channel
Other extra videos in the series:
Find out More - The Battle
Find out more - The Armour
Find out More - Medieval Arrowsedit: Tod also re-uploaded the previous video with better sound:
Find out More - Medieval Arrows*12 votes -
"You can't say that! Stories have to be about white people"
12 votes -
Politics and the English language
11 votes -
English is not normal: No, English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language.
12 votes -
‘Like’ isn’t a lazy linguistic filler – the English language snobs need to, like, pipe down
13 votes -
Americanisms the British public can't bloody stand
14 votes -
People often complain that English is deteriorating under the influence of new technology, adolescent fads and loose grammar. Why does this nonsensical belief persist?
11 votes -
Why do people say "Jesus H. Christ," and where did the "H" come from?
38 votes -
Why certain words are left out of our English Bibles
7 votes -
X is for…
6 votes -
Why is English spelling so damn weird?
8 votes -
Behemoth, bully, thief: How the English language is taking over the planet
9 votes -
Dictionaries recently added more than 1,500 words. Here are some new entries.
7 votes -
The more names change, the more they sound the same
6 votes -
Linguists found the weirdest languages – and English is one of them
16 votes -
What is the ‘-ling’ in darling? (And what is the ‘dar-’ for that matter?)
13 votes -
Oi! We’re not lazy yarners, so let’s kill the cringe and love our Aussie accent(s).
5 votes -
The art of biblical translation, part two: Modern translators and their tin-ear to the literature of the Hebrew Bible
8 votes -
The art of biblical translation, part one: On the eloquence of the King James Version
5 votes -
Meet the guardian of grammar who wants to help you be a better writer
4 votes -
The rise of the swear nerds
13 votes -
‘Kindly adjust’ to our English
8 votes