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I am embarrassed to admit that in the past, I used to write "for all intensive purposes" rather than "for all intents and purposes".
:::::hanging head in shame:::::
I caught my own niece doing that and called her on it. She had no idea, and she's a very intelligent, well-educated young woman. I thought you might be my niece for a moment, except she would be "GeminiGirl".
Well, technically chanteuse is a French word, meaning female singer. I had never heard this word used in English before I moved to the USA...
It's a particular type of female singer, usually a woman performing live jazz in a nightclub. It's not used much because that music isn't performed live very often anymore. Nowadays it's pronounced in the French manner, but in old movies from the 30s and 40s they used to say chan-TOO-see.
The Italian place across from where I work has had "broccoli rape" on the menu for years. The "pubic" thing reminded me of this.
Technically, 'rape' is the English for 'rabe'. There are a couple of plants in the Brassica genus called rape including the common rapeseed, the oil of which has been branded 'canola' to put off negative associations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bostonguy1960
At age 20, years ago, I didn't know how to say "foliage." I'd say "foil-age.". Well, the leaves could be kind of shiney in a foil-like mannet.?vc
I wasn't living in New England yet, but it seems so stupid now. Doesn't everyone know how to say it, even if living in a desert?
I have heard people say 'foil-age' and argue vociferously that it is the correct pronunciation.
My biggest admission is that it took until my late 30s to sit down and memorize the spelling of 'necessarily'.
Also, having grown up in a non-Rhotic environment, I have had people tell me my pronunciation of words like 'mirror' and 'refrigerator' are incorrect because I sound the final 'R' although without the same level of sustain as other American English speakers.
I post a lot in these threads about my impatience with poor grammar, poor vocabulary, or poor usage. But I'm also a pretty tough self-critic. I'm probably harder on myself than I am on the stupid fools who make grammatical errors consistently. So here are my confessions:
I used to mix up "ersatz" and "erstwhile." They have totally different meanings, but I still have to stop and remind myself whether I'm reading about something that doesn't exist anymore or something that's a cheap fake when one of them pops up in something I'm reading.
Up until about a year ago, I thought it was correct to say "I was pouring over all the books I could find on the topic..." but it's actually "poring." I guess I had a mental image of a person "pouring" themselves like a liquid over a whole lot of written material, sort of becoming one with it. But stupid me, it's "pore."
I somehow got through my whole life (42+ years so far) without learning the word "chanteuse." I read a LOT, so how did the word get by me without my looking it up? I'm embarrassed to say I heard someone on TV (who isn't necessarily very bright) say the word--"so-and-so was a very famous chanteuse..." and was like "huh?" Then I looked it up. My boyfriend, who reads about as much as I do and who also has a decent vocabulary, even knew the word (but he also does crossword puzzles a lot). Of course, as things like this always seem to happen, once I learned the word, I now see it a lot.
I had thought that the saying "toe the line" was "tow the line." I didn't know the origin of the phrase, but I knew when a person was told to "tow the line" they were being told to "buckle down," follow the rules, or pay better attention to what they should be doing." So I pictured fishermen towing a fishing line, working more diligently to catch a fish than just sitting there dozing with a fishing rod in their hands. Then I learned that it was actually "toe" and it came from either track & field (put your toe on the starting line before running) or from shooting contests (put your toe on the line when you shoot for the target and don't go beyond it).
Okay grammar/vocab-snobs (like me), what have been your embarrassing blunders? I came forward with my shame, how about you?
If you knew about sailing you'd know to use "tow the line".
I don't think "pouring" over books is as egregious as some other things. In fact most people think of pore as a noun ie a skin pore.
I mistakenly thought the word esculent meant "delicious and enjoyable". At a dinner party, I was very emphatic in the way that I told the host and the guest that his the meal was esculent. Turns out, someone looked it up and remarked "esculent means fit to be eaten. Such as "mushrooms in the wild with a white color cap are esculent, and won't kill you." Needless to say, I was embarrassed
I have also struggled with the word obtuse, and have never found a reason to use it correctly. Every I did use it, or try to find a situation to apply it to, I would tell my brother about it and he would shake his head and tell me I was wrong.
I 12th grade, I mispronounced anecdote (I said anecedote) and pronounced futile with a British pronunciation, fu-tile.
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