h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If twins are two people, and twice is two times, how come twilight is half-light?
Any othere words that start TWI?

Twit?

Twixt day and night.

Twix bars

twiglets

twiddle
twinky
twi-dimensional

erm.. grasping here now

You remember that bit a while ago about the icegeld word from the mobile phone predictive texting? Well there's another one, kercr. Try spelling 'kerbs' and you get kercr (on nokia phones anyway).

So what's a kercr? It has no '?' on the end so it must think it is a real word!

I'll make up a meaning for kercr - it is the Breton word for purple.

Kercr:
It's that little flashing line that you can never quite catch up with no matter how fast you type.

You cur, sir!


How-ooooooo!

Ah, that explains it. A purple flashing line that you can never catch up with when typing (in Breton).

The things you learn....

BTW. If you remember the conversation a while ago about the incorrect usage of words that sound / look similar, well I saw another one today with certain overtones to it which went something like :-

'It is important to insure the security of world peace' in an article reporting a pro-war stance.

That sounds like Groucho Marx:

"But there must be a war - I've paid a month's rent on the battlefield!"

Livzy, That was a rotten shot! You missed us by a mile! http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/F19585?thread=76493&latest=1 Post: 3187

I guess the closest thing we got here to represent a patiently blinking cursor is the smiley.


~jwf~

hello everyone

i haven't been here before. is it ok for me to ask a grammar question?

i just posted this sentence in a conversation -

"however i think that process has to be designed to take into account the needs of refugees more than the asylum country"

but i originally wrote it as this

"however i think that that process has to be designed to take into account the needs of refugees more than the asylum country"


i find i do this alot (use 'that' twice) especially in speech. i'm sure i'm noticing how much i do because i am typing on h2 alot..

is it a bad habit i have, or is it actually correct? and how come it seems ok when i say it? (it doesn't when i type it)



kea

It is correct:

I think that the horse is ill.
I think that that horse is ill.
I think that that is a horse.

But it is also possible to say:

I think the horse is ill.
I think that horse is ill.
I think that is a horse.

I would say the using the extra "that" is more formal.

thanks Gnomon! i obviously came to the right place

Hi kea.

I only lurk here sometimes as well.

I agree with Gnomon that there is a formal element to it.

However there is also a difference in meaning.

I think that the horse is ill. - Slightly formal
I think that that horse is ill. - Slightly formal and specific also argumentative. Think of two horse doctors looking at a paddock full of horses, some of which are ill.
I think that that is a horse. - Possibly argumentative ie contradicting anothers statement/observation.

But it is also possible to say:

I think the horse is ill. - Less formal
I think that horse is ill. - Same paddock, first horse doctor.
I think that is a horse. - Statement of fact.



turvy

The horse is best served rare with a pepper sauce and light green salad.......

Poor , wait till Alec (F19585?thread=249655&latest=1) hears your recommendation Livzy

six7s

is he being fatted for the Sunday roast?

Apparently Sheffield Uni (UK) have decided that 'whilst' is archaic and should in all instances be replace with 'while'.

Does this sound correct? To my mind there is a difference between 'whilst' and 'while' although I doubt I could actually define it. There are places where one seems more applicable than the other to me.

I think this another 'common usage' evolution. To be accurate, as far as I understand it:

whilst = during

while = on the other hand

I'm sure I often get them wrong.