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

My local newspaper (the Metro Herald) had a feature this morning about people rephrasing the words of modern songs into Shakespearean English. But the examples they gave didn't understand the use of the word "thou", or what "doth" means...

"thy appears to be divine" meaning "you look good"
"who shall thee beckon" meaning "who will you call"
"who chanteth doth immortal lines" meaning "who sings these immortal lines"

I don't expect everyone to be able to write early modern English, but if you're writing an article about it, you should look up the details.

Verily, me thinkest thou speaketh true.

spake?

speakest

http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html

excellent!

The link (back there) couldn't work because a space had got lodged before enuf-innit. Copy and paste it and remove the space before going.

Then you should get http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jun/04/queens-english-society-enuf-innit which works.

From that link:

"It has also highlighted deficiencies in the use of English by
university undergraduates – more than 80% were unable
to spell and use the word "effect" correctly..."


So it's all MY fault. I never realised my inability to distinguish
affect and effect would have that sort of effect on the younger.
I do apologise. How might I now affect a remedy? Shall we have
an inquiry and establish an enquiry?



~jwf~

My daughter pointed out to me that while the general rule is "affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun, there is also a rare "effect" which is a verb and an even rarer "affect" which is a noun.

Yeah, I cited that general rule 'of thumb' in another
thread recently and was pounced upon by a brigade of
pedants who sent me to the dictionary once again with
a resulting confusion that affected me to great effect.

~jwf~

Thanks for remedying the link. I was trying to type on a too small screen and didn't realise I'd put in a space when going from one line to the next.
Good job the Plain English people are still in business or we'd be a very thin line holding the fort

I wouldn't even say the verb "to effect" was particularly rare*, Gnomon. In some lines of business it's fairly common parlance. I'm not sure those saying it are aware of the spelling, though, let alone its complicated word-group setup.

* Although this may be that I do a lot of correspondence in French, where effetuer is not uncommon.

You can effect a remedy.

And 'affect' is the word for the general ethos or atmosphere of a Baroque aria, somewhere between the myopic wordpainting of the Renaissance (where the word 'white' or 'black' would be set to mimins and crotchets respectively) and the massive emotional rollercoasters of the Romantics.

I had to go back a bit to see why the subject line said RIP.
And happily I have an assignment for the h2g2 EPS (English
Preservation Society).

I asked elsewhere but have had not much luck in finding a
true source and meaning for the expression push the boat out
in the sense of generous extravagance in a social situation
such as hosting a party, buying a round of drinks or paying
for a wedding.

It was quite popular and was used pleasantly to acknowledge
in a grateful and positive manner that the host or sponsor of
an event was exceeding expectations.

But what is the analogy? Elsewhere it was suggested that it
meant going out of your depth, perhaps taking a financial risk.

I fear that a lack of understanding and therefore a lack of
appreciation for this delightful expression has reduced its use
to ironic and even cynical use such as I see on Corrie St.

If people understood what push the boat out meant in the context
of its origins they might feel more inclined to use it.


~jwf~

I'm seriously thinking of writing to Susie Dent of OUP(who appears daily on the programme Countdown) about this one if I have no more luck than you over the next week

This seems to be a reasonable explanation, no?
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/push-the-boat-out.html

Sounds reasonable, but not definitive.

That would depend on which definition of definitive that's employed.

Here's another idea: "The term owes its origin to Horatio Nelson. After losing his arm, the little admiral installed a beautifully-made silver boat mounted on wheels which could contain two decanters of either madeira or claret. When entertaining his captains he was then able to push the wine around the table more easily. The boat is now in the Nelson Collection at Lloyd's of London."

There are, of course, many English words and expressions that cannot be explained definitively.

The quotes in phrases.org are all taken from the OED but the explanation is not in OED. It is convincing all right, the image of one person helping to get another 'afloat'.