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I fucking love english, me. I find it utterly exciting and profound. And, often unsuccessfully, I try to avoid getting really pissed off when it's misused.

 

One of my most frequent google searches begins with the word "etymology" and then the word in question. For obvious reasons I can't look up my google search history, but I can tell you that yesterday's etymological conundrum was "pandemonium". And before you all look it up, try and work out what its etymology is. That's at least half the interest for me. The etymology of "pandemonium" is right there in that particular example. What about "hullabaloo"? And it's not just weird words whose etymology I look up. 

 

I also like words that should have alternatives but apparently don't. Antonyms are another. Promulgate. Why isn't there a conmulgate? Where did ulgate go?

 

And then there's odd words like "low". What, other than cattle, "low"? Hmmm? And what, other than warm, is "luke"? And what's the name for those? Monoadjectivals? Interestingly, but apropos very little, when I'm telling off Mr rb14, I usually start with "now Luke weer". Probably best said out loud.

 

Another of my loves is RAS - Redundant Acronym Syndrome. There are loads of exemplars but one of the most common is PIN number. So Personal Identification Number number. Another is LAN network. Local Area Network network.

 

One of my pet loathings is the unecessary use of lengthy and seldom-used language. Bowie went through a phase of doing that. Using twenty multi-syballic obscure words whenever possible. Like it's a badge of honour. Russell Brand does it too. Will Self is the biggest culprit and gets the least leeway (nautical etymology there?) from me as there is simply no fucking need and he should know better. 

 

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5 minutes ago, rb14 said:

I fucking love english, me. I find it utterly exciting and profound. And, often unsuccessfully, I try to avoid getting really pissed off when it's misused.

 

One of my most frequent google searches begins with the word "etymology" and then the word in question. For obvious reasons I can't look up my google search history, but I can tell you that yesterday's etymological conundrum was "pandemonium". And before you all look it up, try and work out what its etymology is. That's at least half the interest for me. The etymology of "pandemonium" is right there in that particular example. What about "hullabaloo"? And it's not just weird words whose etymology I look up. 

 

I also like words that should have alternatives but apparently don't. Antonyms are another. Promulgate. Why isn't there a conmulgate? Where did ulgate go?

 

And then there's odd words like "low". What, other than cattle, "low"? Hmmm? And what, other than warm, is "luke"? And what's the name for those? Monoadjectivals? Interestingly, but apropos very little, when I'm telling off Mr rb14, I usually start with "now Luke weer". Probably best said out loud.

 

Another of my loves is RAS - Redundant Acronym Syndrome. There are loads of exemplars but one of the most common is PIN number. So Personal Identification Number number. Another is LAN network. Local Area Network network.

 

One of my pet loathings is the unecessary use of lengthy and seldom-used language. Bowie went through a phase of doing that. Using twenty multi-syballic obscure words whenever possible. Like it's a badge of honour. Russell Brand does it too. Will Self is the biggest culprit and gets the least leeway (nautical etymology there?) from me as there is simply no fucking need and he should know better. 

 

'Pet' loathing Rog? Sounds a bit American to me. 

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3 hours ago, rb14 said:

I fucking love english, me. I find it utterly exciting and profound. And, often unsuccessfully, I try to avoid getting really pissed off when it's misused.

 

One of my most frequent google searches begins with the word "etymology" and then the word in question. For obvious reasons I can't look up my google search history, but I can tell you that yesterday's etymological conundrum was "pandemonium". And before you all look it up, try and work out what its etymology is. That's at least half the interest for me. The etymology of "pandemonium" is right there in that particular example. What about "hullabaloo"? And it's not just weird words whose etymology I look up. 

 

I also like words that should have alternatives but apparently don't. Antonyms are another. Promulgate. Why isn't there a conmulgate? Where did ulgate go?

 

And then there's odd words like "low". What, other than cattle, "low"? Hmmm? And what, other than warm, is "luke"? And what's the name for those? Monoadjectivals? Interestingly, but apropos very little, when I'm telling off Mr rb14, I usually start with "now Luke weer". Probably best said out loud.

 

Another of my loves is RAS - Redundant Acronym Syndrome. There are loads of exemplars but one of the most common is PIN number. So Personal Identification Number number. Another is LAN network. Local Area Network network.

 

One of my pet loathings is the unecessary use of lengthy and seldom-used language. Bowie went through a phase of doing that. Using twenty multi-syballic obscure words whenever possible. Like it's a badge of honour. Russell Brand does it too. Will Self is the biggest culprit and gets the least leeway (nautical etymology there?) from me as there is simply no fucking need and he should know better. 

 

I do myself, I've mentioned before that I couldn't do without the Times crossword, I find it satisfying when I've solved a clue and learning a new word in the process as sometimes you do. 

It also has 3 obscure words with 3 possible meanings, again learning a new word is good.

Intransigence is one of my favourites, not uncommon I know. 

 

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