The Innovative Usage Thread

[linguoboy]

To mean gloss over?

That's how I read it.

[linguoboy]

Smith was concerned about the optics of dating a subordinate.

Apparently a usage which has been around for several years but which I just discovered.

[ol bofosh]

But what does it mean? Options?

[linguoboy]

But what does it mean? Options?

"appearances". How the relationship is looked upon by others.

[din]

That sounds like 'vocals' being used as 'a (singing) voice', as in 'you have amazing vocals'. At least, it sounds just as strange to me.

[Thry]

It's pretty analogical with things such as that one or other sensory stuff: this room has great acoustics.

[Arzena]

Mobile prepositions. An entire verbal phrase has been placed in the phrase the date on between 'date' and 'on':

Select the date you are willing to have a yard sign placed in your yard on until the March 4 primary.

[Yng]

wow

such innovative

much new

That sentence is awkward, but isn't it just standard preposition stranding?

[linguoboy]

That sentence is awkward, but isn't it just standard preposition stranding?

Yeah, I tried to come up with possible rephrasings, but it seems IMD it's either that or the slightly stilted "Select the date on which you are..."

[Yng]

Yes. My problem with it comes from the fact that whilst 'place a sign on your lawn until the primary' and 'place a sign on your lawn on that date' are both grammatical and fine, the aspect of the verb differs and so if you try and combine them 'place a sign on your lawn on that date until the primary' it doesn't work. Better I think to say 'from what date' or something or insert a 'which will remain until'.

[Radius Solis]

There's still something off about it. And it has to do with the last phrase - the "on" really should come at the very end, except there's something blocking that from being a possibility. Perhaps just the sheer distance from "date", or perhaps there's a conflict between discussing one date in the middle of the reference to another. I'm not certain.

If you boil it down, the sentence is trying to have the structure:
Select the date you [VERB PHRASE] on.

But the verb phrase it's trying to express is:
are willing to have a yard sign placed in your yard until the March 4 primary

Insert the one into the other and it's clearly awful. So the "on" has to go somewhere else. But putting it in the middle causes the main clause structure to become:
Select the date you [VERB PHRASE] on until the March 4 primary.

Which is... not structurally ungrammatical, but there is quite a semantic conflict going. A date is one day - it doesn't continue "until" any other date than the next one. You can do something from Monday to Thursday, but not on Monday until Thursday.


Ah, Yng has half-ninja'd me.

[linguoboy]

A lexical one: WeepingElf's use of "crocodiling" in the census thread. I assume it's an adaption bzw. extension of Esperanto krokodili. At least I read it as "inappropriately using a language other than the established common language of the thread". Not something I'd seen before in English.

[HandsomeRob]

A lexical one: WeepingElf's use of "crocodiling" in the census thread. I assume it's an adaption bzw. extension of Esperanto krokodili. At least I read it as "inappropriately using a language other than the established common language of the thread". Not something I'd seen before in English.

I would take "crocodiling" to mean "using Desomorphine".

[linguoboy]

From today's meeting:

* "audios" (by analogy with "videos")
* "the least easiest" (I've heard double superlatives a lot, but not with "least" I don't think)

[Thry]

Really? audios is novel to you? English isn't even my L1 and I've heard that tons of times [not unrelatedly, though, as you get a lot of those in the learning of a language]

[linguoboy]

Really? audios is novel to you? English isn't even my L1 and I've heard that tons of times [not unrelatedly, though, as you get a lot of those in the learning of a language]

I may have heard it from language learners before and filed it away as an error. This is the first time I can recall hearing it from a fluent native speaker (and I'm still not 100% sure he wouldn't consider it a production error if confronted).

[Ser]

Really? audios is novel to you? English isn't even my L1 and I've heard that tons of times

Where, in particular, have you heard it tons of times? I've never heard "audios" either, in English or Spanish... And I've heard plenty of conversations about classroom language learning in both.

[Thry]

It's just short for "audio file"... "nos pusieron 2 audios" [hm, true, in English it sounds weirder, but it isn't that of a stretch?].
Even in the Portuguese class, instead of listening or escuta, sometimes you heard, "vamos ouvir este áudio mais duas vezes".

[Drydic]

* "the least easiest" (I've heard double superlatives a lot, but not with "least" I don't think)

...that's not normal? /boggle

[Ser]

It's just short for "audio file"... "nos pusieron 2 audios" [hm, true, in English it sounds weirder, but it isn't that of a stretch?].
Even in the Portuguese class, instead of listening or escuta, sometimes you heard, "vamos ouvir este áudio mais duas vezes".

I'll blame you European libruls for such linguistic depravity.

[Thry]

quoth the desubjunctivated folk.

[Ser]

You're confusing me with Torco, that most depraved man, my subjunctive (and even my illiterate grandmas', for that matter) is perfectly fine and standard.

[Thry]

Thank god you follow the One True Standard^RAE Universal Spanish Grammar

[Ser]

But you're wrong. My standard is so ^high not even the ^RAE gets it right.

[Thry]

Like that word xD

The RAE could not figure out an orthography for the second person singular tú imperative of salir with attached enclitic le (salirle).
SPANISH BROKE THAT DAY