"Having his cake..."--why does everybody get this wrong? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Perry]

Robert touched on it, but I've seen people describe something as "more perfect" or "the most perfect." (It's similar to the misuse of "unique," which Jack mentioned.)

 

[RobertR]

How about "first initial", as in "My first initial time I had sex...". Sorry, but you can't have a second (or any other) initial time....

 

[Jack Briggs]

Or ... "His past history showed no tendency toward breaking the law."

As opposed to his future history? In that case, I don't want to hear about--unless your name is Robert Heinlein or Larry Niven (the SF cogniscenti will know of which I speak).

 

[Todd Hochard]

When someone says they "feel 100% better" then I guess they must have really felt like nothing before

Isn't feeling 100% better just feeling twice as good as yesterday.
After all, a 100% gain in stock value is a double.
I think the cake thing works either way. They're both in the present tense, so shouldn't the connotation work either way? It's an interesting condundrum either way, especially if your cake is from the Cheesecake Factory.
I like to say eat/have vs. have/eat, since people find the former more pretentious and elitist. That's because, sometimes, I am.
Todd

 

[brian a]

Yeah Chuck, and sports announcers saying "RBIs", in effect saying "runs batted ins".

How should you distinguish a single run batted in from multiple runs? I wouldn't think that RsBI is correct.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I think the cake thing works either way. They're both in the present tense, so shouldn't the connotation work either way?

Yes. The word "and" has nothing to do with the order of the action. "I ate dinner and watched television" does not mean "I ate dinner then watched television." It could mean, "I watched television then ate dinner," or "I ate dinner while watching television." "And" only means you did both things, not one after the other. In fact, if you wrote a paper and used that type of sentence structure, a good teacher will point it out.

Therefore, "Have your cake and eat it, too" is exactly the same as "Eat your cake and have it, too"- and both mean nothing.

Can someone please explain this one to me?: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Is it, really? How much do birds in hands go for these days?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look at a picture of myself when I was younger.

 

[RobertR]

How should you distinguish a single run batted in from multiple runs? I wouldn't think that RsBI is correct.

Better to assume that RBI always means "Runs batted in". In the relatively infrequent case of one run batted in, don't use the acronym. Use the complete phrase.

 

[BrianW]

One thing that gets me is when people say they “can’t hardly” do something. It’s a double negative, pure and simple. And, yeah, I hate it when a common saying gets bungled. Most people I know who use the “cake” saying don’t even use it to refer to someone wanting two sets of mutually exclusive conditions to be true. They simply use it to refer to someone who is being selfish and wants his own way.
Binary states and absolutes (like being infinite or not) are commonly, though inappropriately, qualified: Almost infinite, near perfect, more than adequate, practically empty, and virtually spotless are just a few examples. Even more amusing, people often combine an absolute qualifier with a binary state, as in “perfectly adequate.” What does this mean? As a general rule, substitute the word “pregnant” for a binary state you’re tempted to qualify, and you’ll easily see how “almost exact” is just as ridiculous as “almost pregnant.”
Commonly used to qualify a binary or absolute condition is the word “virtual” or “virtually.” The way it’s used today, the word “virtually” means “not.”

error free.

We all know what that means. If the claim were absolutely true, they wouldn’t need to qualify the claim with the word “virtually.” From now on, for any ad copy you read, replace the word “virtually” with the word “not,” and you’ll understand almost exactly () what the ad is actually saying.
Just keep that bit of advice as an “Ace up your hole.”

 

[brian a]

What would be the correct way to express the idea that 999 out of 1000 people prefer ZAM?

 

[Mike Broadman]

What would be the correct way to express the idea that 999 out of 1000 people prefer ZAM?

If those numbers are actually true, then you use the numbers and say what you already say. If not, you can say, "majority" or even "vast majority." Even "almost all" is correct. "Almost exactly," however, makes no sense, like "almost infinite."

 

[Scott Leopold]

How about "first initial", as in "My first initial time I had sex...". Sorry, but you can't have a second (or any other) initial time....

What about born-again virgins?

As for "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," think of it as a hunter would.

I also despise people who give 110%. After a terribly busy night, once, I had a coworker tell our manager that he had given 150%! I instantly claimed that I had only given 50% to make up for it. Generally, I try not to give more than 98%. I usually get light-headed around 99%.

Finally, I can't recall if I have They Call Me Bruce? or Night Patrol to thank for this one, but I'd prefer to have my Kate and Edith, too.

 

[Todd Hochard]

What about born-again virgins

That phrase is a subset of nearly infinite and almost pregnant.

 

[Jon_Are]

Commonly heard/read by me:

It always ceases to amaze me. (correct: it never ceases to amaze me)

My old stomping grounds. (my old stamping grounds)

Irregardless. (regardless )

I could care less. (I could not care less)

Orientate. (orient )

Ironical. (ironic )

Home theatre is his forte [pronounced for-tay]. (home theatre is his forte [pronounced fort ])

The word 'literally' used improperly. (Today, I heard someone say, "you could have literally knocked me over with a feather".)

Jon

 

[brian a]

Even "almost all" is correct.

How is that different than virtually everyone? Isn't 'all' an absolute as well?

 

[Ryan Wright]

"I hate when airlines use the term 'near miss' to describe two planes almost colliding. That's a near hit! Near miss? A hit is a near miss! BOOM! 'Look Dave, they nearly missed!'"

They did nearly miss. They nearly missed an accident.

 

[Ike]

I don't know about your others, but ironical is a word...

 

[Joseph S]

Here's another one I've heard quite a few times.
"It's a doggy dog world."

 

[James Landau]

Great thread. I've also tried without success to convince people that they have the cake adage backward.

It bugs me when people make references to an alternate or parallel universe. By definition, a universe is comprised of all that exists. Thus there can be only one!

 

[andrew markworthy]

First a point of detail - 'near miss' means that although the items in question missed, they were close to each other (as opposed to 'wide miss'); it's using 'near' in a slightly different (but still correct) meaning.

Second, all arguments about apparent misuse of phrases rely on the assumption that they are somehow sacrosanct and cannot be changed from their original meaning. In Brit English, for example, the phrase has become 's/he wants to have his/her cake and eat it'. It still has the original sense in that you cannot keep something in its original state and consume it. However, it arguably now slips off the tongue rather better than the original phrase. I agree that some changes are nonsensical (and the US adaptation of the phrase does seem odd) but before we get too indignant about it consider the fact that a large number of phrases get changed over time. E.g. 'discretion is the better part of valour' sounds fine, until you realise that the original phrase was 'valour is the better part of discretion'. Then there's a deliberate misuse which is gaining popularity in the UK at least - 'it's in the lap of the dogs'. Again, some misuses of words have a certain weight of argument. 'Hopefully' means 'full of hope', and thus, pedantically speaking, 'hopefully we will arrive at 4 o'clock' means that we will arrive at four, full of hope, and not the intended meaning that we hope to arrive at four. However, English lacks a simple single word which could be used instead of 'hopefully' in the latter context, so arguably its hijacking for a new meaning makes some sense.

Having said all that, some misuses really get my goat, because a simple, valid alternative is available. For example:

'alternate' is *not* the same as 'alternative'; 'substantive' does not mean the same as 'substantial'; when two things are being compared, one is better than the other, not best of the two; and finally, it's 'group is' not 'group are'.

Oh yes, and 'ironical' is a word.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Here's a good one for this forum. How many of you have heard about these new SVS subwoofers?
Just between you and me, I love my Stimpson Vodhanel Subwoofer subwoofer.