I actually had to argue with a co-worker that the word is “cannot”, not “can not”. I know there are limited applications for “can not” but in the vast majority of cases, it’s “cannot”. She couldn’t believe there was such a word. :smack:
There are literally dozens of these – and I did mean “literally” literally.
I just decided to pop this back up – it hadn’t left the front page of the Pit yet – to note the reference, over in Cafe Society, to The Dairy of Anne Frank. This is, of course, the story set in an alternate reality in which the young Jewish girl survives the Nazi occupation of Holland to become a prosperous middle-aged woman whose business is noted for its gourmet cheeses and specialized milk products.
“affect” vs. “effect”: Both can be either a noun or a verb, but nine times out of ten, the verb you want is “affect” and the noun you want is “effect.”
“loath” vs. “loathe”: I am loath to bring this up, but I loathe it when people get this one wrong.
I can’t remember. Is The Dairy of Anne Frank set in Dacow or Cowschwitz?
Lose - The opposite of winning, alternatively, to misplace something or have taken from you.
Loose- The opposite of tight, or the process of making something not as tight.
Descriptively, nine times out of ten you can tell when they mean “lose.” But there are a few instances where it muddies the context, and that’s with something that can be loosed.
“I shall loose your chains” “I shall lose your chains.” These are not interchangeable. The first implies making restrictions lighter, or actually making the manacles strangling their arms a little more comfortable, the second implies going into the woods and dropping the chains in the dark and not being able to find them (and I suppose if you were REALLY being poetic it could refer to an absolute lifting of restrictions, magnitudes greater than “loose” implies). Do not mix these words up in this context, ever, and I know it’s a stretch, but please just try not to mix them up altogether.
Neither. Moochenwald.
Well, Arbeit Macht Fries.
Not like you asked me, but I would say it’s more of a colloquialism. I use it every once in a while just to be goofy.
thankyouthankyouthankyou
No! It was on the hill of Calgary!
Just kidding, that’s another error I hear all the time. And there’s nothing wrong with saying something is wrong, when it’s just plain incorrect. That’s not being prescriptivist.
I agree. It happens a lot here in Mississippi: I hear that more than you can ever imagine. And it makes me cringe every single time.
I do get some joy out of it, though: I get to knock 5 points off a QA score whenever I hear it during a call!
We knew a couple who were raising a foster son in NY. He was having some trouble academically, so during the parent-teacher conference, the dad (the school district superintendent in a neighboring city) asked about trouble in the classroom, and was told the boy was doing fine. Then the mom (a teacher) asked the teacher if perhaps he was a bit overwhelmed by the material, to which to teacher replied, “I don’t know- I haven’t axed him.”
:rolleyes:
New school in 4… 3… 2…
There was a church near where I used to live called the “Calvary Tabernacle” (I don’t remember the full name), which always made me laugh because my brain immediately translated the sign as calvaire tabarnak! (Québecois swear words are largely based on religious terminology!) every time I saw it.
I did not know that it was the name of the hill Jesus was crucified on, but then, I never made an effort to find out what it meant! I did know what a cavalry was, though!