# I Weep for the Future. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851 "2005-05-28T03:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/41 "2005-05-29T19:32:45Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > It’s either an archaic or a regional variant of “chimney”, but it’s a perfectly good word: Dickens also uses it in _Oliver Twist_, and from memory Tolkien has Sam use it in _The Lord Of The Rings_. Likewise, Sam uses “drownded.” I imagine that Tolkien was putting those words into his (Sam’s) mouth to illustrate Sam’s bumpkinate qualities. Bumpkin-like? Bumpkinalicious? Bumpkinesque? ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/42 "2005-05-29T19:34:44Z")
“no acceptions” “for all intensive purposes” “should of” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/43 "2005-05-29T20:24:41Z")
“Should/Could/Would of” \<------this is the result of people writing what they hear instead of realizing it’s a contraction. I can’t help thinking that it’s also a result of people not reading enough. Writing what one hears doesn’t even come close to seeing the actual correct words in print. What’s worse: “Should have went,” “Could have did,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/44 "2005-05-29T20:26:05Z")
Irregardless. And a cat getting “spaded.” And I hear people on the local news (whose job is to communicate) talking about “still mills” and “18-willers.” And my all-time favorite: “nup-choo-ul.” (Hint: the word is “nuptial,” not “nuptual.”) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/45 "2005-05-29T20:28:58Z")
Good timing…I just heard from a friend who says he saw a sign in a front yard advertising a “Hugh Sale.” My friend wondered if Hugh knew about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/46 "2005-05-29T20:30:35Z")
And of course, _every_ f\*\*\*ing network now has “commentators” who “commentate”. Sigh. Too late to stop that one. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/47 "2005-05-29T20:46:41Z")
When doing basic math, you subtract one number from another. You do not ‘minus’ them. Minus is not a, it is a preposition or a noun. Many times you can turn those types of words into verbs. Minus is not one of them. (dedicated to my father, who has a masters degree in engineering and still does not get it.) > [@BiblioCat](#): > > ‘Heighth’ makes me want to punch them. Apparently my brain isn’t quite functioning today. I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘heighth’, but I can’t begin to fathom how you mispronounce ‘height’. I’m so confused… ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/48 "2005-05-29T21:05:28Z")
Every time I feel dumb, stories like this make me feel much better about myself. The next time that girl goes to the beach, I hope she brungs an inner tube to supporter her in the water, so she doesn’t get drownded. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/49 "2005-05-29T21:26:48Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > The horrible-est of the horrible. > > “It’s a mute point”. > > It’s MOOT !! Moot, people !! I’ts a latin word !! > > Gah! It’s a ‘moo’ point. You know, like a cow’s opinion… ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/50 "2005-05-29T21:39:49Z")
Politicians are famous for mispronunciation (mispron **ou** nciation? 😉 ). I suspect that at least one reason Ted Kennedy was never nominated for the presidency is that he can’t say President of the United States. It always comes out something like “prezuneyestay.” He’s not the only one, and it bugs me when I hear it. It’s five words with nine syllables, Senator, not one four-syllable word. And I did say it’s _at least_ one reason. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/51 "2005-05-29T21:54:41Z")
I was browsing a copy of Reader’s Digest today at work and they had a quote from Mike Tyson which said something about “fading into Bolivian” There were several other good one’s but that’s the only one that stuck with me. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/52 "2005-05-29T21:56:06Z")
At the Sydney Olympics, the half witted comeentators decided that they would like a new term. In the pool, if a competitor won a medal, the didn’t, umm, win a medal. They ‘medalled’. I gave away watching the television after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/53 "2005-05-29T22:02:19Z")
I was in Barnes & Noble today and saw this book: [Business Lunchatations: How an Everyday Guy Became One of America’s Most Colorful CEOs…and How You Can, Too!](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596090537/qid=1117404625/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-7458603-1748004) I couldn’t bring myself to even pick it up and flip through the pages. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/54 "2005-05-29T22:41:26Z")
Someone criticizing Ted Kennedy’s articulation? Oh you’ve got to be kidding. I’m from Boston (where even the owls say ‘whom’). Compare Senator Ted’s speaking skills to a certain Commander In Chief whose mispronounceables and total lack of knowledge deserve more than just its own thread - it would require a new SDMB category. Okay someone mentioned newscasters and other people who _commentate_ and the mistakes they make. How about those _meterologists_ and the way they talk about the weather in the _Artic_ ? How about mushmouth Tom Brokaw ? This guy earned millions in annual salary and you’d think he could have improved his articulation. It’s good to know that we on the SDMB are much better _then_ that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/55 "2005-05-30T01:18:41Z")
Yes, we are way more cooler than that Brokaw dude. ---
**Author:** ![JackyeChan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@JackyeChan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackyeChan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/56 "2005-05-30T04:03:25Z")
I remember reading about the origin of normalcy when I saw your post. Politicians may not be Shakespeare, but they do contribute, accidentally. Warren G. Harding, Campaign Speech at Boston (1920) Harding was a dark-horse contender for the presidency in 1920. Formerly the editor of a Marion, Ohio, newspaper, Harding had served only one term in the U.S. Senate when he was nominated as the Republican candidate for president. He conducted a stay-at-home, front-porch campaign in which he identified himself with the common man and the virtues of small-town life. In the following speech, delivered before business leaders in May 1920, Harding articulated the growing reaction against progressive legislation and intervention in foreign affairs. In the course of the address, he misread “normality,” pronouncing it “normalcy,” and thus coined the slogan for the Republican administrations of the 1920s. A friend of mine was working a temp job at the SMU admissions office. Part of her job was entering prospective student’s major choices. The top two were teachering and lawayering. Talk about making your brain explode. ---
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/57 "2005-05-30T04:30:57Z")
I just like Calvin’s (of Calvin and Hobbes, not John Calvin) bit about making nouns into verbs: “Verbing weirds language.” [sub]I’ll admit I do this often. I apologize to all of you. Don’t hurt me. [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/58 "2005-05-30T04:41:23Z")
I’ve run into this one recently - taunt for taut, as in “Hold that rope taunt.” Heavy, heavy sigh. Some of my personal favourites are esculator and perculator. Hey, let’s take words and make them _harder_ to pronounce. ( **a35362** , onvelope is a common, correct pronunciation. That’s how I and most people around here say it. I say vahse for vase, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/59 "2005-05-30T05:10:42Z")
> [@](#): > > **Seeker74** : 4. “MissourUH” instead of Missouri… Gee, do you also say “MississippUH?” Move a little closer to the front of the classroom. I believe that _MissourUH_ is how most people who actually live in the state pronounce it. Besides, proper nouns are pretty much up for grabs with pronunciation. Some of you might want to check your _Webster’s_ before you lower the boom on varying pronunciations of _ask_ and _nuclear_. The “axe” pronunciation of _ask_ is from a Cavalier English dialect and has been in use in this country a long time. “Noo-cu-lar” makes me cringe, but it’s just a dialect too. We need to get over ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851/60 "2005-05-30T05:39:11Z")
SOUTHmore. :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-weep-for-the-future/305851.md?page=4)