lol

this post made me think of one of brian regan's bits. i'm not a huge regan fan but this bit is gold imo:

brian regan: "stupid in school"

Heh. I actually get annoyed when people restrict usage of words to mean a much narrower definition. Like, I would speak and find it totally normal to say that the WTC destruction was "incredible". Or "truly astounding", etc. Whatever. I think people look at me funny because they only want to hear wam fuzzy things described as incredible. Sorry, but that's not the defnition.

This is actually a good idea, since him and I email eachother fairly regularly. I will say that instead of partying on New Years' Eve, I will be celebrating on the penultimate day of the year. lol. Something totally ridiculous and out-of-the-blue. It will probably be so obvious that he'll come over and be like "Heyyyy.... if you didn't like the way I was using the word all these years why din'tcha just say so?" lol. He's sort of whiny like that. He's the type who will get offended if he "figures out" that I am correcting him in such manner.

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Prohornblower. Good point on the semantic shift. I guess i just find it interesting that the media seems the last to come around on these types of words that take on different meanings over time in casual conversation. But then, that's the nature of how meanings change over time..

Tell him you never noticed he was saying it wrong....lol. Win-win. You fixed him and he saves face.

From wikipedia. I've never heard of antepenultimate. I was also unclear on all 3 definitions.

I guess you would have to be partying on Dec. 30 to party on the penultimate day of the year.

It tilts me to no end that the sub shop is spelled Quiznos according to the store's website and most other places, but there are a few individual franchises that have giant signs outside that say "Quizno's." One in L.A. at Sunset & LaBrea just pisses me off every time I drive by.

I hate apostrophe abuse like nobody's business. Even when I go to OOT and Assani's thread about his foot "and it's..." or the "Inglourious Basterd's" thread is on the front page, I die a little inside.

Yes, Dec. 30 is the penultimate day. I've never heard of antepenultimate but maybe I'll start using that in speech around him to **** up his world.

I should email him and tell him I'm flying to Colorado on the 28th for business, and returning on what will undoubtedly be the antepenultimate day of 2009.

The funniest description of this problem I have heard is that, to people who make this mistake, the apostrophe means "Here comes an S!"

Now, whenever I see that, rather than dying a little inside, I hear a vapid, cheery voice proclaiming, "Here comes an S!"

one i see a lot lately that bugs me is people saying "bias" when they mean "biased"

I feel like this one must be in the thread already, but I didn't find it searching...

A statement like:
I'm going over to my parents for dinner.

I'm pretty sure should really be:

I'm going over to my parents' for dinner.

But that looks so weird to me I feel like it is hardly ever written that way. Am I right about how it should be written, and if so, does leaving the apostrophe out grate on you guys?

The second one is correct, obviously. If it bothers you, write "my parents' house"

The first isn't exactly incorrect, either.

Sally and Jane are standing over there. I am going over to Jane to talk to her.

If you're going over to your parents, then it can be correct in saying that you're going over to "them."

If you're going over to your parents' house, then obviously you would need the apostrophe. It would be used when you're going over to "the house."

Obviously not what people generally mean, but it still works fine enough to let me see it and explain it in my head.

If the press (through various media, or perhaps only one) still uses it for significant negative (or even "tragic", if Oedipus is around) events, and this comports with the traditional standard for the word, then the meaning hasn't shifted, has it?

Put another way: that it means "great" to your buddies does not prove that that's what it means to the rest of us.

"him and I"...really? lol

I come "bearing" Christmas gifts, har har. Found at a gas station near Nashville, TN--I present Grammer Bear

the store's Web site.

First way you've written it looks totally ******ed to me and I assume the person is ******ed.

Second way makes me think the person has some sort of clue as to the meaning of life. Yes, seeing the apostrophe left off is tilting for me, but I is a huge knit.

My explanation didn't help ease your pain? Shucks.

The way it's written clearly implies that he's going to his parents' place of residence.

But yeah I agree if he meant "I'm going to [join] my parents for dinner", then that is acceptable.

I don't even understand where this one is coming from but it's terrible.

Some people type or say "I'm bias though".

Unless your Len Bias; this is unexceptible.

By where it's coming from, I don't mean "daryn's anger". I've seen that plenty of times and I agree it's terrible.

I don't understand why people say that. What makes them think bias should be used like that?

Perhaps they can't differentiate between the two when they are spoken, so they just think bias and biased are the same word.

Was it you second year but very similar to your first?

qpw, nittery. It's clearly being used there as an approximation because of muddled memory.

Or he's a teen valley girl.