Pedants United

A section to discuss matters not related to Chess in particular.
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John Upham
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Re: Pedants United

Post by John Upham » Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:42 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:40 pm
John Upham wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:19 pm
I felt that this should be

"Blair martials his Idiot King to victory in first Battersea Variants tourney"
"martial" isn't a verb therefore Leon was correct.

per google
Unless it's a misspelling, martial is not used as a verb.
How should one differentiate between

martials, marshals and marshalls?

(I won't mention martial and marital)
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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: Pedants United

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:11 pm

Consulting an online dictionary suggests that Marshall only exists as a name or in phrases derived from that name (cf Marshall Gambit).

David Sedgwick
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Re: Pedants United

Post by David Sedgwick » Fri Feb 04, 2022 12:07 am

IM Jack Rudd wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:11 pm
Consulting an online dictionary suggests that Marshall only exists as a name or in phrases derived from that name (cf Marshall Gambit).
I think that it was in 1969 that I was taught that at school.

Those who control spectators at the London Marathon (for example) are "marshals".

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Feb 04, 2022 8:24 am

I find it mildly interesting that old law-enforcement titles from USA so often suffer from mis-spelling, the other being "sheriff", which you frequently see as "sherrif" (sic).

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Feb 04, 2022 3:08 pm

Or indeed "sherriff".
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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John Upham
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Re: Pedants United

Post by John Upham » Fri Feb 04, 2022 3:35 pm

So when one is m'ing ones forces what is the correct UK spelling of the m word?
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David Sedgwick
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Re: Pedants United

Post by David Sedgwick » Fri Feb 04, 2022 4:10 pm

John Upham wrote:
Fri Feb 04, 2022 3:35 pm
So when one is m'ing ones forces what is the correct UK spelling of the m word?
In English English "marhalling"; In American English "marshaling".

Mike Gunn
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Mike Gunn » Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:04 pm

Yes, this is consistent with e.g. the act of constructing a tunnel: tunnelling in the UK and tunneling in the USA. I have noticed other (similar) examples but none currently comes to mind.

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John Upham
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Re: Pedants United

Post by John Upham » Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:08 pm

Mike Gunn wrote:
Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:04 pm
Yes, this is consistent with e.g. the act of constructing a tunnel: tunnelling in the UK and tunneling in the USA. I have noticed other (similar) examples but none currently comes to mind.
and quantum tunnelling?
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John Clarke
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Re: Pedants United

Post by John Clarke » Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:53 pm

The confusion isn't helped by this sort of nonsense:
Marshall Van.jpg
The marshal/Marshall figure used to be an older guy totin' a pair of six-shooters. That had to go, obviously.
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(He doesn't let you resign and start again, either.)

David Sedgwick
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Re: Pedants United

Post by David Sedgwick » Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:27 am

A reminder from the vicar of my church:

"Easter starts on Sunday [17th April] (not before)."

Today, Saturday 16th April, is Holy Saturday, the last day of Holy Week. Easter Saturday is next Saturday, 23rd April, the last day of Easter Week.

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Michael Farthing
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Michael Farthing » Sat Apr 16, 2022 10:55 am

OK Here's a test question: How many days are there between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday?

Paul Cooksey
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Paul Cooksey » Sat Apr 16, 2022 11:47 am

40, excluding Sundays

Paul Habershon
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Paul Habershon » Sat Apr 16, 2022 3:06 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:27 am
A reminder from the vicar of my church:

"Easter starts on Sunday [17th April] (not before)."

Today, Saturday 16th April, is Holy Saturday, the last day of Holy Week. Easter Saturday is next Saturday, 23rd April, the last day of Easter Week.
The vicar is quite right of course, but I am fairly sure that the majority would take Easter Saturday as the day after Good Friday. As 'correct' language is often determined by general usage, I wonder how long it may take for Easter Saturday to be deemed the day before Easter Sunday. Similarly 'the body was laying on the ground' is now such a common usage that it may eventually be accepted as the norm.

To celebrate the reawakening of pedants here, I give you Brendan O'Neill in a recent BBC Radio 5 Live interview about 'Partygate'.

'A lot of people purposefully broke lockdown rules'.

I think he meant 'purposely'.

As a journalist, chief politics writer of 'Spiked', he should know better, but one can forgive slips on live broadcasts.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Pedants United

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sat Apr 16, 2022 4:10 pm

Though they may well have been broken for some purpose in most cases, rather than just for the hell of it.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)