MEW 332

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Grammar Nazi

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I would like to humbly point out that the plural of radius is radii. Please don't encourage the cult of Noah Webster!

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

According to the grammar monster website both radii and radiuses are used in UK and USA. I think once a Latin word is adopted into English it takes on English grammar rules.

And what have you got against my namesake?

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I prefer the american radiuzez

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Mark Rand on 16/09/2023 23:14:09:

I would like to humbly point out that the plural of radius is radii. […]

.

Please feel free to do that

MichaelG.

.

P.S. ___ it may be amusing for the forum to consider what collective noun[s] would be appropriate.

Edit: __ this iist currently lacks an entry:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_collective_nouns

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 17/09/2023 05:54:07

[Graham StoppaniParticipant @grahamstoppani46499]

Can I add Forums instead of Fora to the list?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

But on the other hand lets encourage people to send in articles otherwise you won't have content to complain about

Well actually you will as there will be moans about Neil using old articles to bulk out the content.

I'm happy with either and know what is meant, maybe it's because I'm a bit common and never went to a posh school where Latin was a subject

Edited By JasonB on 17/09/2023 07:29:41

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Michael, is the list missing a "seat of A** C**** E********"

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by JasonB on 17/09/2023 07:36:30:

Michael, is the list missing a "seat of A** C**** E********"

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

Classics scholars are the ones who tried to insist you should not split infinitives and so tried to apply this Latin rule to English. That was the reason for people complaining that "To boldly go" at the beginning of Star Trek was wrong and should be "To go boldly". However since it is English and not Latin we can use it as said and thumb our noses at Latin scholars.

Martin C

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Ady1 on 17/09/2023 00:48:41:

I prefer the American radiuzez

Radiusiastions

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Meanwhile … I am still struggling with the concept of a humble Nazi

MichaelG.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

The article to which this applies, on page 55, uses the form "radii" – so everyone should be satisfied.

John

Latin O level pass grade B

added smiley – don't know what it means, but intended to imply mischievousnesses.

 

Edited By John Hinkley on 17/09/2023 09:57:52

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Mark Rand on 16/09/2023 23:14:09:

I would like to humbly point out that the plural of radius is radii…

Let me put a spoke in the wheel!

As Archimedes was Greek, and didn't speak Latin, it's obvious the right word must be Ακτίνες. Pity I can't pronounce it.

Dave

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

And there I was thinking the plural of radius was rads, as distinct from RADS.

Regards

Gray,

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 17/09/2023 08:46:03:

Meanwhile … I am still struggling with the concept of a humble Nazi

MichaelG.

Well, he did spell grammar correctly and capitalise Nazi……

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I think I must be getting old before my time (at 65 probably just getting old!).

I get more and more irritated with changes to English as she were spoken a few decades back. Don't get me started on the (lack of) quality of proof reading on the BBC's web sites and news scripts.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Mark Rand on 17/09/2023 12:15:00:

I think I must be getting old before my time (at 65 probably just getting old!).

I get more and more irritated with changes to English as she were spoken a few decades back. Don't get me started on the (lack of) quality of proof reading on the BBC's web sites and news scripts.

When a language is used daily by millions of people, then changes are inevitable. English has always been a bizarre mongrel, so many of those changes will make about as much sense as commonly accepted spelling. Fighting them is a waste of effort.

The lack of proof reading in publishing is nothing to do with linguistics but is purely down to business practice.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Martin Connelly on 17/09/2023 08:05:44:

Classics scholars are the ones who tried to insist you should not split infinitives and so tried to apply this Latin rule to English.

That's not really the case, Martin; the people who insisted on it were really just linguistic prescriptivists – a species that is clearly very much alive and kicking today, on this forum and elsewhere.

In any case, any classical scholar worth his or her salt would know that the periphrastic tenses of the infinitive in Latin, of which there are several, consist of two parts that are regularly split by classical Latin writers, as they are by Latin writers of all periods. Other tenses of the infinitive in Latin are just one word, which you can't split whether you want to or not. How we form and use the infinitive in English is completely different. It's not unreasonable to say English doesn't even have an infinitive as such.

The only sane viewpoint really is to say that how one language happens to work is no basis for saying how another language should work.

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 17/09/2023 10:41:48:

I would like to humbly point out that the plural of radius is radii…Let me put a spoke in the wheel! As Archimedes was Greek, and didn't speak Latin, it's obvious the right word must be Ακτίνες. Pity I can't pronounce it.

You got the Greek almost right, Dave: the accent is in the right place but you should have used a circumflex, not an acute.

Posted by JasonB on 17/09/2023 06:59:36:

I'm happy with either and know what is meant, maybe it's because I'm a bit common and never went to a posh school where Latin was a subject

I personally know several people, Jason, in different parts of the world who didn't go to a posh school or study Latin there, but who have managed to become highly accomplished Latinists. They are autodidacts, essentially.

I suspect you are an autodidact too in large part when it comes to engineering and IT-related matters.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

I had an email from a courier company advising me of a delivery. Their contact address commenced as 'National Sortation Centre'……… That's a new word to me, never heard of 'sortation' before. It's a long time since I went to school but I thought the verb was 'sort' or 'to sort' and the present participle was 'sorting', or maybe it's the gerund? I can't quite recall after all these years. Is this yet another 'americanisation' of our wonderful language? I sincerely hope not!

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Chris

Your favourite search engine should reveal consistent definitions from several respected dictionaries

MichaelG.

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 17/09/2023 10:41:48:

Posted by Mark Rand on 16/09/2023 23:14:09:

I would like to humbly point out that the plural of radius is radii…

Let me put a spoke in the wheel!

As Archimedes was Greek, and didn't speak Latin, it's obvious the right word must be Ακτίνες. Pity I can't pronounce it.

Dave

Its all Greek to me…

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Chris Crew on 19/09/2023 09:22:23:

… Their contact address commenced as 'National Sortation Centre'……… That's a new word to me, never heard of 'sortation' before. … Is this yet another 'americanisation' of our wonderful language? I sincerely hope not!

Sortation isn't quite the same as 'sort', at least in the technical sense. It means a mechanised sort process or processes. I don't know if the word hales from the US or not but appending .ation to verbs is common in British English. Visit and visitation etc.

Engineers can't complain about others abusing the English language. Turning, thread, mill, and lathe, were all jargon in their day. Lay folk often pinch technical terms too: I have a cast-iron case and will blow a gasket if anyone disagrees!

Apparently some Americans are offended by Britishisms catching on in the US. What a bunch of muppets!

Dave

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

…and remember, any noun can be verbed…

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Posted by Tony Jeffree on 19/09/2023 10:42:04:

…and remember, any noun can be verbed…

You learn something new every day, I had never heard of 'verbed' either!

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