Re: To Plus-Grant on a significantly insignificant linguistic curiosity
NP-f31
<nob...@nowhere.net> wrote:
>About two years back, before he foreclosed on his Grand Mission here,
>I drew y not's attention to what to me was his irritatingly persistent
>confusion over two simple words: namely, LOOSE, & LOSE.
>
>"Loose" = not firmly or tightly fixed. ( a loose screw, a loose tooth)
>"Lose" = to mislay, be deprived of ( to lose a tooth is worse than a
>loose one)
>
>A loose cannon can be annoyingly unpredictable, but to lose a cannon
>far worse, especially if it finishes up in the hands of the Taliban.
>If you were reporting back on the War situation from the Front it's
>important to get these distinctions right.
>
>He graciously thanked me for pointing it out, but sadly I never saw
>any firm purpose of amendment. He continued in the error of his ways.
>And so time passed, & the children who were children grew up & bought
>motor cars & the leaves dropped from their parent branches & the snows
>fell in their flocculent exuberance. All seemed well with the world.
>And Mephi busy as always with good deeds everywhere forgot all about
>it....till today.
>
>In the thread "Who is this man?" you wrote(my Capitals):-
>
>" to offend you and the rest of the wolfpack and
>LOOSE you as a useless friend is more like it."
>
>(from your penultimate post, 3rd interpolation)
>
>So, on a whimsy, I re-read (oh, I am a glutton for punishment) the 2nd
>post in the same thread by your closet companion, who curiously
>slipped up on that fugitive word:-
>
>"Trolls never win arguments in the Fort..... They LOOSE just in acting
>like trolls, whatever the merits of their arguments."
>(from his penultimate paragraph)
>
>Now, mutatis mutandis, & to quote Oscar Wilde, "To lose one parent may
>be regarded as a misfortune, but to lose both looks like
>carelessness".....but 3 In such close proximity, & in the same
>thread.... Am I being too subtle here?
>
>Such confusion may, of course, be a widespread & legitimate
>Americanism. Or, as the Roman Pataculus observed:- "Emulation is the
>spur of wit, & sometimes envy, sometimes admiration, quickens our
>endeavours". In other words, friends idiosyncracies brush off against
>each other.........or......Shades of Gemstone?
>
>No, Mephi, no!
>
>Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
> The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
>Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
> The frumious Bandersnatch
>
>Well, as you can see, I am sorely discombobulated by it all, & apply
>to you for help in the hope that you can bring my research to a more
>satisfying & meaningful conclusion.
>
>Mephi
Hey Mephi!
'Flocculent exuberance'? Now there's a thought.
I too noticed the loose trend and pondered it. But you will remember
in the past, when other exposures have been made, he told us that he
would often write things for others to post (as opposed to posting as
others). He is a giving person, he gave old computers to friends and
that's how they posted as him by accident. He gave his Thoth settings
to others, and that is also how they posted as him by accident.
I get it. I get it.
But NONE of that matters. The persona(s) exists, the person(s) behind
it(them) are here and not leaving (even if they say they are or have).
Not going. Permanent. Here now and always. So, I choose to work with
them. Because I want to accomplish something here. Fighting them only
stirs up bad feelings, upsets others, and takes time away for what is
important - helping boys. Working with them is a challenge because
they always want to correct you or rub your nose in it. I don't care
about all that. Some of these entities are committed and smart and
useful, Grant, in particular, is hard working. Awake has good ideas
but he seems to not like being part of a team. So, I will trudge
through the bullshit and take what help they offer, which in Grant's
case is quite a lot. I like Grant, he is a firebrand and he really
cares about boys. If the others do I can't tell, they don't talk about
boys. But perhaps they care about boylovers, I think that is the case.
So I treat them as individuals and I will try to keep them on task, at
least I will stay on task and not be diverted by the stuff that
doesn't matter.
Like how they spell lose.
Love you,
Doc
NP-f31
4s00th
I hope I have never made that mistake -- but I freely admit that any
time I use either of those words, I stop and look at whatever word I
typed a second time to see if I used the one I meant to use!
I'm not so sure you found identifying information so much as a trend
towards really bad English usage. Loose/lose is only one example, and
it disturbs me much less than your/you're or there/their/they're! The
its/it's is one that I also have to look at twice, and I was totally
shocked when I had to explain affect/effect to one of my most learn'ed
friends.
The fact is that people often type these messages in haste -- and what
is the old saying -- screw up in haste, repent in leisure?
But the real unfortunate part of the whole thing is how it affects the
English language. English, being a living and fluid language, changes
quickly as new words are added, old words are out-dated and other
words are given new meanings. Fifteen years ago, the term "google" was
a rare word used only in mathematical circles! Now, we "Google" things
on a daily basis! And now we see the creep of IM-speak into our
language, something I've made use of in other circumstances. And I
actually loved that commercial where everyone but "Mom" is speaking in
IM or Text-Message Speak! "Oh, IDK, my BFF Rose." An unfortunate side
effect, English is rapidly losing many of its nuances.
Ah, for the innocent days when the Flintstones could have a "gay" old
time and my alma mater didn't giggle when we sang the Grand Old Song
after every football score:
That grand old song of wahoo-wa,
We'll sing it o're and o're.
It cheers our hearts and warms our blood
To hear them shout and roar.
We come from old Vir-gin-i-a
Where all is bright and gay (chorus shouting "Not Gay, Not Gay!")
Let's all stand up and give a yell
For dear old UVA!
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unless you ask me not to.