How to use the word Concerning

[Dingbat]

How to use the word Concerning

https://news.yahoo.com/delta-plus-not-problem-everything-142140506.html
... there’s no evidence to suggest the new sublineage should be concerning.

This use of concerning is grating. Also, it fails to convey that Delta plus is un-alarming only when compared with Delta. I'd say:

Concerning the Delta plus variant, there's no evidence that it's cause for further alarm.

[Richard Heathfield]

If you do not wi'sh to purcha'se tho'se 'spud's, kindly 'stop me's'sing
with them.

--
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

[Neill Massello]

"Variant of concern" and "variant of interest" are terms of art in
epidemiology, even to the extent of being abbreviated as VOC and VOI. My guess
is that the microbiologist quoted in the USA Today piece used the term
"variant of concern" and the writer turned that into "concerning". Too bad an
editor didn't catch it — assuming that news organizations even have editors
these days.

[bil...@shaw.ca]

On Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 10:42:56 PM UTC-7, Neill Massello wrote

There are any number of physicians who have public health expertise appearing regularly
on television and radio these days. I see mainly the Canadian ones and a few U.S. ones.
They usually make sense, and generally agree with each other. Follow their advice and
definitely get fully vaccinated. We're drawing closer to the point where it becomes a
pandemic only among unvaccinated people.

bill

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Very true. Each day they show us the numbers of new cases on life
support systems, but it would be easy not just to display "317 new
cases" but to add "of which 299 are unvaccinated". It's not that they
suppress that information, but they don't shout it in the way they
should.

Incidentally, Tony, I gather that your Governor is in competition with
the Governor of Texas to see who can kill the greater number of people
in the less time.

--
Athel -- French and British, living mainly in England until 1987.

[Dingbat]

On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 12:49:15 PM UTC+5:30, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> On 2021-08-06 05:54:45 +0000, bil...@shaw.ca said:
>
> > On Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 10:42:56 PM UTC-7, Neill Massello wrote
> >> On 2021-08-05 at 21:03:00 MDT, "Dingbat"

> in the least time.
>
The first shall be last:->
https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-30.htm
https://biblehub.com/matthew/20-16.htm

[Dingbat]

China has ~600M unvaccinated people and yet reports better stats, in both relative and
absolute terms, than the US with only 90M eligible but unvaccinated people.

[bil...@shaw.ca]

Any numbers from China are suspect. The government there has a heavy thumb on the scales.

bill

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 1:54:48 AM UTC-4, bil...@shaw.ca wrote:

> There are any number of physicians who have public health expertise appearing regularly
> on television and radio these days. I see mainly the Canadian ones and a few U.S. ones.
> They usually make sense, and generally agree with each other. Follow their advice and
> definitely get fully vaccinated. We're drawing closer to the point where it becomes a
> pandemic only among unvaccinated people.

How are you so far behind the times? In idiot states like Florida and
Texas, some 95% or more of all patients hospitalized with covid are
unvaccinated. (That's also so elsewhere, but in places that don't have
idiot governors the overall number of hospitalizations is far smaller.)

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 3:19:15 AM UTC-4, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

> Incidentally, Tony, I gather that your Governor is in competition with
> the Governor of Texas to see who can kill the greater number of people
> in the less time.

Which is a Good Thing, because they are killing only their own voters,
and both states are on the verge of becoming majority Democratic.

[Tony Cooper]

On Fri, 6 Aug 2021 09:19:10 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden
<acor...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote:

>
>Very true. Each day they show us the numbers of new cases on life
>support systems, but it would be easy not just to display "317 new
>cases" but to add "of which 299 are unvaccinated". It's not that they
>suppress that information, but they don't shout it in the way they
>should.
>
>Incidentally, Tony, I gather that your Governor is in competition with
>the Governor of Texas to see who can kill the greater number of people
>in the less time.

Those of us familiar with the situation in Florida know that
DeSantis's future plans on masks and vaccinations will be predicated
on the numbers.

Oh, no, not the number of hospital admissions or the deaths from
COVID. Those numbers are of no interest to our Governor.

It's the poll numbers. While he has been riding on very high
favorability numbers, and the polls have shown he will win re-election
easily, there's been an alarming drop those numbers recently.

The possible Democrat contenders have moved the needle. There is some
indication that race may actually become somewhat competitive. That
concerns the Governor.

No one actually thinks there's a chance in hell (aka: Florida) that
he will not win re-election, but he wants a brightly polished resume
for 2024, and anything near a close win would be a blot on his
copybook.



--

Tony Cooper Orlando Florida

[Jerry Friedman]

There's been a rapid increase in "concerning" to mean "worrying, alarming" (as
an adjective) in this century.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=a+concerning&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3

shorturl.at/lpqHR

--
Jerry Friedman

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

This is offensive to people who are being sacrificed by the politicians in those States.

Do you never *think* before posting a smug remark?

Ah, I remember you're just desperate for replies.

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Only idiots reply to jokes they don't understand.

The depth of your stupidity never ceases to amaze. Or is it merely
your Sheldon Cooper-like inability to detect sarcasm?

Maybe you're unfamiliar with the catch phrase "and that is a Good
Thing." Maybe you've never heard of Martha Stewart.

Maybe if I wrote in initialisms you would figure it out.

[bil...@shaw.ca]

I'm aware of the general situation in the U.S., if not all the details. The public health people
in the U.S. do indeed dispense sound advice. But disastrous political leadership, federally
during the Trump period and in a number of states, plus a large segment of the population
who automatically reject anything the government tells them, have resulted in one of the
worst covid performances in the world. At one point in the past year, the U.S. had the most
cases and the most deaths of any country.

You may have read my praise for good advice provided by U.S. public health experts
as an assumption that most everyone follows that advice. They don't, usually because
political leaders such as "idiot governors" confuse the public and distort the response.

bill

[Tony Cooper]

On Fri, 6 Aug 2021 09:15:47 -0700 (PDT), "Peter T. Daniels"

<gram...@verizon.net> wrote:

>On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 10:47:29 AM UTC-4, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
>> On Fri, 6 Aug 2021 05:28:29 -0700 (PDT)
>> "Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> > On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 3:19:15 AM UTC-4, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>
>> > > Incidentally, Tony, I gather that your Governor is in competition with
>> > > the Governor of Texas to see who can kill the greater number of people
>> > > in the less time.
>> > Which is a Good Thing, because they are killing only their own voters,
>> > and both states are on the verge of becoming majority Democratic.
>>
>> This is offensive to people who are being sacrificed by the politicians in those States.
>>
>> Do you never *think* before posting a smug remark?
>>
>> Ah, I remember you're just desperate for replies.
>
>Only idiots reply to jokes they don't understand.
>
>The depth of your stupidity never ceases to amaze. Or is it merely
>your Sheldon Cooper-like inability to detect sarcasm?
>
>Maybe you're unfamiliar with the catch phrase "and that is a Good
>Thing." Maybe you've never heard of Martha Stewart.
>
>Maybe if I wrote in initialisms you would figure it out.

I had to Google that. I'm embarassed to admit that I, too, am not one
that follows Martha Stewart. I do know who she is; someone that
offers cooking, decorating, and crafting advice. I don't know why I
wouldn't be a close follower of her, but I'm not. I guess I *should*
know the difference between Buttercup yellow and Jonquil yellow paint.

Looking for Martha Stewart catch phrases, I find that she has several
as befits a celebrity of her stature. The one being alluded to here
is "That's a good thing". (My source didn't capitalize "good thing"),
but she uses "It's a good thing" in several different phrasings.

Evidently, though, I'm not using the correct search term. Ms Stewart
seems to use that phrase to mean it actually is a good thing. No
sarcasm involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UqQYnbbkQ4

I did manage to tie "Sheldon Cooper", sarcasm, and Martha Stewart
together. (figuratively) in this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqgjbnztbHI

Both the character's sarcasm detection deficiency and the actor's
sarcasm detection deficiency are in this. Ms Stewart does not utter a
catch phrase, though.

Overall, I remain in the depths.

[Quinn C]

* Peter T. Daniels:

Martha Stewart created an eponymous home decoration business and spent
some time in jail. That doesn't help me understand or place the catch
phrase. Did one need to *listen to* Martha Stewart to recognize it,
rather than just "hear about" her? In that case I assume many people
haven't, especially outside of the US.

--
If Helen Keller is alone in the forest and falls down, does she
make a sound?

[Neill Massello]

On 2021-08-06 at 08:12:14 MDT, "Jerry Friedman" <jerry_f...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> There's been a rapid increase in "concerning" to mean "worrying, alarming" (as
> an adjective) in this century.

And fraught with "fraught" without "with".

[Dingbat]

On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 12:49:15 PM UTC+5:30, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

Can they hold a candle to the Governor of Tennessee?

Abridged from
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/13/tennessee-halts-all-vaccine-outreach-minors-not-just-covid-19/7928701002/

COVID-19 infections triple as Tennessee backs off vaccine outreach

‘Make polio great again’?: Americans outraged as Tennessee abandons vaccine outreach to teens

Top vaccine official Dr Michelle Fiscus, fired without explanation on Monday, said she was scapegoated to appease lawmakers, who had described routine vaccine outreach as “reprehensible.”

Only 38% of Tennesseans are fully vaccinated, and at the current pace the state won't be 50% vaccinated until March.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tim Jones told staff they should conduct "no proactive outreach regarding routine vaccines" and "no outreach whatsoever regarding the HPV vaccine."

Staff were also told not to do any "pre-planning" for flu shots events at schools. Any information released about back-to-school vaccinations should come from the Tennessee Department of Education, not the Tennessee Department of Health, Jones wrote.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/15/tennessee-covid-19-infections-triple-vaccine-deaths-hospitalizations/7962418002/
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/07/14/tennessee-vaccine-outreach-minors-roll-back-health-department-reactions-tweets/7962563002/
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/12/covid-19-tennessee-fired-vaccine-official-michelle-fiscus-fears-state/7945291002/
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/12/tennessee-fires-top-vaccine-official-covid-19-shows-new-spread/7928699002/

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 6:21:50 PM UTC-4, Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Aug 2021 09:15:47 -0700 (PDT), "Peter T. Daniels"
> <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> >On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 10:47:29 AM UTC-4, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
> >> On Fri, 6 Aug 2021 05:28:29 -0700 (PDT)
> >> "Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
> >> > On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 3:19:15 AM UTC-4, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

> >> > > Incidentally, Tony, I gather that your Governor is in competition with
> >> > > the Governor of Texas to see who can kill the greater number of people
> >> > > in the less time.
> >> > Which is a Good Thing, because they are killing only their own voters,
> >> > and both states are on the verge of becoming majority Democratic.
> >> This is offensive to people who are being sacrificed by the politicians in those States.
> >> Do you never *think* before posting a smug remark?
> >> Ah, I remember you're just desperate for replies.
> >Only idiots reply to jokes they don't understand.
> >The depth of your stupidity never ceases to amaze. Or is it merely
> >your Sheldon Cooper-like inability to detect sarcasm?
> >Maybe you're unfamiliar with the catch phrase "and that is a Good
> >Thing." Maybe you've never heard of Martha Stewart.
> >Maybe if I wrote in initialisms you would figure it out.

I might have added here that doubtless Mudd believes that Dean
Swift actually ate Irish babies.

> I had to Google that. I'm embarassed to admit that I, too, am not one
> that follows Martha Stewart. I do know who she is; someone that
> offers cooking, decorating, and crafting advice. I don't know why I
> wouldn't be a close follower of her, but I'm not. I guess I *should*
> know the difference between Buttercup yellow and Jonquil yellow paint.

I think I may have once watched part of a Martha Stewart TV program.
But she was so widely and mercilessly caricatured, not to mention did
guest appearances on e.g. Letterman, that her catch phrase has been
part of American satire for decades.

> Overall, I remain in the depths.

What's this, a first glimmer of self-awareness?

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, August 6, 2021 at 6:24:03 PM UTC-4, Quinn C wrote:
> * Peter T. Daniels:

> > Maybe you're unfamiliar with the catch phrase "and that is a Good
> > Thing." Maybe you've never heard of Martha Stewart
>
> Martha Stewart created an eponymous home decoration business and spent
> some time in jail. That doesn't help me understand or place the catch
> phrase. Did one need to *listen to* Martha Stewart to recognize it,
> rather than just "hear about" her? In that case I assume many people
> haven't, especially outside of the US.

No, one needed to watch SNL and every other comedy program
that was produced before her "disgrace."

[Peter T. Daniels]

Incidentally, she has/had absolutely no sense of humor or awareness
of her image. She was on some celebrity panel comedy show -- it may
have been the new *Match Game* with Alec Baldwin -- and clearly did
not get any of his or the other panelists' jokes; and I think she did
Colbert just once. Letterman took her seriously and simply learned to do
whatever she was teaching (a recipe, flower arranging, Christmas tree
ornaments). Colbert tried to distract her with jokes and comments and
did not succeed.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Thu, 5 Aug 2021 20:03:00 -0700 (PDT), Dingbat
<ranjit_...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>How to use the word Concerning
>
>https://news.yahoo.com/delta-plus-not-problem-everything-142140506.html
>... there’s no evidence to suggest the new sublineage should be concerning.
>
>This use of concerning is grating.

I don't find that use of "concerning" to be grating or even concerning.

OED:
concerning, adj.
3. That gives cause for concern; troubling, vexing.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 159 I cannot bear any thing that
is the least concerning to you.
1890 F. A. Randle Imgar (ed. 2) iv. 18 They soon became rather
numerous and very concerning, pelting the Hindoos with pebbles and
rolling large rocks down ahead obstruently.
1987 Daily Tel. 19 Feb. 40/6 It is concerning that an MP and a
Minister could suggest that you actually have to be a member of
Parliament in order to have an opinion.
2012 Independent 20 July 16/2 Although only one complaint was
ever upheld, the details of the alleged offences..are nonetheless
concerning.

> Also, it fails to convey that Delta plus is un-alarming only when compared with Delta. I'd say:
>
>Concerning the Delta plus variant, there's no evidence that it's cause for further alarm.

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 1:02:14 PM UTC-4, PeterWD wrote:

> 1890 F. A. Randle Imgar (ed. 2) iv. 18 They soon became rather
> numerous and very concerning, pelting the Hindoos with pebbles and
> rolling large rocks down ahead obstruently.

Obstruently? Irish English pronounces the interdental fricatives
obstruently..

[Peter Moylan]

Is anyone going to tell us who Martha Stewart is?

--
Peter Moylan Newcastle, NSW http://www.pmoylan.org

[Tony Cooper]

It is explained in this post. "Martha Stewart created an eponymous
home decoration business". She has other endeavors, though, in food,
cooking, and crafts.

Your question is like asking who Nigella Lawson is when she's been
referred to as a food critic and television cook.

Their famousness is based on their ability to interest people by
talking about, and demonstrating their skills, in the fields listed.

[Peter Moylan]

It was a rhetorical question. It is clear by know that it's a name known
to many in the US. That doesn't mean that she's famous anywhere else.

[Quinn C]

* Peter T. Daniels:

Ah, more US-specific knowledge.
--
There is no freedom for men unless there is freedom for women.
If women mustn't bring their will to the fore, why should men
be allowed to?
-- Hedwig Dohm (1876), my translation