smee said:
It was the americans and certin british journalists that added the ium not the british, Humprey Davey named his discovery Aluminum, and that is the original spelling from the latin Alumina
Bought vs. Brought
- Thread starter jcs356
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It was the americans and certin british journalists that added the ium not the british, Humprey Davey named his discovery Aluminum, and that is the original spelling from the latin Alumina
I have to admit that I can normally work stuff out, but effect and affect always gets me scratching my head - and I reckon I still get it wrong in the majority of cases.
If I had children, they would be "dependent" (adjective) on me. Their "dependence" (noun) on me would make them my "dependants" (noun).
What the fu-'s all this thread about, has no one read Shakespeare the man was a blooming Genius but couldnt spell or write for toffee, he used to add E's and stuff at the end of everything the thick numpty, like OLD he would spell OLDE 
And heres another one, " Romeo, Romeo where fore art thoughe Romeo " i mean whats that all about ? I think what he should have put was Romeo where are you, And to think that he made a fortune
And heres another one, " Romeo, Romeo where fore art thoughe Romeo " i mean whats that all about ? I think what he should have put was Romeo where are you, And to think that he made a fortune
I posted a witty reposte to this last night, but something went wrong with the site, and I lost it.
I was going to do it again, but I've just realised I can't be *****............
I was going to do it again, but I've just realised I can't be *****............
smee
Registered User
A4Quattro said:
This is from Wikipedia, not the most relaible source but accurate in this instance.
The earliest citation given in the Oxford English Dictionary for any word used as a name for this element is alumium, which Humphry Davy employed in 1808 for the metal he was trying to isolate electrolytically from the mineral alumina. The citation is from his journal Philosophical Transactions: "Had I been so fortunate as..to have procured the metallic substances I was in search of, I should have proposed for them the names of silicium, alumium, zirconium, and glucium." [11]
By 1812, Davy had settled on aluminum, which, as other sources note, matches its Latin root. He wrote in the journal Chemical Philosophy: "As yet Aluminum has not been obtained in a perfectly free state."[12] But the same year, an anonymous contributor to the Quarterly Review, a British political-literary journal, objected to aluminum and proposed the name aluminium, "for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound." [13]
My personal hate is the people that insist on saying Pacific instead of specific...don't they know that one is a vast ocean.
And just to round it off here's a little letter from John Cleese, sorry if it's a repost.
John Cleese's Letter to America
To the citizens of the United States of America
In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and
thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of
your independence, effective immediately.
Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical
duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except
Kansas , which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.
Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for
America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate
will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to
determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Then look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will
be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour',
'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, yo u will learn to spell 'doughnut'
without skipping half the letters, and the suffix "ize" will be
replaced by the suffix "ise."
3. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you
may elect to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply
can't cope with correct pronunciation.
4. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to
acceptable levels (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven
words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is
unaccep table and inefficient form of communication.
5.There is no such thing as " US English." We will let Microsoft know
on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take
account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."
6. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The
Queen", but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).
7. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd
will be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in
England . It will be called "Come-Uppance Day."
8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns,
lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and
therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns
should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort
things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're
not grown up enough to handle a gun.
9. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything
more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if
you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
10. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for
your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what
we mean.
11. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will
start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you
will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion
tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the
British sense of humour.
12. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
calling "gasoline") - roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.
13. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French
fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling
potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut,
fried in animal fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise but with vinegar.
14. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with
customers.
15. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually
beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to
as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be
referred to as "Lager." American brands will be referred to as
"Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold without risk of
further confusion.
16. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as
good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to
play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English
dialogue in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to
having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
17. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind
of proper football; you call it "soccer". Those of you brave enough
will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to
American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every
twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of
nancies).
18. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to
host an event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played
outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a
world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.
19. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
20. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
monies due backdated to 1776.
Thank you for your co-operation.
John Cleese
And just to round it off here's a little letter from John Cleese, sorry if it's a repost.
John Cleese's Letter to America
To the citizens of the United States of America
In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and
thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of
your independence, effective immediately.
Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical
duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except
Kansas , which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.
Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for
America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate
will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to
determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Then look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will
be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour',
'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, yo u will learn to spell 'doughnut'
without skipping half the letters, and the suffix "ize" will be
replaced by the suffix "ise."
3. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you
may elect to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply
can't cope with correct pronunciation.
4. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to
acceptable levels (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven
words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is
unaccep table and inefficient form of communication.
5.There is no such thing as " US English." We will let Microsoft know
on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take
account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."
6. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The
Queen", but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).
7. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd
will be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in
England . It will be called "Come-Uppance Day."
8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns,
lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and
therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns
should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort
things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're
not grown up enough to handle a gun.
9. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything
more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if
you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
10. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for
your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what
we mean.
11. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will
start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you
will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion
tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the
British sense of humour.
12. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
calling "gasoline") - roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.
13. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French
fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling
potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut,
fried in animal fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise but with vinegar.
14. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with
customers.
15. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually
beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to
as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be
referred to as "Lager." American brands will be referred to as
"Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold without risk of
further confusion.
16. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as
good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to
play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English
dialogue in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to
having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
17. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind
of proper football; you call it "soccer". Those of you brave enough
will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to
American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every
twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of
nancies).
18. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to
host an event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played
outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a
world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.
19. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
20. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
monies due backdated to 1776.
Thank you for your co-operation.
John Cleese
reza
Registered User
BrianM said:
But I actually have trouble pronouncing the word 'specific'.
No, honestly I do. Don't laugh!
nivagh said:Oh, and for any Americans reading - it's called English because we invented it, and aluminium has the letter "i" twice - please pronounce them both!
Actually if I'm right (and I may not be) American English is more traditional English than ours now. When they got their independance we had very little influence on their language, so it has changed little since then.(well apart from all the crap!)Later one of our Monarchs (?) took a liking to the French language and introduced some of it into the Fashion of the time.
So little has changed in that respect except our language is very much influenced by fashion.
Why do people insist on saying "at this precise moment in time" when it's so much quicker to say "right now"?
Tim Stuart
Registered User
The misuse of 'Complimentary' and 'Complementary' in the following scenario:
"Buy a coffee and get a complimentary slice of cake".
The cake then says nice things about you...
Also gets my goat when people say (e.g.) "....try and hurry up.." when it should be "....try to hurry up..."
This used to wind me up, but I've mellowed on it a bit;
FOR FREE.
It's either FREE or FOR NOTHING.
Finally, when dullards say "I ain't done nothin' wrong". This clearly means that they have done something wrong as a double negative makes a positive.
"Buy a coffee and get a complimentary slice of cake".
The cake then says nice things about you...
Also gets my goat when people say (e.g.) "....try and hurry up.." when it should be "....try to hurry up..."
This used to wind me up, but I've mellowed on it a bit;
FOR FREE.
It's either FREE or FOR NOTHING.
Finally, when dullards say "I ain't done nothin' wrong". This clearly means that they have done something wrong as a double negative makes a positive.
Aaaaaaaaaactually, that's correct usage. Complimentary means either "given free of charge" or "praising".Tim Stuart said:
Complementary on the other hand is used to describe how things go together (e.g.: "he wore a blue shirt and complementary trousers").
