Pointless rant thread

[Sarkus]

Of course there is the common question (probably when English isn't their native language) of "how come" instead of "why".

This is a phrase that has been in use since before America was a thing. It may not be formally correct but is just a shortened form of expressions such as "how is it that this has come about?" and has been shortened to versions of "how come" since before Shakespeare. There was thus already significant overlap in how one might have responded to questions of "how come" (original meaning) and "why".
As for being used synonymously with "why?", this is a mid-1800s development. In England. By people who spoke English. English people this side of the pond use it all the time.

 

[Seattle]

This is a phrase that has been in use since before America was a thing. It may not be formally correct but is just a shortened form of expressions such as "how is it that this has come about?" and has been shortened to versions of "how come" since before Shakespeare. There was thus already significant overlap in how one might have responded to questions of "how come" (original meaning) and "why".
As for being used synonymously with "why?", this is a mid-1800s development. In England. By people who spoke English. English people this side of the pond use it all the time.

You might also use a LLM some of the time...

 

[geordief]

"What like is it?" for "what does it look like?"

Seemingly Scottish

The Way My Mother Speaks

I say her phrases to myself in my head or under the shallows of my breath, restful shapes moving. The day and ever. The day and ever.

www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk

and

Scots Language Forum | When I would misplace something - keys, glasses, a book - mah wee granny, born in Glesga in 1887 - would ask “What like is it | Facebook

When I would misplace something - keys, glasses, a book - mah wee granny, born in Glesga in 1887 - would ask “What like is it?” Is this still common syntax? Thanks!

www.facebook.com

Of course ,calling anyone Scotch rather than Scots is I think very wrong.

 

[C C]

"What like is it?" for "what does it look like?"

Seemingly Scottish

The Way My Mother Speaks

I say her phrases to myself in my head or under the shallows of my breath, restful shapes moving. The day and ever. The day and ever.

www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk

and

Scots Language Forum | When I would misplace something - keys, glasses, a book - mah wee granny, born in Glesga in 1887 - would ask “What like is it | Facebook

When I would misplace something - keys, glasses, a book - mah wee granny, born in Glesga in 1887 - would ask “What like is it?” Is this still common syntax? Thanks!

www.facebook.com

Of course ,calling anyone Scotch rather than Scots is I think very wrong.

The Scottish "Wee Hughie" character in the original Garth Ennis "The Boys" was almost a crash course in that. (Though Ennis himself is Northern Irish -- the ancestral linguistic connection arguably still there.) They unfortunately Americanized Hughie in the TV series, perhaps due to fears of audience perplexity. I likewise recall complaints about Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who, though I never had any problem understanding him. (Good grief, if Canadian James Doohan's pseudo-Scottish accent in ST has been revered for generations, what's the fearful expectation with the "real thing"?)
_

 

[TheVat]

For phrases, "to be honest with you" has been used and abused, mainly by black British football players for some reason.

That one is widely abused stateside. I get tired of it because it has the implication of "I usually lie to you, so I'm going to announce this rare occurrence of honesty." Yes I know people are just trying to stress that they want to be quite frank and direct about something, but it still grates.

 

[TheVat]

Scanners? Remember that film, the laconic commentary in Halliwell being, “Probably not as many exploding heads as one might wish.”

But yes we have the same disease in Britain as well. (As for “like”, you’d think half the younger generation had Tourette’s.)

A hat tip to Louis Del Grande, the Canadian actor who kept it real by speaking no further lines of dialogue concerning his exploding head.

 

[Sarkus]

You might also use a LLM some of the time...

??? Do LLMs use "how come?" a lot, then, rather than "why?"

 

[exchemist]

"What like is it?" for "what does it look like?"

Seemingly Scottish

The Way My Mother Speaks

I say her phrases to myself in my head or under the shallows of my breath, restful shapes moving. The day and ever. The day and ever.

www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk

and

Scots Language Forum | When I would misplace something - keys, glasses, a book - mah wee granny, born in Glesga in 1887 - would ask “What like is it | Facebook

When I would misplace something - keys, glasses, a book - mah wee granny, born in Glesga in 1887 - would ask “What like is it?” Is this still common syntax? Thanks!

www.facebook.com

Of course ,calling anyone Scotch rather than Scots is I think very wrong.

Like wearing “a” kilt. One wears the kilt, I was always taught.

Which is any case a c.18th invention, I gather.

 

[geordief]

This is a phrase that has been in use since before America was a thing. It may not be formally correct but is just a shortened form of expressions such as "how is it that this has come about?" and has been shortened to versions of "how come" since before Shakespeare. There was thus already significant overlap in how one might have responded to questions of "how come" (original meaning) and "why".
As for being used synonymously with "why?", this is a mid-1800s development. In England. By people who spoke English. English people this side of the pond use it all the time.

Jeff Bridges ,the Scottish comedian had a very funny explanation of how ,in his neck of the woods the go to word for "why?" is "how"

Not easy to find ,so I cannae post a link.

 

[Seattle]

??? Do LLMs use "how come?" a lot, then, rather than "why?"

I checked one of the LLMs and your response and theirs was almost the same wording...

 

[Seattle]

That one is widely abused stateside. I get tired of it because it has the implication of "I usually lie to you, so I'm going to announce this rare occurrence of honesty." Yes I know people are just trying to stress that they want to be quite frank and direct about something, but it still grates.

"Long story, short..."

 

[Pinball1970]

"Long story, short..."

That one is ok I think, it is just an edited version of, "to cut a long story short."
So it's, to cut a long story shorter.

 

[exchemist]

But there are some stupid ones. “The proof is in the pudding”, which should be “ the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, or worst of all “ I could care less” instead of “I couldn’t care less”.

 

[Seattle]

That one is ok I think, it is just an edited version of, "to cut a long story short."
So it's, to cut a long story shorter.

They are all OK. Some are just more annoying than others. Also, in my experience, when a conversation starts with "Long story, short", it generally isn't.

 

[Roosters for ever]

"Sneak peak" instead of "Sneak peek."
"should of" instead of "should've" or should have.

 

[TheVat]

They are all OK. Some are just more annoying than others. Also, in my experience, when a conversation starts with "Long story, short", it generally isn't.

Never heard anyone open with that line. Usually only hear after a long story has been mostly told. Man, how great would that be if someone meant it?

Parts of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury could really have used that option. "Anyway, long story short, Quentin felt considerable guilt about not protecting his sister and tossed himself in the river after 120 pages of stream of consciousness."

(Faulkner fans all have something of a love/hate relationship with the bard of Mississippi)

"And, oh yeah, something something honeysuckle and trees in the rain..."

 

[Seattle]

Never heard anyone open with that line. Usually only hear after a long story has been mostly told. Man, how great would that be if someone meant it?

Parts of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury could really have used that option. "Anyway, long story short, Quentin felt considerable guilt about not protecting his sister and tossed himself in the river after 120 pages of stream of consciousness."

(Faulkner fans all have something of a love/hate relationship with the bard of Mississippi)

"And, oh yeah, something something honeysuckle and trees in the rain..."

Yeah, I'm just not a fan of that style of writing.

 

[parmalee]

Never heard anyone open with that line. Usually only hear after a long story has been mostly told. Man, how great would that be if someone meant it?

Parts of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury could really have used that option. "Anyway, long story short, Quentin felt considerable guilt about not protecting his sister and tossed himself in the river after 120 pages of stream of consciousness."

Yeah, but Quentin helped me to conceptualize truth, or "truth", differently and his loquaciousness was key. (This was a time before I got into philosophy proper, and quite a time before A Thousand Plateaus--so I woulda gotten there eventually anyway--but the form was more palatable to an adolescent mind.)

In Absalom, Absalom!, he delivers a 1,288 word, single sentence spiel to his roommate--incomplete, incongruous, and slightly incoherent. It's not entirely unlike some of Charles Manson's more epic tunes, in which he improvises freely for extended periods.

 

[Sarkus]

I checked one of the LLMs and your response and theirs was almost the same wording...

Maybe the same facts, but same wording I highly doubt.

 

[exchemist]

In American English that would be "Flights to Ibiza have just gotten cheaper".

The use of the noun "gift" as a verb "gifted" is annoying to me. It's grammatically correct, I guess, but annoying. "I was just gifted this book". Of course there is the common question (probably when English isn't their native language) of "how come" instead of "why".

There is also the quirk of saying "To the one, to the other" and then forgetting the one and just starting with "to the other".

Yes conjuring up verbs from nouns is a horrible habit, one of my bêtes noires being "to showcase". Also using transitive verbs as if they are suddently intransitive, e.g. an ad campaign has "launched". Has launched what? It has been launched.