Yesterday I gave you a short list of some of the most annoying ‘misused words’—that one’s get right up my nose! And I asked for your nominations in this same category. My thanks to all those who replied—you had some brilliant suggestions. Here are some of them.
From time immemorial—proposed by Craig. And, yes, Craig, just because something is old it has not been around since the dawn of time (which is what ‘time immemorial’ means).
I could care less—Robyn points out that the halfwits say this when what they really mean is ‘I couldn’t care less’ (the dial couldn’t be wound down any further—which is not what the butchered version says!)
Golden goose—Nicholas points out that it was not the goose that was golden but the eggs. As in ‘the goose that laid the golden egg.’ People who leave out the egg end up with egg all over their face.
EverythinK—Nicholas is also irritated by those who add a non-existent K to the end of ‘everything’ and ‘anything.’
Pacific—protests Christina, as said by people who mean ‘specific.’
Rain, rein, and reign—Gordon says that even newspapers get muddled about whether they mean tethering a horse, or the rule of a monarch, or a heap of precipitation!
Lend—Bill says people are having a lend of us when they say ‘loan’ in place of ‘lend.’
Nookyular—meaning what they do at Lucas Heights. This has raised the blood pressure of many of my correspondents.
100 percent—said by people who are trying to just say ‘yes.’ Jonathan wants a simple affirmative, not a mathematical announcement.
My thanks to everyone who wrote. The trouble is the people abusing the English language are not reading Ozwords! So, how do we get the message to them?
For Perth readers -- today I will talk words and language with Tod Johnston on 'The Long Lunch' on 6PR -- at around 12:20pm.
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BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
