Word of the Day. Post it Here

[DaveC426913]

Broken (i.e. "stopped") clocks are never right because keeping time is a progression. They can make no claim as to "getting it right!"

I don't know about you but when I Iook at a clock to determine time I only need to look at it once, and just for a moment.

There are two times during a day when - were I to look it then - it would show the correct time.

 

[geordief]

That's my opinion, yes.

I came across a possible description of this kind of a "mistake" and it is "non standard"

I was curious as to why the Hurricane Helene "point man" on CNN was describing the briefings from the weather forecasters as "verbage" (also shown so spelled in the subtitles on the CNN TV)

So I looked up the word and ,sure enough google only showed me "verbiage" but there was also an article about "verbiage vs verbage"

What Is Verbiage?

Verbiage is a noun that means a plethora of words—usually unwelcome ones. Verbiage can also be used to refer to someone’s style or manner of…

www.grammarly.com

They say the use is "non standard" and possibly an amalgam of "verbiage" and "garbage".

"Non standard" is a funny description ...maybe it makes sense?

 

[exchemist]

I came across a possible description of this kind of a "mistake" and it is "non standard"

I was curious as to why the Hurricane Helene "point man" on CNN was describing the briefings from the weather forecasters as "verbage" (also shown so spelled in the subtitles on the CNN TV)

So I looked up the word and ,sure enough google only showed me "verbiage" but there was also an article about "verbiage vs verbage"

What Is Verbiage?

Verbiage is a noun that means a plethora of words—usually unwelcome ones. Verbiage can also be used to refer to someone’s style or manner of…

www.grammarly.com

They say the use is "non standard" and possibly an amalgam of "verbiage" and "garbage".

"Non standard" is a funny description ...maybe it makes sense?

Sometimes our N American cousins display a real gift for funny neologisms. Perhaps this is one: a deliberate blend of garbage and verbiage, possibly loosely synonymous with "waffle".

"Bloviate" is one of their best inventions, in my opinion. We have nothing like it in British English and it really fills a niche. Perhaps bloviating is a kind of pompous, self-important spouting of of verbage?

Incidentally, I also very much like "goat rodeo". There was a hilarious anecdote a few years ago from a journalist trying to find out how the Trump US-Canada trade talks, taking place at the time, were going. He texted a Canadian official taking part who simply texted back: "goat rodeo". So the journalist asked if he could elaborate, to which he got the reply: "This. Is. A. Total. Goat rodeo". That's very Canadian, somehow.

 

[DaveC426913]

I've become sensitized: Last night during a news report on TV, I heard the word verbage jump out at me.

 

[wegs]

Foliage - a cluster of leaves, flowers and branches

At this time of year, Vermont is quite stunning with all of its vibrant foliage. I wish I lived there.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Brobdingnagian.

Not enough room for the definition.

 

[wegs]

Pollyanna - an excessively cheerful or optimistic person

Also known as “Irrepressible optimism.” I suppose there’s a silver lining behind every cloud, but that can be a hard sell, sometimes.

 

[DaveC426913]

I suppose there’s a silver lining behind every cloud...

That's an excessively cheerful sentiment.

 

[wegs]

That's an excessively cheerful sentiment.

“Suppose” indicates I’m on the fence.

 

[geordief]

“Suppose” indicates I’m on the fence.

If the silver lining is behind the cloud then is it not invisible?

 

[DaveC426913]

If the silver lining is behind the cloud then is it not invisible?

Only if the angle it subtends is less than that of the cloud itself.

 

[exchemist]

Only if the angle it subtends is less than that of the cloud itself.

But how can a lining subtend a greater angle than the thing it lines?

 

[geordief]

Only if the angle it subtends is less than that of the cloud itself.

I will give you that

But how can a lining subtend a greater angle than the thing it lines?

It could follow the contours like a halo?

 

[DaveC426913]

But how can a lining subtend a greater angle than the thing it lines?

Well, I'm playing on geordief's ambiguity about what it means for one thing to be "behind" another. There's a ten story building "behind" my neighbour's house, but that doesn't mean it's invisible.

Also, "lining" is a pretty flexible term too.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't know about you but when I Iook at a clock to determine time I only need to look at it once, and just for a moment.

There are two times during a day when - were I to look it then - it would show the correct time.

That's not the clock keeping time, that's a coincidence, looking at the clock at the time the clock shows, and shows, and shows, and shows...

 

[geordief]

That's not the clock keeping time, that's a coincidence, looking at the clock at the time the clock shows, and shows, and shows, and shows...

The clock is keeping time but really badly.
Naughty clock!

 

[DaveC426913]

That's not the clock keeping time, that's a coincidence, looking at the clock at the time the clock shows, and shows, and shows, and shows...

What does keeping time have to do with it?

The test was looking at the clock and it being the correct time.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

What does keeping time have to do with it?

The test was looking at the clock and it being the correct time.

The clock isn't keeping time at all. Easy to miss that point.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Back to the subject line. US Semiquincentennial coming up.

 

[DaveC426913]

The clock isn't keeping time at all. Easy to miss that point.

Yeah but that's not the point. The point is looking at the clock and it telling the right time.