[ggwhiz]

 Vampyr, on 2012-May-10, 08:49, said:

I have been getting a lot of spam texts lately, and this has me peeved.

I just got hacked for the 2nd time in a year and spammed my whole contact list. That should be a capital crime.

[mikeh]

 PassedOut, on 2012-May-08, 16:35, said:

In the same vein, people interchanging "insure" and "ensure." I find split infinitives grating also, but am getting more tolerant with age.

I can assure you that I always try to ensure that my house will not burn down, but I insure it in case it does.

I try to play bridge well, not good. Good is what I like to try to do: well, is how I try to do it.

As for split infinitives, I try to completely ignore the issue, but, when the question is one of a dangling participle, that is something up with which I will not put.

[mgoetze]

 ggwhiz, on 2012-May-10, 10:44, said:

I just got hacked for the 2nd time in a year and spammed my whole contact list. That should be a capital crime.

I agree that this is quite serious but I think you are being just a little bit too harsh on yourself, I hope you will reconsider.

[y66]

 ggwhiz, on 2012-May-10, 10:44, said:

I just got hacked for the 2nd time in a year and spammed my whole contact list. That should be a capital crime.

This happened to me a number of years ago. I was using hotmail with a weak password. Very embarrassing to have all your friends get spammed for eternity. I switched to gmail and a strong password and have not had this problem since.

Edit: knock wood.

[mike777]

 y66, on 2012-May-10, 15:10, said:

This happened to me a number of years ago. I was using hotmail with a weak password. Very embarrassing to have all your friends get spammed for eternity. I switched to gmail and a strong password and have not had this problem since.

Edit: knock wood.

yes stronger password seems to help alot here.

[Scarabin]

How about intellectual dishonesty as a pet peeve? When we make quotations surely we should credit the source? Or if we think the source is obvious, at least enclose the quote in inverted commas to show we are not plagiarising?

[Foxx]

"Sign Up or Log in to see what your friends are doing."

I don't get it. If they're really your friends, why can't you just ask them? Isn't that what a friend is?

[Antrax]

You can ask them, but then you'll hear what they're doing, not see it.

[mycroft]

"sign up or log in to see what your friends are doing." In other words:

"sign up or log in to broadcast your ideas to the world at large, especially our advertisers that are buying your activity from us."

Legitimately, log in to let your friends see what you're doing makes sense. But usually, when someone tells this introvert that they care about "my friends", who they really care about is "their friends."

[Fluffy]

The damned misstranslation of "remove" makes me crazy. In Spannish "remover" means to move repeatedly, used mainly on context where "stir" is used in english. It has nothing to do with "remove", yet I see it misstranslated everywhere. Device's manuals, tv programs, even on newspapers.

How does it sound to you?

remove the mixture until it gets homogeneous
stir the safety band form the top


Another one comes from "actually", misstranslated to "actualmente" wich means right now.

[gordontd]

 Fluffy, on 2012-May-30, 06:15, said:

Another one comes from "actually", misstranslated to "actualmente" wich means right now.

We have the word "momentarily" which in British English means "for a moment" but in US English means "in a moment".

[Fluffy]

A spannish person would have a tough time understanding the US word, the british looks so obvious to us.

[phil_20686]

 mgoetze, on 2012-May-08, 14:44, said:

People interchanging "affect" and "effect" at random e.g.

I have effected* a poor affect**.



*Although normally affect is the verb and effect is the noun, effect is also a verb which means to "bring about" or accomplish.

**Similarly affect as a noun means approximately the same as mood, or humour".

[Cyberyeti]

 Fluffy, on 2012-May-30, 06:15, said:

The damned misstranslation of "remove" makes me crazy. In Spannish "remover" means to move repeatedly, used mainly on context where "stir" is used in english. It has nothing to do with "remove", yet I see it misstranslated everywhere. Device's manuals, tv programs, even on newspapers.

How does it sound to you?

remove the mixture until it gets homogeneous
stir the safety band form the top


Another one comes from "actually", misstranslated to "actualmente" wich means right now.

Constipado is another old favourite (means you've got a cold).

[Fluffy]

what does constipado sound like in english?

[mikeh]

 Fluffy, on 2012-May-30, 08:05, said:

what does constipado sound like in english?

It sounds like an irregular verb*







*Most English speakers, told they suffer from constipado, will reach for a laxative to 'restore regularity'.

[mgoetze]

 PassedOut, on 2012-May-08, 16:35, said:

In the same vein, people interchanging "insure" and "ensure." I find split infinitives grating also, but am getting more tolerant with age.

Speaking of grating, people who write "greatful".

[barmar]

Heard on "Fresh Air" today. The AP Stylebook has eliminated its rule against using the word "hopefully" as a floating sentence adverb, as in "Hopefully, the Red Sox will win the World Series again some day."

http://www.npr.org/2...-stay-hopefully

[Vampyr]

Once my father told some Russian friends that he had prepared a meal that didn't contain "preservativni". They were pleased to know that their food had no condoms in it.

Words like these are called "false friends".

[Vampyr]

 mgoetze, on 2012-May-30, 11:56, said:

Speaking of grating, people who write "greatful".

and "loose" for "lose", "lead" for "led", "arguement" for "argument", any combination of letters for "definite"... I think that as English has become the linga franca for this forum and in many other contexts, those of use who are native or fluent speakers ought to have a little patience.