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One thing I've seen a terrible lot of recently:
"He should of said so earlier" or the like, where it's clearly meant to be "He should HAVE said so earlier". Even when it's abbreviated as "should've", its obvious that there is no "of" involved at all.
I see that in the forums or blogs I frequent far too often. Even for me as a non-native speaker it's an eyesore.
I'll get arcane here for a moment, mostly because it came up today: "liver spots" instead of livor spots." That misusage has left people believing that the brownish/purplish spots that appear with age are caused somehow by the liver. They are livor spots; "livor" is from the Latin for that brownish/purplish colour.
There. I've said it. No get on with the more serious stuff.
I'll get arcane here for a moment, mostly because it came up today: "liver spots" instead of livor spots." That misusage has left people believing that the brownish/purplish spots that appear with age are caused somehow by the liver. They are livor spots; "livor" is from the Latin for that brownish/purplish colour.
There. I've said it. No get on with the more serious stuff.
I did not know that!I'll get arcane here for a moment, mostly because it came up today: "liver spots" instead of livor spots." That misusage has left people believing that the brownish/purplish spots that appear with age are caused somehow by the liver. They are livor spots; "livor" is from the Latin for that brownish/purplish colour.
There. I've said it. No get on with the more serious stuff.
I guess it would be being a party pooper to note that "liver spots" is in Webster's and "livor spots" isn't? And if you Google "livor spots," you come up blank (well, not blank. You're asked if you mean "liver spots.")
Hmmm...
I got the same search results but what I searched for "livor spots anyway" the first result what "livor mortis". Not what I was looking for but given the subject, seems not entirely unrelated
Here's another one that drives me up the wall:
No problemo
Yes. I live in Texas. I'm accustomed to hearing people butcher Spanish ALL the time but this one annoys me to no end.
The word is problema goddamit!
But when people say it, it usually is "problemo" so I guess the incorrect version became the popular one.
I guess it would be being a party pooper to note that "liver spots" is in Webster's and "livor spots" isn't? And if you Google "livor spots," you come up blank (well, not blank. You're asked if you mean "liver spots.")
Here's one encountered just a minute ago in an editorial review.
You "rack" your brain; you don't "wrack" it.
I guess it would be being a party pooper to note that "liver spots" is in Webster's and "livor spots" isn't? And if you Google "livor spots," you come up blank (well, not blank. You're asked if you mean "liver spots.")
So the party's still on; neither Webster nor (heavens forbid!) Google is the final arbiter of truth.
I know there are those here (who think it's all about them) who can't accept that Webster's is, indeed, a final arbitrator in U.S. publishing style spelling.
But it is.
Sorry, but Webster's, as its founder intended and declared, was never to be an arbiter, but only a reflection of actual usage. I can't deny that common usuage makes it "liver spots," but I reserve the right as an academic and an author to be as arcane as I wish. "Liver" derives from the Old Germanic "lifer" and has nothing to do with bruise-like spots. Bruises, and any other similar discolorations of the skin were termed "livors," after the Latin usage, as with other medical terminology. We still use it for "livor mortis," the discoloration of the skin that comes with the settling and deoxygenation of the blood after death.
So, "liver spots" it is by consensus of the people, but they still have nothing to do with livers, and I get livid when anyone claims they do.
You should be nucular!Alas...
Though I do live in a state famous for its utter lack of concern for mispronunciation. Maybe I should be proud?