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What's your most ridiculous pet peeve? (hexbear.net)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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One of mine (I have many yay neurodivergece) is when people say the phrase "a broken clock is right twice a day". The phrase is actually "a stopped clock is right twice a day." A clock that is stopped will definitely be right twice a day but a clock that is broken could be right multiple times a day or not at all depending on how it's broken. Maybe it's just a little slow running in which case it'll never be right. Maybe it's spinning wildly out of control so it'll be right a lot but still useless.

It annoys the shit outta me and it is so dumb it definitely should not. Anyway your turn.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Honestly, prescriptivism gets a bad wrap. Sometimes it's beneficial to be loose in language, but other times precision and standardization is needed. A good mix of both creates the most effective communication and artistic language.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

It's a bad rap, not wrap, since we're being prescriptivist. It's an interesting slang etymology: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-bad-rap-vs-bad-rep-vs-bad-wrap

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Honestly, prescriptivism gets a bad wrap

fry