Reply to: 100's of millions will die a horrible death due to Chinese virus

[NotAllThere]

I'm vaguely interested in the versions without strings. You can hear the beginnings of the Genesis sound, so for completeness, it's worth it.

[Mordac]

I was thinking of making a joke concerning the second song on Genesis' first album. But it turns out it's called "In The Beginning".

On a more important subject, do you use less and fewer correctly?

I had to google that one, it's not part of my Genesis collection (and with very good reason, it's pretty terrible). In future, I will listen to it less often, or on fewer occasions.

[Lance]

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point, right, literally by definition. Word meanings change over time. It's usage now that matters.

Nice used to mean silly.
Silly used to mean worthy or blessed.
Hussy used to mean housewife
Egregious used to mean conspicuously good. Now it mean conspicuously bad.

Famously, when Charles II saw Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral for the first time, he called it "awful, pompous, and artificial." Meaning roughly: Awesome, majestic, and ingenious.

TL;DR - don't be a prat.

Brexit used to mean Brexit.

[Old Greg]

get corona virus done

"Send it packing" is the preferred boosterism.

[Andy2]

get corona virus done

[Old Greg]

I was thinking of making a joke concerning the second song on Genesis' first album. But it turns out it's called "In The Beginning".

On a more important subject, do you use less and fewer correctly?

Stop being mean.

[DimPrawn]

I was thinking of making a joke concerning the second song on Genesis' first album. But it turns out it's called "In The Beginning".

On a more important subject, do you use less and fewer correctly?

I use fewer on less occasions mostly.

[NotAllThere]

Unfortunately Mordac is suffering from the etymological fallacy. He should consider that next time he drinks a spirit (and consider Genesis 1:2, NAT).

I was thinking of making a joke concerning the second song on Genesis' first album. But it turns out it's called "In The Beginning".

It still does in my house...

On a more important subject, do you use less and fewer correctly?

[Mordac]

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point, right, literally by definition. Word meanings change over time. It's usage now that matters.

Nice used to mean silly.
Silly used to mean worthy or blessed.
Hussy used to mean housewife
Egregious used to mean conspicuously good. Now it mean conspicuously bad.

Famously, when Charles II saw Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral for the first time, he called it "awful, pompous, and artificial." Meaning roughly: Awesome, majestic, and ingenious.

TL;DR - don't be a prat.

It still does in my house...

[Old Greg]

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point, right, literally by definition. Word meanings change over time. It's usage now that matters.

Nice used to mean silly.
Silly used to mean worthy or blessed.
Hussy used to mean housewife
Egregious used to mean conspicuously good. Now it mean conspicuously bad.

Famously, when Charles II saw Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral for the first time, he called it "awful, pompous, and artificial." Meaning roughly: Awesome, majestic, and ingenious.

TL;DR - don't be a prat.

As is:

An Austrian army awfully arrayed
Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade.

I haven't heard that Charles II quotation. Thanks for sharing.

Unfortunately Mordac is suffering from the etymological fallacy. He should consider that next time he drinks a spirit (and consider Genesis 1:2, NAT).

[NotAllThere]

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point on it, wrong.

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point, right, literally by definition. Word meanings change over time. It's usage now that matters.

Nice used to mean silly.
Silly used to mean worthy or blessed.
Hussy used to mean housewife
Egregious used to mean conspicuously good. Now it mean conspicuously bad.

Famously, when Charles II saw Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral for the first time, he called it "awful, pompous, and artificial." Meaning roughly: Awesome, majestic, and ingenious.

TL;DR - don't be a prat.

[Old Greg]

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point on it, wrong.

No it isn't. You're just poorly educated.

[Mordac]

To be pedantic, you were stating the historical meaning of decimate. The contemporary meaning is:

kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of.
"the inhabitants of the country had been decimated."

The contemporary meaning is, not to put too fine a point on it, wrong.

[Old Greg]

Will someone teach those Americanists English, please. Decimate means 'remove every tenth individual, or reduce by a tenth'.
And while we're being pedantic, a 'rabbit' is something a lady uses when she doesn't have a man, or she does have a man but he's not up to the job. God help female-kind if that ever gets hit by a virus...

To be pedantic, you were stating the historical meaning of decimate. The contemporary meaning is:

kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of.
"the inhabitants of the country had been decimated."

[Mordac]

A new deadly virus spreading across U.S. could decimate the rabbit population - CBS News

Will someone teach those Americanists English, please. Decimate means 'remove every tenth individual, or reduce by a tenth'.
And while we're being pedantic, a 'rabbit' is something a lady uses when she doesn't have a man, or she does have a man but he's not up to the job. God help female-kind if that ever gets hit by a virus...