Really enjoying this topic. They have been around for years but the two words that have me screaming at the TV or the radio are 'these ones or those ones'. Grrrrrrrrr. And it is getting worse, I am hearing them more and more.
Had to think about that. @AnnaB These them those.do the job perfectly However, if you want to indicate a choice of individual items in a group rather than choose them as a clump, these ones and those ones would be appropriate.
... also split infinitives! They don't hinder meaning, but I still shudder a little inside when I hear them... or did the non-splitting 'rule' die out with Star Trek's "... to boldly go..."?
There is no authority which deems split infinitives to be incorrect, and in some situations it is hard to avoid them. How would you say "We expect our output to more than double in a year" without splitting the infinitive?
Their current favourite critique is that of TV presenters, particularly sports commentators, who use phrases that are grammatically incorrect or modern colloquialisms eg. “the get go” or “I’m good”. That word “critique”. My 1997 Collins dictionary gives it as meaning an examination of a person’s ideas. In other words one person’s review of another person’s work. For example “A Marxist critique of capitalism.”
Do you mean that or did you mean to use the word “criticism”? “A criticism is a statement of disapproval”, my dictionary says.
I only ask because the word “critique” is being used more and more often as a substitute for “criticism” and it drives me nuts.
Yes! Brilliant idea for an agony column, @pansyface
In answer to your comment about critique: the difference between this and ‘criticism’ is that ‘critique’ isn’t necessarily negative. In recent usage the two words have been conflated, and I think that’s the mistake that’s getting your goat... But in academic usage ‘critique’ continues to mean a reasoned argument or discussion, whether positive or negative. So ‘criticism’ has a separate meaning, exclusively negative, and it can be against a person, where critique is always about a text or argument.
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However, if you want to indicate a choice of individual items in a group rather than choose them as a clump, these ones and those ones would be appropriate.
... also split infinitives! They don't hinder meaning, but I still shudder a little inside when I hear them... or did the non-splitting 'rule' die out with Star Trek's "... to boldly go..."?
In answer to your comment about critique: the difference between this and ‘criticism’ is that ‘critique’ isn’t necessarily negative. In recent usage the two words have been conflated, and I think that’s the mistake that’s getting your goat... But in academic usage ‘critique’ continues to mean a reasoned argument or discussion, whether positive or negative. So ‘criticism’ has a separate meaning, exclusively negative, and it can be against a person, where critique is always about a text or argument.