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Several days until I attend my next meeting of Pedants Anonymous

It's been a while but I have just noticed another common confusion.

Disinterested means impartial, which is what a referee should be. He should not be uninterested, which means what most people think it means.
 
Roland Beurre said:
It's been a while but I have just noticed another common confusion.

Disinterested means impartial, which is what a referee should be. He should not be uninterested, which means what most people think it means.
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This is a classic. ^

As is mixing up 'less' and 'fewer'.

Showing my true pedant credentials, there was an article on the BBC site about the F1 where they used less rather than fewer twice... So I emailed them and they changed it. Yes, I checked.
 
And another thing..!

I've noticed the increasing use of a kind of permanent present tense in writing.

To put it in a Spurs context, sentences like -

"There's no way Levy pays £30m for Schneiderlin"

Instead of "there's no way Levy would (or will) pay £30m..."

Or similarly stuff like "if Eriksen starts we win the game".

I could be completely wrong but it strikes me as an Americanism. Anyone else come across this?
 
Roland Beurre said:
It is several days until my next session at Pedants Anonymous and I admit I am struggling to cope.
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Should that not be 'with Pedants Anonymous' ?

Always happy to pick you up.


Somewhere there's a screed about the AGM of the Pedants Society - debating whether an apostrophe should feature and where - also Society For Pedantry.

Keep up the good work !
 
Whiffler said:
Should that not be 'with Pedants Anonymous' ?

Always happy to pick you up.


Somewhere there's a screed about the AGM of the Pedants Society - debating whether an apostrophe should feature and where - which also relates to the Society For Pedantry.

Keep up the good work !
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Happy, in turn, to clarify a broken sentence.

:)
 
12am immediately follows 11pm. 12 pm immediately follows 11am. It's playschool level ffs!!!
 
Tesco bakeries section used to have a poster for different cake styles and one said your the best dad in the world.
What chance have you got.
 
Q: Is that my "The Best Dad In The World" cake?

A: Yes, that's your "The Best Dad In The World" cake.

...sorry, I have to try to make it work!
 
Rob said:
12am immediately follows 11pm. 12 pm immediately follows 11am. It's playschool level ffs!!!
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Whatever happened to 'noon' and 'midnight'? Playschool it may be but I despise the use of 12am and 12pm because I have to stop and think about it every ****ing time.
 
Another one. Australian cricketers who regularly insert 'Look ...' or 'Ah look ...' when answering interviewers' questions. Although in a way it's quite fetching. I guess! :D
 
Don't know if it's relevant to this thread but I have just seen news that thr inventor of auto carrect has dyed
 
David fudging Gold's Twitter account...

Too instead of to. Their instead of there.
 
So as I understand it, it is customary for pedants attending Pedants Anonymous to gather in a circle, each standing in turn, and say: "My name is Dave [or whatever their first name is] and I am a pedant."

That doesn't strike me as particularly anonymous. "No, I'm pretty sure I know who you are - you're Dave."

In fact I think the use of the first name, coupled with the lack of disguise, might be a bit of giveaway on the identity front. Perhaps it should be renamed Pedants Not-that-anonymous-at-all-really.
 
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