Assume v. Presume

prpr said:
That's only allowed on Friday afternoons. (Should that be afternoon's ?)
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I wouldn't have thought that local government is allowed to have a Friday afternoon like what we had* at the university. :cheers: (To be fair, the university probably frowns on this now).
Friday afternoon coding used to lead to a heavy Monday morning debugging session.
*with thanks to Ernie Wise.
 
Had to laugh at this one. I was looking up whether spoilt or spoiled is preferred. I'm still not sure!
However, came across this on my travels:
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pedants_corner/1501689-Spoiled-Spoilt said:
As is, "I smelled ore to get iron."
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:rolling: That should cut down the costs of producing iron!
 
"spoilt" and "spoiled" are different tenses, so neither is preferred - they are correct in different circumstances just like "past" and "passed".
 
Neither does "The past is another country".
Best you find a more suitable base sentence for the experimentation.:frantic:
 
Black Hole said:
Current smart meter advert (in a Jane Horrocks-like voice):

"If we all get a smart meter, we could save enough energy to power every home in Aberdeen, Cardiff, and Manchester for a year"

Only a year? Why would I want to subsidise free energy to residents of those cities in particular?
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Another one, this time an advert on the back of a Bristol bus for some dog charity (from memory):

"For the price of four cups of coffee a month, we could feed a dog for a whole week"

Meaningless!
 
I assumed it meant (the cost of four cups of coffee) = (cost of dog food for a week). But I can see it does add another level of ambiguity. It's just bull:poop:.
 
Yes, I assume that's what they mean - so who had the bright idea of adding "a month"? Just plain stupid.

I guess four cups of Asda own-brand might feed a Yorkie... up to civet coffee for a Newfoundland.
 
There's a Macmillan coffee morning advert showing at the moment that says something similar.. I'll have to listen out for it again as I can't find the video online.. It's the one that says "Whether you bake it or fake it...." if anyone comes across it.

Also spotted on a customer system recently - shown upon login:

Code: 
####################################################################### 
# This is a Unix Shell.  Make sure you know what you're doing before
# doing anything harmful.
# #######################################################################
Type "exit" to return to the configuration menu
It would be awful if I did something harmful without knowing what I was doing..
 
af123 said:
It would be awful if I did something harmful without knowing what I was doing..
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Good job you don't work for the IT department at the TSB then. I have the misfortune to bank with them and they just can't get their online stuff to work properly. Latest problem: log into account - "You have 8 new messages, 8 of which are important". Click on new messages - "There are no new messages". Click on archived messages - you've guessed it - "There are no new messages". I wish someone had taken note of: Make sure you know what you're doing before doing anything harmful. :rolleyes:
 
EEPhil said:
Good job you don't work for the IT department at the TSB then.
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Maybe he's got a sideline in sorting out their ****-up and that's why he's been so (apparently) busy these last few months :).
I have the misfortune to bank with them
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<plug> First Direct </plug>
No, I don't work for them.
Make sure you know what you're doing before doing anything harmful.
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Strike the word "harmful".
 
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