Assume v. Presume

The only alternative for "interrobang" I can find is an alternative spelling "interabang"... not even "interashriek" or "interapling".

We're not talking about the exclamation mark as being a "bang" here (although, frankly, it becomes quite wearing to use five syllables every time when talking about it as a symbol in programming, so in matters other than punctuation I'm quite happy to call it a "bang" if I think the audience will understand - what else are you gonna say: "x021" [even that is quicker than "exclamation mark"]?). In programming and some other contexts, it's just a symbol and exclaims nothing (although it may be given a meaning that exploits a sense of urgency or demand).

In cricket scoring, a dot is used to separate the number of overs from the number of deliveries - so 30.2 would mean two deliveries into the 31st over, and is pronounced "thirty point two". I had a hang-up about that, not liking what appeared to me to be a "decimal point" being used in a non-decimal context (there are six deliveries in an over). I got over the hang-up by coming to the realisation that context is everything - if we are unaware of the context and its boundaries, we are naive (and will be obviously so to those "in the know")... and if inconsiderate of them we are arrogant (although dichotomies can be deliberately exploited for comedic effect).

"Interrobang" is a name. It's the only name I can find for the ‽︎ symbol. There is no need to analyse it and have qualms about the "bang" part, any more than have qualms about using other terms coined in US English - eg "transistor".

This is an interesting reference: https://ss64.com/bash/syntax-pronounce.html, some of the notes at the end are hilarious. I have an inclination to call "?" "fizz", but that's not in the list.
https://ss64.com/bash/syntax-pronounce.html said:
No one pronunciation is correct - enjoy the regional dialects and accents.
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The way to reboot our mainframe computers where I used to work was to key $!, called Dollar-Bang! It was the one ops console command that did not need you to hit the Return key to activate which one unfortunate senior op forgot when showing some new trainees some basic commands ... Whoops! :eek:
 
gomezz said:
The way to reboot our mainframe computers where I used to work was to key $!, called Dollar-Bang! It was the one ops console command that did not need you to hit the Return key to activate
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Fortunately when I "managed" some VAX systems (no, not vacuum cleaners), there wasn't a single key on the operators console that would crash the system. I think the reboot button was around the back of the machine out of the way. I suppose it would have been possible to map one of the function keys to a macro that implemented "opccrash [return]" to give the same result. Even then you'd have to be logged in with system privilege to run it. I never found the need for such a button!
The VAX had a mind of it's own though. It would crash itself whenever an important visitor was about.
 
Black Hole said:
"Was sat"

The verb to sit conjugates the same as to run, so "he was sat" is no more appropriate than "he was ran".

That is all.
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I think the verb to sit is losing its passive/intransitive form. A different example from the BBC West local news bulletin on Breakfast this morning:

"[some sports team] sit fourth" [in the league table]

'Correct' (traditional) usage would be "are sitting fourth".
 
Oh yes... and being 1st March, we are treated to the usual wave of brainwashing from the weather forecasters that "today is the first day of meteorological spring". F*** Off.
 
They actually mean the start of the new meteorological record-keeping period which largely overlaps Spring.
 
Surely it's just a tad before it has sprung otherwise how could it have sprung if it hadn't already spring?
 
Trev said:
So when does Spring really start?
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Whenever you like I think :)
A lot of people go with the Met Office (so beginning of March), some go by certain plants appearing, and others (myself included) use the equinox (around 21 March) and also the solstices and other equinox for the beginnings of the other seasons.
 
Trev said:
So when does Spring really start?
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Frankly, I'm surprised somebody of our generation needs to ask.

Spring is defined as the period between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice. These are definite points in the orbit of the Earth, and are observable (as has been done since ancient times) simply by monitoring the direction in which the Sun rises/sets (as per Stonehenge) or the length of the shadow of a fixed object at local noon each day.

Vernal Equinox: vernal = Spring; equi = equal; nox = night — ie the time of equal day and night, when the apparent path of the Sun in the sky crosses the equator.

Solstice: sol = sun; stice = stationary — ie when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky and has a brief pause before returning the other way.

If you are measuring the rising of the Sun or the length of the noon shadow, the solstices are the extremes and the equinoxes are half way between. As the Sun progresses between solstices and equinoxes, you get Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Easy.

Anything else is artificial and arbitrary. What I so strongly object to is the Met Office (or any other body) trying to redefine it for their own purposes. March 1st could be anywhere without affecting the equinoxes and solstices - it's just that they happen to be around 21st March etc (at the moment - before the calendar correction in 1582 everything had slipped around a bit due to the accumulating inaccuracy of the Julian calendar).

The problem is that people now equate the seasons with the weather, when it should be the other way around. The seasons are defined by length of daylight, and the weather just happens to be what it is that season (let's face it: if you were in a different part of the world, the weather would be different anyway).

So the Met Office want to pool March, April, and May into a specific "bin" for statistical purposes. So what? What does that have to do with "Spring"? Answer: nothing at all.
 
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