Assume v. Presume

prpr said:
It's blatant discrimination (a postcode lottery) with the lucky ones being in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland,
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You could say the same about prescription charges. How we managed, in England, to get them free from 60 I don't know - but am grateful! Fortunately I wasn't diagnosed (hypertension) until I was 60, otherwise I'd have needed a season ticket! Four items at £9.90 per item every 28 days = a lot (£514.80/year vs £114.50-ST vs free-over 60).
 
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Naïve.

I've learnt something today. The two dots are a diaeresis not an umlaut, and indicate the vowels need to be pronounced separately (effectively the opposite of a diphthong). If English spelling made use of accents, it would be a lot less confusing!
 
Black Hole said:
Naïve.

I've learnt something today. The two dots are a diaeresis not an umlaut, and indicate the vowels need to be pronounced separately (effectively the opposite of a diphthong). If English spelling made use of accents, it would be a lot less confusing!
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Do you mean the sort of accents used in dictionaries to show pronunciation? New Zealand has done that because of Maori pronunciation which has cocked up anyone else reading New Zealand English.

Anyone who watched the last series of Fake or Fortune would have seen some of this where the New Zealand museum was referenced in one episode to authenticate a New Zealand artist and the museum name is referenced every time by its combined Maori and English names. Every Government department is done the same way, with some now having only Maori names.

Makes looking at any news from 'home' a real pain.
 
I think I'm beginning to go a bit word blind. I often re-read things I've written and can't understand them, but sometimes I don't. I hit post and then find I've written a complete mess. I just hope I manage to correct it before anyone reads it. I must remember to check before posting. Then we complain about newspapers and TV journalists and editors making a balls up. Okay, they are paid to do a job, we aren't. Oh dear, the joys of aging!
 
Ugh, the guy from Octopus said the phrase "plug socket" twice to me earlier this week. I let him get away with it. :notworthy:

Is the thing you put into plug socket called a socket plug? If not, why not?
 
There is an argument, one that I don't accept, that the term "plug socket" is used to distinguish between electrical sockets and other sockets (ball-and-socket joints, the attachments in the tool "socket set" etc). Following that logic the term "socket plug" would make sense. Thankfully this is the first time I've heard of it.

We appear to have lost the battle with "plug socket" even though it's illogical. Is the recharging port on your phone a plug socket (it's a socket that you plug a cable into)? What about an ethernet port that receives an rj45 cable? Plug and socket again, so "plug socket"?
 
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