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imprecise language

Libre

Libre

Member
It seriously bugs me when people say one thing, and really mean something else. I'm not referring to common figures of speech, that most native speakers understand. I'm referring to speech that is just plain erroneous. Here's an example - this happened today.
I work in the diamond district in New York City. Often, to gain entrance to a building, I must present my ID. Sometimes it's sufficient to show the ID, in other places you must hand it over. Today I entered a building (1 Rockefeller Plaza, to be exact) and went to the security desk. I stated the office I wanted to visit, and the security guard growled, "Let me see your ID." So I took my wallet out of my pocket, opened it, and held it up. Theres a plastic window with my ID beneath it, clearly visible. The guard sneered at me, and through gritted teeth said, "Take it OUT! I didn't ask for your wallet, I asked for your ID." I answered, "You asked to SEE my ID". His sneer got worse but he didn't say anything more.
Of course, I then took out the ID and complied. But these things bug me. I did as the guard instructed me to do - and I didn't take a far-flung, absurd but technically correct interpretation, but a totally reasonable one, yet he got annoyed with me, because he does not know how to speak precisely, and I do.
Do you have any examples of imprecise speech? I have tons of others, but I'd like to hear some of yours.
 
I think I posted about this incident in the therapy thread - though I'm not sure.

One of my fellow English students kept talking about the 'descenders' in Britain, and I really had no clue what he meant. Not until he had finished his point and our professor started to answer did it occur to me, through Professor Simonton's reply, that he was talking about the 'dissenters'.

There's a diff between a d and a t, you moron!

A very common mistake among Danes because in our language we don't make a difference between the two letters unless they're at the very beginning of a word. So amongst the 'common folk' I'm used to hearing it, but at university level I was more or less expecting people to be able to talk straight. Bah!
 
How about this: inserting the word "thing" or "thing-a-ma-bob" when the speaker can't think of the correct word. Now, I do this myself..the two brain cells I have left are challenged up there! But my mother-in-law (she's 80) does it ALL the time. And she gets made when we can't make sense of statements like this: "I went to the store to look for that thing that goes on top of the thing that makes the icemaker work!" Two or more unknown "Things" in one sentence makes me crazy!
 
Libre said:
"Let me see your ID." So I took my wallet out of my pocket, opened it, and held it up. Theres a plastic window with my ID beneath it, clearly visible. The guard sneered at me, and through gritted teeth said, "Take it OUT! I didn't ask for your wallet, I asked for your ID." I answered, "You asked to SEE my ID". His sneer got worse but he didn't say anything more.
.
Click to expand...

When I was growing up in NYC, "let me get that" and "let me see that" were interchangeable with "give that to me." I always hated 'let me get that' because getting something implies doing it for yourself. But maybe he was being more idiomatic than imprecise.

I can never get my license out of the thingy when I have to.

A lot of people get exercised over the silliest things. My mother used to go ape when someone asked 'do you have the correct time?' Like, if you knew it wasn't correct, wouldn't you change it? Or throw your watch away?

I love to listen to regional dialogue to hear all the weird ways people put things. Along the Georgia coast if someone is really pretty, they say, 'She ain't pretty none." But that's so nonintuitive, you have to explain it.
 
I'm with you Novella-regional dialects are fascinating. Here in Kansas I always refered to the neighbors who lived catty-cornered(opposite corner as ua), and I know Micheganders who laughed their heads off over that because everyone KNOWS its Kitty cornered.
My husband's parents were from Arkansas, and his dad would always say, "I'm satisfied that's right" instead of "I'm sure". And after 24+ years of being in the family, I still have to ask what time I'm expected if my mil invites me to dinner..I never know if she means lunch or supper.
Speaking of Micheganders, our former pastor and his wife had a real culture shock the first few times they heard someone talking about their ornery kids who got in to everything. Here an ornery kid is simply mischievous, but up there, that kid would be mean and cantakerous.
Language IS fun :D
 
Language is fun, and very strange. I think about anomalies of language quite a bit.
For example, abecedarian, you mentioned the expression, "I'm satisfied that's right" instead of "I'm sure". You know, it occurred to me long ago that usually, when somebody says "I'm sure ..." it really means that they are NOT sure. And that's what I mean by imprecise language.
Here is an example:
Q: Did your mother call your aunt last night?
A: I'm sure she must have.

Now, as much as that answer literally sounds as though the speaker is sure and it's a foregone conclusion that his mother called his aunt, doesn't the answer, as phrased, imply uncertainty? By saying "I'm sure" the speaker is conveying some doubt. With one single word, the speaker could convey NO doubt as to the question of whether the mother called the aunt:
Q: Did your mother call your aunt last night?
A: Yes.

I love this. Humans are so complex, so multi-faceted. We say, "I'm sure" and we really mean, "I would guess so, but I'm anything but sure."

How about:
Q:Has the doctor had any experience with this type of surgery before operating on me?
A:I'm sure he must have.
Q:Have any of these patients survived?
A:Oh, I'm sure.
Q:Will I get a bill for this?
A:Yes!

Now, which of those answers is really the sure one? The ones that say the speaker is sure, or the one that does not?
 
Oh, I love hearing all the different regional dialouge, too. In a French-speaking island located a bit north of New Zealand (New Caledonia), I know a term used for "just relax" is translated directly into "don't split your head open". I found this one quite amusing :D I've also noticed that a lot of local dialouge comes from brands and such that are popular in that area. Like in New Zealand there is a discount chain store called "The Warehouse", and if you want to say that something is cheap/tacky, you would say it's "warehouse".
 
Libre said:
Language is fun, and very strange. I think about anomalies of language quite a bit.
For example, abecedarian, you mentioned the expression, "I'm satisfied that's right" instead of "I'm sure". You know, it occurred to me long ago that usually, when somebody says "I'm sure ..." it really means that they are NOT sure. And that's what I mean by imprecise language.
Here is an example:
Q: Did your mother call your aunt last night?
A: I'm sure she must have.

Now, as much as that answer literally sounds as though the speaker is sure and it's a foregone conclusion that his mother called his aunt, doesn't the answer, as phrased, imply uncertainty? By saying "I'm sure" the speaker is conveying some doubt. With one single word, the speaker could convey NO doubt as to the question of whether the mother called the aunt:
Q: Did your mother call your aunt last night?
A: Yes.

I love this. Humans are so complex, so multi-faceted. We say, "I'm sure" and we really mean, "I would guess so, but I'm anything but sure."

How about:
Q:Has the doctor had any experience with this type of surgery before operating on me?
A:I'm sure he must have.
Q:Have any of these patients survived?
A:Oh, I'm sure.
Q:Will I get a bill for this?
A:Yes!

Now, which of those answers is really the sure one? The ones that say the speaker is sure, or the one that does not?
Click to expand...

Libre,
I think that "I am sure" is used in the same way as the english, more correct version "I reckon". I have noticed that Americans dont say "I reckon", why is that?
Flower
 
<<Libre,
I think that "I am sure" is used in the same way as the english, more correct version "I reckon". I have noticed that Americans dont say "I reckon", why is that?
Flower>>

Well, either I reckon I'm not sure, or, I'm not sure, I reckon.
 
Flowerdk4 said:
Libre,
I think that "I am sure" is used in the same way as the english, more correct version "I reckon". I have noticed that Americans dont say "I reckon", why is that?
Flower
Click to expand...
"I reckon" in that sense is informal usage, which is usually local. Using 'I guess', as in Libre's example, would be more precise.
 
I'm studying abroad right now along with quite a few other foreigners. Since the language of instruction is English and English is pretty much the only language we have in common (I can understand the French, the Dutch and the German though) we all try our very best to speak proper English. Sometimes we succeed, but more often we fail. (It must be horrible for the native English speakers to hear us talk.)

Anyway, there are a few mistakes that always keep coming back and that bug the hell out of me. One of my German friends keeps saying "forenger" instead of "foreigner" and a Finnish girl always talks about the "departure" instead of the "department". And then the accents... don't get me started on the accents!
 
I am often amused by imprecise language on signs that I see. I was driving out of an airport parking lot. The road split into two, each road leading to a toll booth, one on the left and one on the right. At the fork, the sign said, PLEASE USE BOTH TOLL BOOTHS. I was amused by that.

Another time, my wife and I (we were on our honeymoon) were at a stream in the mountains, in Pennsylvania. A sign said, DO NOT THROW ROCKS OR OBJECTS INTO THE STREAM. I asked my new wife, how she thought the meaning of the sign would change, if it just said DO NOT THROW OBJECTS INTO THE STREAM? I noted that since rocks are objects, it was unnecessary to specify them individually, and the meaning of the sign would be identical. I told her this was an example of overspecification, which is almost as bad as underspecification, which would be something like, DO NOT ENGAGE IN PROHIBITED ACTIVITES WHILE AT THE STREAM, which of course tells us nothing.

The good news is that my wife didn't throw ME into the stream, and we're still married.
 
There is a shop in my town that has a sign in the window saying CURRENTLY SEEKING STAFF. Why? Have they left their staff somewhere? Another sign: LARGE CARPET SALE. What if you want a small carpet? Another one: GIVE BLOOD LOCALLY. How else can you give it?
 
I saw a sign in a deli that said:
TO BUY TOBACCO YOU MUST BE 25 AND HAVE PROOF THAT YOU ARE 18

I had to wonder if anybody can actually meet those criteria, and if the deli ever sells any tobacco.

Hypothetical conversation:
-BUT I WANT TO BUY A PACK OF CIGARETTES. I'M 45 YEARS OLD!
-Sorry sir, read the sign.
 
I was greatly amused when I saw an article in a newspaper about schools - more specifically about the students in them. Now I don't recall the exact subject, but I do remember the reference to the results of a survey. They concluded that "...between 3 and 4 students on each school..." yada yada. Now I really don't want to be the one BETWEEN 3 and 4, is he half a person? Or three quarters? That's gotta hurt :p It clearly should've been "either 3 or 4 students on each school..."
 
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