What are some common mistakes in grammar and brewing?

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In summary, 8 people misused the term "au jus" in the last 30 minutes. Au jus means "with juice", but you cannot serve something "with au jus" or make an "au jus". You can only serve roast beef au jus.
  • #36
SW VandeCarr said:
But a triple negative is logically negative.
Much stronger than that!

"Well I ain't never used no toothbrush!" exclaimed the gap-toothed cowboy.

"So is that why you're missing those teeth?"

"Heck no. I lost this'n in a flight, and that'n, I ate some chili with beans, only one of them beans was a rock. From then on, I swear by 'real chili ain't got no beans'."​
 
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  • #37
Somewhat relevant to this thread:

When Evo quotes another poster, some of the capital letters from the original post do not remain capital letters in the quote. This doesn't happen all the time, as I can see other posts in which the phenomena is not present.

For example, look at the following post: https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3649083&postcount=19

You'll notice that the two letters in Dave's name which are supposed to be capitalized have been decapitalized! The first and third sentences have been altered, but the second sentence has escaped her unmolested! I'm not sure what you're up to, Evo, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any more shenanigans. :wink:

Edit: I doubt it's intentional; I just find it intriguing.
 
  • #38
Dembadon said:
Somewhat relevant to this thread:

When Evo quotes another poster, some of the capital letters from the original post do not remain capital letters in the quote. This doesn't happen all the time, as I can see other posts in which the phenomena is not present.

For example, look at the following post: https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3649083&postcount=19

You'll notice that the two letters in Dave's name which are supposed to be capitalized have been decapitalized! The first and third sentences have been altered, but the second sentence has escaped her unmolested! I'm not sure what you're up to, Evo, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any more shenanigans. :wink:

Edit: I doubt it's intentional; I just find it intriguing.
That's bizarre! All I did was hit the quote button.
 
  • #39
Evo said:
That's bizarre! All I did was hit the quote button.

That's right up there with "I was just following orders".
 
  • #40
Berry says that "holonomy" is a barbarism, for the measure by which an arrow fails to point in the same direction after being transported in a loop should be the "anholonomy".
 
  • #41
SW VandeCarr said:
A double negative is really a positive.

Not in Spanish. "No tengo nada" means "I don't have anything" even though literally translated into English it says "I don't have nothing."
 
  • #42
Dembadon said:
You'll notice that the two letters in Dave's name which are supposed to be capitalized have been decapitalized!

That is freaky!
 
  • #43
D H said:
Much stronger than that!

"Well I ain't never used no toothbrush!" exclaimed the gap-toothed cowboy.

"So is that why you're missing those teeth?"

"Heck no. I lost this'n in a flight, and that'n, I ate some chili with beans, only one of them beans was a rock. From then on, I swear by 'real chili ain't got no beans'."​

jtbell said:
Not in Spanish. "No tengo nada" means "I don't have anything" even though literally translated into English it says "I don't have nothing."

Visionary anticipations of quantum gravity, in which the vacuum has weight?
 
  • #44
I think (I hope!) I make errors like redundancies more so here than in real life to compensate for the fact that anonymous text lacks some context and the facial gestures and auditory emphasis, etc., to put a view across, or that is my excuse, anyway.

atyy said:
Visionary anticipations of quantum gravity, in which the vacuum has weight?

:smile:
 
  • #45
Dembadon said:
My pet peeves:

I disagree with these two choices. "Faster Speed" : Speed is a scalar quantity. There can be slow speeds and fast speeds. For any given speed, there can be a faster speed (up to the speed of light or possibly some ignorant neutrinos).

"First introduced": There can be multiple introductions of products over time, specifically with respect to different locations. For example: We first introduced the product in Albania where it was successful, and later in the rest of Europe, where it failed.
 
  • #46
SW VandeCarr said:
I disagree with these two choices.


"Faster Speed" : Speed is a scalar quantity. There can be slow speeds and fast speeds. For any given speed, there can be a faster speed (up to the speed of light or possibly some ignorant neutrinos).

"First introduced": There can be multiple introductions of products over time, specifically with respect to different locations. For example: We first introduced the product in Albania where it was successful, and later in the rest of Europe, where it failed.
Good points.
 
  • #47
D H said:
SW VandeCarr said:
But a triple negative is logically negative.
Much stronger than that!

"Well I ain't never used no toothbrush!" exclaimed the gap-toothed cowboy.​

Cool. Anybody want to try making a quadruple negative? Quintuple?​
 
  • #48
SW VandeCarr said:
I disagree with these two choices.


"Faster Speed" : Speed is a scalar quantity. There can be slow speeds and fast speeds. For any given speed, there can be a faster speed (up to the speed of light or possibly some ignorant neutrinos).

"First introduced": There can be multiple introductions of products over time, specifically with respect to different locations. For example: We first introduced the product in Albania where it was successful, and later in the rest of Europe, where it failed.

I understand the speed example and agree with you. However, I don't see the need for the "first" in your second example. You can remove it without compromising the meaning of the sentence. For example: Product X was introduced in Albania, and then later in Europe.
 
  • #49
SW VandeCarr said:
I disagree with these two choices.


"Faster Speed" : Speed is a scalar quantity. There can be slow speeds and fast speeds. For any given speed, there can be a faster speed (up to the speed of light or possibly some ignorant neutrinos).

"First introduced": There can be multiple introductions of products over time, specifically with respect to different locations. For example: We first introduced the product in Albania where it was successful, and later in the rest of Europe, where it failed.

Interesting, because I had wondered about those, too.
 
  • #50
This one is missed by a lot of people.

The reason is because...
 
  • #51
I think perhaps he meant to type "faster rate of speed". bleh.
 
  • #52
I hate the "two choices" phrase in common usage. It should be "two alternatives" splitting from a "choice".

When someone says "you have two choices", I think that they are either uneducated morons, or they are morons by choice.
 
  • #53
turbo said:
I hate the "two choices" phrase in common usage. It should be "two alternatives" splitting from a "choice".

When someone says "you have two choices", I think that they are either uneducated morons, or they are morons by choice.
Really? I mean, I see your point. But is it not valid to say "one is a better choice than the other" thus, each is a "choice", thus there are two "choices"?
 
  • #54
I think the word "choice" can mean both "decision" and "option". I see no problem with that.

Now if someone talks about three alternatives, then I have a problem.
 
  • #55
Ben Niehoff said:
Now if someone talks about three alternatives, then I have a problem.
How about

"... That line of reasoning creates a false dilemma. There is a third alternative. ..."
Although I do agree that 'option' or 'choice' sounds better to me here.

"Yet another juror was dismissed in this highly publicized trial. This dismissal resulted in the seating of the third alternate juror."
Here there is no other viable choice. "Third alternate" is the correct legal term to use.Edit
My dictionary has a usage note on choice regarding the use of choice, alternative, option, and preference. "Alternative suggests that one has a choice between only two possibilities." It also offers an alternative usage. "No alternative" indicates a lack of options. The canonical example is the Ford Model T: "You can choose any color you want so long as the color you want is black."
 
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  • #56
My wife refuses to believe that a couple means two. When she says a couple, she means a few. The problem is that when she came to the states she already spoke Chinese and Japanese. We were never able to find a school that teaches English as a third language.
 
  • #57
Choice implies an either-or dichotomy. That is rarely the case in real life.
 
  • #58
Jimmy Snyder said:
My wife refuses to believe that a couple means two. When she says a couple, she means a few. The problem is that when she came to the states she already spoke Chinese and Japanese. We were never able to find a school that teaches English as a third language.

When people refer to you as "a lovely couple", does she get a worried look in her eye?
 
  • #59
turbo said:
Choice implies an either-or dichotomy.
That's "alternative", not "choice". Choice merely implies "the opportunity to choose".
 
  • #60
gneill said:
When people refer to you as "a lovely couple", does she get a worried look in her eye?
:rofl:
 
  • #61
Here's another irritating mistake "once and a while".
 
  • #62
Evo said:
Here's another irritating mistake "once and a while".

That's OK, now in then.
 
  • #63
lisab said:
That's OK, now in then.
:rofl:

I know you didn't half to post that, but if you hadn't of, I wouldn't of rofled.
 
  • #64
Jimmy Snyder said:
My wife refuses to believe that a couple means two. When she says a couple, she means a few. The problem is that when she came to the states she already spoke Chinese and Japanese. We were never able to find a school that teaches English as a third language.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/couple :
Usage note
The phrase a couple of, meaning “a small number of; a few; several,” has been in standard use for centuries, especially with measurements of time and distance and in referring to amounts of money: They walked a couple of miles in silence. Repairs will probably cost a couple of hundred dollars. The phrase is used in all but the most formal speech and writing.
 
  • #65
atyy said:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/couple :
Usage note
The phrase a couple of, meaning “a small number of; a few; several,” has been in standard use for centuries, especially with measurements of time and distance and in referring to amounts of money: They walked a couple of miles in silence. Repairs will probably cost a couple of hundred dollars. The phrase is used in all but the most formal speech and writing.
But if "couple" means "few or several", then what do "few or several" mean?

What you posted is listed as an idiom, not a definition.
 
  • #66
Evo said:
But if "couple" means "few or several", then what do "few or several" mean?

What you posted is listed as an idiom, not a definition.

A couple is a small few. A few is a bit more than a couple. Several is a few couples. Duh.
 
  • #67
Officer, I only had a couple of drinks. couple = 10 or more
 
  • #68
Evo said:
Officer, I only had a couple of drinks. couple = 10 or more

That's a drinkers dozen.
 
  • #69
Drakkith said:
That's a drinkers dozen.

See... I want to "like" this.

Anyway, If I wanted to say "two" I'd say two. If I want to use some vague sounding English word that sort of implies two, I'll say "a couple". But that doesn't necessarily mean two exactly...
 
  • #70
Evo said:
:rofl:

I know you didn't half to post that, but if you hadn't of, I wouldn't of rofled.
I'd'ven't either.
 

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