I'm not looking to have you give me English classes, because I'm not gonna change; however, here are 3 I mess up constantly (and one more just for kicks):
I never know when to say "in" or "on". I ran in the greenbelt - I ran on the greenbelt. I know it's on the roads, but technically, you're IN the greenbelt when you run IN there!I guess I just simply lack the grammatical acumen to be perfect.
Push and Pull - For some reason I use the wrong one for the wrong action all the time. Or when i read it on a door, I fail at it 3 out of 5 times, because I pretty much just take a chance at pulling to go out and pushing to go in. I mean, you want to INVITE people in, and then make it hard for them to leave, right?!
Dishwasher - Washer - Washingmachine: I think dishwasher is a useless word. People would earn 3 extra IQ points if we just used Washer or Washing machine for all machines that wash. I mean, it's not like you're not saying you're putting clothes in or dishes in, so that's where the intelligence comes in to play.
Polyglotte - Polyglot : I learned that word in French, and for the longest time figure it was such a uncommon word that it always had a double-t e at the end. But not in English. (i bet if I had written polyglotte up top you still would have thought it was right.) Heck, most of you probably have no idea what Polyglot means. That's OK; it just isn't a common word.
8 comments:
I could look this up to be sure, but the push/pull thing has to do with fire codes, I believe. If a crowd is rushing to evacuate a building, you want the doors to open outwards, otherwise it could be a bad traffic jam in the midst of an emergency. Depends on when the building was built, though. The Post Office on Speedway and 43rd has exit doors that open inward.
Progress is INWARD to the out for sure. I never understood why they make it so hard on their customers and waitresses that sit/carry out stuff.
banks are the worst.
actually, the worst are ANY DOOR with a long handle going horizontally across chest high on both sides of the glass door. UGH.
Some exit doors will swing inward because they would block the flow of traffic if they opened out, like on a sidewalk or in a hallway. I think for the most part it is determined by the occupancy load of the building.
Yes, listen to my husband, the professional commercial contractor. I was speaking mainly for exit doors leading to outdoors. Interior doors are a whole different mess.
if I were king for a day, i'd make all doors saloon doors, or those circle-type ones.
What is a circle-type door?
When I lived in NYC, I always found it odd that people stood/waited/walked on line (instead of in line). I recall as a kid, we always had to walk single-file, IN a line (not on it). I guess in NYC they think that there is a literal line drawn on the floor and they are standing/waiting/walking on it.
its fire codes. All the exit flows out of a building in an emergency open outwards. So if a door is a designated emergency exit, it opens out the way, and you have to pull it, to get in from outside.
The greenbelt thing, I'd say that either in or on are correct, though mostly the action of running happens ontop of something, so generally I'd run 'on' something
the double t, e ending for polyglot looks wrong.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xZJENponhAc/RmHMZmm2d1I/AAAAAAAAAHg/g0HSLDoGjBM/s400/farside1.gif
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