[quote=“MikeC, post:57, topic:34206”]
Sorry, the Merriam-Webster dictionary begs to differ:
[/quote] by
Oh yeah but it still makes me grind my teeth when I hear it. …
Back here in the UK it is running just over 10%… High score means we’re winning right?.. Oh wait…
Massively grateful for the way the system works here in contrast to some of the alternatives - several broken bones plus 2 children (one of which had a rather dramatic arrival that would have been super spendy I’m sure in terms of resources) would have bankrupted me if I had to fund it directly rather than contributing via my taxes.
Not all perfect though - unable to access a dentist as nowhere anywhere near here is taking on new patients, which means the only option is private dental, which is frankly unaffordable.
Bane of my life, especially the phrase “touch base”.
Urgh.
Back to the topic at hand though, if I make any glaring grammar or spelling errors, please feel free to call them out - it keeps me sharp as a kinda-sorta ‘writer’ (I’ve published but it doesn’t make me any money) 
ALSO… If people like spotting mistakes abd have any spare time, feel free to check out Distributed Proofreaders, which is part of a volunteer effort to take out of print books and convert them to ebooks in order to preserve them, whilst also making them publicly free to access in the process.
3 Likes
IMO the greatest television clip of all time…
5 Likes
Always loved that.
1 Like
You mean this thread, entitled “Grammar Police Discuss…”, born when @JoshFossgreen had to split off seven comments that were derailing another thread? Going off the rails again? SAY IT AIN’T SO
3 Likes
Touch base is an idiom first used in business contexts meaning to make contact or reconnect with someone briefly, as in “let’s touch base next week.” The idiom’s origin comes from American baseball, where both runner and fielders have to “touch base” in order to be safe or record an out.
It is now considered shorthand for a brief and friendly way of making contact with someone.
2 Likes
I thought it was “Touch bass” as in “Let’s jam”.
Ex: “Hey, let’s touch bass tomorrow!”
I guess I learned something today! 
4 Likes
Lol, I don’t think anyone here has to be asked, reminded or coaxed to touch bass. 
2 Likes
I think I get normally get asked to touch bass a little less 
3 Likes
One must do what one must do regardless of exhortation or protestation. 
3 Likes
This has been enervating. Let’s circle the wagons and touch bass next week. My only ask is that we take time and appreciate ourselves. GJ
4 Likes
One. More. Time!
A lesson learned is a lesson earned.
1 Like
…fixed it for you. 
1 Like
Fixed it for YOU:
A lesson not learnt is a lesson burnt.
Don’t burn your lesson. 
3 Likes
So why isn’t it “a lesson learnt is a lesson earnt”
3 Likes
For anyone who’s nerdy about this sort of thing, I’d recommend the History of English Podcast.
It’s a super-chill one-man podcast, both informative and relaxing. I’m up to episode 60-something.
I don’t remember which episode it was, but somewhere in the 50s or 60s the host discusses the 't-'ed shift.
Personally, I used a mix of the two, because Canadian. No surprise there. I dreamed about burnt toast, yada yada.
1 Like
It sure can be. Just depends on which side of the pond someone (mis)pronounces it.
2 Likes
I would never have dreamt of such a thing!
2 Likes
All Canadians dream about burnt toast. It’s part of our heritage.
2 Likes
Well this thread makes interesting reading…
I note that this thread is headed Grammar Police but they are usually elevated to the despicable status of Nazis , in the UK.
Learnt / learned was the first argument I had with my darling wife, in 1986. She assured me it was learned, as she had won the Nicholson spelling trophy (at a school where you learn Latin and your accent is removed). I persist in using learnt.
Part of my current job is to mark about 20 dissertations and two theses per year. I confess to refusing to mark submissions which are not written in UK English. I contend that the UK is only needed because Word is a program written by a U.S. company.
In a moment of boredom yesterday I wrote to the BBC to complain about its use of the word line , when it meant queue (there are currently large numbers of people in London contributing to a world record looking at a coffin attempt, which may rival the death of Stalin).
Who was it that said the U.S. and U.K. have everything in common but language ?
Touch base is a management phrase which won me the Monday morning bullsh*t bingo competition more than once in the late nineties because I sat behind a project manager called Bernard. Great days.
1 Like