THE YARD..... The GC Grumble Societies thread.... ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK...!!!

Hi Doghouse

We had 'gotten' too, once. But we have gotten over it :lollol:. It still remains in the language in phrases such as 'ill-gotten gains'.

 

Thank you everybody for your replies. And Ta Claraalou. I'm always interested in the origin of words and that might explain Americans calling their garden their yard. Lots of germanic people about.
Have a look at Ta.(Clue -Gaelic - my first language)
Not too many words have come from Gaelic straight into English but ta is one of them.

 

Thanks for that, Alice. I think the Celtic languages are fascinating. I think I have enough on my plate at the moment just trying to master a few words of Welsh, however.

Doghouse, as far as the ise/ize argument goes, I'm afraid 'ize' isn't some new-fangled affectation from across the pond. It's been used here since the sixteenth century. I once worked for a chap who was inordinately proud of being an Oxford man and insisted on the use of the 'z' spelling throughout his department. He would fly into extraordinary rages if the more downmarket (or less pompous, depending on your point of view) 's' found its way onto the page. See Wiki on 'Oxford Spelling':-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_spelling

 

Hi Shiney

Yes, Wiki is just for fun. I think most people realise it should be used with a certain amount of care. However, when it uses this particular piece of learned blather, it is quoting directly from the Oxford Dictionary:-

I]n mod.F. the suffix has become -iser, alike in words from Greek, as baptiser, évangéliser, organiser, and those formed after them from L., as civiliser, cicatriser, humaniser. Hence, some have used the spelling -ise in Eng., as in French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or Eng. from L. elements, retaining -ize for those of Gr. composition. But the suffix itself, whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Gr. -ιζειν, L. -izāre; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the special French spelling should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once etymological and phonetic. In this Dictionary the termination is uniformly written -ize. (In the Gr. -ιζ-, the i was short, so originally in L., but the double consonant z (= dz, ts) made the syllable long; when the z became a simple consonant, (-idz) became īz, whence Eng. (-aɪz).)

So there you are. As far as the OED is concerned, the z has largely won. :hehe:

I can assure you, having been on the receiving end of a lot of stick about my use of the humble 's', that the s/z argument is no laughing matter to a certain sort of Oxford graduate. The snooty Times Literary still uses the z. :snz:

 

:hehe: This is turning into a proper kvetch. (You call tell I don't have much Norman blood either.)

 

Found these definitions, all seem to be about the defining or fencing of something. Hence terraced houses with back yards.

Yard 7

Definition: An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of, or around, a house or barn; as, a courtyard; a cowyard; a barnyard.


Yard 8

Definition: An inclosure within which any work or business is carried on; as, a dockyard; a shipyard.


Yard 9

Definition: To confine (cattle) to the yard; to shut up, or keep, in a yard; as, to yard cows.

 

I always thought that 3 feet make a yard:D{as in 3x12 or 36 inches}

Can someone also explain this one{going slightly off topic}Mr Kandy works with a group of people who are from Scottish parents{living in England when they had their children},but the children even though born and brought up in England maintain they are Scottish and hate the English with a passion:cnfs:

Mr Kandy and others in his office keep trying to explain to them that they are English,but they won't have it and still say that they are Scottish and will only support Scotland,in the World Cup etc.

If I decided to up sticks and move to Scotland,then I would consider myself an English person living in Scotland,and would never dream of calling myself Scottish because I know I am not{Scottish}

I blame it all on the Normans and that William the Conquerer bloke:yez:

 

In answer to your question Kandy, I don't understand it either. I think we are just all people !

 

You get the same thing with people born here to Irish parents. 'Plastic Paddies' I believe they're called - not sure if there is a similar term for Scots!

I can only surmise it's down to a (misguided?) desire to be different or maintain some sort of Scottish-ness? But the Celtic races have a stronger identity than the English, so that might also have a contributory factor. Ironically, a lot of this 'identity' has been manufactured for tourist purposes!

 

Thank you for your replies everybody. Very interesting.
Daisees, your lovely conservatory is certainly not a lean to.
Another observation, so many people now don't seem to know the difference between the floor and the ground and use the words as if they were interchangeable - or am I the only person who has noticed that ?