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[quote=Stan2]I heard a preacher recently constantly use the word 'incrediable' - I felt like screaming at the end of the sermon. [/quote]
When I had been ordained only two weeks, starting out as a curate, my vicar went on holiday, leaving me to run things. He told me that if I got "a big funeral" that I should ask for some support from the vicar in the neighbouring parish, as he was "very good at funerals". Lo and behold, that's exactly what happened, a funeral for a local motorcyclist in his mid 40s, and so I asked this neighbouring vicar to assist. It turned out he too was a motorcyclist, so he would know the language so to speak. Or so I thought.
Come the day, I let him take the funeral, and I respectfully observed in order to learn. What followed was a nightmare. When delivering the eulogy, this vicar said the word "Er" or Erm" several times in between almost every sentence, and had clearly not written anything down beyond his notes from the visit, at which I had been present also.
The worst moment was part way through the eulogy, when he came to mention the man's nickname which had been "Big Willy", which I would have had no problem at all with. But he stuttered and stammered, clearly worried about saying the words in church. Finally one of the deceased's mates shouted it out himself. It is the first and only time I have ever known a vicar to be heckled during a funeral service. I explained it to my vicar when he returned from holiday, and never asked the neighbouring vicar to help me again. When I asked him subsequently, he confirmed that he never writes the eulogy down, but just reads what he thought was appropriate from his visiting notes. The wife of the deceased saw me a few days later in the street, and said she wished I had taken the service instead. I learned that day to write down the eulogy - and indeed every sermon I have preached also - as I find I can work more confidently from a full script. I always make sure I never utter a single "Er" or "Erm" when speaking about a deceased person at a funeral service.
[quote=JohnWho63]...in the next 20 minutes he said Yeah or Yep a total of 173 times. Those were his only words throughout the entire conversation.[/quote]
Are you quite sure it wasn't my mother on the other end of the line to your son, John? Yeah, yes or yeps are about all I can manage to squeeze in when I'm talking to her. ;)
I was in an art gallery a couple of weeks ago, within earshot of a woman who described almost everything she saw as "stunning".
Oh, this is stunning.
That is stunning.
Stunning. Just stunning.
That's a stunning piece of artwork.
... and so on. The poor woman must have been absolutely insensible by the time she left, having been stunned so many times.
The "have got" constructions Betsie used as examples to start the thread are tautologous and perhaps there's an argument for banning (or at least avoiding) those, but there is a difference between the meanings of "to have" (to possess something) and "to get" (to obtain or become something), so I don't think we can do without got just yet.
For instance:
She got back into shape quickly after having the baby.
The kids soon got bored with the new train set.
We all got an extra fifty quid in our pay packets.
Got is one of those little link words, like "said", that shouldn't be overused, but can save your writing from looking like "writing". You could say your character climbed, jumped, clambered, or squeezed into the car, but most of the time he probably just got in.
Comments
When I had been ordained only two weeks, starting out as a curate, my vicar went on holiday, leaving me to run things. He told me that if I got "a big funeral" that I should ask for some support from the vicar in the neighbouring parish, as he was "very good at funerals". Lo and behold, that's exactly what happened, a funeral for a local motorcyclist in his mid 40s, and so I asked this neighbouring vicar to assist. It turned out he too was a motorcyclist, so he would know the language so to speak. Or so I thought.
Come the day, I let him take the funeral, and I respectfully observed in order to learn. What followed was a nightmare. When delivering the eulogy, this vicar said the word "Er" or Erm" several times in between almost every sentence, and had clearly not written anything down beyond his notes from the visit, at which I had been present also.
The worst moment was part way through the eulogy, when he came to mention the man's nickname which had been "Big Willy", which I would have had no problem at all with. But he stuttered and stammered, clearly worried about saying the words in church. Finally one of the deceased's mates shouted it out himself. It is the first and only time I have ever known a vicar to be heckled during a funeral service. I explained it to my vicar when he returned from holiday, and never asked the neighbouring vicar to help me again. When I asked him subsequently, he confirmed that he never writes the eulogy down, but just reads what he thought was appropriate from his visiting notes. The wife of the deceased saw me a few days later in the street, and said she wished I had taken the service instead. I learned that day to write down the eulogy - and indeed every sermon I have preached also - as I find I can work more confidently from a full script. I always make sure I never utter a single "Er" or "Erm" when speaking about a deceased person at a funeral service.
[/quote]
Sometimes they do get to the letter C with 'Closure'.
Are you quite sure it wasn't my mother on the other end of the line to your son, John? Yeah, yes or yeps are about all I can manage to squeeze in when I'm talking to her. ;)
[/quote]
Ass*oles.
You should have, and then ran around the church too waving your arms around.
:)
Just do as you feel Stan.
Oh, this is stunning.
That is stunning.
Stunning. Just stunning.
That's a stunning piece of artwork.
... and so on. The poor woman must have been absolutely insensible by the time she left, having been stunned so many times.
The "have got" constructions Betsie used as examples to start the thread are tautologous and perhaps there's an argument for banning (or at least avoiding) those, but there is a difference between the meanings of "to have" (to possess something) and "to get" (to obtain or become something), so I don't think we can do without got just yet.
For instance:
She got back into shape quickly after having the baby.
The kids soon got bored with the new train set.
We all got an extra fifty quid in our pay packets.
Got is one of those little link words, like "said", that shouldn't be overused, but can save your writing from looking like "writing". You could say your character climbed, jumped, clambered, or squeezed into the car, but most of the time he probably just got in.
How else you gonna sing that, man? Just wouldn't sound the same any other way.