Vac

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I wonder what subliminal influence this will have on the ‘vacuum-cleaner’ matket:

Vax has been chosen as the word of the year by lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

MichaelG.

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

I bet it's having a subliminal influence on conversation over the UK's fourth-richest breakfast table…

[Roger BestParticipant @rogerbest89007]

But its a misspelling of a contraction???

So non-stereotypical.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 01/11/2021 06:52:44:

I wonder what subliminal influence this will have on the ‘vacuum-cleaner’ matket:

Vax has been chosen as the word of the year by lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

MichaelG.

Rather little in my view as the plural of vac for vacuum cleaner is vacs (if I have correctly understood the entry in the Oxford Spelling Dictionary). Does one spell at the subliminal level, though?

Incidentally, I am an appreciative user of the OED website, gratis via my local library membership.

Edited By ega on 01/11/2021 11:09:42

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Oh dear …

My point was that Vax is the trade name of a particular breed of vacuum cleaner.

MichaelG.

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

the use of ‘x’ as a contraction for hard ‘c’s or ‘ks’ at end of a word is an 18th C innovation – eg Manks became Manx gradually over mid to late 18th C

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

No doubt the makers of Vax vaccuum cleaners will be pleased or displeased depending on how the coinage affects their sales.

Posted by ega on 01/11/2021 11:08:42:

"Rather little in my view as the plural of vac for vacuum cleaner is vacs (if I have correctly understood the entry in the Oxford Spelling Dictionary)."

The plural of "pock" is "pocks", but it didn't stop the parallel existence of the homophone "pox".

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Frances IoM on 01/11/2021 11:21:13:
the use of 'x' as a contraction for hard 'c's or 'ks' at end of a word is an 18th C innovation – eg Manks became Manx gradually over mid to late 18th C

To be distinguished from the still current "Mancs".

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 01/11/2021 11:11:46:

Oh dear …

My point was that Vax is the trade name of a particular breed of vacuum cleaner.

MichaelG.

I don't think I knew that but am glad to see that going off at a tangent has elicited some other interesting posts.

Entirely by the way, I believe that the term vacuum cleaner is a misnomer.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by ega on 01/11/2021 11:33:26:

[…]

Entirely by the way, I believe that the term vacuum cleaner is a misnomer.

.

So you will probably be pleased to learn that I refer to the the lady as a Diabetes Nurse, not a Diabetic Nurse … on the basis that [to the best of my knowledge] she is not Diabetic.

MichaelG.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 01/11/2021 11:46:42:

So you will probably be pleased to learn that I refer to the the lady as a Diabetes Nurse, not a Diabetic Nurse … on the basis that [to the best of my knowledge] she is not Diabetic.

MichaelG.

On a related note, it doesn't alleviate my Weltschmerz when I see the doubly insensitive use of "thief" in the frequently encountered journalistic term "moped thief":

Often the people referred to have earlier stolen the mopeds (and therefore are thieves) but the crimes that make them the particular focus of the news report are more often robberies (not thefts) committed using a moped.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 01/11/2021 12:40:32

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

It will take a lot to displace the "hoover" common used name.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 01/11/2021 11:46:42:

Posted by ega on 01/11/2021 11:33:26:

[…]

Entirely by the way, I believe that the term vacuum cleaner is a misnomer.

.

So you will probably be pleased to learn that I refer to the the lady as a Diabetes Nurse, not a Diabetic Nurse … on the basis that [to the best of my knowledge] she is not Diabetic.

MichaelG.

Yes indeed – more power to your linguistic elbow!

I assume that the "word of the year" is based on usage but such expressions as the well-established "disabled toilet" do rather grate.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by ega on 01/11/2021 13:46:51:

I assume that the "word of the year" is based on usage but such expressions as the well-established "disabled toilet" do rather grate.

'Organic vegetables'. I’ve never seen an inorganic version unless it's an ornament.

pgk

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Posted by Bill Phinn on 01/11/2021 12:40:07:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 01/11/2021 11:46:42:

…….

On a related note, it doesn't alleviate my Weltschmerz when I see the doubly insensitive use of "thief" in the frequently encountered journalistic term "moped thief":

Edited By Bill Phinn on 01/11/2021 12:40:32

And none of these so called mopeds seem to feature pedals for muscle assistance

[Bill DawesParticipant @billdawes]

The first thing I said to my wife when we saw this on the news this morning was "I bet Vax will be pleased, free advertising"

Vacuum cleaner a misnomer? it creates a vacuum (or partial vacuum or negative pressure) to 'suck dirt out* as an industrial fan engineer I would be interested to know why it is a misnomer.

Bill D.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Maybe "suction duster" is more accurate?

Rob

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well I've been Vaxing my carpets for over 20 years (not continually though!)

Regards Nick.

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

So, do 'anti-vax' people live in filthy houses?

… and to swerve off topic a little, here in semi-literate New Zealand, the New Zealand Long-tailed Bat has just been nominated 'Bird of the Year'. I mean, like, English words mean wot you want, innit?

[Anonymous]

Posted by Kiwi Bloke on 01/11/2021 19:51:44:

So, do 'anti-vax' people live in filthy houses?

Doesn't matter … they're going to catch Covid-19

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

I have yet to hear someone say "I've just Dysoned the carpet"

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I expect we've all seen private-sales ads for "… Dyson hoover…"

Ironically Dyson did approach Hoover as a potential manufacturer, but was rebuffed. "Not invented 'ere", maybe.

Presumably the housepround among us, so that lets me off the hook, have some very clean volumes of vacuum in the house; rather analagous to the contents of train brake cylinders full of nominally-nothing; thanks to what would no doubt be an Atmospheric Cleaner had it been invented in Newcomen's time.

Something to contemplate perhaps when relaxing not by making swarf but strolling along a bank of that classic tautology, the River "River".

'

Whilst on that vacuum-braked train, those of my generation may remember the light-hearted literary game My Word, on the BBC Home Service or Light Programme before Aunty succumbed to this new-fangled drive to replace real names with bland numbers.

What I particularly recall, closely but not verbatim, was this gem from one of the two male panellists, Frank Muir and Dennis Norden:

Railway carriage lavatories used to carry a brass plate embossed with 'Gentlemen Lift The Seat', whose lack of punctuation makes it both peremptory command to, and admirable definition of, the Gentleman.

So now we chaps know what to say when next ticked off by the distaff side for the proverbial sin: it shows we are gentlemen. The sign I recall from my innocent past though, ordered "Gentlemen adjust your dress before leaving the lavatory". Dress?, thought I.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Another for your further amusement from the program 'My Word', was when either Frank or Dennis offered this gem –

"La Donna è Mobile" … "The Bird Rides a Motorbike."

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Down here in Australia I have not heard the word Vac or Vax used in relation to cleaning the floor. (Even the word Hoover is not used, although it was a popular brand).

If using a vacuum cleaner, we say vacuumed the floor.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 03/11/2021 04:36:38

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