BS: one word or two
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I am holding in my hand a book titled "On Bullshit." It's from Princeton University Press. That's good enough for me to say it's one word.
Maryn, philosophy dilettante
Maryn, philosophy dilettante
Or cow shit, or sheep shit, or chicken shit... Okay then, I'd use bullshit
An example of what I was thinking: one word metaphorical, two words literal.
"Bullshit" is usually (in my experience), written as one word. However, "bull pucky", "buffalo foofies", "bovine excrement", "moo poo" and many other euphamisms and synonyms come in two words. One-word synonyms include "bushwa", "postmodernism", "bunkum" and "hogwash".
Sometimes, a dictionary is like a doctor with bad bedside manners: too clinical to capture all the subtleties.
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On Bullshit is a wonderful book.
M-W has it as closed for both the literal and figurative uses.
A note about dictionaries: Don't check them all you want. Know that when you submit something, the editors will notice the variations from the dictionary. The more they notice those things the less they think of your manuscript. Just a heads up.
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Here you go. Bullshit is one word. This stuff, even obscenity, is in a good dictionary.
I'm a devoted fan of the American Heritage Dictionary, which is online in its entirety, free.
I'm a devoted fan of the American Heritage Dictionary, which is online in its entirety, free.
Maybe, but there's no subtlety or doubt about the respective meanings of 'bullshit' or 'bull shit'.
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If that were true, someone couldn't have written an entire book - even a short one - On Bullshit.
To me, one word deemphasizes the shittinest of whatever it its. Treating someone shitty is not good, but if you "bull" them first, somehow that's not as bad.
As an aside, "bullshit" might be the single most useful word in the English language. It should be employed more often.
(And, yes, I know what the response to this post will be.)
caw
(And, yes, I know what the response to this post will be.)
caw
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Oddly enough, up here (somewhat north of England and over to the left) "mince" is used more often than bullshit or bollocks.
-Derek
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In France, many words mean something else.So what does 'mince' actually mean then? In France, it means skinny.
Simply, mince = minced beef. Can refer to appearance (not exactly pleasant to look at) or thoughts & ideas (raw, uncooked, utterly disorganized).
"That's mince." = "How absurd!"
-Derek
65% of the English language is derived from French.
So mince is a bit like the saying 'a bulldog chewing a wasp', or like Shugs, out of The colour purple, says 'My, you sure is ugly!'
So mince is a bit like the saying 'a bulldog chewing a wasp', or like Shugs, out of The colour purple, says 'My, you sure is ugly!'
In France, many words mean something else.
Simply, mince = minced beef. Can refer to appearance (not exactly pleasant to look at) or thoughts & ideas (raw, uncooked, utterly disorganized).
"That's mince." = "How absurd!"
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Send that line to Al Murray, he'll squeeze an hour's stand-up comedy out of it.
Not sure about context -- I wouldn't say "You're mince!" any more than I would say "You're bullshit!" or "You're bollocks!" Examples: You're talking a load of mince! Did you see that new show on TV last night? It was mince! You paid what for that dress? That's mince! And by the way, it looks mince on you.So mince is a bit like the saying 'a bulldog chewing a wasp', or like Shugs, out of The colour purple, says 'My, you sure is ugly!'
We have other words for personal insults, most of which may have French origin!
-Derek
I don't know who Al Murray is I'm afraid, and if he'd rake the piss out of the French, I wouldn't want to know who he is, I am a Francophile through and through. 
And most TV programmes are mince anyway But it's not a word I've ever heard used down here in Buckinghamshire, only for minced beef, lamb, or those yucky pies people eat at this time of year.
And most TV programmes are mince anyway
But it's not a word I've ever heard used down here in Buckinghamshire, only for minced beef, lamb, or those yucky pies people eat at this time of year. Send that line to Al Murray, he'll squeeze an hour's stand-up comedy out of it.
Not sure about context -- I wouldn't say "You're mince!" any more than I would say "You're bullshit!" or "You're bollocks!" Examples: You're talking a load of mince! Did you see that new show on TV last night? It was mince! You paid what for that dress? That's mince! And by the way, it looks mince on you.
We have other words for personal insults, most of which may have French origin!
-Derek
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Another 86% is derived from German, 17% directly from Latin, 7% from Native American languages, and the remaining 30% comes from chasing other languauges down dark alleys and stealing words at knife-point.
Edited to Add: I was stationed with a Greek Naval Officer who was firmly convinced (and could expound for hours on the topic) that every word in every other languauge in the world is derived from Greek.
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I knew that Greek officer! He stood watch a lot because he was never allowed shore leave where there might be decent women, due to certain preferences. Even more than the Russians I knew, Greeks did it or said it first.
However, the mince some of you know is not the mince I know. Especially at this holiday time, have you never heard of mincemeat pie?
It is made from the meat of the tasty mince. Man and boy I have hunted mince some fifty years. After all the smelly entrails are tossed, the bristly hide discarded, and mincemeat is cut away from the large mincebones, there is only enough spicy pie filling to put into a 12-inch pie crust. Mmmmm!
And that's no bull . . . um . . . well . . . you know.
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That Naval Officer apparently was the inspiration for the father in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
Italian, French and Spanish etc., are all derivatives of Latin-based languages, are they not (Latin is Italian, isn't it). When I was teaching myself French, I could also understand very many of the Italian and Spanish written words too, just different sounding endings.
No, Latin is not Italian.
The romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian) are all based on Latin. Medievalist can go into far more detail than I can, but my gut feeling is that saying English is majority based on French is specious at best.
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