Vicious cycle or is it a circle?
I am sick of telling people that there are recognisable mistakes in some of the common phrases that are being used. Many, (NIE-trained english teachers included) have scorned me for even suggesting that what they have learned in their entire lifetime of Singaporean-ised education is wrong.
While i may have the knack of poor diction and blantant spelling errors, people tend to forget that i did have some kind of “professional” writing training. And at the point of extreme boredom while struggling to finish my work on a Saturday afternoon in office, i have decided to take the time to pen this post to qualify what i have been saying all these while (from credible academic sources) and debunk all these misconceptions.
Vicious Cycle or Vicious Circle
The term “vicious circle” was invented by logicians to describe a form of fallacious circular argument in which each term of the argument draws on the other: “Democracy is the best form of government because democratic elections produce the best governments.” The phrase has been extended in popular usage to all kinds of self-exacerbating processes such as this: poor people often find themselves borrowing money to pay off their debts, but in the process create even more onerous debts which in their turn will need to be financed by further borrowing. Sensing vaguely that such destructive spirals are not closed loops, people have transmuted “vicious circle” into “vicious cycle.” The problem with this perfectly logical change is that a lot of people know what the original “correct” phrase was and are likely to scorn users of the new one. They go beyond scorn to contempt however toward those poor souls who render the phrase as “viscous cycle.” Don’t use this expression unless you are discussing a Harley-Davidson in dire need of an oil change.
Click here for source.
Heart-wrenching or Heart-rending?
If something causes anguish or deep distress it is said to be heart-rending, (not heart-wrenching or heart-rendering).
Many people seem to confuse the term gut-wrenching (extremely distressing or unpleasant – twisting the stomach) with the term heart-rending (arousing deep sympathy – tearing the heart) to get heart-wrenching, and even possibly gut-rending. Heart-rendering, on the other hand, would logically be the process of melting the fat off the heart by heating — not the same at all!
Click here for source
Don’t suck my kack please.
Filed under: Misc | 4 Comments
“to qualify what i have been saying all these while”
i think it should be ‘all the while’, hurhur
smartie pants lor.
how’s your high maintenance bitch?
it’s heart-rendering to say, but the bitch is still scarred.