Thread: Epic overuse/misuse of words

Sure, but it doesn't sound as good does it, doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well. I think that is what you would call an idiom. I love Idioms.

Just thinking about the co-conspirator thing. I'm thinking, you can call someone a worker and it defines that they work, you can call someone a conspirator and it defines they conspire. By calling them a co-worker you define they work with the subject, by calling them a co-conspirator etc etc

A near-miss would be a way to better describe the miss. Did you miss by a mile or an inch? I don't know I've ever heard "far-miss" though it doesn't seem unreasonable.

near-miss= missed in a manner that came very "near" to a hit. Yes, you could use near-hit in this case, but that would confuse the situation.

Then again, if you "nearly missed" that does in fact mean that you "barely hit".

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

That's all? No explanation?

Is a near miss is still a miss? Is it meant to be a more elaborate miss?

I'm aware of what is meant by "near-miss" but the correct word would be "near-hit".

Originally Posted by bbshriver

if you "nearly missed" that does in fact mean that you "barely hit".

No, it means you almost missed. I interpret "near miss" as referring to an event in which something nearly missed

Aren't "almost missed" and "barely hit" the same thing?

These mean the exact thing to me:
I was shooting my .45 the other day and almost missed the target.
I was shooting my .45 the other day and barely hit the target.

"Tend" is another one that just occurred to me.

"I tend to think..." followed by a specific thought about the topic being discussed. Either you think it or you don't. Tend means that most of the time that's what you think but not always. In reply to a thread it would be like saying, "Most of the time I would reply to your thread as follows: ... "


Disqualifying words, or "outs":
Words like "probably", "possibly", "usually", and especially combinations of those type of words.
"I think, perhaps, that there is a possibility that sometimes I make stupid posts."
That sentence has no meaning. I have disqualified it twice, and made it questionable once.
"Sometimes, maybe, people are possibly unsure about what they are saying."

That's what I was going for... "nearly miss" is the same as "barely hit".

But that's different than a "near miss". In one you're saying "I almost missed, but I did, in fact, hit" where in the other you're saying "I missed, but came very near to the target".

Originally Posted by HNSB

Aren't "almost missed" and "barely hit" the same thing?

These mean the exact thing to me:
I was shooting my .45 the other day and almost missed the target.
I was shooting my .45 the other day and barely hit the target.

Originally Posted by bbshriver

That's what I was going for... "nearly miss" is the same as "barely hit".

But that's different than a "near miss". In one you're saying "I almost missed, but I did, in fact, hit" where in the other you're saying "I missed, but came very near to the target".

The problem with this is that "near miss", at least in as much as I've learned from watching submarine movies and the like, is that you were "almost hit".

However, broken down by the English language, "near miss" means either "hit" or "barely hit".

Either way, it's a pretty stupid expression. The debate over it in this thread alone ought to be evidence enough of that fact.

I have to agree with you there. I had never heard, nor thought of any interpretation other than
"a miss that came very near to hitting", but apparently others have thought of or heard a different interpretation.

You learn something new everyday!

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

The problem with this is that "near miss", at least in as much as I've learned from watching submarine movies and the like, is that you were "almost hit".

However, broken down by the English language, "near miss" means either "hit" or "barely hit".

Either way, it's a pretty stupid expression. The debate over it in this thread alone ought to be evidence enough of that fact.

I mostly tend to agree with both sides under some circumstances.

Supposably.