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Thanks, Jigjag and Tyke51.

We now have two missions...

All PU members are to try to insert 'guided by the dictionaries' and 'correct but unwanted and unloved' into as many conversations as possible. It would, of course, be desirable to have these glide effortlessly, virtually unnoticed, into everyday chitchat.

Our second mission is to seek out and hunt down all examples of CBUAU - with a view to making it the Lesser-Spotted CBUAU. Tyke's list made a good start. The only addition I have to offer at the moment is the much-dreaded SA, the close friend of It.

I see that there has been a serious incident in a library north of the border. A furious row broke out about the use of intransitive verbs, and a woman, believed to be a well-known crossword solver, hurled a copy of Chambers at a fellow enthusiast, causing an unfortunate injury.

At a press conference a spokesman for the police said, “We wanted to throw the book at her, literally, but the alleged assailant has been arrested on suspicion of GBD”.

“You mean GBH?” he was asked.

“No, GBD….guided by dictionary.”

Malone Tyke et al

Much as I like CBUAU, I fear it may never catch on, but it occurred to me that there may be another organisation with that acronym. After some research I found the phone number of the Confederation of British Universities Accepting Unicorns. I spoke to the Admissions officer, Ewan Yew.

I told him about our efforts and he was rather pleased, but said, “It has been a worrying few days for universities and unicorns. Numbers of A* have reduced to er…U for many unicorns, which is inappropriate or appropriate, depending how you look at it. We have taken the decision to accept all unicorns whatever their grades, and it is great to have the support of another CBUAU in our efforts to get financial support from the Government.”

Malone @1753, I realise that I responded to your use of GBTD (and asked if I could steal it) on a completely different thread yesterday and I see now where it originated!
Your suggestion of slipping it into everyday conversation reminded me of a game I play with a family member.
For a couple of years I’ve been compiling a list of ‘fossil words’ - words that are broadly obsolete but remain in current use due to their presence within a specific phrase or idiom. In the game we score points for using a fossil word outside of the usual idiom in general family correspondence without anyone else noticing. It’s great fun!

Grunger, Jigjag, and Jono

Thanks for your interesting - and in parts, fun - posts. I'll reply to them individually ... so that I don't forget or miss anything!

Grunger

Thanks for the account of my intransitive verbs contretemps, but there was a major factual error. I would never - ever - resort to violence. I think we'll reword the story so that the book was thrown at me, rather than by me. 'There, that's what I think of you and your "Chambers says it's also an intransitive verb" nonsense.' could have been the accompanying remark, almost as wounding as the physical injury.

The GBD/GBH bit was hilarious.

Jigjag

Don't worry too much about CBUAU, it's already been changed to AAAAA - upgraded, after serious errors in the algorithms were noticed and acted upon. I'm glad the applications for the university places have all had a successful outcome too.

Jono,

Thanks for the 'guided by the science...' stuff - sorry, guided by the dictionaries. I think there must have been a slight brainwashing element to the 'guided by science' when we heard to much of it earlier in the year. I am pleased to jettison it and delighted to give 'guided by the dictionaries' a fully-deserved place in the nation's consciousness.

I really like the sound of your 'fossil words' activities, - that sounds interesting and lots of fun. I wouldn't mind hearing some examples.

Malone,
Here are some fossil word examples. Arguably some are better examples than others. It’s interesting the role that alliteration plays. (This is a cut and paste so I hope it formats ok).

FELL (In one fell swoop) fell meaning cruel or evil
TRUCK (Have no truck with) truck meaning dealings
PALE (Beyond the pale) pale meaning fence or fencepost
KITH (Kith and kin)
SPICK (Spick and span)
CURRY (Curry favour)
AMOK (Run amok)
HALE (Hale and hearty)
FRO (To and fro)
YON (Hither and yon)
DESERTS (Just deserts)
BANDY (Bandy about)
EKE (Eke out)
KEN (Beyond one’s ken)
VIM (Vim and vigour)
FETTLE (Fine fettle)
OFFING (In the offing)
NEAP (Neap tide)
THITHER (Hither and thither)
BECK (Beck and call)
DINT (By dint of)
IMMEMORIAL (Time immemorial)
BATED (Bated breath)
WEND (Wend ones way)
LURCH (Leave in the lurch)
SHRIFT (Short shrift)
UMBRAGE (Take umbrage)
HUE (Hue and cry)
WEEDS (Widow’s weeds)
WIT (To wit) wit meaning know
WEND (Wend one’s way)
AWEIGH (Anchors aweigh)

Did you know that "time immemorial" once had a precise meaning? In 1275, when landowners were trying to establish they had rights to their land, it was declared that if they could show they had held it since time immemorial, they had nothing further to prove. Time immemorial was defined as the accession of Richard I in 1179.