Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Candledave

I didnt notice the 2021 in the title but agree with Malone we should let it run for a while.

Malone
I agree and hope that some pedants who have not posted for a while will look for current thread when they are able to post.

Yesterday I heard a Radio3 (!) announcer do a trailer for a Lully/Molière season at the weekend. He twice pronounced the latter "Molliay" - surely not right?

Hi chrise, molli-air would be closer, but technically the French ‘ere’ ending (with grave accent) is different … the initial vowel sound is slightly elongated and the ‘r’ a bit guttural like a cat purring (think Duchess in the Aristocats).

A more specialist moan. Adverts that talk about "omega 3" (such as the Seven Seas one I've just seen) demonstrate that they have no idea what they are talking about. The "-" in omega-3 is "minus". In a fatty acid chain of an oil, the carbon atom next to the ester linkage is alpha, the second is beta; however many there are, the furthest one is omega. Omega-3 means there is a double bond 3 carbon atoms away from the end.

Candledave, We can’t have the you Pedantors being confused so I’ve amended 2021 to 2022.

Another technical moan. I missed The green planet on Sunday, but I've just tracked it down on iPlayer. The photography is fantastic, but the very first sentence that Sir David utters is just wrong: "The largest living organism on the planet is a plant, like this Sequoia".
Wrong!
It's a fungus - a honey fungus in the USA spreads over several square miles.
It's not even justified by regarding (incorrectly) fungi as plants, as later on he specifically distinguishes between animals, plants, and fungi, when he gets on to the leafcutter ants.

Changing the topic (sorry), Bojo's apology sounds like Lizzie Borden saying "I didn't mean to do it, and can the court consider that I'm now an orphan?"

What you say about fungi, chrise, is interesting. Collins and Chambers say a fugus is a plant but the OED simply says it is a growth. I've just asked a biology graduate (I didn't even take biology O-level) and he says it's not. Does it depend on what is meant by plant?

Hi orson
Living things are often divided into Kingdoms. There is some difference of opinion over how many are needed, but animals, plants, and fungi are consistently three of them.

Patrich

Thanks. I have heard it pronounced Moll-ee-er-ee (not Radio 3).

ChriseE

Thanks for the omega-3 info.