Comments | readerravenclaw: In which I demonstrate that I must have at least SOME qualities of OCD

readerravenclaw

In which I demonstrate that I must have at least SOME qualities of OCD

Feb 28, 2005 22:18

There's a proper usage of English meme that's going around, so of course I took it. I did okay - got 100% in beginner, intermediate, a 94% or some such in advanced, and not all that well in Expert. (Somewhere in the 70s I believe ( Read more... )

Comments 9

fernwithy February 28 2005, 20:55:56 UTC

3. She __________ reached her sales goal for the month.
barely

See, that would depend on context. I could see someone sarcastically saying, in response to someone claiming that a worker had hit her sales goal, saying, "Oh, please. She's unmotivated, she doesn't finish anything, and she hardly reached her sales goal for the month." (As in "It can hardly be said that...")

(Am I the only one who STILL thinks of "Your principal is your pal" whenever asked how to spell principal? I know the difference without the Helpful Hint, but it comes to mind automatically.)
Tell me about it. It's just automatic!

22. She did not want to __________ his poem for fear that it would hurt his feelings.
criticize / criticise
critique
Either a or b
Neither a nor b

I'd disagree with that answer, just because "critique" and "criticize" have very different connotations, and in this context, "criticize" makes more sense.

Um... ding ding ding - "toward" is also correct. In fact, in American English, it's MORE often used. (Whereas in British English, " ( ... )

daisan February 28 2005, 21:09:21 UTC

Came here from fernwithy's journal to say thank you so much for this and I love you!

Okay. I'm done.

marycontraria February 28 2005, 21:12:20 UTC

Okay, so I got biweekly/semiweekly mixed up... also enquire/inquire and (*ducks head in shame*) sensual/sensuous which I would have gotten right if I'd thought it through a little more carefully. Ooops.

Thanks for taking the time to do this!! :

readerravenclaw March 1 2005, 09:43:37 UTC

And the truth is that in England, "enquire" is considered a perfectly acceptable alternative - if a bit stuck-up - so that question isn't really too great either. :)

marycontraria March 2 2005, 07:18:44 UTC

HA! So I'm right... just pretentious. Good to know. ;)

kelleypen March 1 2005, 11:13:10 UTC

I appreciate you looking all those up. And according to Strunk and White--nauseous and nauseated are not interchangeable. The pregnant lady felt nauseated after smelling the nauseous rotten eggs.

jan_aq March 1 2005, 16:05:18 UTC

XD My brain hurts! lol.

Thanks for the heads up, I will do my best to avoid this test. :P Interesting notes though. What does OCD mean?

readerravenclaw March 1 2005, 16:34:02 UTC

OCD = Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder. I don't actually have it, thankfully (although I have a great-aunt who was diagnosed with it) but I do occasionally have OCD tendencies - double-checking that doors are or aren't locked, or that things are or aren't turned on or off, slightly more often than most regular people. Not to a degree that affects my life in any way, though; I don't have anxiety attacks or anything. But once in a while I'll do something like this, where I spend way more time than I should figuring something out that doesn't really matter, just because it bugs me so much that I can't help myself. :) The OCD comment was meant half in jest, half seriously.

jan_aq March 1 2005, 17:27:56 UTC

Ah. I used to be a little like that but I think i've gotten better. I'm more of an obsessive compulsive hand washer... I just HAVE to wash my hands after certain things, like using the piano or doornobs. I think that I've mostly gotten over the more extreme things though- now I can actually get a glass or a clean plate from the kitchen and not have to wash my hands right away. Of course it helps that I've been home for awhile and not going out in "public" to use public things... But i MUST stop thinking about it. Thinking about it will be sure to bring it back. o.O