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On 04/30/2014 01:47 AM, Peter Humphrey wrote: |
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> It just annoys me when I'm offered a regular coffee, |
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> when I would have said standard, or medium (size). It's happened particularly |
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> since our high streets were flooded with Starbucks and the like. |
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If someone offered me a "regular" coffee I'd ask for a definition of "regular" |
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because I wouldn't have a clue what's being offered. |
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My impression is that many Merkin words entered the British argot during WWII, |
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when, indeed, we referred to petrol(gasoline) as "regular" or "leaded", a good |
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example of our misuse of "regular", and one I'd forgot(ten) about. |
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You and Neil both mentioned "regular guy", which I remember hearing most recently |
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in a movie about WWII, and not since. |
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Our tasteless Merkin TV commercials used the word "regular" for decades to describe |
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our ideal bowel habits, so I share your immediate association with that word. But |
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I doubt anyone less than thirty years old would remember that era. (Please let me |
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know if I'm wrong about that!) |
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