Friday, November 10, 2017

Are we fastidious yet?

Anyone who works with social media is familiar with spam posts. I get lots and lots of them here on the blog, and for some reason the most frequent adjective I see is “fastidious.”


As any native speaker of English knows, fastidious has a fairly precise meaning. The dictionary defines it as “excessively particular, critical or demanding; hard to please” (as in a fastidious eater), or something requiring excessive or painstaking care or delicacy.

And that, apparently, describes my blog. Some typical comments:
  • Asking questions are actually fastidious thing if you are not understanding something totally, however this post offers nice understanding yet.
  • Hi to every , since I am in fact keen of reading this blog’s post to bbe updated on a rrgular basis. It contyains fastidious data.
  • Ahaa, its fastidious dialogue concerning this paragraph ere at this website, I have read aall that, so at this time me also commenting here.
  • Hi, yeah this paragraph is genuinely fastidious and I have learned lot of things from it concerning blogging. thanks.
  • Hi colleagues, fastidious paragraph and good arguments commented here, I am genuinely enjoying by these.
  • This piece of writing is actually a fastidious one it helps new net people, who are wishing in favor of blogging.
  • Hello Dear, are you genuinely visiting this web page daily, if so after that you will absolutely take fastidious knowledge.
  • What’s up all, here every one is sharing such knowledge, therefore it’s fastidious to read this website, and I used to visit this weblog all the time.
  • Thanks in favor of sharing such a fastidious idea, article is fastidious, thats why i have read it entirely.
  • Hello every one, here every one is sharing such experience, thus it’s fastidious to read this weblog, and I used to pay a visit this website everyday.
All these comments makes me wonder: In teaching English out there to the wider world, who decided “fastidious” was such a useful word?

13 comments:

  1. I am gruntle after learning more about fastidious.

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  2. "In teaching English out there to the wider world, who decided “fastidious” was such a useful word?"

    I doubt teaching english has anything to do with it. More likely they plug their native language into a poorly coded translating program like Google Translate and post what ever is returned.

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  3. Fascinating seems to work in many of your examples. I wonder if people are not double checking spellcheck corrections and thus are getting the wrong word

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    1. So does the word fantastic. lol

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  4. While I don't know why the word comes up so often, to me it looks like all of those examples are not written by native English speakers. In my travels overseas, I have noticed before that certain countries tend to heavily use certain English words that we see as obscure and rare. I wonder if you could look up those usage patterns and find where the writers are most likely from.

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  5. I am a member of the grammar police. I do believe our educational system has succeeded in dumbing down the population to an alarmi g degree. Examples around of their, there, and they're used incorrnctly. Sometimes the meaning of the paragraph is compro ised so much that it cannot be understood. I am amazede at the ignorance.

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  6. Hmmm. My wife will soon spend a month in Costa Rica teaching English on a mission trip. I will encourage her to eliminate this one from her vocabulary list.

    Steve Davis
    Anchorage, Alaska

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  7. I do battle with the spell check on my phone and even though I carefully spell what I mean several times it will somehow "correct" when I send it. Natokadn

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  8. Have to laugh, Patrice..I admin several FB groups and run a web page....These are troll bots...this isn't a result of the poor teaching of the English language in our schools today (as much as that is a fact)...these are automated messages from foreign websites 'trolling' your site. I laugh at them and then block them...

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  9. In accordance with a preternatural adeptness for removing the putrescent tinned meat and offal products that may otherwise accumulate unchecked on your blog, I am greatly hopeful that you will remain fastidious with their continued deletion. :-)

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  10. I've read this blog long enough to know that fastidious, you ain't, not with the lifestyle you live and enjoy. ("Hard to please," when an old cow makes you happy?) Nice that people think your blog is, though. I guess.

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  11. I had a fast tidious once but it wore out quick. I only drive Dodges now.--ken

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  12. Back when I was blogging regularly, I get these also. They were always good for a laugh or two. But could be disappointing too, if that was the only comment.

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