Preposition proliferation

Have you noticed how, over the years, prepositions have been creeping into places where they never used to be? They seem to be proliferating [sich ausbreiten].

For example, in the past, you would say, "I'm meeting Tom in town this afternoon. We're having lunch together at our favourite restaurant." Nowadays, people feel the need to slip in a few extra pronouns, as in, "I'm meeting up with Tom in town this afternoon."

People used to say, "I'll call you this afternoon". Now they say, "I'll call you up this afternoon." The same with "I'll ring you" and "I'll ring you up".

This is okay if the extra preposition or two doesn't change the meaning of what is being said. But I've seen some very worrying examples. The first one is this: "The pipes allow for the water to flow into the drains." In this case, the word "for" is completely unnecessary and it actually changes the meaning of the verb, making it totally inappropriate for the sentence.

What the sentence should be is this: "The pipes allow the water to flow into the drains." That is to say that they enable the water to flow into the sewage system [Abwassersystem].

The verb "to allow for" means something completely different. I shall let the Cambridge English Dictionary define it for you:

to consider something when you are planning something:

We allowed for living expenses of £20 a day.

[ + -ing verb ] You should allow for the plane being delayed.

We have to allow for the possibility that we might not finish on schedule.

More examples

• You have to allow for a time lag between order and delivery.
• Our range of children's clothing is generously sized to allow for shrinkage.
• Remember to allow for extra time if you are travelling at rush hour.
• Did you allow for staff absences when you drew up the work schedule?
• At least the old curriculum allowed for some variation in classroom activities.

In German, this would translate as "etwas berücksichtigen", "etwas in Betracht ziehen" or "etwas einplanen", which is not the same as "erlauben" or "zulassen", which is the translation of "allow".

People seem to feel an urge to shove prepositions in where none are needed. Another example is the verb "to advocate", which means "etwas empfehlen oder befürworten oder verfechten". 

This is a dictionary definition of "to advocate": to publicly support or suggest an idea, development, or way of doing something:

Examples: She advocates taking a more long-term view.  He advocates the return of capital punishment.

"To advocate for" means "to speak for, support, or represent a person or group of people who may need extra help or protection or representation

Examples: A lot of people living in desperate poverty are taken advantage of and need someone to advocate for them.

The Education Trust advocates on behalf of disadvantaged and minority students.

As you can see from the second example, the 'for' means 'on behalf of'. This is why it is completely inappropriate in the first examples. If you just use 'advocate', it's like saying you recommend something. You're not arguing on behalf of a person or group of people.

I am not the only person who has noticed how prepositions are creeping into places where they are "extraneous to requirement", i.e. simply not necessary. Here is a blog entry from 2015, which will give you some more examples: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/LiveCulture/archives/2015/05/29/style-patrol-prepositions-are-creeping-up-on-us 

Enjoy!

Not an inch more than strictly necessary

On my walks around the nearby park, it never fails to amaze me how joggers, who are so keen on keeping or getting fit, are unable to give me any space when passing me.

There I am, on the extreme right of the pathway in the park and there they come towards me. In the middle of the path. They can't give me some extra space as they pant by, covering me with their germs. It's as though there has never been a pandemic and the word "Abstand" (distance) has become obsolete. 

It's even worse when they come from behind you. All of a sudden, I hear a sound behind me and I jump and turn around. Some male runner might then look startled at the expression on my face, which is one of fear. Do they never think that people ahead of them might be anxious that they will be attacked or mugged by someone running up fast right behind them? I don't think any male runner has ever given this any thought. 

But as I said before, I'm amazed that they want to keep fit, but they just don't seem to have the energy to deviate from their track, not even by an inch or two, just to give someone a bit of space. If things are that bad, if even an extra inch would be too much for them, then maybe they should take a shorter route or just stay at home on the sofa. Running too close past another person is just bad etiquette.

Bulls = pigs = chickens

 Eh? A bunch of random farmyard animals are all equal? 

It's all got to do with the police. While in Germany, policemen are called "die Bullen" ("the bulls"), in Britain, they are "pigs" and in France "chickens" ("les poulets"). Personally, I think it doesn't sound too bad to call someone a "bull". After all, they're hefty animals that can crush you if they want to. That's the kind of policeman you want, someone who's nice and burly (stämmig, kräftig), someone who can deal with criminals resisting arrest. "Pigs" on the other hand - just not nice at all. Although pigs are said to be very intelligent animals, that aspect of their personality is not what one thinks of when conjuring up an image of a pig. 

"Chickens", on the other hand, why? Well, apparently, it goes back to the latter half of the 19th century. The police headquarters in Paris was burnt down by the Communards in May 1871. They were rehoused in some barracks that had been built on the former site of a poultry market. Hence the name "les poulets" or "the chickens". Much cuter than "pigs".

HNO = ENT

Don't worry. I'm not going to do algebra. "HNO" stands for "Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Arzt", which in English would be an "ENT" doctor or "ear-nose-throat" specialist.

What tickles me is that the order of the three parts of the body is the opposite way round in the two languages. Obviously, this is because they are listed in alphabetical order, but I still think it's funny that the lists are a "mirror image" of each other.

I now know what my neighbours aren't eating

 About a month or so ago, shortly after it was agreed that I can try to do something with the strip of 'garden' in the back yard, we got a "Biotonne" or bin for waste food and garden waste. In the first week or so, when I put stuff in it, I noticed that there were a few small plastic bags tied up and thrown in as well. I presumed that they contained kitchen waste from the other tenants. 

Since then, however, that bin has contained nothing apart from what I have checked in, including lots of ivy and dead twigs. Recent kitchen waste from me has included eggshells, banana skins, the peel of oranges and grapefruit, the leaves of cauliflowers, apple cores and kohlrabi peel. But my neighbours don't seem to eat anything fresh at all. Whenever I chucked more stuff in, the new waste landed on my old waste.

I am puzzled by this as we now have occupiers for all 15 flats, including a family of four, a young couple, a father and son and many people (including me) who work from home. Do they honestly eat nothing fresh from one week to the next? Or can't they be bothered to collect the waste and then take it down to the bins? Or do they - as so many Germans do - only eat hot food at the canteen where they work and eat just bread and stuff for breakfast and so-called "Abendbrot", which literally translates into "evening bread"? If they do that and just have a bit of fresh tomato to put on their cheese sandwich, then that might explain the lack of vegetable waste, but it is worrying. 

Evenings at my parents or grandparents' place was like "feeding time at the zoo". At around 6.30 in the evening, my mother or grandmother would sit down on the sofa with a big soup plate piled high with various kinds of fruit. The rest of the family would all be watching TV. Mum or Oma would then proceed to peel, slice and share out bits of fruit to every family member: half or a quarter of an orange, thick slices of apple, half a banana, a bit of pear, some grapes - whatever. Either handed over to the person in question or passed over on a small cake plate. Conversation ceased as everyone munched and crunched on the fruit. Like a band of gorillas.

Recently, there has been a rise in colon cancer that has worried both scientists and laypeople. One reason for this is now thought to be the lack of fibre or roughage [Ballaststoff] in one's food. Crisps [Kartoffelchips], chips [Pommes], Haribo sweets and white bread rolls - which is what I often see the children on their way to the three schools in the area eat for breakfast - don't give your stomach and guts a good time. Fibre is said to act like pipe cleaners [Pfeifenreiniger]: as it is not absorbed into your various systems, it passes through your stomach and digestive tract, helping to push out waste. With a lot of it in your gut, it increases the size and - more importantly - the softness of your stools, which means you can avoid the unpleasant feeling and consequences of constipation [Obstipation]. It has various other effects, but that is the one I like best: the idea of it cleaning you out from the inside.

The fact that I see no food waste in the special bin for it just makes me wonder about the health of my neighbours - now that I can see what they don't eat.

Gardening and nature conservation - or chopping nature to bits

In my first year at Manchester University, I joined two societies in the first week, Freshers' Week, when at least 40 student societies set up stands in the large hall of the Student Union building to woo new members. The two that I joined were the Folk Dancing Society (a very strenuous 3 hours on a Wednesday afternoon) and the Conservation Society. They didn't meet up so often and I only went out once with them and that was to chop down trees that shouldn't have been in that area and to clear the land. 

Recently, I have persuaded one of my three landlords to let me have a go at the small strip of 'garden' in the back yard. Frankly, I couldn't do any worse than the caretaker of the building who hacked all the living plants to bits and left the dead trees and shrubs in situ. Thankfully, I can see some tentative [zahhaft] signs that the poor plants are recovering. A lot of plants are bloody-minded [stur] and refuse to give up. 

I've tackled some of the easier parts of the strip - those that aren't blocked by the 101 bikes that seem to breed in but never leave the yard. And today, it was the turn of a large bush that was being choked by horrible thick tendrils of ivy. (I really hate ivy, although I'll put up with the variegated variety, having daintier leaves and being more interested in colour.)

An entire "Biotonne" or green waste bin was full by the time I had finished and the little corner looked a lot brighter and the bush seemed a lot happier at being free and able to feel the breeze through its branches. Once I get a good grip of that area, more plants will join those that I've already planted out.

It did, however, amuse me to think that a lot of gardening seems to be hacking nature to bits in an attempt to allow the plants to thrive and live in harmony with each other.

Horrible ivy

Nice ivy

"I'm so lonely....you what?"

I keep reading about how more and more people feel lonely and isolated. About how they often don't talk to anyone for days or even weeks. And yet, is it any wonder when so many people go about with earphones stuck in their ears?

When I walk through the park or even through town sometimes, I might greet individual people. A quick "Morning" and a smile or a nod means that you acknowledge a person as they pass by. Often, though, the person just doesn't respond as they just don't hear you. 

And it's not just the younger people either. In a gym a while back, I complimented someone on their T-shirt and the older woman had to take the earphones out of her ears so that she could actually hear what I had said. Fortunately, I had stood in her line of sight and she had seen that my lips had moved. 

It's hard to have a conversation or even exchange a few bright and cheery words if people go round with their ears focused not on the world around them, but on something else entirely. 

You can't complain that no-one talks to you if you can't hear the words that they do say to you.