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Stop Embarrassing Yourself

2010-09-28 · Hank · watch on YouTube · History & curiosities · advice recommendation

Hank lists commonly misused phrases, place names and pronunciations (couldn't care less, ironic, UK vs England, affect/effect, façade) to help viewers avoid the embarrassment of saying things wrong.

What is said

00:00:00 — Saying stuff wrong is the most embarrassing thing; people won't tell you, an 'intellectual fly down'

  • ★★★ Hank says saying things wrong is, as far as he is concerned, the most embarrassing thing that can happen, and as with an open fly, people are often too embarrassed to tell you. (hedged) — 00:00:02 > «you go on and on with this intellectual fly down»

00:00:19 — Numbered list: couldn't care less, intents and purposes, hold the fort, Frankenstein's monster, Alanis and irony, redundant acronyms (PIN number, ATM machine), La Brea Tar Pits

  • ★★ Hank corrects common phrases: it is 'couldn't care less' (if you could care less, you care), 'for all intents and purposes', not 'intensive purposes', and 'hold the fort', a military metaphor. (playful) — 00:00:19
  • ★ With on-screen pictures, Hank points out that the creature usually called Frankenstein is Frankenstein's monster, not Frankenstein. — 00:00:43
  • ★★ Hank tells Alanis Morissette that getting a death-row pardon two minutes too late is extremely unfortunate, but not ironic. (playful) — 00:00:48
  • ★★ Hank says not to repeat a word already inside an acronym ('PIN number', 'ATM machine'), though 'the La Brea Tar Pits', literally 'the the tar tar pits', is fine. (playful) — 00:00:57

00:01:19 — A misspelled 'you lose the game' comment: Hank thinks of the American education system instead

  • ★ Hank says the common Vlogbrothers comment 'you lose the game' is often misspelled (shown on screen), so instead of losing the Game he thinks of the failure of the American education system. (joke) — 00:01:19 · Vlogbrothers

00:01:34 — United Kingdom, Great Britain and its three countries; England is not a synonym for the UK

  • ★★ Hank says the United Kingdom (of Northern Ireland and Great Britain) contains Great Britain, an island of three autonomous countries: Wales, Scotland and England. — 00:01:34 · United Kingdom
  • ★★ Hank warns that saying 'I sure love it here in England' in a pub in Wales will get you punched: England is not a synonym for the United Kingdom. (playful) — 00:01:50 · United Kingdom

00:01:59 — Affect vs effect, including effect as a verb

  • ★★ Hank explains affect vs effect: effect is almost always a noun and affect a verb ('the greenhouse effect affects the climate'), but effect can also be a verb meaning to bring about. — 00:02:10

00:02:50 — Hank's college oral report on Alberti in which he mispronounced 'façade'

  • ★★ Hank says that in college he gave a long oral report on Leon Battista Alberti's Renaissance façades, mispronouncing 'façade' throughout; finding out was one of his most embarrassing moments. — 00:02:53

00:03:09 — Rapid list of correct pronunciations: awry, epitome, Edinburgh, ethereal, meme, haphazard, facetious, hyperbole, colonel, Boolean, dishevelled

  • ★★ Hank runs through correct pronunciations of often-mispronounced words: awry, epitome, Edinburgh, ethereal, meme, haphazard, facetious, hyperbole, colonel, Boolean and dishevelled. (playful) — 00:03:10

00:03:40 — Hope to have helped; asks Nerdfighteria for their own public mispronunciations; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank asks Nerdfighteria to help him feel better about his façade mistake by telling him in the comments words they have mispronounced in public. — 00:03:46 · Nerdfighteria

Humor (significant)

  • Hank explains why you 'hold the fort' rather than 'hold down the fort'. — 00:00:34 > «You do not hold down the fort, because the fort isn't inflatable and filled with helium.»
  • Hank writes to Alanis Morissette about a death-row pardon that arrives two minutes too late. — 00:00:48 > «that is extremely unfortunate. It is not, however, ironic.»
  • Commenters' 'you lose the game' is often misspelled, so Hank does not lose the Game after all. — 00:01:26 > «I'm thinking about the failure of the American education system.»
  • In his pronunciation list Hank reaches 'hyperbole'. — 00:03:27 > «Not the sequel to the Super Bowl, the Hyper Bowl»

Threads in this video

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