Ryan's verbal tick of using 'ality' at the end of every word...

@BisonHero said:

Yeah, but at least he's using it correctly.

That's actually not true:

But the real issue is that he's always pronounced it as though it were spelled "obstensively." The base word here is "ostensible," not "obstensive" (which isn't a word).

@Catarrhal: I think Ryan acknowledged this in a podcast.

I love the Ryan Davis verbal flourish TM, it's just fancy is all. I'm guilty of applying 'esque' at the end of words a lot, in a Ryan Davis-esque fashion, you might say.

As someone who studied english language purely to fuck with it better, I approve of Ryanality.

Ryan's English is one of the things that make him so great.

Ah, the weekly "RYAN DOESN'T PRONOUNCE WORDS RIGHT" thread...

@Catarrhal said:

@BisonHero said:

Yeah, but at least he's using it correctly.

That's actually not true:

But the real issue is that he's always pronounced it as though it were spelled "obstensively." The base word here is "ostensible," not "obstensive" (which isn't a word).

Fair enough. I never knew "apparent" and "ostensible" weren't quite synonyms, though even after reading that, they're still close enough that I see why they have a similar connotation. And yeah, the pronunciation is the worst part.

Also, did the staff intentionally use "emblemic" for a week or two just to mess with the pedants on the site? I remember it first happening on a livestream where the chat made fun of them for it, but I was getting caught up on my backlog of Quick Looks and TNTs, and they used it again somewhere.

¡Exzécutable

The only times Ryan's special language issues (I don't know if he thinks he's being cute, or smart or funny or whatever) ever seem to annoy me is when he starts in on other people like Will Smith for their pronunciation of things. I don't know why, but for some reason the hypocrisy isn't amusing to me, when normally I enjoy the whole 'ha I'm going to laugh at you for something I do too COMEDY!' in most situations.

Ah, well all is forgiven when you watch Ryan hammer those gamespot duders on their podcast vids. :)))

That and I never noticed anyway. :/

@Catarrhal said:

@BisonHero said:

Yeah, but at least he's using it correctly.

That's actually not true:

This changes everything.

@pweidman said:

Ah, well all is forgiven when you watch Ryan hammer those gamespot duders on their podcast vids. :)))

That and I never noticed anyway. :/

Yeah, so true. Ryan comes across like fucking Tolstoy compared to GameSpot knuckleheads when he's on of their videos.

And anyway who says a writer can't play with words for a laugh? Seriously, what's the point in this thread and why should he change? His command of the English language is better than most of the "video game journalists" out there. Trawl through N4G to find the real shit of the internet, then go whine about that.

@BisonHero said:

@Brodehouse said:

@BisonHero said:

@Ravenlight

Ryan's ad-libbed phonological stylings elevate him far above the level of most mainstream podcasters.

I've always assumed that his choice to mispronounce certain words for a laugh (sWord, zambies, etc.) was a smokescreen for a crippling lack of culture and language skills. He seems like he has no idea how to pronounce any foreign words except for some Spanish. And he mispronounces or reinvents English words that really aren't that difficult. So he doubles down on the whole thing and plays it off like it's an affectation. I've come to accept this. The bigger issue is Patrick trying to use fancy phrases that he doesn't understand. He called a visual novel a "zero-sum game", which is impossible. He meant something like "it's an all or nothing experience, and you have to commit to getting all of the endings", which is not even close to the definition of zero-sum game.

Bahaha, oh yeah. Man, Patrick. I still think the overuse of 'ostensibly' is better.

Yeah, but at least he's using it correctly. It's just that he uses it way too often, when he could also throw in the occasional "supposedly", "seemingly", or "for all intents and purposes".

Though I've noticed I have a habit of doing something similar in my own writing and speaking. If I don't consciously look out for it, I somehow end up starting like 30% of my sentences with "basically" whenever I am trying to explain or summarize a topic. I've seen it get pretty bad in some of my writing before I proofread, or if I'm giving a presentation and have to answer question off the cuff.

There's a severe lack of the word "purportedly" in GB content. I've never once heard it uttered here. Ostensibly, on the other hand, is so overused by the staff that it's lost all novelty, and now comes across as nothing but a quasi-desperate-for-a-broader-vocabulary grab at less common words, which, in this case, are now far too common. Now, where I'll respectfully disagree is at your assertion that Ryan's word twisting is an affectation that stems from a crippling lack of culture (which you're probably at least partially spot-on about, and about which I could probably write a whole blog post, specifically concerning how this manifests in Jeff, and how it relates to his general stubbornness and, more specifically, unfathomable, and frankly rather disheartening, pickiness with food). Case in point, his (surprisingly and admirably moderate) use of "accoutrement," with correct French pronunciation and all. That's only one small example, sure, but Ryan does seems to display a healthy exposure to culture quite often, even if it is all ingrained in and inseparable from his surface-level facade of rigidly American provincial insularity.

Also, wow, stream-of-consciousness forum posts. Sometimes I wonder if I should really hit "Post Reply" at all. But fuck it--anonymity, right?

OH MY GOD I AM SO FUCKING MAD RIGHT NOW

I scrolled through four pages and none of you posted an example. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

Well, as long as he says "executable" correctly, everything is alright.

Seriously? I could imagine people complaining about his overuse of what seems like his favorite word 'rebuffed' but his verbal florish is what he does.

Hell I am Aussie how can I talk? Aussies chew up words into quarters and spit them back out again.

I think everyone who complains about shit like "Ryans verbal tics" or "why does Patrick laugh like 'shhhhhshhshshhs""  NEEDS TO TAKE A BREAK FROM INGESTING GIANT BOMB.  If these things bother you so much, lay off for a while.

"Tics."

tic

/tik/

@Poppduder said:

I think everyone who complains about shit like "Ryans verbal ticks" or "why does Patrick laugh like 'shhhhhshhshshhs"" NEEDS TO TAKE A BREAK FROM INGESTING GIANT BOMB. If these things bother you so much, lay off for a while.

I like this.

Also, the next time you're so annoyed by someone's habits on the podcast, or their writing style, or whatever...and you feel tempted to make a thread whining about it...just don't. We don't take kindly to that sort of thing 'round these parts.