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Grammar pedants - help please.

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Dvorak Jun 2024 9:01pm, 28 Jun 2024 27,833 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak "If I Was" by Midge Ure (UK #1 in 1985, also #1 in Ireland and #2 in Germany), wherein he runs through several potential scenarios, none impossible but some unlikely. "Being an otter" was not amongst them. The scenario of potential was so popular with Midge that "If I Was" is the title of a best of Ultravox and Midge Ure, and and also of his autobiography.
JamieKai chameleon Jun 2024 9:21pm, 28 Jun 2024 18,846 posts	Quote Pin JamieKai chameleon Thanks. Perhaps had Mr Ure considered being an otter, he would have been more popular
Silent Runner Jun 2024 10:03pm, 28 Jun 2024 1,040 posts	Quote Pin Silent Runner Perhaps had Mr Ure considered being an otter, he would have been more popular :) He did replace a fox(x), so it might have been appropriate.
GordonG Jul 2024 3:45pm, 4 Jul 2024 10,433 posts	Quote Pin GordonG I saw an online advert the other day encouraging people to 'pre-book' tickets to an exhibition. Given that paying for a ticket now and going straight into an exhibition is purchasing, not booking, what's the difference between 'pre-book' and 'book'? Both imply purchasing in advance, so what does the 'pre' add? thoughts?
Red Squirrel Jul 2024 4:32pm, 4 Jul 2024 24,057 posts	Quote Pin Red Squirrel 🦦😀
NordRunner Jul 2024 6:00pm, 4 Jul 2024 4,373 posts	Quote Pin NordRunner I know, that one kills me, along with “pre-warn” and a bunch of others I don't want my brain to think of right now! I blame the infectious “pre-order”, which (I grudgingly concede) once had a meaning for when a maker needed to know if there were demand enough to make a batch, and which really should be followed the actual order, IMHO.
JamieKai chameleon Jul 2024 6:05pm, 4 Jul 2024 18,883 posts	Quote Pin JamieKai chameleon (Isn't "pre-ordering" essentially "pre-buying"? Certainly in the videogames world, it's pay now, play later!)
NordRunner Jul 2024 6:12pm, 4 Jul 2024 4,375 posts	Quote Pin NordRunner That's just buying with a (pre-) warning about an uncertain delivery date
Dvorak Jul 2024 9:43pm, 4 Jul 2024 27,860 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak Pre-booking would therefore be booking sometime which is not yet available for actual booking? That makes zero sense. In fact, it's pre-posterous. (Weirdly, my autocorrect offered "pre-parkrun".)
Oranj Jul 2024 9:50pm, 9 Jul 2024 4,220 posts	Quote Pin Oranj