Am I alone part 2

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Grandad
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Am I alone part 2

Post by Grandad »

On the subject of gripes and following Rubyslippers aversion to Turner paintings, I have a personal gripe of my own and, like RS, I wonder if my views are shared?

My gripe today is about the sloppy misuse of English, particularly with younger people; something that by custom and practice quickly becomes the accepted norm.

Some examples are: Less than or fewer than. Less is a quantity but fewer is a numerical value 'My car has done less miles than yours' which should be 'fewer miles' for example.

The use of 'as' and 'has' is constantly used incorrectly which causes me to cringe. :)

And how about 'Will you borrow me' or 'can I lend'?

There are many and I fear that our English language is slipping into more of a slang... :(

Anyone agree?


:gg:
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Ruby Slippers »

Oh indeed you are not alone! I really have to bite my tongue at the 'as' and 'has' - and the two particular members on the Blue side who constantly use them the wrong way round! :stp
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Horus »

Totally Grandad, whilst I abhor the spelling and grammar police that frequent some forums and pick up on the slightest slip up, I do often cringe at how seemingly educated posters do not seem to know the difference between ‘as’ & ‘has’ and even ‘dose’ as opposed to ‘does’. Not everyone is great at written or spoken English and we all use a bit of slang in our casual posts, but some people do seem to be either downright lazy or with very poor spelling abilities.

I can guarantee that if I write a longish post it will contain a few spelling mistakes, but I run it through my spellchecker first just in case as I know I am not perfect. As to the wrong usage of words, well at times it beggars belief, the examples you quote are classics “can you borrow me £5” what are they asking? Is it “will you go and find someone who will lend you £5 and then you can give it to me” or are they asking to borrow £5 from me? In that case the question is easy enough “can you lend me £5”
Surely the word itself is self explanatory? You borrow something for yourself, whereas you lend something to someone else.

This thread could run for ever as I have only just started! :x :lol: :lol:
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Grandad »

I know who you mean RS ;) And Horus, I agree we could have some fun as we think of some of the classics. Your and you're is another example and here 'your' becomes universal.
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Ruby Slippers »

Lose and loose? :D
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Horus »

And what about the total lack of any punctuation, or no spaces at all between sentences? I don’t mean incorrect punctuation as we are all guilty of that at times, I mean a complete lack of it.

Oh and while we are in full moan mode, :lol: what about that irritating speech habit when peoples voices rise slightly near the end of speaking and it sounds like everything they say is ending in a question. Aussies seem particularly good at it, ;) hard to describe, but “ I went out shopping today” has the same tonal range as the question “can I help you?” I find it very strange.
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Try talking to an African American using Ebonics!! Awful. Absolutely awful. In the USA one of the latest words for Police is "Po-po" and I can say I definitely do NOT like that word. Drove me crazy sometimes trying to understand the intentional misuse of English words there. I get it that African American people are trying to distinguish themselves from white people and language has become a way for them to do it however their sub-culture of language that nobody else in the world would understand was always curious. This is partly my own bit of a rant and not really in line with Grandad's thread .......... soooooo ........ ;) ;)

IF the tonal asking a question sound is Aussie central then it is equally Canadian too ;) with our classic and world known "eh?" being added to the end of most sentences. This is very prevalent in eastern Canada and I believe derives or derived from French speaking Canada where there is quite a pronounced tonal question at the end of sentences. Was actually teased mercilessly while working in the USA about this soon as an American could catch my accent, know where it came from they'd invariably then smile and say "eh?" Was always friendly and I assumed they were trying to relate to me.

I personally don't like the word LIKE being injected into speech - like, you know, I was like doing this like you know blah blah blah.

The as + has is ridiculous and I think deliberately done by some members here just to try and distinguish themselves as being different. What is has accomplished for me is that I rarely read these posts particularly if I have to start deciphering. Too much effort so I skim or skip entirely the post.

I'm guilty of using " " to try and emphasize what I'm saying and the point I'm trying to make. I also make typo's and sometimes auto correct makes mistakes for me that I don't catch which, am sure, doesn't help the reader either.
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Horus »

Maybe I have not explained myself clearly, it is when they speak as if they are asking you a question even when telling you something. So it goes something like “We were going to the beach for a swim”, but it is said with a slight delay before the word swim and the word swim is spoken in such a way as to imply a question, almost as if the speaker is asking you if that is the correct word to use, so it comes out sounding something like “We are going to the beach for a ……. Swim?” Hard to explain but it irritates the life out of me when a Brit talks that way.

I’m with you though on adding ‘ & “” to emphasise something, although I only tend to use it in chat forums.
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Re: Am I alone part 2

Post by Grandad »

Horus as that irritating inflection annoys most people I am sure we understand what you mean. They seem to tonally raise the last syllable instead of letting it fade softly. It is SO common now particularly with young people and it is another cringe trigger. :lol: (note the use of capitals to emphasise 'so'. I think that works?)

Another dislike is spellcheckers that are American English based. Even when I use them I still have to check to see if I agree. Like 'emphasise' in the above sentence. The spell checker wanted it to be 'emphasize' :xx
:gg:
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