Equally bad is the phrase “I could care less” when what is meant is “I could NOT care less.” If you could care less, then it must have some importance to you.
Also, too many are now saying “a igloo”, “a apple” instead of “an”. I’ve even seen it in my local newspaper, including AP writers doing this. It drives me nuts!
I hate hearing people call the person hired to sell their house a “RE-la-tor” instead of a “RE-al-tor.”
On the other hand, up until recently I thought the opposite of “amity” (friendliness) was “emnity” instead of “enmity.” But I heard Gaius Baltar (who’s supposed to be highly intelligent and erudite) pronounce the word incorrectly on a “Battlestar Galactica” episode, so at least I know I’m not alone.
Of course, dictionaries have long been torn between their roles of documenting the way people OUGHT to use words and the way people ACTUALLY use them.
As Eldo pointed out yesterday, we ain’t the French, and we don’t have a central authority sending down proclamations about what our language can and can’t accept. A lot of our sillier grammar “rules”, such as not splitting infinitives and not ending sentences with prepositions are holdovers from the idea that English ought to conform to the grammatical structure of Latin (in Latin it’s impossible to effectively split an infinitive).
So let our language grow and change as it’s done for a thousand years, in all its sloppy and chaotic glory. It keeps our language ALIVE. Besides, none of us speaks and writes perfectly on all occasions, so we have little justification for hostility towards others.
On a related note (and germane to the cartoon above), it’s now okay to say “okay”, and even spell it that way instead of “O.K.”, even though nobody knows precisely how it came to mean what it means (if you THINK you have a definitive etymology, I can point to others which have equal claim to correctness).
However “okay” entered our language, it’s been described as the most influential and widespread American invention in our history; it’s used and understood in nearly every language in the world now.
An Italian recording artist recently put out an with on track entitled, “Sometime ago” She is a good singer and it’s a nice song, but it just shows what checking with a native speaker will do for you. I wish they would do that at CCTV in Beining.
Of the frere that ∫ayd dyrige for the hoggys ∫owle.
Upon a tyme certayn women in the countrey were appoynted to deryde and mokke a frere a lymytour that v∫yd moche to vy∫yth them, wherupon one of them a lytyll before that the frere came kylled an hog & for dy∫port leyd it vnder the borde after the maner of a cor∫e and tolde the frere it was her good mã and de∫yred hym to ∫ay dirige for his ∫oule wherfore the frere and his felow began Placebo and Dirige and ∫o forth ∫ayd the ∫eruy∫e full deuowtly which the wyues ∫o heryng could not refrayne them ∫elfe from lawghynge and wente into a lytyll parler to lawgh more at theyr ple∫ure. The∫e frerys ∫omwhat ∫u∫pected the cau∫e quykly or that ye women were ware lokyd under the borde and ∫pyed that it was an hog ∫odenly toke it bytwene them and bare it homeward as fa∫t they myght. The women ∫eyng that ran after the frere and cryed come agayn may∫ter frere come agayne and let it allone. Nay by my fayth quod ye frere he is a broder of oures and therfore he mu∫t nedys be buryed in our cloy∫ter and ∫o the freres gate the hog.
By thys ye may ∫e that they that v∫e to deryde and mok other ∫omtyme it torneth to theyr one lo∫∫e and damage.
I make plenty of mistakes, but I have a little problem with sentences like, “Where’re you at?” (My name’s not At). I used to drive a radio dispatched cab, and that was something I heard several times an hour. I tried to fight it, but soon realized that it worked better on the radio than “Where are you”. (Reception wasn’t always great)
Actually, that’s not Old(e) English, Night-Gaunt. That’s somewhere between Middle English and Modern English (the edition of the Merry Tales I quoted was from about 1592, although it may have originated even earlier; Shakespeare makes reference to the Merry Tales in Much Ado About Nothing). Shakespeare wrote Modern English, although using a lot of forms, spelling, and vocabulary that are now obsolete. Chaucer wrote Middle English, and it’s almost (but not quite) indecipherable to modern readers. If you want to see Old English, try reading Beowulf in its original form.
If you truly think in complete sentences, I feel sorry for you. It’s so much more effective (and liberating) to think in fleeting abstracts, concepts, impressions, and other inexpressibles, and only devote the neural processing-power to sentence structure when communicating my thoughts is key. Language, not only vocabulary but grammar, exists to serve conceptualization, not the other way around.
Literalism and hide-bound formalism are killers of creativity and emotional expression. It’s the difference between Finnegan’s Wake and an automobile maintenance manual. It’s the difference between Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” and Pat Boone’s “Isn’t That a Shame.”
Edcole1961 over 13 years ago
At least Barney hasn’t gone nuclear.
randayn over 13 years ago
Equally bad is the phrase “I could care less” when what is meant is “I could NOT care less.” If you could care less, then it must have some importance to you.
Yukoneric over 13 years ago
When did the t in often get unsilenced? I use the word soften to get my point across…
I'll fly away over 13 years ago
Also, too many are now saying “a igloo”, “a apple” instead of “an”. I’ve even seen it in my local newspaper, including AP writers doing this. It drives me nuts!
Dry and Dusty Premium Member over 13 years ago
What about “youens”?
junco49 over 13 years ago
Gweedo:
I thought the English test was tough, even though I studied enough all through that last rough night as I was taught.
The curse and blessing of a mutt language.
And I make a pretty good batch of skabetty and motato sauce too. It’s all in the rushmooms and keyzoonie.
fritzoid Premium Member over 13 years ago
I hate hearing people call the person hired to sell their house a “RE-la-tor” instead of a “RE-al-tor.”
On the other hand, up until recently I thought the opposite of “amity” (friendliness) was “emnity” instead of “enmity.” But I heard Gaius Baltar (who’s supposed to be highly intelligent and erudite) pronounce the word incorrectly on a “Battlestar Galactica” episode, so at least I know I’m not alone.
Of course, dictionaries have long been torn between their roles of documenting the way people OUGHT to use words and the way people ACTUALLY use them.
As Eldo pointed out yesterday, we ain’t the French, and we don’t have a central authority sending down proclamations about what our language can and can’t accept. A lot of our sillier grammar “rules”, such as not splitting infinitives and not ending sentences with prepositions are holdovers from the idea that English ought to conform to the grammatical structure of Latin (in Latin it’s impossible to effectively split an infinitive).
So let our language grow and change as it’s done for a thousand years, in all its sloppy and chaotic glory. It keeps our language ALIVE. Besides, none of us speaks and writes perfectly on all occasions, so we have little justification for hostility towards others.
We have met the enmity, and he is us.
fritzoid Premium Member over 13 years ago
On a related note (and germane to the cartoon above), it’s now okay to say “okay”, and even spell it that way instead of “O.K.”, even though nobody knows precisely how it came to mean what it means (if you THINK you have a definitive etymology, I can point to others which have equal claim to correctness).
However “okay” entered our language, it’s been described as the most influential and widespread American invention in our history; it’s used and understood in nearly every language in the world now.
luvcmx over 13 years ago
When did something go missing become “loose” instead of “lose”?
laojim over 13 years ago
An Italian recording artist recently put out an with on track entitled, “Sometime ago” She is a good singer and it’s a nice song, but it just shows what checking with a native speaker will do for you. I wish they would do that at CCTV in Beining.
fritzoid Premium Member over 13 years ago
Of the frere that ∫ayd dyrige for the hoggys ∫owle.
Upon a tyme certayn women in the countrey were appoynted to deryde and mokke a frere a lymytour that v∫yd moche to vy∫yth them, wherupon one of them a lytyll before that the frere came kylled an hog & for dy∫port leyd it vnder the borde after the maner of a cor∫e and tolde the frere it was her good mã and de∫yred hym to ∫ay dirige for his ∫oule wherfore the frere and his felow began Placebo and Dirige and ∫o forth ∫ayd the ∫eruy∫e full deuowtly which the wyues ∫o heryng could not refrayne them ∫elfe from lawghynge and wente into a lytyll parler to lawgh more at theyr ple∫ure. The∫e frerys ∫omwhat ∫u∫pected the cau∫e quykly or that ye women were ware lokyd under the borde and ∫pyed that it was an hog ∫odenly toke it bytwene them and bare it homeward as fa∫t they myght. The women ∫eyng that ran after the frere and cryed come agayn may∫ter frere come agayne and let it allone. Nay by my fayth quod ye frere he is a broder of oures and therfore he mu∫t nedys be buryed in our cloy∫ter and ∫o the freres gate the hog. By thys ye may ∫e that they that v∫e to deryde and mok other ∫omtyme it torneth to theyr one lo∫∫e and damage.
“The Hundred Merry Tales”
alviebird over 13 years ago
fritzoid,
I make plenty of mistakes, but I have a little problem with sentences like, “Where’re you at?” (My name’s not At). I used to drive a radio dispatched cab, and that was something I heard several times an hour. I tried to fight it, but soon realized that it worked better on the radio than “Where are you”. (Reception wasn’t always great)
More pet peeves: Excape Aks
fritzoid Premium Member over 13 years ago
Actually, that’s not Old(e) English, Night-Gaunt. That’s somewhere between Middle English and Modern English (the edition of the Merry Tales I quoted was from about 1592, although it may have originated even earlier; Shakespeare makes reference to the Merry Tales in Much Ado About Nothing). Shakespeare wrote Modern English, although using a lot of forms, spelling, and vocabulary that are now obsolete. Chaucer wrote Middle English, and it’s almost (but not quite) indecipherable to modern readers. If you want to see Old English, try reading Beowulf in its original form.
If you truly think in complete sentences, I feel sorry for you. It’s so much more effective (and liberating) to think in fleeting abstracts, concepts, impressions, and other inexpressibles, and only devote the neural processing-power to sentence structure when communicating my thoughts is key. Language, not only vocabulary but grammar, exists to serve conceptualization, not the other way around.
Literalism and hide-bound formalism are killers of creativity and emotional expression. It’s the difference between Finnegan’s Wake and an automobile maintenance manual. It’s the difference between Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” and Pat Boone’s “Isn’t That a Shame.”