im wi ye's lot, i hate improper grammer too
Torvaig - every year, I make the same NYE resolution... NOT to buy goods in a shop that openly displays truly terrible spelling mistakes!
I've seen a hotel advertising 'Spar' bathrooms... witnessed many Off Licenses (& 1 Off Lisence) seen a 'half pryce sale' and witnessed a 'Ten Per Sent Off' sale!
But my biggest blood boiler has to be the 'Book & Stationary' Sale!
Grrrr!
Last edited by jsherris; 24-Aug-07 at 17:41.
I wish I'd picked more daisies.........(anon)
im wi ye's lot, i hate improper grammer too
Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again
Blessed Be...
I live in America and I SCUBA dive - it drives me nuts and I hear it a lot! The other one is "spit" as the past tense of "spit" as in Frank Sinatra's "My Way". Over here "spat" is that old fashioned shoe cover thing. However I take solace in the fact that according to his widow, Ol' Blue Eyes absolutely detested that song, so it annoyed both of us at the same time!
Mine is the "Greengrocer's apostrophe" (Banana's 10p a pound). When I was a student I used to pass a chip shop near Murrayfield when taking the bus to see my girlfriend. They had huge orange signs with black text that said "Curry's" and "Pizza's". I was always tempted by the first one to go in and ask to see some TV sets.
You would think the BBC could do better than this! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/6962645.stm
Good grammar? Good spelling? It all depends on who the audience is. Or who it is intended for.
Ah, I see the BBC have corrected their mis-spelling.
Now you tell me. I must have peered at that article for 25 minutes!
My personal favourite American word..... winningest
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/winningest
In mitigation Mr Bruce de Wert said his client had been drinking and could remember little of the incident.
Ah semantics!
Last week I jumped into the river!
This week I thought 'I will jamp again'
Both times,..I got WET!
Karia
I hate this new one that seems to have popped up in the last couple of years, originating with the African-Americans I think.
"He's Disrespectin me"
Ahhh, disrespect is not a verb!!!!!!!
She was not quite what you would call refined, she was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. Mark Twain
My OH reminded me recently that we split up after going out for 2 years. We got back together a few weeks later. This is what happened (in revisionist grammar).
He damp me after I came home late one night. One late night, and he damp me! Can you believe that? I am a very physical person so I thamp him. He fell backwards and bamp his head against the door and passed out. I panicked and ran downstairs to my bike. The front tyre was flat so I pamp it frantically, I jamp on it and cycled away into the night.
He always did say I could like it or lump it. So I lamp it..........
She was not quite what you would call refined, she was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. Mark Twain
Nice one, Crayola.
I think we are all part of the evolution/problem if you think about it.
If you were to read any of the great 19th century novels and look at how the sentances are constructed, you would find them quite long-winded compared to a modern literary style. The Victorians would probably have a literary fit if they were to read a C21st novel.
When we speak, our language is constantly modified to communicate with the person or group we are speaking with. For example, how many people do you know who have a 'telephone voice' which bears no resemblance to how they talk to their friends?
A lot of us constantly use acronyms and abbreviations that would be unheard of a few years ago - IMHO. Also, words evolve and go in and out of favour. 'Fall' is a good example. This is always labelled as an Americanism for the word Autumn. In fact Fall was in common use in the English language in Britain during the C16th and C17th.
Being Northern English, I always used to get told off for dropping the t's in words like 'butter' and 'mutter', saying 'chimley' for chimney and ending all my sentences with 'Yer know'. I still drop back into a broad Yorkshire accent if I'm talking to someone from my area!
'Can you borrow me a fiver' - AAARGH!
I stand corrected 'dove ' is in the dictionary. It does say mostly US though and it is still 'dived' in my house!
Thanks Betty
Two things are infinite: the Universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the Universe.
Einstein
Another one I hear on T.V., usually American chat shows is "Aks" as in " I aks him not to do that". The word is ask..."I ask you!"
Spring has sprung, the grass is ris', I wonder where the birdies is, the birdies is on d' wing, now thats absurd, everyone knows d' wing is on d' bird
Hi mccaugm!
"aks" is West Indian. It would seem odd down here to hear someone of West Indian stock saying "ask"!!
The use of ACCESS as a verb just makes me fair dirl with frustration.
Nobody accessses anything!!eg "You can access it on www.----- etc" Piffle and nonsense!
You get access to something or gain access to it. eg "You can get access to it at www.-----etc". Access is a noun for goodness sake. Yet another Americanism plagues our language. Total despair on this one.
You'll never talk alone!
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