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Language reminder

5K views 35 replies 17 participants last post by  Fleurrose 
#1 ·
Friendly reminder to everyone.
This site has always been G rated and for good reason. We have young members and also kids who read the posts with their parents.
I understand that there are differences in language usage around the world and what's considered acceptable varies.
Please keep this in mind when posting video's and replies. If you wouldn't say it to your mother, grandmother or a judge then it's best left unsaid.
 
#13 ·
I accept that I’m getting old.

Generally people who swear either verbally or typing it will get their message across less effectively.

People who shoehorn “like” as many times as they can into a sentence can’t possibly understand how shallow they sound.

Younger people in England seem to be ever more likely to have a rising intonation on their sentences. It makes statements sound like weakly constructed questions and I hate it.

Finally, the use of the word of instead of have. “I should of, I could of”. That’s cringingly bad. I imagine people have failed interviews by using it.
 
#15 ·
Very possibly the most entertaining thread in weeks! :grin::grin::grin:

As someone who has spent far too much time engaged in research on colonial North America (when we were the same country as GB), this evolution of language is all too familiar. Aggravating as it can be, relax fellas. It has been ongoing for centuries!

While I seldom see it used here (thank goodness!!!) the one usage that's made my hackles raise for over a decade is "disrespected." As in "you disrespected me." When did THAT use become okay? :-?

Personally, I'm probably at least as guilty as anyone of being a butcher of the Queen's English and I hereby apologize to one and all. Perhaps my greatest fault though, is simply saying too much. :grin:
 
#19 ·
My pet hate in this country is the belief that a sentence is not complete unless it begins and ends with "so" and "going forward"

For example. "I told the team captain we must improve our bowling." Must now be spoken as "So I told the team captain that we must improve our bowling going forward."
 
#22 ·
"Moving forward" grates on me, as does the phrase "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem". I tend to believe that I can be a part of neither.

There is now rampant use of the pronoun "I" when the pronoun "me" is correct. I suspect that's done in an effort to sound educated, but it sounds uneducated to me. Example: "The engine locked up and sent the Honda and I sliding down the road." WRONG!!! Leave "the Honda and" out of the sentence and see how stupid it sounds.

This one is at the top of my list, though. The practice of creating the plural of anything by adding " 's" to it is everywhere. That's not plural, it's possessive!

Rant over...lol
 
#23 ·
Loving this thread. :D

As a guilty offender though, is it any consolation that my lack of grammatical skills is probably due at least in part to my early obsession with motorbikes robbing me of proper devotion to language arts classes? :-?

Of course back then the class was called "English." I do remember discussing my less than stellar performance in that required class with a guidance counselor and justifying it with, "Why do I have to take English? I've been speaking English all my life." Ahh, the profound wisdom of teenagers. NOW I understand why the counselor didn't even respond to the question. :D:D:D
 
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#24 ·
I always found that nothing got me paying attention in English class quicker then a ruler across the knuckles. "Yes Mam'm I am here".

Some of the rules of writing have slipped my mind over the years and I'm sure they show up on the forum from time to time. If I am doing anything of importance (not that Honda Twins isn't important) I still send the draft through to my Mother for proof reading. It really bothers me when I'm not sure what I have written is structurally and grammatically correct.

Kids today don't really need to worry about such trivia, they are all going to be millionaires, pop stars or pro athletes. Who needs education.
 
#26 ·
Belonging as I do to several forums (or should I say fora?) I too am often irritated by poor grammar and spelling. However I always resist the temptation to judge or criticise (or should it be criticize?) anyone for two very good reasons.

Firstly, if it is someone I don't know it may well be that English is not their first language.

Secondly I remember my very good English friend who often has stake for dinner and uses breaks in his car as well as using the sort of multi-optional spelling that is common in 17th C writing. He is a very successful business man able to retire on a lavish pension, a knowledgeable historian, accomplished artist (oils on canvas) and can play the trumpet. In other words, all that I will never be! So do I think less of him for his atrocious spelling? NO WAY
 
#27 ·
He is a very successful business man able to retire on a lavish pension, a knowledgeable historian, accomplished artist (oils on canvas) and can play the trumpet. In other words, all that I will never be! So do I think less of him for his atrocious spelling? NO WAY
Yes, many successful people have terrible grammar... it makes one wonder sometimes, just how did they come to be so successful while looking like illiterates on paper? My mother was an executive secretary early in her life and often made her bosses look good when they would dictate a letter to her and she would "clean it up" before typing and mailing it out
 
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