My grouch is the weather presenters who say the temperature will be in the 'early thirties'.
I maintain that TIME equates to 'early', 'late', etc. whilst TEMPERATURE equates to 'high', 'low', etc. Hence the temperature will be in the 'low thirties'.
The English language is falling apart all around us, both spoken and written, and no-one seems to care.....except you and I, and hopefully a few others....lol.
I agree, Alice. I also dislike the way so many people use "your" when they really should be using "you're". I see it frequently on Facebook. 110% is another of my pet hates. How can you get more than 100%? Mathematically impossible!
Please don't get me started. I'm a mother of a 9yr old male. Little story from last year. Spelling word 'sphere'; Teacher pronounced 'spear' we pronounce 'sfere'; According to 9yr old 'Teacher 1; Parents 0.'
Rell As long as certain school leavers see primary teacher training as 'the course to apply for when one doesn't stand a snowflakes chance in Hades of getting into anything else', that situation isn't going to change.
One of my pet hates is 'lay' instead of 'lie' but it is becoming so commonplace these days that I'm sure the day will come when it becomes acceptable, unfortunately. Also, this isn't a speech thing, but another grouch is apostrophes in plurals. Had better stop here or I'll really get going, VBG
Oh Daphne I couldn't agree more. Birds lay eggs, people lie down. I don't like it when people say loaned a book rather than lent a book either, but that seems to be almost universal now. I could go on and on...........but I won't. Sue
I just keep reminding myself that English is a living language and it will evolve to suit the population. Not that this is a terrible thing (Zounds, anyone?) but I'm afraid that all of our conversation will soon consist of "s'up?", "nothin'?", "totally, dude"
I know you (and Chris) are big fans of "The Bill", their English really grates on me!! I probably sound like a Dr Dolittle fan! ..... the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain .... !
As a Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (you always wondered what TESOL stood for, didn't you?), who is well aware that English is a living language, I get annoyed at all sorts of misuses.
The most popular one which drives me crazy is "gifted", as in: "I knitted a scarf and gifted it to my friend"! Gift is a noun, "to give" is the verbal form!
Unfortunately for those of us blessed with good education, good memories for spelling (some brilliant people just can't do it) and an ear for the language - Donna Lee is right. My linguist friend has laughed at me before for going on about such things. Language changes all the time, and today's ugly usage is normal tomorrow. However, I think it's worth holding onto (for example) different spellings of homonyms because they do convey meaning and avoid misunderstandings!
Of course none of this addresses your actual post - I say keep the L in Australia - and you can still do it in an ocker accent if you need to.
I love this post, and indeed, all the comments. I raise you, Donna Lee, Gadzooks, for your Zounds! One of my pet hates is Artic, for Arctic, and piture for picture. As others have said, I could go on... & on..
My grouch is the weather presenters who say the temperature will be in the 'early thirties'.
ReplyDeleteI maintain that TIME equates to 'early', 'late', etc. whilst TEMPERATURE equates to 'high', 'low', etc. Hence the temperature will be in the 'low thirties'.
The English language is falling apart all around us, both spoken and written, and no-one seems to care.....except you and I, and hopefully a few others....lol.
I agree, Alice. I also dislike the way so many people use "your" when they really should be using "you're". I see it frequently on Facebook.
ReplyDelete110% is another of my pet hates. How can you get more than 100%? Mathematically impossible!
Please don't get me started. I'm a mother of a 9yr old male.
ReplyDeleteLittle story from last year.
Spelling word 'sphere'; Teacher pronounced 'spear' we pronounce 'sfere'; According to 9yr old 'Teacher 1; Parents 0.'
Rell
ReplyDeleteAs long as certain school leavers see primary teacher training as 'the course to apply for when one doesn't stand a snowflakes chance in Hades of getting into anything else', that situation isn't going to change.
... and Lindi my love, you have just mentioned one of my DD's pet peeves:
ReplyDeleteyour/you're
and also
there/their/they're
but seriously,
when did the correct pronunciation of Australia, as demonstrated by the ABC, change to 'Orstraiya' ?
Articulation...a key skill for news presenters, I should think. Maybe I'm just being too picky?
ReplyDeleteOne of my pet hates is 'lay' instead of 'lie' but it is becoming so commonplace these days that I'm sure the day will come when it becomes acceptable, unfortunately. Also, this isn't a speech thing, but another grouch is apostrophes in plurals. Had better stop here or I'll really get going, VBG
ReplyDeleteOh Daphne I couldn't agree more. Birds lay eggs, people lie down.
ReplyDeleteI don't like it when people say loaned a book rather than lent a book either, but that seems to be almost universal now. I could go on and on...........but I won't.
Sue
I just keep reminding myself that English is a living language and it will evolve to suit the population. Not that this is a terrible thing (Zounds, anyone?) but I'm afraid that all of our conversation will soon consist of "s'up?", "nothin'?", "totally, dude"
ReplyDeleteYES! Hear hear!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do agree that English (and Australian) is a living language, I would prefer that at least the name of the country is correctly pronounced!
And I'm all for archaisms - to Donna Lee's "zounds", I say "Huzzah!"
I know you (and Chris) are big fans of "The Bill", their English really grates on me!!
ReplyDeleteI probably sound like a Dr Dolittle fan!
..... the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain .... !
As a Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (you always wondered what TESOL stood for, didn't you?), who is well aware that English is a living language, I get annoyed at all sorts of misuses.
ReplyDeleteThe most popular one which drives me crazy is "gifted", as in: "I knitted a scarf and gifted it to my friend"! Gift is a noun, "to give" is the verbal form!
Unfortunately for those of us blessed with good education, good memories for spelling (some brilliant people just can't do it) and an ear for the language - Donna Lee is right. My linguist friend has laughed at me before for going on about such things. Language changes all the time, and today's ugly usage is normal tomorrow. However, I think it's worth holding onto (for example) different spellings of homonyms because they do convey meaning and avoid misunderstandings!
ReplyDeleteOf course none of this addresses your actual post - I say keep the L in Australia - and you can still do it in an ocker accent if you need to.
I love this post, and indeed, all the comments.
ReplyDeleteI raise you, Donna Lee, Gadzooks, for your Zounds!
One of my pet hates is Artic, for Arctic, and piture for picture. As others have said, I could go on... & on..