grammar

[PRR]

> The American singer's affect was using a British accent.

This is correct. It may not be the best example. "Affect" in the sense of "put-on" or "pretense" has faded from US english except in psychiatry.

> "the company are"

I believe that some sub-set of British english takes "company" as a plural collection, at least in older usage. The old BBC would have a Policy, similar to the Chicago manual my mother kept near the typewriter. Dunno who runs the Beeb now.

> could of

Language should be comfortable. I'm from Missouri. Out there, "could of" is known to be "wrong" but is universally accepted in speech. Formal copy-editors will correct it in house-writing, but not in quotes. "Could of" presents a problem for syntax, but english is a bastard common-person language and I expect "could have" to become more acceptable even in formal writing. At least until it is pushed-out by some oriental phrase when orientals become the dominant users of english.

> hate mixed metaphors. I heard *batting from the same hymn-sheet*

Hah! That one is too good to hate.

 

[QUEEF BAG]

my pet peve is one i hear more and more.

i first heard it in a statement by a white house official in the 80's

  '...the president took an helicopter ride...'

you only change the  a  to  an  if the  h  is silent.

in that example, that would only be if you were speaking with an english accent.


(Paul- sorry about the lack of capitals - it musta been that E.E. CUMMINGS  guy )

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Another thing that bugs me.
I often hear: This is the guy/we are the ones that...
Shouldn't it be: This is the guy/we are the ones who...?

 

[sahib]

Abbey,

Correct.  However, it also depends on the rest of the sentence. For example you would not need "who" in "..We are the ones blamed for spilling beer over the console".

 

[abbey road d enfer]

OK

 

[bruno2000]

I could care less

Don't you mean "I couldn't care less?
Best,
Bruno2000

 

[Andy Peters]

there is a difference between the progressive mutation of language(which I applaud), and shear laziness,

Of course one can shear a sheep, but it's sheer lunacy to do so with an X-Acto knife.

-a

 

[Andy Peters]

English is my second language and I too make mistakes, mostly when I am writing fast without paying due attention. However, I still can not believe the grammatical mistakes even the BBC is making. Often you hear  "the company are" or "the department of such and such are". There are even worse blunders but they escape my mind now. Also everyday I find myself fighting against my son's use of English that he picks up from his friends. I hate it. Things like "...could have went" drive me up the wall.

I have seen that usage in many British stories and articles. A couple of examples are, "the band are playing a show ..." and "Led Zeppelin were great at the Garden." I assumed that it was a standard usage to use the plural conjugate of "to be" when the noun refers to a collective.

American usage seems to prefer that the singular conjugate of "to be" (that is, "is" and "was" depending on tense) be used, so you'd read, "the Army was marching" instead of, "the Army were marching."

This is further complicated when the noun referring to the collective reads as a plural. For example, the American usage would demand a statement such as, "The Rolling Stones is the self-proclaimed 'Greatest Band In The World'," and I suspect that there's a rule that goes, "If it sounds silly when read aloud, it's probably wrong."

-a

 

[Freq Band]

This bothers me...

"no one" spelled as "noone".

bad example....http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=67W&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&biw=1280&bih=851&q=+%22noone%22+site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fforum.davidicke.com%2F&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi&aql=f&oq

lol...google finds, "About 5,790 results".....in just that one forum.

 

[kepeb]

All your base are belong to us.

classic, i printed myself a t-shirt with this on back in the day

also... Buss. I have seen this often, so it's not acceptable?

 

[hodad]

> could of

Language should be comfortable. I'm from Missouri. Out there, "could of" is known to be "wrong" but is universally accepted in speech. Formal copy-editors will correct it in house-writing, but not in quotes. "Could of" presents a problem for syntax, but english is a bastard common-person language and I expect "could have" to become more acceptable even in formal writing. At least until it is pushed-out by some oriental phrase when orientals become the dominant users of english.

Why not represent the spoken sound in a grammatically correct fashion?  "Could've" is correct, and it's close to the spoken sound.  The troublesome thing is not the spoken term, nor is it the occasional use of "could of" by writers who wish to convey the "feel" of colloquial speech; the problem is the folks who think "could of" is grammatically correct. 

 

[strangeandbouncy]

Hi,


    I love to type my text messages longhand. It really winds up the kids I am working with, and this gives me great pleasure . . .


    Now I am officially no longer *down with the kids*, I might as well . . . .

 

[Rybow]

Hi,


    I love to type my text messages longhand. It really winds up the kids I am working with, and this gives me great pleasure . . .


     Now I am officially no longer *down with the kids*, I might as well . . . .

I remember the first time someone sent me a text message using shorthand and abbreviations. I had no idea what they were trying to tell me.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

English is my second language and I too make mistakes, mostly when I am writing fast without paying due attention. However, I still can not believe the grammatical mistakes even the BBC is making. Often you hear  "the company are" or "the department of such and such are". There are even worse blunders but they escape my mind now. Also everyday I find myself fighting against my son's use of English that he picks up from his friends. I hate it. Things like "...could have went" drive me up the wall.

I have seen that usage in many British stories and articles. A couple of examples are, "the band are playing a show ..." and "Led Zeppelin were great at the Garden." I assumed that it was a standard usage to use the plural conjugate of "to be" when the noun refers to a collective.

American usage seems to prefer that the singular conjugate of "to be" (that is, "is" and "was" depending on tense) be used, so you'd read, "the Army was marching" instead of, "the Army were marching."

This is further complicated when the noun referring to the collective reads as a plural. For example, the American usage would demand a statement such as, "The Rolling Stones is the self-proclaimed 'Greatest Band In The World'," and I suspect that there's a rule that goes, "If it sounds silly when read aloud, it's probably wrong."

-a

Same situation in French, but still sometimes plain ridiculous. Example: The majority of members has voted the resolution; it is thus their responsibility to...

 

[wmtunate]

Here's one that bothers me:  leaving out "to be" from a sentence.

Ex:
"The old barn needs painted."

I mostly notice it written form, though I've heard it spoken aloud.  These people are usually from the Indiana/Ohio/Western Pennsylvania area.

Don't get me started on southern colloquialisms.  I'm a transplant to Nashville from Michigan, and it has bothered me since I moved here.  "Might could?"  What is that?

 

[JohnRoberts]

Here's one that bothers me:  leaving out "to be" from a sentence.

Ex:
"The old barn needs painted."

I mostly notice it written form, though I've heard it spoken aloud.  These people are usually from the Indiana/Ohio/Western Pennsylvania area.

Don't get me started on southern colloquialisms.  I'm a transplant to Nashville from Michigan, and it has bothered me since I moved here.  "Might could?"  What is that?

That affectation is common in the south.... with other associated grammatical errors...  Like the all too common murder defense.. "Your honor, he needed killin".

JR

 

[wmtunate]

Oh, another one I hear all the time is improper past-tense usage.

Ex:
"The dynamite blowed up."
"He throwed the ball to me."

 

[Moses]

For the record, there are more exceptions to the 'i before e except after c' rule. This 'rule' is therefore no longer taught in British schools...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duqlZXiIZqA

Mo

 

[Andy Peters]

All your base are belong to us.

Somebody set us up the bomb!

-a

 

[abechap024]

All your base are belong to us.

Somebody set us up the bomb!

-a

You know what you doing!