News0 min ago
Answering With So.......
If there is one thing guaranteed to get my goat (and there are many), it is people on news/current affairs programs answering every question with " So........" there's a guy on Newsnight doing it RIGHT NOW! Aaaaaargh, why did this start about a year ago? It drives me up the wall: I recently watched a meteorologist being interviewed about weather patterns, and he answered 5 out of 7 questions in that way. Other fav bugbears are: pronouncing SIXTH as SIKTH (step forward Jeremy Paxman), pronouncing the letter H as 'haich', pronouncing mischievous as MISCHEEVIOUS, calling the supermarket TESCO'S.....I'd better stop now!
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Playbill - //The BBC used to be regarded as the standard to aim for in correct language and pronunciation. That standard has dropped. Most reporters and presenters use lazy English - such as pronouncing the word 'garage' as 'garIDGE'. Then there is the new word 'ter' instead of 'to': as in 'he is going ter reform this or that'. //
I do think that 'received pronunciation' is archaic these days, I don't want my BBC newsreaders to sound like Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter!
That said - things have swung rather too far the other way.
The BBC loves to patronise its audiences with 'northern types' like Sara Cox, who I cannot do with, because she is an accent, and little else.
I have no problem though with Messrs' Radcliffe and Maconie, who possess fathomless depths of knowledge matched only by their wit and humour.
I do think that 'received pronunciation' is archaic these days, I don't want my BBC newsreaders to sound like Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter!
That said - things have swung rather too far the other way.
The BBC loves to patronise its audiences with 'northern types' like Sara Cox, who I cannot do with, because she is an accent, and little else.
I have no problem though with Messrs' Radcliffe and Maconie, who possess fathomless depths of knowledge matched only by their wit and humour.
People who say "Having said that"...........we know you said it!!!...Ooooh rubs up my rhubarb, it does.
I normally say back to them "Having said what exactly?"
People who their eyes when they talk...aaarghh......I feel like moving, so when they open their eyes again, I'm behind them.
A slap with a wet fish could help, you know. :-)
I normally say back to them "Having said what exactly?"
People who their eyes when they talk...aaarghh......I feel like moving, so when they open their eyes again, I'm behind them.
A slap with a wet fish could help, you know. :-)
When used in the context andy-hughes is talking about, it actually makes sense semantically, e.g..
AH: I don't like the taste of fish.
AN other: So you'd never put anchovies on your pizza then?
..but what the OP is referring to is this recent affectation of sticking it at the front of a sentence where it has no right to be e.g
Q - Tell me what you did during your summer holidays.
A - So, ....(optional pause for effect)...I hitch-hiked down to Venezuala in the nude.
I agree it is incredibly annoying.
AH: I don't like the taste of fish.
AN other: So you'd never put anchovies on your pizza then?
..but what the OP is referring to is this recent affectation of sticking it at the front of a sentence where it has no right to be e.g
Q - Tell me what you did during your summer holidays.
A - So, ....(optional pause for effect)...I hitch-hiked down to Venezuala in the nude.
I agree it is incredibly annoying.
Whilst agreeing with a lot of these posts, we must remember regional variations too. It confuses me when the English use the word "an" before a noun starting with an H eg an 'otel. Why do you drop the H? In Scotland we say "a Hotel". Wouldn't rant and rave about it though..........viva la difference!