English standards have not slipped

[Ethel]

A joy to read a grammatically correct quote in today's paper:

"Then I had to call the local farmer, from whom I rent the field, to come and help me with the situation. He was able to tell them who I was and explain that I was renting the field from him."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-105978 0/Black-farmer-quizzed-police-THREE-times-susp icion-stealing-field.html

:)

[Rosetta]

Quite agree Ethel.
However, to be pedantic " from whom I rent the field" is superfluous as it is stated later in the next sentence. It would also have made easier reading if omitted.

[Bbbananas]

I dossnt comment on this coz I got bamblasted last week for moaning about bad spellin and suchlike. I got called a toffee nosed old bint and have been crying over such hurtful comments all weekend. so, I dussnt even dare get onto the subject of grammer... ;-)

[jake-the-peg]

I believe the use of the word whom is now almost arcaic.

You will still see it in literature and in some broadsheets but the vast majority of English speakers never use it.

the semi colon is going the same way.

I know this is heresy to some but there is no such thing as correct English any more than there is a correct accent.

Not in the sense that it is fixed in time - right now, right tommorrow, always right.

If enough people stop using something and you sit in an ivory tower insisting that everybody else is wrong because you were taught differently ...well..

Thou doth become unseemly!

[New Judge]

Yes, but my joy is short lived. It is a pity that the police (who constantly use �lack of available officers� when they are unable to attend incidents) could not marshal their resources more efficiently. To visit a field three times in five days, with up to four police cars, demonstrates to me that they are not talking to each other.

After the first visit, having satisfied themselves that nothing untoward was taking place, they should have left the farmer alone to get on with his business and investigated some other crimes which, no doubt, they were unable to do whilst they were persecuting the farmer.

I note that the Leicestershire police spokesman accepts that �...they had a duty to respond to every call made by the public reporting a suspected crime.� Perhaps they might do better to remember that when a householder rings them to say he has a burglar on the premises.

[jake-the-peg]

Sorry "archaic" I may be needing reading glasses soon!

[Bbbananas]

... but I do (when writing/typing) still use the word 'whom' and I also use the semi colon.
Well, that's me ridiculed and doomed....

[naomi24]

Me too, salla.

[jake-the-peg]

No you're just behind the curve!

have a look in a manual for a new DVD or fridge and try to find "whom"

You'll be hard pressed to find a semi-colon.

In such pieces of writing the purpose is sole communication,. That's why they're stripped out.

Plus the fact they make you sound snobby!

Tesco were taken fo task for "10 items or less" rather than "10 items or fewer".

They're not changing to "10 items or fewer" I suspectt for exactly that reason.

I think they'll be changing to "under 10 items"

They certainly won't be using "whom"

[Quinlad]

Several broadsheets have updated their style guides to omit 'whom' as it seems archaic, pompous and self-consciously pedantic. According to The Economist Style Guide, it says to the reader: 'Look, look. See how well I know my grammar'.

'Amongst' and 'whilst' are also falling by the wayside in favour of 'among' and 'while'. See also the double space after a full stop. And the rule that forbids starting a sentence with 'And'.

There's nothing wrong with language evolving. You've got to roll with it.

[Bbbananas]

Oh well. It's just the way I was taught - High School girl !!! High IQ, loose morals - apparently. Whom am I to question that ? ;-)

[terambulan]

sallabananas.....This site is not a school/college. So perfect spelling is unnecessary but if u want help it makes easier reading if the important subject is spelt correctly, punctuated and concise.

However, for printed articles, the reporter can be blamed for mis-spelling since they are reporting an interview.

[Ethel]

I am confident I can make myself understood, either in writing or speech, to everyone I address.

I can speak entirely with words of one syllable if necessary; similarly I can submit legal and technical papers suitable for publication that are concise and to the point.

Yet I have a very strong regional accent and many of the words I use in speech can't be found in a dictionary and my colloquial speech pattern is grammatically incorrect.

I embrace local accents and evolving language; I make a point of keeping up with modern idioms. However, I despair at the total inability some people have of expressing themselves properly in writing or speech so they can be understood.

[squiff-e-y]

Ethel, are you spoken for?

[anotheoldgit]

jake-the-peg

have a look in a manual for a new DVD or fridge and try to find "whom" You'll be hard pressed to find a semi-colon.

Since most DVDs etc. are manufactured in the Far East, the manuals tend to lose much in translation. Therefore isn't this the reason, one is unlikely to find "whom" or even a semi-colon amongst their pages?
========================================

Rosetta

Would it be correct to enclose "from whom I rent the field" in brackets?

[squiff-e-y]

Ethel - At my age there's no time for beating about the bush. So tell me - are you spoken for, you sexy thing you!

[Ethel]

Thanks for the interest, but I am happily ensconced in merry widowhood.

:)

[Bbbananas]

well, it's just not fair ..
I post similar threads to Ethel on subjects such as spelling, grammar, the falling standards of today's English etc.... & I get 95% abusive replies & called a stuck up old bint.
Ethel gets propositioned & called sexy.

I don't know - I'm going wrong somewhere? What's your secret Ethel ??!!!

[squiff-e-y]

:o(