Wrong English

[KARL]

Isn't it fascinating how poorly people know their language ? When decimalisation was being introduced there were lots of examples of prices, payment and change put up in the media (TV and radio in particular) and the end result was that a very significant number of people ended up thinking the singular of pence is also pence - many of the still do as in "...and one pence change" at a shop till. Going even further back the erronious me crept in, as in "me and him are going out". Then the realisation that it should be "I and he" (or more correctly still, he and I) dawned, but now that seems to be totally overdone with I replacing me when it should not at all. Utterances like "It is better for you and I to....." abound when it is such obvious tripe - all you have to do to make it obvious is to drop the other person from the sentence and try it out. It is better for I to....would be a real howler to those who blurted out the first one. But I have just seen something to top this in a thread elsewhere on AB today: ".....in respect of my husband and I's wedding...." Great, "....it was I's wedding that I was talking about". Brilliant, I suppose we have to be thankful for funny blunders to laugh at.

[123everton]

The long winter nights must simply fly by for you

[Postdog]

I was captivated too.

[BilSuth]

As a journalist I have become quite relaxed about this because it's all about communication and even bad grammar gets the job done. People seem to pick up false rules such as, at two extremes:
1. Practice and practise (for example) are interchangeable. So there is no correct usage (!)
2. "I" is always the polite form of "me", in every situation.
Incorrect usage is getting worse and worse but it's not worth the ulcers to keep worrying about it.

[factor-fiction]

I agree, Karl, but I feel that many people nowadays regard the use of incorrect English as unimportant. In fact where I last worked it was frowned upon to use correct English all the time (it was considered you were too old fashioned or preoccupied with the detail and not capable of seeing the bigger picture); consequently to appear modern and busy one felt obliged to regularly split infinitives, misuse apostrophes, and slip text speak into internal memos.
(PS- what does 'erronious' mean? Only joking- I'm sure I've included the odd erroneous spelling here too.)

[joggerjayne]

People should try to carefully avoid splitting infinitives.

LOL

[joggerjayne]

As for the misuse of apostrophe's ... its dreadful.

LOL LOL

[KARL]

Of course none of this is important. But who was seen at a disco or bar, or whether someone's toe was stubbed.....earth-shatteringly important stuff. Make I go check another, as those who already use futurespeak might say.

[Tups]

My friends keep telling me I should 'live and let live' when it comes to the English language. Once, I took out my red pen from my bag in Boots the Chemist and corrected a notice that read, 'Not to be sold sepERately!' My daughter was mortified and ran off! In Curry's electrical shop, I asked the manager why his fridges had a large 'diary' compartment. I commented I had never thought of putting mine in the fridge! He didn't understand me! I think the biggest faux pas I've ever seen was the sweets board in a pub, offering 'gateaux's!!' Hey ho!

[lilsecret]

My understanding is that

Practice can be used for both the noun and verb form, but practise is strictly a verb.

[boxtops]

Don't get me started! My current exasperation is with people who say "pacific" when they mean "specific" - there is a glut of it round here - they pacifically mention it to me quite regularly. Yes all this is important, I know language grows and indeed morphs into new trends, but it doesn't mean we have to like it. I'm with Karl and Tups on this one. Since people stopped learning about grammar and word structure at school, it's all gone to pot. Tups, my sister goes round wiping apostrophes off notice boards when the ' is in the wrong place. Bring back Latin, two years of it didn't do me any harm, and at least I understand where words like "manual" come from. Ah - I feel better now.

[Sandy-Wroe]

What's wrong with saying : 'To boldly go...' ?

[boxtops]

Ah sandy-wroe, that's one of the most famous split infinitives of the modern world....

[BilSuth]

Captain Kirk said "to boldly go where NO MAN has gone before". Capt Picard corrected it (in pc terms anyway) to "to boldly go where NO-ONE has gone before". Obviously they never went to a place where "to boldly split infinitives" was frowned upon.

[heathfield]

My pet dislikes are the almost universal use of the words 'fast' for 'quickly', 'Convince' for 'persuade', and the doggedly persistent 'bartering' for 'bargaining'. Hate 'em all.

[factor-fiction]

Hi lilsecret- whilst I agree that in the UK PRACTISE is a verb, I don't agree that PRACTICE can be a noun or verb- as far as I'm aware it's only a noun. The rules for practice/practise also apply to LICENCE/LICENSE. However I think things are different in the US where certainly LICENSE seems to be used in all cases. I'm not sure how the US treats PRACTICE/PRACTISE.

[Playbill]

boxtops - agree with you on 'pacific/specific'. I'm sure I heard a R4 reporter make that mistake today.
Worst personal experience of wrong English I have heard was the 'mortgage advisor' (about twenty years old) who informed us that there were several companies who would BORROW us the money.

[Jumbuck]

".....in respect of my husband and I's wedding...." - perhaps the Queen contributes to AB

[factor-fiction]

As a secondary teacher I see poor English every day (from pupils rather than other teachers!). Very common errors include:
- 'must of' /'would of' instead of 'must have'/'would have'
- 'A' instead of 'I' (e.g. A got up at 7 o'clock and had ma breakfast")
- NO instead of KNOW
- LOOSE instead of LOSE (very common on AB too!)
- apostrophes on plurals but not on possessives (e.g. "Pauls book's")-
Teachers try to raise awareness of the errors but we are swimming against the tide I think.

[boxtops]

... and my other current bugbear is when I ask for assistance and the person says "what was your name?" Well, it's boxtops, it's the same now as it was when I asked you the question, when did you have in mind?.... what's the matter with "what IS your name?" - anyone else fallen victim to this one recently? I agree with factor30 on the "would of", that seems very prevalent these days! I think I've spent too much time in the snow...

[lucca]

In obituaries they keep writing:- Fred Bloggs, forMALLY of such a town !
Plus, in a famous upmarket store, they were doing a sponsored cycle ride - the sign said "SponsEr us to PEDDLE 100 miles" - and they didn't understand when I suggested they were giving the wrong impression! Grrrr...