Bill_de wrote:
Who are "they"?
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Those out of high school in the last 2 decades.
Architect1776 wrote:
Vocabulary has shrunk incredibly in the last 2 decades.
English phrases are always getting shorter. Proper English would be to ask "What did you have to eat?" A lot of people today would say "Whaja eat?"
I once listened to a conversation between an Aussie and a yank. Both were having trouble with the other's language until the Yank eventually said "here we are, separated by a common language". Your language is a long way from English, as is ours, strine. Even the English don't have a common dialect so which part of all of this is correct? IT DEPENDS!!!
There's a small regional newspaper here that is leaving out a lot of words these days. I don't know why, and it makes it hard to read – but then, they also get a lot of facts wrong, like where things are in the city. They once said that the Watson building is across the street from Walgreens, even though it is 1.5 miles away. They also use words wrong, so they apparently don't know what they really mean.
Bill_de wrote:
Who are "they"?
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Oh geez, you know... "them"
(Sorry couldn't resist. I'm blaming the quarantine. Yeah, that's it, the quarantine)
Good morning Koni,
There has been so much UHH chatter regarding language and grammar recently and I find it fascinating. I think I have always been a Etymologist and recently, through no fault of my own, becoming somewhat of a grammar snob (Grammologist?). All of the comments recently posted have crossed my mind over the past many years and it's gratifying to see others think / feel much the same way. It really is an incredible language (English) and has been described a one of the most difficult languages to master with all of the double, triple and occasionally quadruple meanings. It is further said that the best speakers of the English language are those who grew up with never having used it. They display a terrific knowledge / use of all of the grammatical "rules" governing the language. Those "rules" which all of us were taught through education and have allowed to fade from our usage.
Anyway, I hope others continue to post there comments.
All the best to you and yours,
Terry (from East Grammovia).
The English have been saying " In hospital" forever.
Terkat wrote:
Good morning Koni,
There has been so much UHH chatter regarding language and grammar recently and I find it fascinating. I think I have always been a Etymologist and recently, through no fault of my own, becoming somewhat of a grammar snob (Grammologist?). All of the comments recently posted have crossed my mind over the past many years and it's gratifying to see others think / feel much the same way. It really is an incredible language (English) and has been described a one of the most difficult languages to master with all of the double, triple and occasionally quadruple meanings. It is further said that the best speakers of the English language are those who grew up with never having used it. They display a terrific knowledge / use of all of the grammatical "rules" governing the language. Those "rules" which all of us were taught through education and have allowed to fade from our usage.
Anyway, I hope others continue to post there comments.
All the best to you and yours,
Terry (from East Grammovia).
Good morning Koni, br br There has been so m... (
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You misspelled "their" as "there."
when something is broken my co-worker will say it needs repaired not it needs to be repaired !!
How about "going to prom" vs. "going to the prom"?
KoniOmegaflex wrote:
Just some thoughts on the use of the English language. Comments welcome.
In the past we said he/she graduated from high school or graduated from college. Now we say graduated high school or graduated college. Why did we drop the "from?"
Also, we used to say he/she is in the hospital. More and more I have been hearing he/she is in hospital.
Are we losing words? Are we gaining enough words to make up for the loss?
Have a great day everyone and stay safe according to your own best judgment.
Just some thoughts on the use of the English langu... (
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I believe that children, for the past 40+ years, have not been taught in the same way that we were taught. Spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and penmanship are not viewed today as important as when we went to school in the '40s and 50's. In the 80's my son went to a tutor twice a week for 2 years for English, penmanship and math. I was no star pupil in school, but my son was not getting the quality of education that I'd had. I could not help him with math as I could not understand the complicated, convoluted way that math was being taught. To me, and many other parents I'd talked to, the "new" math was illogical and they experienced the same problems I'd had with my son in trying to help their children. We had up to 40 pupils in a classroom, whereas today, teachers feel overwhelmed if they've got more than 12. The secret to teaching that many children was discipline and there's a definite lacking of that in school rooms today. I think this is the reason charter schools are doing so well. They don't put up with students who want to be disruptive. You either take learning seriously, or your folks are out big bucks when your sorry butt is out the door and back in public school. Parents no longer back teachers because they think their little prince/princess is perfect and would never, ever do what the principal called them in to deal with or not. Sorry, I'm on a rant. It just depresses me that our quality of education is so far below other countries. I dealt with a lot of foreign exchange students through Rotary and was totally blown away by how advanced they were compared to American students.
KoniOmegaflex wrote:
Just some thoughts on the use of the English language. Comments welcome.
In the past we said he/she graduated from high school or graduated from college. Now we say graduated high school or graduated college. Why did we drop the "from?"
Also, we used to say he/she is in the hospital. More and more I have been hearing he/she is in hospital.
Are we losing words? Are we gaining enough words to make up for the loss?
Have a great day everyone and stay safe according to your own best judgment.
Just some thoughts on the use of the English langu... (
show quote)
I'm a writer and some of he language changes do bother me too. I usually keep them out of my compositions unless a client particularly wants conversational. However, I think I have always said "he/she is in hospital".
Indi
Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.
trainlee wrote:
How fun! (oops, where's the "much")
Yes! That’s the one that bugs me the most.
I thought I was the only one who saw that.
“It’s so fun.”
Like scratching a blackboard with your nails.
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