Subject: Grammar, Grammar, Grammar!
Posted by: Lochalsh
Date: Sep 07 10
What error in grammar disturbs you most, gives you a fingernail-across-chalkboard sensation? For me, it's "for you and I." Would a person ever say "Oh, is it for I?" No? Then why would that same individual say "for you and I"?
Stop me before I start in on the nominative vs. accusative stuff! :)
Posted by: Lochalsh
Date: Sep 07 10
What error in grammar disturbs you most, gives you a fingernail-across-chalkboard sensation? For me, it's "for you and I." Would a person ever say "Oh, is it for I?" No? Then why would that same individual say "for you and I"?
Stop me before I start in on the nominative vs. accusative stuff! :)
295 replies. On page 9 of 15 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Cymruambyth 
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Lochalsh, I'm being picky, I know, but surely if one drops the 'h' at the beginning of 'herbs' because the French word 'herne' has a silent h, one does not pronounce it 'urb', but 'airb'? Jonno, the correct pronunciation of nuclear is 'n-yoo-cleah' not, as some people (George W. Bush was a notable exapmle) have it 'n'yoo-cue-lar' (As an aside, why are you trying to get rid of your Welsh accent? Welsh accents are charming. Half of my family speaks English with a Welsh accent.) I get annoyed when people mispronounce film as 'fillum', and I've known some Scots who transpose the 'e' and the 'r' in pattern and modern to come up with pattren and modren! Reply #161. Sep 30 10, 1:43 PM |
s-m-w
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Not sure if our American cousins are allowed to see this piece (which is a tongue in cheek view of the English language today), but if they can I would not waste my time trying to find an on-line translator. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwNQf08Kxsw Reply #162. Sep 30 10, 1:47 PM |
| Cymruambyth
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daver, re your post 160, I also recommend Lynn Truss' excellent (and funny) 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves.' I always enjoyed Edwin C. Newman's 'Keep a Civil Tongue' and 'Watch Your Language', too. Which reminds me that the over-use of apostrophes in words that do not require apostrophes drives me bonkers! Too many people park an apostrophe in front of the s in such words as parks, pleases, permits, etc. Reply #163. Sep 30 10, 1:49 PM |
Lochalsh
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Cym, I don't know, at least not at the moment. Maybe you could find out, then report back to us, perhaps on a separate phonetics thread? Sorry to disappoint you, but my 55 semester hours of French are mostly in literature. Reply #164. Sep 30 10, 2:02 PM |
| Lochalsh
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Online translators (the nonhuman kind) are mostly unreliable. They translate literally, and language is often figurative. I'm still hoping someone will comment on "ain't," "aren't I," and other 'to be' solecisms. :) Reply #165. Sep 30 10, 2:05 PM |
Deunan
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Sorry, Lochalsh. I can't do "ain't". I always have the urge to ask the person who uses that word to explain what two (or more) words were combined to create it. So far, no one knows. Reply #166. Sep 30 10, 2:37 PM |
Anton
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"Not sure if our American cousins are allowed to see this piece (which is a tongue in cheek view of the English language today), but if they can I would not waste my time trying to find an on-line translator." Ha! That reminds me of a quote from the movie Snatch, spoken by Avi, the American: Bullet Tooth Tony: A bookie's got blagged last night. Avi: Blagged? Speak English to me, Tony. I thought this country spawned the language, and so far nobody seems to speak it. Reply #167. Sep 30 10, 2:54 PM |
channe
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I would have loved to have seen the yellow spitfire. Lol. Reply #168. Sep 30 10, 3:20 PM |
daver852
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By coincidence, the movie "National Lampoon's European Vacation" was on television this afternoon. There's a great scene where the Griswolds are checking into the Royal Imerial Windsor Arms Hotel, and, after listening to the desk clerk rattle on, Clark whips out his elecronic pocket translator. Rusty exclaims, "Dad, he's speaking English!" Reply #169. Sep 30 10, 3:21 PM |
| cydonia325
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Steve, The Armstrong & Miller sketch is brilliant! I have not laughed so hard in ages. I am immensely digging the idea of the yellow Spitfire. Reply #170. Sep 30 10, 3:32 PM |
jonnowales
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'n-yoo-cleah' and 'new-cleah', maybe it is just the region I come from but I would struggle to get a 'yoo' sound into the word nuclear. I should mention that nuclear physics is the field I wish to specialise in - should be amusing! Cym, I have always wished to have the BBC 'bland' accent or the soft Irish accent, the latter is delightful. Not a week goes by without me having to repeat things for my friends from across the border! :D A lot of the trouble comes from the Welsh pronouncing 'ear', 'here', 'hear' and 'year' almost identically. :) Reply #171. Sep 30 10, 3:40 PM |
| jonnowales
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"Lesley said : Jonno, I explained the 1/7 as well. **sticks tongue out and sulks**, Yeah, but I'm a lot cuter. :p _______" Sorry Lesley ;) Reply #172. Sep 30 10, 3:45 PM |
| cydonia325
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I wonder how many people are familiar with the Catholic school "tell"? I will give you a hint - John McEnroe. The minute I heard McEnroe address a linesman, I knew that he was a product of the Catholic school system. There is one grammatical construct that is drilled into the grey matter of everyone I know who has ever attended a Catholic school, be it private or parochial. Any takers? Reply #173. Sep 30 10, 3:49 PM |
lesley153
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I have American cousins (real ones) and sundry other relatives, and they say 'erbs - just as we would pronounce herbs, but minus the h. The also drop the h from the word we pronounce as hommidge, and pronounce it 'ommarzh, to rhyme with fromage. Not sure that's relevant. Jon, you're forgiven, because you're cuter too. "You cannot be serious"? That was all McEnroe ever said, wasn't it? Reply #174. Sep 30 10, 4:57 PM |
| Deunan
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Alas, no... “This taught me a lesson, but I'm not quite sure what it is.” Reply #175. Sep 30 10, 5:03 PM |
| Lochalsh
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The pronunciation of 'homage' as ''ommazh' drives me crazy. It's an overcorrection, and it's not even dictionary-approved, at least not in English. Where did you get the 'r' in 'ommarzh,' Lesley? Are your relatives from New Jersey, perhaps? Cyd, don't Catholics "tell" the beads of the rosary? Is that what you mean? Reply #176. Sep 30 10, 5:22 PM |
| lesley153
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It's a silent r, to indicate a long vowel, and I have relatives in Teaneck. How did you guess? Reply #177. Sep 30 10, 5:48 PM |
| Lochalsh
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Ah, I see, and oh, I knew. :) Reply #178. Sep 30 10, 6:02 PM |
| Lochalsh
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More pronunciation: Why do many people (at least in the U.S.) say "awn-chi-la-da" instead of "en-chi-la-da"? Is it a false analogy with the French preposition "en"? I'd think so. Why do the British use a short 'a'in the first syllable of a word like "drama" and "Pavarotti"? Those of us in the U.S. most often use the long 'a' in those instances. Does the British phenomenon occur only in words of foreign origin? Were it not for these instances, I'd think of our British cousins as purveyors of the long 'a.' Reply #179. Sep 30 10, 6:19 PM |
| lesley153
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Yes to Pavarotti, but I've never heard anyone pronounce drama with a short a. Reply #180. Sep 30 10, 6:22 PM |
295 replies. On page 9 of 15 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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