Your Top Grammatical Hates...

[Balthazar]

I'm on the fence there, seeing both sides.
The language is ridiculously complex, rules don't follow themselves, there's far too many words, idioms and tenses.

However, on the flip side, the language is so rich that we're at the point we can differentiate the smallest nuance or feeling from another by the words we choose..ie 'pretty' could serve as a catch-all, but there is a difference between pretty, attractive, beautiful, sexy, hot etc.

a: you should go on a date with my friend
b: is she hot?
a: er..she's pretty
b: ah, so, she's not hot!
a: she's attractive
b: ok, gotcha

I was talking about old grammar rules and useless exceptions though, not the quantity of words. "Two deer" instead of "two deers" is just a trap and doesn't help anything. In French, "deux chevaux" instead of "deux chevals" doesn't help the language either. Old outdated rules.

 

[dionysus]

I was talking about old grammar rules and useless exceptions though, not the quantity of words. "Two deer" instead of "two deers" is just a trap and doesn't help anything. In French, "deux chevaux" instead of "deux chevals" doesn't help the language either. Old outdated rules.

lol, there is a subtle difference though; with deer vs deers it tells the user what subtle difference you're making

theres's 2 deer ...basically, there's 2 four legged 4 grass eating animals over there in the zoo cage of the same species
there's 2 deers.....we here at the zoo, have 2 completely different kinds of species of deer

I have 2 beer here......if you look in the fridge, there's 2 bottles
I have 2 beers here..check out the fridge, it's stocked; we've 2 different kinds of beer, Molson and Guiness

 

[Balthazar]

lol, there is a subtle difference though; with deer vs deers it tells the user what subtle difference you're making

theres's 2 deer ...basically, there's 2 four legged 4 grass eating animals over there in the zoo cage of the same species
there's 2 deers.....we here at the zoo, have 2 completely different kinds of species of deer

But why would it be different for deer than dogs, cats, bears, alligators..? That's what I was talking about by "logic".

 

[dionysus]

I'm with you there. English is highly illogical

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

 

[skiny]

I like the idea that using proper English can convey a mood. If I send a message to my son his response always matches the style of the message I send. He can tell if I have an actual question or if I have something to discuss by the way I send the message.

I've noticed before if I send a message that says "What are you doing?" He will respond with a more accurate answer like "Playing a game." Or "Watching videos." But if I send a less formal message like "Whatcha doing?" He usually sends something back like "Nada."

I do the same thing. If he sends a message that says "Are you around?" I'll respond with a simple "Yes." If he sends a message mocking those "Sup" users from 10 years ago that just says "Sup?" I'll probably send back a "Yo!"

Maybe next time I'll say "SumthinSup?"

I'm proud to say even when he was a teenager, any text based conversations I had with him consisted of full words and punctuation from both sides. He's such a weirdo. A chip off the old block.

 

[Mousey]

someone mentioned earlier how things that are wrong get often so used they become correct..here's a classic example:

A: how are you?
B: good, thank you

English grammar tells us 'good' is incorrect and that 'well' is correct. Ok, I actually say 'well' but barely anyone does and the expected response is 'good'..in fact, we even teach good is the proper response now

LOL Here in the southern USA if I 'ax' how are you?, and the reply is 'well, thank you'. I would probably reply with 'well... what?'

 

[JackTenOff]

When people say 'I could care less' when they mean 'I couldn't care less'
Annoys the hell out of me.

 

[dionysus]

fat chance of that changing..I mean, slim chance

 

[Mousey]

I type perfectly. My keyboard is an idiot.

My brain thinks a lot more formally than my mouth speaks. ....

Most here are familiar with my typonese.... My fingers type faster than my brain thinks. But then again... maybe I just happened to buy (bye, by - how does anyone ever learn English?) my idiot keyboard from the same place as Skiny.

I very often leave off capitalization. I've a bit of arthritis in my hands (too many years at the keyboard, no doubt), and you'd be surprised how much reaching for that shift can hurt... or sometimes doesn't quite reach the proper key most times. (Having small hands doesn't help that situation either.)

 

[skiny]

To be honest, I kind of like most of the people I know speaking broken English with a heavy accent. It adds variety to the conversations. There's one old Chinese man I talk to though who has to repeat himself quite often. I just shake my head and say "I don't know what you just said." He's never bothered by it. He just starts over and carries on.

There was an Englishman I used to know many years ago. His accent was so thick, when he relaxed and spoke naturally I had no idea what he was saying half the time. I used to say "You want to back up and try that in English?"

 

[Tirilej]

I believe after these years writing and reading English here I have learned the language really good.
The sad thing is that my spoken English isn't really keeping up
Even though I have travelled a lot I have never been to a country were English is the first language so no one has ever needed to correct my language, or to teach me any slang.
I've been thinking of giving my Skypename out here in the hope of someone wanting to talk to me. It would feel good to know that I can speak it proper too

I do have one odd question. When you don't understand someone or you can't hear what they are saying, what do you say?
I learned in school to say I beg your pardon, but is that being used at all?
In Sweden we just say What? or Sorry? (in Swedish of course)

 

[skiny]

I believe after these years writing and reading English here I have learned the language really good.
The sad thing is that my spoken English isn't really keeping up
Even though I have travelled a lot I have never been to a country were English is the first language so no one has ever needed to correct my language, or to teach me any slang.
I've been thinking of giving my Skypename out here in the hope of someone wanting to talk to me. It would feel good to know that I can speak it proper too

I do have one odd question. When you don't understand someone or you can't hear what they are saying, what do you say?
I learned in school to say I beg your pardon, but is that being used at all?
In Sweden we just say What? or Sorry? (in Swedish of course)

"I beg your pardon" is very formal. I think in North America it's mostly used when you're insulted or annoyed. In these cases you really do know what the person said but you're stating more of a disbelief that the person actually said it. It can be used to ask someone to repeat something but in my experience it rarely is. A simple "Pardon me?" is more often used to politely ask someone to repeat a statement. Sometimes "excuse me?" is also used.

"Sorry" is less formal but still polite. "What?" is very informal and usually used among friends. My friends are very difficult to insult. Which is probably why they're still my friends but in that situation you can say pretty much anything you like. "Try that again but this time move your lips AND your tongue" works.

 

[dunover]

I believe after these years writing and reading English here I have learned the language really good.
The sad thing is that my spoken English isn't really keeping up
Even though I have travelled a lot I have never been to a country were English is the first language so no one has ever needed to correct my language, or to teach me any slang.
I've been thinking of giving my Skypename out here in the hope of someone wanting to talk to me. It would feel good to know that I can speak it proper too

I do have one odd question. When you don't understand someone or you can't hear what they are saying, what do you say?
I learned in school to say I beg your pardon, but is that being used at all?
In Sweden we just say What? or Sorry? (in Swedish of course)

'Say that again?' is a sort of middle ground, not formal or informal, or you can add (sorry, say that again?)
This means the person will usually repeat it, and doesn't tell them (unless it's obvious by physical events or background noise etc.) why you want it repeated. It could be because you weren't concentrating, didn't understand the first time or simply the other person spoke quietly. You find most people when speaking English to foreigners tend to put a stupid accent on as if it makes the non-English speaker understand better. The best thing to do is simply speak concisely and slightly slower than you usually would, and as you get used to the level of speed and understanding the non-English speaker has, adjust to that level.

 

[dionysus]

lol, sorry, saw this and thought of the thread

 

[manfreid88]

@ dunover

Yes, txt spk 4 mrns wch hs n vwls.......

err.... what the hell? Is that a swearing? )))) English is not my native language and honestly, I haven't take a single lesson of English language my entire life, so dunover said it right: it is easy to learn it however it is hard to master it )