Loosing vs. Losing
- Thread starter wobbycarly
- Start date
I totally forgot about Overheard in New York! Used to be one of my favourite online time-wasters.
http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/
Girl you do not know not nothin (Double negative means that she does know something) about nothin no how
So....I think it means that she does know something about nothing anyhow.
One that gets me - off of rather than from.
Triple M today - "next we will play a track off of the new album." I was shouting FROM at the radio in the car. The girl I was with thought I was nuts!
Triple M today - "next we will play a track off of the new album." I was shouting FROM at the radio in the car. The girl I was with thought I was nuts!
So, for those of us who are picky about poor spelling and grammar - why does it bother us?
Do we have a touch of 'class' or snobbishness in our makeup?
I don't think so. I think it's a matter of speaking and writing clearly with articulation. If we adhere to the rules of spelling and grammar, our communication is clearer, and less likely to be misinterpreted.
Do we see someone who can't spell or use grammar correctly as less educated? Or lazy?
I see it as having less education, or missed education.
Are we purists who don't like to see the English language being misused and changed over time because of poor habits and acceptance of such?
I think there's some truth in this. However, I do get disgruntled by the fact that proper spelling and grammar are not taught in schools these days. This means I get graduates who cannot write a decent report for the courts, and that reflects badly on my reputation. (Reports go out under my letterhead.) So it means much extra work for me in editing and educating them in basic grammar.
Are we competitive and like the challenge of mastering something that we know is hard and think everyone else should have the same attitude?
It's not rocket science...just using the basic rules makes communication easier to understand.
My answer: I dunno - it just does!
My peeves are:
- saying "aks" instead of "ask"...this is just poor education.
- using split infinitives.
- misusing "advice" and "advise"...there is a difference between the noun and the verb.
- using "was going to" instead of "went".
- starting a sentence with "but" or "and"....these are joining words.
- using Mum and Dad, when you mean mum and dad.
- Writing a sentence with no punctuation, which causes me to run out of breath before I get to the end.
- A paragraph that takes up a whole page...Kafka is exempt from this peeve.
- One sentence paragraphs...so unnecessary.
- Finishing a sentence with a preposition.
Forget the off. Overuse of "of" is another one in our house.
"The Simpsons is on after the show of the news!"
"are we having a dinner of schnitzel? (technically correct but noone talks like that - "are we having schnitzel for dinner?" is more usual)
And various other uses of "of" that are so mangled my brain refuses to remember them, let alone repeat them.
The toddler is grammatically correct - yesterday during a major overtired tantrum I picked her up and shoved her in bed kicking and screaming to a loud protest of "I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO BED", which is her longest sentence yet
Amen! Parents who don't take the time to correct this - and many other pet peeves, such as "yous" - in their children should be found guilty of a form of child abuse: I propose the new offence "linguistic neglect".
I just realised this assumes that the parent knows better, which they may not. Parents who don't even notice such offences should have to complete a basic grammar course, and put it into practise by proofreading a number of Year 9 essays. The bigger their linguistic offences, the larger the number of essays they have to proofread. Missing certain *major* grammatical or spelling errors would be grounds for having to start the punishment all over again.
Linguistic Neglect
I soooooooooooo love this term.
Amen! Parents who don't take the time to correct this - and many other pet peeves, such as "yous" - in their children should be found guilty of a form of child abuse: I propose the new offence "linguistic neglect".
I soooooooooooo love this term.
These are all considered grammatically okay, but some would argue are stylistically unacceptable. There's been much debate about that, but like a lot of grammatical "rules", those who say they are unacceptable are going in the face of a long tradition of literature and other writings.
I think Peter Carey wrote a whole book without any punctuation. Not something I'd recommend mind you.
GP
Alright, here's another one.
"for free" - I hate it! "Buy one, get one for free" scream the banners. No, I buy one and I get one for nothing, or I get one free. Not "for free."
"for free" - I hate it! "Buy one, get one for free" scream the banners. No, I buy one and I get one for nothing, or I get one free. Not "for free."
That's not as bad as "Win a free phone!". Why would I care about winning something that's already free? If they actually meant "Win a valuable phone!", then ofcourse it's free if you win it!
Isn't 'dad' just a noun in this case, because you used 'my'? It's not a replacement for your dad's name in this case. I'm not sure if you saw my previous post about 'mum' and 'dad'.
Beg to differ...My Dad is a title of respect that I give him. He was (when he was alive), and still is "the hero of my dreams". I guess this is just another way of using a capital D, with dad. I do however, concur with your POV in general terms.
This is an absolute hate of mine, and I've been known to yell at the radio when it spews this rubbish.
Just another Americanism, I guess - but I'll never succumb!
cheers
Ofcourse. How remiss of me.Fair enough, but shouldn't he then the Hero of your dreams?
Girl you dont know = Girl you don't know
not nothing = anything
about nothing = about anything
no how = anyhow / anyway
