Tony Richardson Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I can see this thread running for a long time, perhaps even long enough for our language to "evolve" even further. Pete I have to agree "cool" can mean so much even "hot" the two seem to be interchangeable? I think what really counts is that despite our often "faux pas" in use of language is that we understand each other. Would we rather revert to "something vexes thee" or stay with " boy you're grumpy today" on another note how has our language evolved between continents and why? Canada, America, Australia all colonised by England but all with different dialects, in fact dialect/accent can change from county to county state to state even village to village town to town, why and how is a question that maybe cannot be answered. Just throwing it out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanN Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 And - struggling to be polite about the offenders - some people unaccountably refer to i.c. engines as "nitro". I rest my case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Why do most English people add an "r" to the end when say words like law, saw, flaw etc but omit the "r" from girl, iron, operator etc. We Scots have no such problem in pronunciation. Also I find it quite amusing to hear many English footballers, pundits & managers pronouncing the "th" as an "f" in words like "three" & "with", whilst almost all of their foreign colleagues playing or working in England pronounce the "th" correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Pat, you definitely have a NE England accent but perfectly understandable. I once met a Durham miner on a motor cycle trial down in Cornwall. I'll never forget his name - Gary Cooper Even when he was trying to speak clearly so we Derbyshire lads could understand - we mostly couldn't so I have every sympathy for your French lecturers. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Posted by PatMc on 22/10/2016 21:42:13: I was once on a training course at an IBM establishment in Paris with 7 other BT people, two from Matlock, one from Birmingham, one from London, myself & my mate Charlie from Newcastle. The instructors & lecturers were all French but spoke decent english, as did almost all of the IBM staff. The only person that anyone had any difficulty understanding was Charlie who had the habit of speaking quite fast with a broad Geordie accent, in fact I spent a lot of time as his translator. That should be 5 other BT people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Geoff, I've now lived in Geordieland for nearly 60 years. I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, when I was 16 my family moved to Dundee & we stayed there for just over two years before moving to NE England. I struggled for months trying to understand the Dundonian dialect yet when we moved to Tyneside had no problem from day one. OTOH, in Ashington, a few miles north of the Tyne, I once stopped and asked an old lady in directions. She replied in pure "Pitmatic" - completely incomprehensible to the uninitiated - though I can speak it quite fluently now myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I was watching Sebastian Vettel being interviewed a couple of weeks ago. The interviewer asked the German a question in Italian and he answered in English. Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg and the Fernando Alonso all speak several languages, far more than Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Jolyon Palmer. You can't fault these European F1 drivers for their linguistic skills....for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Longley Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Posted by kevin b on 22/10/2016 14:53:54: Why all the fuss ? In another 100 years everybody will be speaking Chinese anyway. Mandarin actually & I believe it may already be the world's widest spoken language, But not the most common language of international trade which may well be English Edited By Sam Longley on 23/10/2016 08:31:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Longley Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Posted by IanR on 22/10/2016 11:28:50: Its all down to the individual. Or is it up to? Going forward, we'll see. Or in future. Perhaps we'll step up to the plate and start playing baseball. The oldest ones that I can think of, that woman Laura Norder using a fine toothcomb, or is it a fine-tooth comb. I mean, when someone says "fine toothcomb" have they never stopped to consider what the hell a toothcomb actually is? Ian If, as I suspect, it is a comb made from teeth then it should be "fine pitch tooth comb." As in:- fine pitch- spacing of teeth, I suppose one could have- finely spaced Tooth - made from the tooth of some mammal Comb- what it is Over time someone has decided to drop the "pitch", but in any event the words should not be connected or hyphenated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I can speak three languages. English, Spanish and Bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin 216 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 My wife used 'Pity his pan boils' if someone is moaning or frustrated - never really understood what she meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Fledermaus Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I resisted the temptation to contribute to this thread with my particular pet hates, for fear of thinking of myself as a grumpy old git. So instead:- Dear Father Christmas, can I have one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I know. When we got married almost 50 years ago (just a few months to go) I didn't realise I was willingly signing up to sleep with an old age pensioner Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Burton Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 My current pet hate, which causes me to shout at the radio (wireless !) or the TV, is the emphasis on the first syllable of the word research Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrman Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Why do so many TV and radio presenters insist on saying ----- every ----single----- word------ separately and not speak them together as a coherent sentence? Robert Peston is one of the chief protagonists IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted October 23, 2016 Author Share Posted October 23, 2016 Posted by Geoff Sleath on 23/10/2016 11:11:51: I know. When we got married almost 50 years ago (just a few months to go) I didn't realise I was willingly signing up to sleep with an old age pensioner Geoff Neither did she Geoff! On the other hand, there's many a fine tune... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Ending a sentence with a preposition. Using the incorrect tense in a sentence. Using a singular verb for a plural subject. So, that should keep the well bubbling a bit more! (The use of "So". Well, I'm glad you asked me that question! "So" seems to have replaced "Well" as a verbal tick before answering. The one I like, really, is the Australian saying "Look, it's like this.... Just sounds so much more definitive than Well....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony K Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Posted by Peter Jenkins on 23/10/2016 15:48:19: Ending a sentence with a preposition. That is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Exactly Tony! Oh, and don't get me going on split infinitives! Even the newsreaders on the Beeb seem to be following the US tradition of no infinitive should ever be left unsplit! To boldly go might be OK for Star Trek but not for those interested in following the rules of grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I believe Robert Peston speaks as he does either because he hasn't prepared properly and is giving himself time to think or because he thinks people are interested in what he is saying so he spins it out to try and make himself sound important. Either way, the arrogant pig gets right up my nose and I refuse to listen to his performing. I_a_n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Peter, don't get me started on American 'English'! Why do they often miss out the preposition when stating when something happened? Eg. "Trump said something stupid in a speech he gave Tuesday". What happened to "on Tuesday"? However I am amused at one of their strange assaults on our language. Whilst they generally like to shorten words, eg. color, labor, traveling (only one "l" ), why do they reject the sensible word "burgled" and replaced it with "burglarized"? Back to British English, the expression "can I get" that was mentioned earlier does annoy me more that it probably should. I'm sure I was ever working in a café and somebody said "Can I get a cup of tea?" I'd find it very difficult not to reply, "No, I'll get one for you". Or maybe I'm just being a grumpy old git today as I didn't go flying! Edited By John Privett on 23/10/2016 17:08:56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I believe that, at some point, the Americans actually officially changed the spelling of certain words i.e. color for colour etc. I don't know the history of this but, if it is true, then perhaps they made other changes, also, and allowed the missing preposition and burglarized, and so on. Personally, I don't mind Americans speaking americanese. What I dislike is British lads and lasses stepping up to the plate et al. What would be wrong with stepping up to the crease? It would of had exactly the same meaning, innit? Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Evans 3 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Two things that annoy me about the use of the English language when I'm watching "Judge Judy". Is this a contradiction of terms ? The number of people who do not know the difference between "to borrow " and "to lend " ,e.g " I borrowed him some money " instead of " I loaned him some money " . The use of " AKS " instead of " ASK ". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Posted by Phil 9 on 23/10/2016 17:47:29: OH DEAR!!.They will never live that one down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 9 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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