Poor English

F

fred hall

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I for one think it does (but as an old hat teacher, I would say that, wouldn't I?).
To back up my case, take a look at the front page of Angling Times 25/10/05. I quote
HOW TO STALK SPOOKY FISH LIKE MATT HAYES
Now I think that Matt is a decent angler, and also a 24 carat poser, but to label him a fish and a spooky one at that seems a bit harsh.
 
G

Ged

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Now I agree with that headline.
Matt hayes is a spooky fish and I would not go stalking him. (I'm not a fan of his)
 
W

Wolfman Woody

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Whilst I would agree that a language must evolve, it doesn't mean that that is an excuse to go corrupting it by being lazy.

I refer to jargon such as "...he would of if he had one." It's "....he would have..." Laziness like this is inexcusable.

On the other hand the introduction of new words like "splonge" is quite acceptable. I haven't yet established a definition of this word so I am just holding it in reserve. Never know when you might need it.
 
A

Alan Tyler

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Perhaps it's a lunge with something unexpectedly soft, like a close-mesh landing-net on a cheap frame - "desperately splonging at a lively carp"?
Or maybe that's "splunge". It certainly doesn't boost one's image!
 
M

mark williams 4

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Language evolves, but ity should evolve from creativity, niot laziness. Messing around with grammar to achieve effect is fine, and I love new words (splonge, by the way, describes the sound made when you leap onto a bed covered in custard...as you do).
"You know what we mean" is the usual excuse. Well, would we have known what you meant if you'd written it the RIGHT way, and if the answer's yes, do it the right way!
I have many language hang-ups - 'five minutes time' for example. Five minutes of what else could it be? It's just five minutes, for Christ's sake!
Then there's stuff like "He only fishes on Wednesdays" implying that he doesn't do anything else but fish, when it should be "He fishes only on Wednesdays."
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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I'm a proper 'English' fan as well. I hate all this text message language where writers can't be bothered to capitalise 'I's' at the beginning of sentences, etc. I know not everyone has a good grasp of grammar but most of the bad stuff isn't due to a lack of knowledge but laziness. To me it just reflects the standards that are acceptable to them in all things.
 
B

Blunderer

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Text message and emails have reduced standards of grammer even further.
My blood boils when I see "CU M8" etc. I think, on forums, you can tell the under 20s from their style which is often similar to a text, no fullstops or punctuation.

My personal grammatical hate?

"Why not try our new chicken wings."

Grrrrrrr.......
 
E

ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)

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Worse than
"Why not try our new chicken wings."
is
"Why not try our buffalo wings"

Since when have buffalos had wings???
 
N

NottmDon

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Its easy to fall into the trap of 'modern speak' or 'text lingo' I try very hard not to succumb but it does happen. When typing a letter recently I almost put the 'lol' in to a paragraph I thought amusing. My old English teacher would be rolling in his grave I imagine! Mind you he was a great guy so he may well be rolling with merriment.
Apparently the young lady from 'dictionary corner' (countdown) as written/wrote a book on the subject of all theses new fangled meaningless words.it may well be worth a read. My young adult (children) say 'bad' when they mean 'good' and 'wicked' which is even better than bad. The one I hate most is 'CHAV' ermm yes it means someone who buys fake designer goods in order to look the part,it also equates as Council House And Violent!
 
E

ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)

Guest
Don why do you always put 'as' instead of 'has' ?
 
N

NottmDon

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Ed my English teacher used to ask me the same question lol. I often get a little mixed up and that particular error is one I just fall into from time to time. Some of my spelling leaves a lot to be desired as well thesedays. I also have the misfortune of having a keyboard that seems to have a mind of its own I type "a" and out comes "s", I type "j" and its an "h" or "k". 'Typos' they call them, as if I didnt have enough to contend with! How I ever passed A level English Literature and got a place at university I do not know!Mind you I was a lot younger then but not a lot wiser. I now agree that "youth is wasted on the young" :).ok m8 innit soz 4 da eras ;)
 
W

Wolfman Woody

Guest
Eye all ways use two get my homonyms mixed up.

I do frequently juxtapose characters, but often it's because my right hand works quicker than my left. So "soem" is typed where it should be "some". Also I miss the apostrophe key and instead type a semi-colon in words like "it;s" or "he;s".

Damned keyboards keep changing too. I'm sure they've got wider since PCs first came out.
 
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