h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh, I agree, Deborah. My mother used to get rabid about that as well, and you can add me to the happy pedants' list - it drives me ananabs as well.

Could HAVE, would HAVE! Yes!

>> Many people today simply don't read, and get all their language by ear. One is as good as the other to them. <<

Couldn't agree more. The only reading most people get to do today is on the Internet and we have all seen what the language is like there.

Donald

This reminds me, Funk Green & the Mesmeric Toadstool, to plug my entry on New Zealand English... A1001683.

I was amazed to read in a New Zealand magazine in about 203, that in the NZ dialect, 'ear' and 'air' are now homophones - and then the other night, on a news bulletin, I heard a reporter say about a fogged in airport - that there had been a danger of "ear crashes". What a mental picture that conjured!

<>

I did English Language at A-Level, and we covered some of the history of the language. Way back in the 18th Century, the rules of English grammar were established mostly by scholars looking at Latin and seeing how they could apply these rules to English; which is where the above sentence structure comes from. I just wish I could remember exactly why

The rule which states than an infinitive should never be split (as in the famous example from Star Trek "to boldly go") also comes from Latin rules being applied to English.

I'll go and get my anorak.....

Apple - "ear crashes" doesn't bear thinking about!

Intelligent moose

I nearly split my sides reading your post.

Thats exactly how my boyfriends family speak!!!
He was always going on about Legends when i first met him. Thank God i never took him up on his offer to go there!!!

>>He was always going on about Legends when i first met him. Thank God i never took him up on his offer to go there!!!

You're not the right age to go to "Cas Vegas"! You have to be younger than 18 or older than 40 . But they did (a number of years ago) used to sell beer for 10p per pint on a Thursday night ("a yoff darnt ten-pencer?" )

There's an entry on Cas at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A197462

"Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Wherefore means WHY, not WHERE.

<> (esquare)

Yes, it seems quite clear to me that 'could of' comes from how 'could've' sounds when people are speaking.

I once caught my sister (who was working for a law firm many years ago and typing reports from a dicta-tape) write 'for all intensive purposes'! My sister is far from stupid, but no, she doesn't read a lot - or didn't back then. So I agree that reading is quite a valuable tool for learning English spelling and usage.

Re: 'My parents came to visit my wife and I'. One trick I taught myself at school when I was about ten years old was to deconstruct the sentence somewhat and take away the 'my wife and' bit to see if the sentence still worked. We weren't actually taught grammar at school (otherwise I would have known that 'I' was in fact a subject pronoun, not an object pronoun), though they were quite big on spelling bees - for which I have always been grateful.


az

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Ah, but did it mean the same thing 400 years ago?


az

IF you want to get really picky the quote should be:
"Capulet, Capulet. Wherefore art thou Capulet?"
'Wherefore' meaning 'Why' as it was a lament about how Juliet could never be allowed to openly love Romeo because of the family feud.

Intelligent moose
'Cas Vegas'
I've heard that saying before & had many a chuckle!!!
The boyfriend used to go when it was 10p a pint! That probably explains his liking for the amber nectar!!
With all your knowledge of 'Cas Vegas' you probably know my other half.
Although i'm not sure you would want to admit to that.
Thank you for the link, I will go & have a gander in a minute.

Ooooh, pedantry, right up my alley!

This week I am mostly disliking "myself"

Examples: 'Could you pass a copy of that email through to myself?'[dative case = me]

'My wife and myself would like to' [nominative = I]


I knew those years at Grammar school would come in handy!

PS
I'm from Bradford too. Yorkshire accent is much maligned, but there are some wonderful dialect poems. My real gripe is against thoughtless language.
Another example [this is double tautology] "Sportsshoes Unlimited is in Norfolk Gardens, under the NCP Car Park"
And while I'm at it...
"Get some money out of the ATM Machine, please"

"Could you replace the DAT tape for tonights backup."

"On behalf of myself and XYZ Holidays, I would like to thank you for travelling..." how do you thank on behalf of yourself? Idiot holiday reps.

RF

<>

Multiple personality disorder?

Ah the English language survives.

However I would like to point out that the rules applied to English never used to apply.That they are merely adapted rules of Latin used to terrify us into some sort of standardisation of the language.

I personally don't mind..after all one of these days I'll be a heap of ashes and I won't care,provided I don't live long enough to be unable to converse with younger members of my family.

Language should evolve to match the generations that will succeed us..

Reply to post 3
Glottal stops in "water" and "better" irritate you? How about we USAmericans who pronounce "water" as /wawder/ and "better" as /beder/? To the American ear, using a proper tih sound in the middle of the word sounds over-precise, affected, or with apologies to present company, British.

You forgot 'budder'

My father, born in Newfoundland Canada, had the most weird yet charming accent. So the glottal stops were there for bu**er and we always ate 'caorots' (not carrots).

When I lived in Bristol England I sometimes found people who could not understand my Canadian English. Go figure . . .


az

In reply to post 78. I think those can come under the category of regional accents. What I meant was the affected estuary English used by Chavs/Kevs/Neds/Townies... thus we end up with "wa'ahh" and "be'ahh".