Bad English.

[Bman]

That belongs to I sounds daft.

Unless you're from Devon or Cornwall

Or Jamaica (Like Bob Marley, in Redemption Song).

 

[Fnaar]

Or Jamaica (Like Bob Marley, in Redemption Song).

That would be "That belongs to I and I", surely

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Damn u you beet beat me two too to it.

That would be "That belongs to I and I", surely

 

[Amanda P]

"Costing you less every day". If only that were true (note correct use of the subjunctive mood there).

If it were true, I could shop at Tesco's every day, and before long, they'd be paying me to take stuff away.

 

[Amanda P]

Yes, I hate that - also used by slightly inarticuate excitable eye-witnesses.

Was it always like that, or has it sprung up recently? And if recently, why? Language changes, I know, maybe that's just evolution.

They discussed this on Radio 4's 'Word of Mouth' recently. It seems people have been using that 'historical (hysterical?) present tense' for a long time, in English and in other languages.

In fact, I vaguely seem to recall a passage of Latin text (Vergil's Aendid I think) that lapsed into a sort of historical present tense.

 

[Brandane]

"Giving 110%" (or any other figure in excess of 100%).

 

[swee'pea99]

Surprised no-one's mentioned 'less than six items' and the like - generally one to get the pedants foaming at the mouth.

 

[Chilternrides]

A sign in the gent's at work:

"No drinking water in toilet."

Believe me, I have no intention of even taking a sip!


Restaurants and pubs are rapidly becoming places of irritation for me, with "I want..." and "Can I get..." now becoming the normal way to open a transaction with a member of staff.

 

[benb]

A sign in the gent's at work:

"No drinking water in toilet."

Believe me, I have no intention of even taking a sip!


Restaurants and pubs are rapidly becoming places of irritation for me, with "I want..." and "Can I get..." now becoming the normal way to open a transaction with a member of staff.

"Can I get ..." is infuriating, but what's wrong with "I want ..." as long as you put "please" on the end?

 

[coffeejo]

A sign in the gent's at work:

"No drinking water in toilet."

Believe me, I have no intention of even taking a sip!


Restaurants and pubs are rapidly becoming places of irritation for me, with "I want..." and "Can I get..." now becoming the normal way to open a transaction with a member of staff.

Surely that should be gents'?

 

[Chilternrides]

"Can I get ..." is infuriating, but what's wrong with "I want ..." as long as you put "please" on the end?

Agreed, nothing inherently wrong with it, but it sounds terse (to me anyway!) and the please rarely follows on from an opener like that.

"I want doesn't get!" as my Gran used to often say, so I suppose it's just stuck with me.

 

[Chilternrides]

Surely that should be gents'?

I always have an internal mental struggle with that one - and for some reason neither of them look right to me!

 

[Mr Phoebus]

Loosing the plot.

 

[Chromatic]

"Giving 110%" (or any other figure in excess of 100%).

+1

 

[yello]

Shouldn't it be 'poor English'? 'Bad English' sounds wrong to me.

The only usage of English the irks me (well, probably not the only but the only one I can think of at the moment) is the use of the word controversial. As in when football commentators on TV remark something like 'that is a controversial decision'. No, not in my English it isn't! Not yet anyway. It might cause controversy and so become controversial but it can't be controversial immediately! Oddly, I don't mind someone describing something as debatable (when what they mean is that they disagree or can see room for disagreement) and that has a very similar sense.

Language is very personal. We all have different takes on words, our own dictionaries as it were.