Drago's English language rant #72

[swansonj]

Stakeholders annoys me. Customers. We call them customers.

We use the terms differently to make a very valid distinction. Customers are people who matter because they pay us money. Stakeholders don't pay us money but still matter.

 

[Tin Pot]

But who cares (except you and other grammar pedants)

Person speaking can understand what they are saying

Person listening can understand what they are hearing

Language changes and evolves. Grammatical "rules" get stretched to breaking point, words get used in ways never originally envisaged. So what? It's all about being able to communicate, innit?

Language is not some beautiful, aspic preserved, thing for us to look at. It's a living, evolving thing.

More often

Person speaking doesn't understand subtleties and cannot communicate their actual meaning

Person listening has to guess the meaning, and ask for confirmation all the time

 

[Salad Dodger]

Stakeholders annoys me. Customers. We call them customers.

"Partners" annoys me, when used in that kind of context. As soon as I hear "the p word" (as it's known at home), I am prepared for some vacuous corporatespeak blandishments which do not address the root of the problem.

 

[marinyork]

Person listening has to guess the meaning, and ask for confirmation all the time

English is a fantastically context based language and much the richer for it.

 

[Dayvo]

If you're interested in languages (particularly English) and the evolution of, then Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue is an interesting and entertaining read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Mother-Tongue-Story-English-Language-Bill-Bryson/0141040084

 

[Yellow Fang]

I have a gripe with the way people use the word 'tangible'. Tangible means you can touch it. I heard someone on the radio say 'tangible hard skills'. Then I heard someone complaining about some ancient stone artefacts having been destroyed near Timbuctu. She said something intangible had been destroyed. Well, actually you could touch those things, so something tangible had been destroyed.

 

[nickyboy]

Ah, the oft-used excuse list of those that can't spell or write (or can't be arsed)....
"I'm evolvin' the language, innit blud?"

I don't believe it needs "evolving" any further, or not in that dumbed down direction anyway. I think when something becomes dumbed down it can't really be described as evolving. Devolving, surely?
I'm not a pedant by the way, I cheerfully tolerate / overlook mistakes and we all make some. I just don't feel that I should have to tolerate really poor, primary school failure levels of English (of / have, there / their etc) from fully grown adults who claim that English is their first language in the name of "evolution". I gather that this pretty basic expectation makes me a "Grammar Nazi" in social media circles, which is another moronic phrase.

But English is constantly evolving naturally. Speakers don't force the evolution it just, sorta, happens. One only needs to look at Middle English to see how different it is now (or even the sentence constructions common in Victorian English). I see no reason why English in a few hundred years should not be incomprehensible to a time traveller from the present

FWIW, I'm firmly in the "Can I get" camp. That battle is over. "Please may I have" has lost and no doubt folk will look back at that construction in the future and chuckle at its quaintness

 

[John the Monkey]

Ah, the oft-used excuse list of those that can't spell or write (or can't be arsed)....
"I'm evolvin' the language, innit blud?"

I don't believe it needs "evolving" any further, or not in that dumbed down direction anyway. I think when something becomes dumbed down it can't really be described as evolving. Devolving, surely?
I'm not a pedant by the way, I cheerfully tolerate / overlook mistakes and we all make some. I just don't feel that I should have to tolerate really poor, primary school failure levels of English (of / have, there / their etc) from fully grown adults who claim that English is their first language in the name of "evolution". I gather that this pretty basic expectation makes me a "Grammar Nazi" in social media circles, which is another moronic phrase.

I suspect people were probably making similar arguments around the decline of "thee" and "thou". Those youngsters saying "You" all the time....

I have sympathy for people who like (what is deemed, contemporarily to be) correct English, because I rather like it too, but all history seems to suggest that it's a losing battle. "It's evolved enough!" is, I'm afraid, the cry of a linguistic Conkie[1].

[1] An Amish like sect, invented by the British comedians Lee and Herring. The Conkies only used technology invented before 1983.

(From the episode synopsis in which the Conkies appear)

This leads to a pre-recorded insert that tells of the Shrewsbury-based anti-modern community, "The Conkies", named after Ian Conkie - their founder. They have eschewed any invention that came after the 6th of December 1983. Their pastimes involve playing old Atari video games, and the staples of their diet include toasted sandwiches and Soda Stream drinks. Stew does try his best to point out the lunacy of their community, but they're not listening.
They seem to like living their bizarre lie.

 

[Crackle]

I only have to look at the way my own lads send whatsapp messages to already know my language is stuck. Some things may change but the way they speak and I speak is already generational.

 

[classic33]

Condensed rant:
Issue instead of problem, around instead of with, engage instead of involve, train station instead of railway station.

We've Bus Stations!

 

[classic33]

Stakeholders annoys me. Customers. We call them customers.

Your a customer when at the hospital though.

 

[nickyboy]

I only have to look at the way my own lads send whatsapp messages to already know my language is stuck. Some things may change but the way they speak and I speak is already generational.

Same here. And I explain to them that their gentle mocking of my English will eventually be replaced by the gentle mocking by the next generation of their English. They don't like the sound of that one bit I'm pleased to say

 

[youngoldbloke]

We've Bus Stations!

True, nowadays we do, although we used to have Bus Stops and a Bus Terminus, and a Coach Station. Just 'Station' invariabily referred to a Railway Station.

 

[classic33]

True, nowadays we do, although we used to have Bus Stops and a Bus Terminus, and a Coach Station. Just 'Station' invariabily referred to a Railway Station.

We've Bus/Coach Terminals & Airport Terminals.

 

[pplpilot]

I absolutely hate text speak. Lazy and from adults it comes across immature. Don't get me started on colleagues using it in email. Drives me mental. I cringe when I see crap like 'b4' 'm8' 'lol' 'bcus' ....