Words that should be changed

[Mad Doug Biker]

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but "would of, could of" etc.
I'm not normally a grammar nazi, but this one really grates. There is a simple phonemic explanation for its use (the 'weak forms' of 'have' and 'of' are the same, using a schwa followed by the phoneme /v/), but to see it written down bugs me.
However, language is a 'crowd-led' phenomenon, and the more people that use it, the more accepted it becomes., It'll be the accepted 'grammar book' form in 100yrs time, or at least accepted as an alternative.

Some people say it purely as its part of their accent/local dialect.

Anyway, one that gets me at the moment is the sudden explosion in the use of the word 'Unique'. Everything is 'unique' these days, in fact, some things are more 'unique' than others.
I do have to wonder if half the people using the word actually know what it means!

 

[tadpole]

Not in any dictionary I've seen, and there's no h at the start for the excellent reason that there isn't one! No well educated or cultured person would even contemplate there being one!

So you're appy with otel orse ouse ill edge oliday eat at ackley erb.

 

[chriss2.0]

Some people say it purely as its part of their accent/local dialect.

Anyway, one that gets me at the moment is the sudden explosion in the use of the word 'Unique'. Everything is 'unique' else days, in fact, some things are more 'unique' than others.
I do have to wonder if half the people using the word actually know what it means!

dont forget you are "unique" just like everybody elce

 

[swee'pea99]

Some people say it purely as its part of their accent/local dialect.

Anyway, one that gets me at the moment is the sudden explosion in the use of the word 'Unique'. Everything is 'unique' else days, in fact, some things are more 'unique' than others.
I do have to wonder if half the people using the word actually know what it means!

Unique is probably my least favourite word. Invariably used, for no good reason, in the conviction that it confers some kind of special status. Whenever I hear it I think: Yes. As is every turd ever laid by a dog.

 

[MontyVeda]

So you're appy with otel orse ouse ill edge oliday eat at ackley erb.

i think he's talking about the name of the letter 'h', which is 'aitch', not 'haitch'.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

So you're appy with otel orse ouse ill edge oliday eat at ackley erb.

'Appy, its triffic!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

' Original' is one of those misleading words. I couldn't find my leaf tea in the supermarket the other day because they'd repackaged it and named it ''original.'' But it's not original, is it? For a start, the original didn't have original stamped all over it.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

dont forget you are "unique" just like everybody elce

Thanks for that! Its the bloody autocorrect, it does it for no reason whatsoever.

 

[Fnaar]

I do have to wonder if half the people using the word actually know what it means!

You're not alone in that

 

[chriss2.0]

Y

Thanks for that! Its the bloody autocorrect, it does it for no reason whatsoever.

i diddnt know u mispelled

 

[Salad Dodger]

On the BBC this morning I heard Peter Day presenting a piece about the commercial use of "unpersonned aircraft". WTF is next? Personhole covers? Safe Personhandling Regulations?

Personchester United

 

[Davidc]

So you're appy with otel orse ouse ill edge oliday eat at ackley erb.

No. they have an H at the start which is sounded. The letter itself doesn't and should always, without exception, be pronounced with no trace of an H sound at the start. H is spelt and correctly pronounced aitch. (Unless you're an Australian).

Not stunningly authoritative link but it has sound and doesn't need a subscription!

The OED agrees and I take that as the definitive version.

Presumably you pronounce Arthur as Harthur, Ant as Hant, and Apple as Happle?

 

[tadpole]

No. they have an H at the start which is sounded. The letter itself doesn't and should always, without exception, be pronounced with no trace of an H sound at the start. H is spelt and correctly pronounced aitch. (Unless you're an Australian).

Not stunningly authoritative link but it has sound and doesn't need a subscription!

The OED agrees and I take that as the definitive version.

Presumably you pronounce Arthur as Harthur, Ant as Hant, and Apple as Happle?

No why would I do that Arthur et al don't start with an H. OED long since corrupted by uneducated Americans. I do feel sorry for "modern" educated people, who copy the posh rather than their own.

 

[ayceejay]

Here's a word I could happily live without ever hearing again:
TWERKING.