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Everything hard to deal with is a CHALLENGE because adults aren't allowed to use words that express bad emotions like annoyance. Sometimes I don't want to solve anything that the word "challenge" means; I just want to vent.
I hate that language is getting more casual with each generation. My generation calls them guys. Young people now call them dudes. Dude sounds really rude. But then again, I'm sure the generation above me thinks guys is rude too. Oh well.
The one that kills me is using "anymore" as a sub for "these days" or "nowadays" when the sentence doesn't contain a negative.
Wrong: "Kids always play on my lawn anymore"
Right: "Those kids shouldn't play on my lawn anymore"
And people who think it sounds hip to drop the "of" after "because." I see posters over 40 type things like "I couldn't get home on time today because traffic"
It's an old English form of "ask" used by some dialects in the British isles that apparently carried down over the centuries into certain groups in the United States. It's even spelled "aks" in some old documents.
It's a good idea to remember that linguistically speaking, there is no one "correct" way to speak a language, and language changes constantly. The "correct" form of English or any other language is that which comes to be known as correct by the speakers of the language who are in power or otherwise prominent in society.
However, that perception of correct English is codified, and we make judgments based on the way a person speaks. I had a coworker in a high-level position who grew up in the Bronx, and he said "ax" for "ask" and "birfday" and other forms of words usually associated with African-American speech, but he wasn't black.
As for the others, that "I need a place to stay" business pops up on the NJ forum from time to time. Many times it is used that way by immigrants from India, I've noticed. "Stay" sort of infers that someone is looking for a temporary place, not a place to live. Which is odd in itself because "stay" does not really mean temporary. But in most parts of the country, we "stay" at a hotel, and we "live" in our house.
English is a strange language.
I've told this story before about traveling through Georgia on our way to Florida with my parents when I was a teen. We pulled into a gas station in the early evening, and this man came out and said to my father, "Weezafixinfotoclosenow". My father asked him to repeat what he said, and he repeated, "Weezafixinfotoclose". I can remember the confused looks on both my parents' faces, and then suddenly I got it. "They're closing, Dad!" Then the man nodded and said something to the effect that they'd already turned off the pumps.
The heighth of the misuse of the English language is the height of said (heighth), then defended as their speech a cultural accent and not a misspeach.
They can look at the printed word "height" all day long and still pronounce it "heighth".
The one that kills me is using "anymore" as a sub for "these days" or "nowadays" when the sentence doesn't contain a negative.
Wrong: "Kids always play on my lawn anymore"
Right: "Those kids shouldn't play on my lawn anymore"
And people who think it sounds hip to drop the "of" after "because." I see posters over 40 type things like "I couldn't get home on time today because traffic"
UGHHHH!!!!
You are too much of a should-er to understand a passive child sanctuarian, especially as with the changes of time.
That sounds fine! Now that I think about it, "no problem" was often used sarcastically when I was younger.
I use them interchangeably, and with the same intent behind the words. Sometimes, I just nod, or say "Uh huh" in reply. I think that they are all socially acceptable ways to acknowledge a thank you, but I always say "You're welcome" to kids, because that's what I want to model for them. They can be lazy with their words when they grow up.
The heighth of the misuse of the English language is the height of said (heighth), then defended as their speech a cultural accent and not a misspeach.
They can look at the printed word "height" all day long and still pronounce it "heighth".
It's a mental problem.
I know people like that.
They do the same with "asphalt" and pronounce it "ashphalt" even though there's no "ash" in it. I even know an engineer who says "ashphalt".
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