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Interesting, I never heard a English person repeat "like" "you know" and the others to the insane point of Americans do.
Oh we do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DasNootz
That's exactly my point. You're talking about someone that is paid to speak... not "average joe" talking to his buddy about the woman he saw at the bar the night before. The news anchor is hired because of his public speaking and appearance skills.
It's very eay to switch your mindset to think very carefully about what you're saying when you have to. If I'm standing up in front of people to speak, there are no fillers, my speech slows down and it's all very carefully thought out. It does however require a lot of concentration and I'm unlikely to put that effort in when talking to friends. I can't see the harm in a few fillers unless they get so out of control that they become annoying. My dad for example is a great one for sprinkling "you know" throughout his sentences. He's by no means stupid - I think it's just habit. My bad habits are mostly "I'm like..." and "um".
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Originally Posted by cpg35223
Here's another one. Impact as a substitute for Affect. As in "That impacted our planning."
That one really irritates me, and it's seeping into proper usage as far as I can tell. I suspect Irony has been a victim of the same process, but nobody seems to be able to agree on which was the original use. Personally I've been taught that the "incongruous" meaning is correct, although I'm prepared to accept that it could mean sarcastic as well. I'm generous like that.
Well, with affect and effect, at least part of the problem is that we teach the differences between them in ways that are, at best, ineffective, and at worst and more often, just wrong.
"Affect is a verb, effect is a noun.
Except, of course, affect can be a noun and effect can be a verb.
Perhaps if we can effect a change in how they are taught, our affect about the state of the language will improve!
Isn't the difference that effect is about putting something into practice and affect is about changing something that already exists?
Here's a word I have not seen on this list yet: alot. It is being used when referencing multiple occurrences or when something happens a lot. Different from the word "allot" -- to divide or distribute by share or portion.
And who has NOT seen the word "myself" used, as in "Please send your response to myself."
Finally, when I was in school, we were always taught that "alright" is NOT all right. However, this spelling seems to have made its way into the dictionary now...
Finally, when I was in school, we were always taught that "alright" is NOT all right. However, this spelling seems to have made its way into the dictionary now...
Alright is, indeed, frowned upon.
It has been being frowned upon since 1893. In 1926, while weighing in against it, Fowler noted that it seemed to be appearing with increasing frequency in manuscripts.
How about the misuse of the apostrophe? I just read a post under one of the state forums where someone referenced the "kid's" that were invited to a neighborhood birthday party. (I would have thought there would be many kids at the party!)
And the difference between to and too... I had a sister-in-law many years ago (she is my SIL no longer) who used the word "too" in place of "to" because "it looked so much prettier."
And who has NOT seen the word "myself" used, as in "Please send your response to myself."
I have never heard of myself being used in such a way, but I do not doubt that you are wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvitts
Finally, when I was in school, we were always taught that "alright" is NOT all right. However, this spelling seems to have made its way into the dictionary now...
Words evolve. There are some purists who will argue the correct spelling until they are blue in the face, but like it or not, words like alot and alright are one day going to be considered ok. Or is that okay?
By the way, according to my spellchecker, alright is the correct spelling.
I have never heard of myself being used in such a way, but I do not doubt that you are wrong.
Words evolve. There are some purists who will argue the correct spelling until they are blue in the face, but like it or not, words like alot and alright are one day going to be considered ok. Or is that okay?
By the way, according to my spellchecker, alright is the correct spelling.
No, according to your spell checker,alright is A correct spelling. If you also spelled it all right, I assure you that your spell checker would not complain.
Unless your spell checker is inflammable. Anyways...
I hear people use the words hisself and irregardless too often. I hear people say "I seen..." on the TV all the time. I have heard these words spoken by supposedly educated people! Do you think they slept during all of their English classes? Of course I would never correct someone (unless it was my child!) but I cringe when I hear it.
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