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That old quote from Wilde (or Sahaw, or Churchill, depending on the source) of England and American being two countries separated by a common language seems appropriate here.
In fact, most pet peeves in launguage come from that separation. English as such isn't a "real" language with real rules and real standards, like, say, French or Latin. English is a mongrel language that came from low use back in the early centuries and adapted all sorts of other words to it. And spellings were random based on the dialect of the speaker until codified by dictionaries later. And then Webster simplified the spellings even more. Who gave that authority, however, to say what is or isn't correct? For example, "ask" vers "aks" (or "axe"). Turns out, the latter is old English and is more correct. But it was said both ways for centuries until Webster codified it as "ask." So while "aks" may grate on the ears to many modern listeners, it is linguistically correct, especially when you look into the etymology of the word.
And there are hundreds more cases like that, most notably where British English and American English take different paths, or modern English diverges from Old English.
As you can probably tell, the word or phrase that drives me most nuts is "proper English." As though there actually is such a thing. People take these things very seriously. People are told things about the language in school that are demonstrably untrue, and they think anyone who doesn't follow along with those beliefs is stupid or wrong.
And it's really hard to undo those teachings.
Linguistically speaking, there is actually no such thing as the "right" way to speak ANY language other than that determined by social or political usage.
I cannot stand the word womb.
When I first heard it I thought they were saying wound. Why don't they just say uterus?
This struck me funny for some reason.
I heard "womb" long before I ever heard of a "uterus", but then again, my mother had 7 kids. I don't think she ever referred to one of us as having been in her uterus.
Again, those are words that demonstrate the Germanic roots of the Old English language coupled with the additions that came in via the Norman invasion. Womb is of the Germanic origins and therefore the more "common" word, and uterus is Latin and therefore usually more restricted to academic or medical usage.
I hate the word "vetted". Does that mean he took the dog and went to the vet...
Wow, vetted actually did originally refer to the requirement that a veterinarian check a horse for health before horse racing. Interesting. Vetting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I had barely heard the word vetted used until Sarah Palin was running with McCain when, of course, she probably wasn't properly vetted.
Wow, vetted actually did originally refer to the requirement that a veterinarian check a horse for health before horse racing. Interesting. Vetting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I had barely heard the word vetted used until Sarah Palin was running with McCain when, of course, she probably wasn't properly vetted.
She wasn't. Read the book Game Change about the 2008 elections. It's pretty good. Not "for" one side or the other, just kind of the story of the elections that year. The biggest focus is on the Hillary v. Obama primary race, but they cover everyone else, too.
"Vetted" started to come into fashion in my workplace about six or seven years ago. The first time someone used it on me ("that document has to be VETTED by senior management before you can send it out") I wanted to say, "HUH????" Now everyone uses it.
Every English word that I never heard before and that has the letter "i" in it . Half of the time, I'm just guessing if you pronounce it /i/ or /ai/...
For example, I read the word 'definitive' not long ago and since I never heard it being pronounced, I had no idea if that was to be pronounced /defInitive/ or /defAInitive/. After looking it up, I learned it was the first way.
The correct pronunciation of definitive uses the short i. The word define uses the long i. I can see why it would be confusing to someone who doesn't have English as a first language. Or even somone who does.
Last edited by theatergypsy; 11-15-2011 at 11:44 AM..
Reason: Afterthought
The correct pronunciation of definitive uses the short i. The word define uses the long i. I can see why it would be confusing to someone who doesn't have English as a first language. Or even somone who does.
Thank you !
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People take these things very seriously. People are told things about the language in school that are demonstrably untrue, and they think anyone who doesn't follow along with those beliefs is stupid or wrong.
So i'm like,...so i'm like,...so i'm like,.....you know.
. Half of the time, I'm just guessing if you pronounce it /i/ or /ai/...
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