RE: Not in my time

[Colin Bignell]

That is usual when learning any foreign language. However, I know a number of English people who had no formal instruction in English grammar.

[S Viemeister]

I've just checked my copy (2nd edition, with 1983 corrections), and doesn't mention anything earlier than 1926, either.

[The Natural Philosopher]

When I heard it said by cockneys it wasn't innit, it was intit...

[charles]

I did and even have an 'O' Level certificate to prove it. Trouble is that that was in 1955. The intervening 68 years have allowed me to forget most of it.

[Tim Streater]

What are they supposed to learn in GCSE English these days?

[S Viemeister]

I've heard it in the NY metro area, in the last century, as 'ainit', where the 't' is a glottal stop, generally from under-educated second generation central European immigrant families.

[Colin Bignell]

The people I am thinking of are younger than me and got GCSEs, rather than O levels.

[charles]

my elder daughter got O Levels, her younger sister took GCSE

[Bob Henson]

That's what it is in my native Derbyshire.

[Joe]

Don't forget, Cockneys are not East Enders, they are those born within the sound of Bow Bells, and the Bow in question is not the district of Bow but the church of St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside. Cockneys are City of London boys and girls.

[Robin]

When I heard it said by my mother, aunt, uncles et al (born Stepney & thereabouts) it was "innit". And that's what the OED has as a tag question.

IME "intit" is more a Northern thing as in "intit funny".

[Dave W]

I have always stayed in an 'otel. It's easier to say than a hotel because you don't have to regulate your breathing to put the h in.

[Colin Bignell]

+1

[Dave W]

"you know" is the one that gets me - lots of people sprinkle it liberally throughout their speech, which is ridiculous; if the listener did know, the speaker is wasting everyone's time.

[Sn!pe]

's a notel, innit.

[S Viemeister]

I find 'sorta' and 'kinda' really annoying - especially coming from some TV expert when answering a question.

[charles]

no - it's an inn

[Ottavio Caruso]

And they end up as moderators.

[Bob Henson]

The ones that get up my nose the most, especially when used by BBC newsreaders (who should be better trained in elocution) are "vunnerable", "nukiller" and "East Angilla." They presumably all have the same root - the inability to cope with the letter L.

[HVS]

On 20 Jul 2023, Bob Henson wrote

Something I've noticed a lot in print lately is the use of "gonna", which seems to have migrated from intentionally informal writing to more standard contexts.