When did the plural form of verbs become obsolete?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Listening to the radio and the TV there has not been a single correct verb in the plural form...

[S Viemeister]

And news readers refer to nearly all events in the present tense.

And many people begin both questions and answers with 'so'.

[Scott]

And the younger generation try to get an expletive into every sentence.

[S Viemeister]

'An' expletive??? There are people who scatter them liberally through every sentence. Not just youngsters, either.

[Scott]

Maybe I was underestimating the ingenuity of the younger generation.

I remember being told in my youth that the real skill was to fragment polysyllabic words in order to insert a swear word (eg tele - f****g - scope). He also said that the fine and noble English word c**t was sadly becoming extinct and it was our moral duty to use the word where possible to keep it alive. I think that problem has been resolved.

[S Viemeister]

I had a sheltered childhood. I didn't learn those words until I met people from Glasgow.

[Pamela]

"So" is annoying. Presumably starting a sentence with "so" is seen as some clever broadcasting segue but to me it is grating.

Has there been some self-help guide or communication guru who started the current craze?

[Custos Custodum]

Do you have specific examples you'd like to share? English verbs lost their plural inflections around 900 years ago when Old English evolved into Middle English. You might want to check out "dangling participles" while you're at it.

[Custos Custodum]

Abso-f****ng-lutely. The process even has a name - "tmesis"

[Custos Custodum]

According to the OED, the earliest record of the word "f*ck" was in Scots. It's our gift to the world :-)

[Roger Hayter]

I assumed he must have been thinking of tenses; but confused.

[The Other John]

There's also a lot of people using the wrong case of certain verbs such as 'He sung the song', no he didn't he sang it, now it's been sung. Similarly 'The boat sunk', no it didn't, it sank, now it's been sunk.

[Robin]

There is so many clever posters here. They always catches people out on such points.

[Max Demian]

Third person verbs don't have an s at the end if plural:

I love You love He/she loves <--- We love You love They love

[Tim Streater]

Ah good, it's not just me then, re: sank/sunk.

[jon]

Newscasters have trouble with 'H' saying 'istory, 'istoric etc. I know the French can't pronounce it.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

When the US started to redesign English, you do the Math. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Well many also use Well, mind you The current English translation of the Bible begins many verses with And. Language evolves. I have no issue with it myself. The sooner we can stop moaning bout the correct use of apostrophe's the better. grin. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

That is just like the use of um though.The expletive has lost its shock power, and the other wone that starts with C does not lend itself to use in that way. The F word I find amusing as it would seem if taken literally, the inanimate objects often are copulating most of the time. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

There have been attempts over the years to invent new expletives. Maybe we need some now. It appears from research that uttering a string of powerful expletives when you are not known for it helps with pain relief, which is why they often occur when you hit your finger with the hammer instead of the nail. It has something to do with the brain releasing endorphins when you do something a little edgy. I remember Battlestar Galactica had some new words that were used like would use swear words. The only one I can remember was Felbercarb. Brian