Well the Dutch tend to have very good English in my experience. The Germans too, but they will apologise for their lack of English before speaking it near perfectly.
OT: as OT as OT gets. I had my last Peanut Butter Cup.
Nov 27, 2010
108 Replies
Well then good job. :-)
What, *another* person who doesn't like to have their grammar corrected? How many of you ARE there anyway? :-)
I think it's a conspiracy, though they couldn't spell that.
-- Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. -- Storm Jameson
Honest?
Billions but most are tweeting.
Mark
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in news:FMWdncvfRKNA6W_RnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Sounds like a case for the "skeet shooting" test. Flip a coin and load the candy bars in the launchers. The shooter goes after whichever package the coin indicates. 90% success, automatic lawsuit fail.
Puckdropper
LOL ...
Anyone optimistically presumptuous to the extent they assume online grammar can be corrected brings to mind the proverbial ant crawling up an elephants hind leg with rape in mind.
Not to mention that many folks may be quite grammatical when speaking, but have fingers that stumble ass over tea kettle when using the keyboard.
Basically, a smug presumption of grammatical superiority is likely to be delusional at best, and showing your ass at worst.
AFAIC, knock yourselves out, but f*ck you in advance ...
I have no children but my observation of hundreds leads me to believe that the single most important thing in their obtaining decent language skills is for their parents to have those skills. If the parents don't have them, I suspect it is a losing battle for the schools to instill them; in most cases, not all.
Case in point: my wife's brother (half, fortunately) spent ten years at decent universities. He is hard pressed to string together three words into a grammatically correct spoken sentence. His writing is even worse. My wife does fine which surprises me as they were raised in the same household. Must be her contact with me :)
Yep, I'd go for that! The family teachers have mentioned something similar before now.
I find it a bit sad really - not in a patronising "isn't it a shame" way, but spoken language is the primary method for most people to convey their thoughts and ideas. It must be terribly frustrating to not be able to get your point across clearly. A lot of bad behaviour in certain children is down to this, apparently.
Undoubtedly!
One that always irritates me is "it didn't phase him".
Put your phasers on stun.
Yous guys. Curdles my blood. I cried typing it. yous..... wtf? The plural of you? "How's yous guys? *retching*
Oh..oh.oh... here's another one I can't stand: (pronounced as) eKcetera.. on etcetera with a T, but eKcetera.....*barfs*
The language of 2moro!
How topical and timely:
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there you have an inkling of why the English take offense to the misuse/abuse of English ... it is a sign of class distinction that goes back centuries, upfront for all to hear and most difficult to hide.
I'm currently reading everything by the 19th century English author, George Gissing (1857-1903), that Gutenberg Press has to offer for download:
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of the recurring themes in his books is accent and grammatical mores being a hallmark of class distinction. In "New Grub Street", the mother of one of the protagonists has never been able to live down her lower class upbringing due to her accent and manner of speaking and thus is basically an outcast in her family, and a lifelong embarassment to her husband's efforts to raise himself above poverty.
Pretty stark, historically powerful and insidious stuff, this "proper" use of the King's/Queen's English ... ... just ask 'enry 'iggins and Eliza.
How about "supposeably"?
Off of. Argh! Seems to be perfectly acceptable in N. America though, but here it makes one sound like an imbecile.
The replacement of 'th' with 'v': Fahver rather than father. Makes me want to dance a bad dance.
You'ns
And its cousin "Irregardless"?
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