'The word pedants' top 10 | It's specific, not Pacific...' blog discussion.

John_Pierpoint

American source?

Flyboy152

kneelbeforezod wrote: »

Tut tut MSE...on your main page as well! :money:

The lead article reporting the mis-selling Payment Protection Insurance includes the heading

"Ignore banks' "reclaiming's on hold" lie."

What nonsense is that? Setting aside the general clunkiness of the sentence, the banks can't physically or legally prevent people from claiming. They may be stalling in their consideration of people's submitted claims, but that's something different entirely...

What you are making is a "point of order," which is your opinion. However, there is nothing wrong, as far as I can see, with the grammar of that sentence.

Flyboy152

suttonsaver wrote: »

Not all of which have been mentioned before. In no particular order:
1. The "also, as well" brigade - as in "he also did that, as well".
2. An amount of people - anything you can count is a number.
3. "Your" when meaning to say "You're".
4. The greengrocer's apostrophe - apostrophes inserted randomly in words that look as if they might need them.
5. Ridiculous misuse of "myself", as in "Myself and Jean caught the bus to town". What's wrong with "Jean and I ..."?
6. "He got off of the bus" - arghh, truly horrible.
7. The politician's "ay" - as in "I have made ay decision today, ay truly momentous decision that will have ay big effect on us all". Just listen to how many MPs talk like this. It's like a contagious disease. Sheer affectation.
8. And another thing - politicians who start every other answer or platitude with "Listen ..." or "Look ..." How patronising is that?
9. Footballers and football journalists who talk about "getting a result". How could they avoid getting a result?
10. Mispronunciation of words like "Febury", "seckertary", "garridge", "deteriate" - again, argh.

I could go on (almost indefinitely) ... anyone share my views?

I agree with some of your points, but;

2. An amount of people - anything you can count is a number.

But anything you can't count, is an amount.

6. "He got off of the bus" - arghh, truly horrible.

Why? He was on the bus, so he got off the bus.

7. The politician's "ay".......

Dialect and pronunciation varies amongst many.

10. Mispronunciation of words like "Febury", "seckertary", "garridge"...

Again, dialect and pronunciation varies amongst many.

..."deteriate" - again, argh

How is this commonly mispronounced? I can't say I have noticed.

spandit

Flyboy152 wrote: »

...

6. "He got off of the bus" - arghh, truly horrible.

Why? He was on the bus, so he got off the bus.

...

I think you may have misread number 6:

6. "He got off of the bus" – arghh, truly horrible.

rather than "He got off the bus".

suttonsaver wrote: »

...

10. Mispronunciation of words like "Febury", "seckertary", "garridge", "deteriate" - again, argh.

...

"garridge" – a lot of (but not all) Welsh people pronounce it this way, especially as the Welsh for "garage" is "garej", pronounced "garredge". As Flyboy152 says above, it's dialect.

Flyboy152

spandit wrote: »

I think you may have misread number 6:

6. "He got off of the bus" – arghh, truly horrible.

rather than "He got off the bus".

Ooops....:embarasse :doh:

worbikeman

"People that", "children that", "bankers that...". It's "people WHO", "children WHO", "bankers that":D

suttonsaver

Flyboy152 wrote: »

I agree with some of your points, but;

2. An amount of people - anything you can count is a number.

But anything you can't count, is an amount.

6. "He got off of the bus" - arghh, truly horrible.

Why? He was on the bus, so he got off the bus.

7. The politician's "ay".......

Dialect and pronunciation varies amongst many.

10. Mispronunciation of words like "Febury", "seckertary", "garridge"...

Again, dialect and pronunciation varies amongst many.

..."deteriate" - again, argh

How is this commonly mispronounced? I can't say I have noticed.

Re 2, are you saying you can't count people, so it has to be correct to say "amount"?

Re 7 and 10, you have some unusual ideas about dialect and pronunciation.
When people mispronounce the words I quote in 10, it's sheer laziness of speech and/or failing to realise that certain words have letters in them that should be pronounced, I would argue. "Glottal stops" are very similar.

Also, just because you haven't noticed people saying "deteriate" doesn't mean I'm wrong. There are lots of things quoted in this fascinating thread which I haven't picked up.

jennyjelly

People who say "6am in the morning". Is there another 6am that has been kept secret from me?

Flyboy152

suttonsaver wrote: »

Re 2, are you saying you can't count people, so it has to be correct to say "amount"?

Could you count how many people were outside Buckingham Palace on Friday?

Re 7 and 10, you have some unusual ideas about dialect and pronunciation.
When people mispronounce the words I quote in 10, it's sheer laziness of speech and/or failing to realise that certain words have letters in them that should be pronounced, I would argue. "Glottal stops" are very similar.

There are perfectly legitimate regional pronunciations and use of dialect which are acceptable to most people.

Also, just because you haven't noticed people saying "deteriate" doesn't mean I'm wrong. There are lots of things quoted in this fascinating thread which I haven't picked up.

Seriously, how is "deteriate" mispronounced, I have never heard it pronounced in any other way.

Flyboy152

jennyjelly wrote: »

People who say "6am in the morning". Is there another 6am that has been kept secret from me?

It's a bit like saying, "twenty hundred hours in the evening."