People

Sharon87

somethingcorporate wrote: »

One that really gets my goat is lend/borrow.

"Who will borrow me a tenner?"
"I want to lend £10k from a bank."

Grrr.....!!

That one does annoy me. Also 'I've not got no money' - double negative 'so you do have money?'

My job is basically transcribing, so when I'm listening to someone speak and have to write it down verbatim I also have to write their bad grammar a lot too, but sometimes in my head I autocorrect it! (is autocorrect one word these days? It's got a red underline on it, but it's used often as one word)

stephen77

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731

article on BBC about bad grammar

unholyangel

Azari wrote: »

Also unwelcome are usages which inevitably lead to misunderstandings. One current one is the use of 'sick' by some of the dimmer teenagers to mean both very bad or very good. When they use it in response to something that someone could reasonably be expected to have an opinion either way their meaning is completely opaque.

Similarly, 'I could care less' tends to be meant in a sense that is the exact opposite of that intended.
.

Do kids still say sick? I know they went through a phase of it in the 90's, havent heard it in yonks though!

As for the other part, in my experience people who say "i could care less" tend to be american. And yes, its one of the ones that annoy me since - as you pointed out - "i could care less" means they do care but they're using it to mean they dont. Even worse is when your spelling is corrected to the american spelling and they tell you to "learn english".

However, english isnt everyones first language (isn't mine) and everyone has strengths and weaknesses. If you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, then of course he'll seem stupid.

As much as poor spelling infuriates me sometimes, I try to keep that in mind along with the fact it is in an informal setting so formal language shouldnt be a requirement.

battleborn

I see the petty people are showing themselves.

Alpha58

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Cobblers! they do it because they appreciate the beauty of the English language and the evolution of it over many centuries and detest it being murdered by lazy-arsed, dim-witted half-wits.

A tad heavy-handed, n'est-ce pas? I can be a bit of a grammar nazi but isn't the real issue here the fact that successive limp-wristed well-meaning yoghurt-knitting politicians have wrecked the education system in the UK to the point that 17% of school leavers are "functionally illiterate"? (Source: http://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/school-leavers-functionally-illiterate.htm).

Blame not those who allow apostrophes to float or who mis-spell the occasional word. Blame the system that failed them.

bod1467

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731

Looks like those of us who prefer people to at least use a semblance of grammatical-correctness, are winning the hearts and minds of the people in power.

System

bod1467 wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731

Looks like those of us who prefer people to at least use a semblance of grammatical-correctness, are winning the hearts and minds of the people in power.

Your spelling and grammar may be good but obviously you're not one for paying attention

bod1467

Eh? Wat?

Sorry if I have dragged this thread back on topic. (See again the OP).

System

bod1467 wrote: »

Eh? Wat?

Sorry if I have dragged this thread back on topic. (See again the OP).

The same link was posted literally 4 posts before yours.....

It's only polite to read other people's contributions to a thread

bod1467

Ah right - sorry. I overlooked it.

(I only heard about it on the news this morning - that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it. )