English (the language)

team47b

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b04jq7NB1s

arran77

rhext wrote:

arran77 wrote:

]

My 'woeful grasp of punctuation' was entirely deliberate (just like yours declan1 ).

:roll:

Yes, I get that, but I still want to know whether I'm supposed to remove my hat or not!

If you're wearing one, take it off as a mark of respect for declan1's greatness as a scholar

thomthom

As English is only my second language I make lots of mistakes and probably shouldn't be the one to speak. Though, I'm surprised that so many - Brits included - make these seemingly fundemental mistakes like the ones mentioned in the first post.

Re; punctuation - I got it all sorted on Danish but never bothered with the English. I'd love to, though. (comma before though??). Right now I just go by the rule; no comma rather than a comma.

Also, can you please sort out your language regarding why a (ONE!!) football team is named in plural form?
"Tottenham are..."
"Team Sky is..."

I don't get it.

crescent

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

team47b

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

Oh, if we are doing pedantry, it's 'fewer people' not 'less people', fewer is used with numbers and less with volume

MichaelW

Myself thinks that one of the most annoying trends in English is the abuse of the reflexive pronoun.
Speaking for myself, myself never uses it unless myself is referring to myself.

mrfpb

team47b wrote:

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

Oh, if we are doing pedantry, it's 'fewer people' not 'less people', fewer is used with numbers and less with volume

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

You took you're time spotting those! We'll done.

team47b

mrfpb wrote:

team47b wrote:

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

Oh, if we are doing pedantry, it's 'fewer people' not 'less people', fewer is used with numbers and less with volume

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

You took you're time spotting those! We'll done.

now your just making it to easy

bompington

mrfpb wrote:

team47b wrote:

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

Oh, if we are doing pedantry, it's 'fewer people' not 'less people', fewer is used with numbers and less with volume

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

You took you're time spotting those! We'll done.

Should of seen them much sooner.

EDIT: :!: :?: It turns out that the wonderful forum software has autocorrected my liitle joke, robbing it of what little wit it had... if I'd 0f known it would do that I wouldn't 0f bothered

mrfpb

team47b wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

team47b wrote:

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

Oh, if we are doing pedantry, it's 'fewer people' not 'less people', fewer is used with numbers and less with volume

Crescent wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I really could do with less people who get het up about english usage. Figuratively speaking it makes my blood boil.

FTFY, all in the pedantic spirit of this thread you understand

You took you're time spotting those! We'll done.

now your just making it to easy

Too shay

-spider-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw

crescent

of course lack of punctaution is another bugbear of mine i really hate that does anyone else really hate that to :?

briantrumpet

ThomThom wrote:

Also, can you please sort out your language regarding why a (ONE!!) football team is named in plural form?
"Tottenham are..."
"Team Sky is..."

I don't get it.

We're fairly relaxed whether we refer to named groups of people as the group or individuals, so you will hear both "the orchestra rises to its feet" and "the orchestra rise to their feet", as the latter is really omitting "[the members of] the orchestra rise to their feet". The first option makes it sound like an orchestra is a single entity with lots of feet, whereas the latter acknowledges that it comprises several individual people. It rather comes back to the quandary of whether, when you've cut a sandwich in two, you have two halves of one sandwich, or two sandwiches. If the answer is "I don't care, I'm hungry, so I'll eat it all, whatever you call it", then you won't care which of the orchestra/team options you use, as you still know exactly what the object is, even if you're undecided about the grammatical/conceptual niceties when you refer to them.

daviesee

Just for the sake of clarity, are we discussing:-

The Queens English.
Controlled English.
Plain English.
American English.
Standard English.
Or International English?

Its a confusing subject off which their are many views.

pinno

My two penneth worth, forsooth.

The BBC excel with...

"Fred West was found hanging from his cell..."

What? Was it a prison cell in the sky? I sure hope he wasn't scared of heights.

or

"Washington said..."

What? The whole city? Everybody in Washington spoke at the same time?

...and common to all channels:

"Its time to go over to the news where you are..."

What? In my bloody living room - feck off, all those studio lights will cost a fortune.

So here endeth the lessen.

daviesee

pinarello001 wrote:

My two penneth worth, forsooth......

:P