To all Lower Case People

[Old Koreelah]

Actually, we should be happy with today's grammar and spelling, even if it does not follow the "rules". That constant variation shows that our language is alive, not dead like those of lost civilisations.If any generation should be used to change, it should be us Baby Boomers.

 

OME

Perhaps true OME, but our language just happens to be the global language. People with hundreds of different mother tongues tell us it can be a mongrel language to learn, especially the written version. For everyone to be able able to read the English language, the spelling and grammar need to be standardised.

 

 

[M61A1]

That's interesting. I'm over 60 and have noticed that people of all ages, including my own children, often misunderstand or miss parts of the message when using phones or tablets. So much so that I recently had a conversation with my programmer son about it. Part of the problem seems to be that recipients are now used to handling incoming comms only in very small chunks: if you give them any more than this, part of it doesn't stick. So I suspect the medium is breeding in real limitations.And in decades of specifying and sourcing, we have noticed this:

 

There used to be a rough rule of thumb that you didn't ask more than 3 questions/actions per letter/email if you wanted clear and complete results.

 

That has dropped to 2, and now to 1. And the really interesting thing now is that the recipients are not even aware of any questions beyond the first one.

Funny that.....and this is going to sound very sexist, most women (and some men) I talk to are too busy commenting on the first three words of my first sentence to hear anything beyond that. Consequently, they will swear black and blue that you didn't tell them the rest of the conversation.

 

 

[Yenn]

It may be possible to pick up the meaning of a message, even if it is incorrect in spelling or grammar, but what I dislike is the garbling of the massage because it can be mis-understood. We need to read what we write and sense check it as well as spell check.

 

 

[red750]

It may be possible to pick up the meaning of a message, even if it is incorrect in spelling or grammar, but what I dislike is the garbling of the massage because it can be mis-understood. We need to read what we write and sense check it as well as spell check.

[dutchroll]

..... but what I dislike is the garbling of the massage because it can be mis-understood.

Misunderstanding the intent of a garbled massage is fraught with danger.....

 

 

[IBob]

Misunderstanding the intent of a garbled massage is fraught with danger.....

m....one could end up with a major facial alterantion.....(

 

 

[Yenn]

It is relied upon by politicians to say one thing and mean another. Just look back at the spouting of prime ministers.

 

 

[eightyknots]

American English now pervades the world & it's all due to the fact that the original computers and word processing software originated from there plus of course TV shows and movies. I prefer aeroplane to airplane but airplane seems now to be used in a lot of local press & not just articles sourced from the US. The same goes for the use of "Z" instead of "S" in words like "organise, utilise, The built in spell checker on this site is American as it underlines those words in red even though I have set my default to Australian English and British English in other applications. It doesn't matter. In a few years we will all be speaking and spelling in Chinglish anyway.

It's also creeping into spoken language. For instance, when people want to use the bog/loo/dunny/toilet increasingly this is described as a bathroom ...even when no bath is actually in that room.

 

 

[eightyknots]

Another is of/off. "Off means 'not on', like a light switch.

A pet dislike of mine is when people say "wood off" when they intended to say "would have" .

 

 

[M61A1]

Yes, there a quite a few American terms that annoy me, like "from the get go" and "dumbass".

 

Also, one of the managers at work uses terms like "arks" instead of "ask" as well as "think" , "somethink" and "nothink", in way s that have nothing to do with thinking.

 

 

[old man emu]

I can never figure out whether it is the 's' or the 'c' that is silent in the word 'scene'

 

 

[eightyknots]

Yes, there a quite a few American terms that annoy me, like "from the get go" and "dumbass".

Other annoying examples from North America include:

 

1. "Going forward" when the speaker means "into the future".

 

2. "It is what it is". That is so insightful.

 

3. "Solutions Focussed". This sounds wet to me.

 

4. "Price point". Get the point?

 

5. "Think outside the square", or "think outside the box". Why not throw the square (or box) away and just think?

 

6. "Synergise". Why not just work together?

 

 

[eightyknots]

I can never figure out whether it is the 's' or the 'c' that is silent in the word 'scene'

You haven't seen it yet?

 

 

[old man emu]

You haven't seen it yet?

I'll cede you that point.

 

 

[IBob]

'at this point in time' What other point in time is it, ever?

 

'going forward' Do we have other options, then?

 

'overarching' Not over me, it's not.

 

But my pet hate right now is 'resilient', especially when patronisingly applied to other people in other places who have just experienced some major disaster.

 

 

[IBob]

I'll cede you that point.

this is a family show, we'll have no gratuitous ceding round here, Thank You!!!!!

 

 

[Geoff13]

My least favourite is he gave 110%. Just how the heck do you even do that.

 

 

[ben87r]

My least favourite is he gave 110%. Just how the heck do you even do that.

Apparently you can't.

 

NRL Community Rattled By Revelations That You Can’t Give More Than 100% – The Betoota Advocate

 

 

[ben87r]

Jail instead of Gaol seems to be the norm now too, every news report I have seen has it spelt Jail.

 

"Fired" is another one I dislike. You didn't get fired, you got sacked is what I would say to the journalist who spelt Gaol Jail.

 

 

[M61A1]

Jail instead of Gaol seems to be the norm now too, every news report I have seen has it spelt Jail."Fired" is another one I dislike. You didn't get fired, you got sacked is what I would say to the journalist who spelt Gaol Jail.

A local journo that writes the stuff for The Oakey Champion, always refers to age like "a thirty years old man" or "a twenty years old woman".

.

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

Yes you can go over 100%.

 

Years ago this class of students found out ( not from me ) that I could take them for a glider ride. About 6 demanded to have one.

 

So I asked them to choose a number where 1 = bored and 10 = terrified.

 

The first said "11" and the rest wanted 12 or 13's.

 

Of course all I did was some mild stuff like stall-turns but they seemed happy.

 

 

[biggles]

Another thing I have noticed is more people starting their response with 'so' ....Bob

 

 

[Deskpilot]

5. "Think outside the square", or "think outside the box". Why not throw the square (or box) away and just think?

Oi, you avin ago at me signiture?

 

 

[facthunter]

Conventional wisdom. ????... As we speak..#!X%*&$. Yeah... No! (make up your mind).

 

Calling everyone MATE! when you know they are not.

 

Better..

 

Blind Freddy can see that. It's not Rocket Science..

 

You can have over 100%. Eg the engine ran at 110% of the revs/power of some datum. but "He gave it a 110% effort" seems improbable, when if giving your ALL would be 100%. Nev

 

 

[red750]

Have you ever watched an interview with a Formula 1 driver? I mean, every sentence starts with "I mean,". I mean, it gets boring. If that's what you mean, just say it. I mean, come on.

 

And the current fad for similes. "I be like..." instead of "I am" or "I said". (Generation hopeless).