Grr Grr grr

Pin number gets a grrr from me.
My top two has got to be
1. "The" Asda - I m going to the Asda and not I'm going to Asda
2., Literally - I literally just caught the bus (no you didn't, because you would be squashed)

So many have alluded to the lack of grammar teaching in schools. Yes, yes and yes. Years ago, as an older MFL teacher doing a long term supply, I asked my (impossibly young) HOD how she would like me to approach grammar for the GCSE French class. A little flustered and blushing, she told me that she had never learned grammar at school and had no idea how to teach it. "I tell them that if it sounds right, it is right" said she. WTAF? I went right back to basics, taught subject, object, predicate, verb, tenses, sentence structure and use of clauses, possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns and so on...also use of Latin prefixes and suffixes, the history of the English language, with particular reference to French connections (they were unaware of the Norman invasion), language families-you name it. They were fascinated and so grateful to be able to apply some analysis to their learning. My Latin students tell me they learn more about how language works in their first year of Latin than in their English classes. We are reaping the harvest of ridding the English syllabus of a robust grammar base 40 years ago. A tragedy, indeed.

'Miss, can I go toilet?"

Maggie

Haven’t read all this thread, has anyone mentioned that Mother and Father have been replaced everywhere by Mum and Dad?
I also dislike “See you later” by way of “Goodbye.” No, I shan’t see you later.
“I’m alright” now means “No thanks”
Galloping Americanisation from the police and ambulance services give us “We mobilised to an accident” and “Three males” or “An elderly female.” Why not men and women? Also, man has been largely replaced by Gentleman, even if describing someone who was certainly no gentleman.

MaggieMay60 - you obviously don't live in Bristol as almost everyone says 'Cheers' (or 'Churz' when spoken with the Brizzle accent) coupled with 'Drive' when they get off the bus.
Like the OP I hate the use of 'myself' and 'yourself' instead of 'me' and 'you'. As bad is the use of 'authored' instead of 'wrote' and 'medalled' rather than 'win a medal'

I hate it when someone says cheers instead of thank you!

Purple daffodil, I think bored of is acceptable as I hear it used by all sorts of well educated people.
I always thought 'of an evening' was incorrect until I read it in various classic novels.

Bluebell and MissA, that's my beef too. A caller to Radio5live this morning announced "we are twenty weeks pregnant" to which the presenter responded "We? And how are "we" feeling?" The caller was male.

But 'tired of' is okay. Why?

I once intercepted a note being passed round my classroom. It read "Sign here if your really bored of this lesson" The culprit owned up and I had him write it out correctly 100 times in his lunchbreak. I wonder if he still makes "your" and "bored of" mistakes. Probably!

Daisyboots I agree about bored of instead of bored with. DD who is a grammar nazi in most other things uses it too and DGS aged 7 now does. I suspect it is one of those changes in language which is now acceptable.?

I agree with all the above and one that really annoys me is 'I'm bored of' instead of 'I'm bored with'.
One of my daughters now lives in Suffolk and she misses whole words out when speaking or writing copying her local friends.

Amazing .How many times is this used. A word that should be used when describing that which is ' unusual' but rarely does.

Well me myself I would like you yourself you to speak proper English grammar. Haha . Wonder what that outcome would be at the restaurant. My DH would say shhh they'll spit in your food .

Grannyparker
Do ee be Cornish me 'andsome'

Just heard on television. ' you have to do it perfect' No, you do it perfectly or it has to be perfect.

“....and for yourself?”.

"....and for you?" sounds a bit blunt. Maybe 'yourself' came in when waiting staff stopped saying Sir or Madam.

Let's use thrice, and twice, as much as possible!

Yes, I dislike when giving a food order, being asked “....and for yourself?”. Another pet irritant is the phrase ‘two times’. Instead of ‘twice’. I think twice is going the way of the obsolete ‘thrice ‘.

When I was at school we were taught that a word with a vowel had "an" preceding it...IE. an apple ... an elephant. Now it is just "a" ... " do you want a apple "? it just doesn't seem right to me because of the way we were taught .

I agree with you, quizqueen about 'get off of'. There are many examples of unnecessary (IMO) extra words being added, as in 'meet with', or even 'meet up with'. What is wrong with just 'meet'?

When did 'riding' become 'horse riding' and 'skating' become 'ice skating'? If you ride a bike you are cycling, and if you are roller skating, you specify that.

On another tack, why do people talk about 'the floor' when it is outside and is therefore 'the ground'?

I was rather put off by a young dentist recently who kept saying, ‘I fink.’ Double Grr......

I'm with you quizqueen - the understanding of the different parts of speech, or the use of tense in a sentence, and the clutter of inappropriate adjectives and adverbs lessens the understanding for the reader - or listener.

I wonder how/if these are still in the english language curriculum in schools today. (Yes, have discussed with my GS and GD, as they have gone through the system, but I'm still none the wiser about how this is taught.)

Sorry - got the bit between me teeth now.

It's the overuse of adjectives - especially on News broadcasts that really gets to me, whether it's a deluge of rain, which becomes a "sudden deluge", or the use of an inappropriate word like "barrelling" down the hillside. (You don't hear that on "Ski Sunday do you!?)