Gransnet forums

Pedants' corner

grammar question

(293 Posts)
TriciaF Fri 17-Jul-15 11:55:38

about the verb to swim.
Is it correct to say "we've swum in that lake".
Or is it "we've swam " " " ."
I wrote "swum" first, it looked strange, so I changed it to "we've been swimming etc."

annodomini Mon 20-Jul-15 16:09:40

Again diverging from the grammar topic - but I have to report that the commentator on the Open Championship has just mentioned 'big solid drops of rain'. I do hope they're not!

annodomini Mon 20-Jul-15 15:58:46

You and I are in a small minority on 'myriad', shysal. Greek for 10,000, a unit in the army. I think the boat has sailed on this bugbear!

shysal Mon 20-Jul-15 15:32:52

I often read 'a myriad of' in books, but it does not need the 'of'.

Worlass Mon 20-Jul-15 14:26:14

In my local area, 'I seen' and 'I done' are commonly used in place of 'I saw' and 'I did'. It sets my teeth on edge, especially when said in a pseudo-posh accent!

J52 Mon 20-Jul-15 14:03:41

'Somethink' is frequently said by commentators on both radio and T.V!

x

rosewhite Mon 20-Jul-15 13:29:51

I am so sick of hearing everyone now saying 'fink and fote' and 'sumfink and muffink'.

gran5up Mon 20-Jul-15 12:53:58

Maybe just me, but the ubiquitous,"for free" is wrong,isn't it?
Shouldn't it be just,"free" or "for nothing"?

Funnygran Mon 20-Jul-15 12:44:43

'Can I get' instead of 'please may I have' is an Americanism I think. Seems to be creeping in and annoys me to death! My younger nephews and nieces have started to use it but it's not up to me to comment. Same with should of instead of should have. My DD sometimes jokes that I must have (of!) been brought up posh when I say anything about grammar. Not true at all but my parents were sticklers about us speaking and spelling correctly.

Which reminds me - was researching some local builders on-line yesterday and one has a page of customer comments. The builder has pointed out that these are unadulterated comments and therefore spelling and GRAMMER have not been corrected!

Cosafina Mon 20-Jul-15 12:43:50

My bugbear (in addition to all those already listed) is "comprised of" - for example "the house is comprised of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room".
Comprise means "be made up of" or "consist of", so the house comprises 2 bedrooms, a bathroom etc. So when people tack "of" on the end they're saying the houses consists of of 2 bedrooms...

annodomini Mon 20-Jul-15 12:26:41

When students used 'different to' or 'different than', I used to point out that if they used 'differ', they wouldn't say 'I differ to/than you'. At least I hoped not.
I wouldn't use 'the both' myself, but it's a perfectly good dialect use in Scotland (the baith) and, I think, the North East.

Bamm Mon 20-Jul-15 12:24:46

What about hanged; people are hanged, meat is hung. People are not hung.

jeberdes83 Mon 20-Jul-15 12:15:28

"haitch" &" bored of" are real irritants, and so is "the both"!. Should be either "the two" or "both".

crossstitchgill Mon 20-Jul-15 12:10:53

I get annoyed when people say "I am liking" instead of "I like". Am I wrong to feel this way?

muswellblue Mon 20-Jul-15 12:04:43

Yes. I want to scream when phone sellers say something like " would that be Ok for yourself?" Aargh.

muswellblue Mon 20-Jul-15 12:01:24

What about people who say "nucular" when they mean "nuclear"? You'd be surprised how often I hear that on tv and radio.

rosesarered Mon 20-Jul-15 09:44:52

Can I get a burger please?

shysal Mon 20-Jul-15 09:05:51

'I should like' or 'I would like' when making a request? I sometimes write 'should', which sounds rather formal, but say 'would' - crazy!

thatbags Mon 20-Jul-15 06:44:46

I remember my mother complaining about me using 'different than' when I was a kid. This'd be fifty years ago. I won't have heard Americans using it. I lived in Hull at the time so maybe people there used it.

Anya Mon 20-Jul-15 04:23:01

'I should of' rather than 'I should have'

mrsmopp Sun 19-Jul-15 23:40:39

Myself is over used, as in, Myself and my partner enjoyed the theatre last night. Nearly as bad as Me and my partner enjoyed the theatre last night, which is very commonly used.

feetlebaum Sun 19-Jul-15 23:29:00

'Different than' is standard American English. UK English uses 'different from' and (less elegantly) 'different to'.

A pet hatred of mine is the non-reflexive use of such as 'myself' or 'yourself'. An example from a letter I received - "Feel free to call myself for more information". I gently pointed out that only you can call yourself, and only I can call myself... but there was no answer! Of course, what is usually meant is 'me'. but people are suspicious of short simple words!

Ana Sun 19-Jul-15 23:05:25

'Different than' certainly has a place somewhere though!

I know it looks a bit dodgy written down, but it's just a part of our language, as are all the other 'wrong' ways of saying things... smile

MamaCaz Sun 19-Jul-15 22:39:21

Or how about 'it was different from how I had imagined it would be'?

Ana Sun 19-Jul-15 22:17:13

Should that be 'it was different to what I had imagined it would be' or 'it was different from what I had imagined it would be'?

Ana Sun 19-Jul-15 22:15:29

What about different than? As in, 'it was different than I had imagined it would be'?