'Bored of' roolz okay?

Went to the bookcase for an ancient Usage and Abusage to see what wotsisname says, but I couldn't find the book and got bored of searching

It's not the 'of' bit that bothers me; it's the bit before. My dad used to say: Nothing is boring; people are bored. He despised boredom and he told us never to tell him we were bored (with anything). He didn't want to know. it was our problem and only we could solve it.

I tend to agree. People who say they are bored or that things bore them are tedious.

Can one be 'bored by' too?

Bored by, bored with - but never bored of...

Long live pedantry.

thatbags Eric Partridge. Following your post, I thought I'd have a look on my bookshelves. I can't find anything about bored – perhaps when the book was written everybody still said bored with/by. My edition dates from 1980.

I don't like bored of but that is probably just fusty old woman habit. Its meaning remains clear.

I do not like the word bored, but if using it, then prefer bored with, I always feel a little sorry for people who say they are bored, they must miss so much.

This is from www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/bored-by-of-or-with:

Which of these expressions should you use: is one of them less acceptable than the others?

Do you ever get bored with eating out all the time?
Delegates were bored by the lectures.
He grew bored of his day job.

The first two constructions, bored with and bored by, are the standard ones. The third, bored of, is more recent than the other two and it’s become extremely common. In fact, the Oxford English Corpus contains almost twice as many instances of bored of than bored by. It represents a perfectly logical development of the language, and was probably formed on the pattern of expressions such as tired of or weary of. Nevertheless, some people dislike it and it’s not fully accepted in standard English. It’s best to avoid using it in formal writing.

I don't use 'bored of - yet - but it does make sense.

"perfectly logical development"

Love it! Who could reasonably ask for more?

I'm never bored so the with/by/of non problem never arises. I do get rather tired of people going on about it though. It has arisen on Gransnet several times when someone has got narked about it. Language changes. Usage changes. Shrug.

As absent said, so long as meaning is clear...

Wotevvas

Here's another one: Minibags insists that she, at least, knows the difference between your and you're but your is 'universally' used online by young people because it has fewer letters. Speed of typing matters more, it seems.

I don't like "bored of" either. I prefer to use "bored by", or with. I heard myself correcting one of my family recently, saying bored by, not of.

I can see that 'bored of' is just a developmental change and it doesn't alter the meaning of a sentence whereas the your/you're and the their/there/they're can and does. There's the beginnings of a their/there/they're campaign on Facebook I've noticed.

bags that's interesting - so "your" is online shorthand. I find that sometimes I'm using words incorrectly and then I realise that because I've seen them used in that way so often (e.g. your) that I have "internalised" the incorrect usage I call it language osmosis.

You will have to put up with reading my posts then as I would say , probably have said 'I am bored of' without thinking if it was correct to do so.

I would easily say 'I am bored of watching this program/programme'

'I am bored of doing the ironing'

'I am bored of listening to rubbish'

Still unclear to me why it is thought/said to be so wrong to say it.

By the way, saying 'I am bored of listening to rubbish' was not mentioned with regard to this thread, just to make it clear as it is easy to cause a misunderstanding so easily.

Common usage will always win out. Language evolves and I can see no reason not to say 'bored of', though I don't (as yet) use this form myself - it is always bored by or with.

Another one I've noticed is 'fed up of', instead of 'fed up with'. Again, this can be justified as it has a similar meaning to 'tired of' or 'weary of'.

I hate the way 'like' has become a substitute for 'as if' or 'as though' ("it looks like it'll be warm tomorrow" instead of "it looks as if it'll be warm tomorrow"). However, this has been in use for so long that I find myself using it (much to my disgust )

I see nothing wrong with being bored from time to time. Better than a relentless search for excitement.
I am also mildly bored by threads about the use of "bored of".
Bored, of Normandy.

Mamie

Reading a poetry book, listening to favourite music, phoning a friend, working out an anagram on a gransnet thread, hardly qualify as fulfilling relentless quests for excitement, Mamie, but those pursuits do fill in gaps when one could otherwise become bored by/ with/ of having nothing " better" to do.

Bored is not a word I use basically ... smile

Oh sure Bella, but I think being bored from time to time is part of the human condition and there is nothing wrong with that. I have to say that the people I know who claim never to be bored are often pretty -er boring.
(Perhaps I just know the wrong people).

Mamie

Bags I agree with your father in that if boredom is a problem, it belongs to the bored person and no-one else, except that if I had a visitor I would feel it was my duty to ensure that they weren't bored with whatever we were doing, or with the conversation.

I feel too that periods of enforced boredom, such as a long wait for a delayed journey if I have nothing to read, or my phone is dead and I canm't listen to any music, can be beneficial in that it makes me appreciate how enjoyable doing things actually is.

Agreed Mamie Some people are just TOO perfect!!