'Bored of' roolz okay?

It's not the "bored" that is so irritating it's the "of".

Apparently Polyannaish is a recognised word

Actually there is quite a bit of evidence to show that creativity can come from boredom. Surely the Brontes and Vanessa Bell / Virginia Woolf are examples of this?

What does boring mean? In my book, some people are boring. Others are bores. Some vegetables are boring (e.g. carrots), but vegetables can't be bores because they are inanimate.

I do agree with most Gransnet grannies that it is incorrect to say "bored of" instead of "bored with" - just as it is totally incorrect to say "he was sat at the table" instead of "he was sitting at the table".

But how can we keep our beloved language alive (the version we know and love)? Or should we just give in and let the grandchildren abuse and misuse words "randomly"?

I think we should make a stand. And remind the BBC presenters to follow our example ...

In my dictionary "bored" can take "with" or "of", so it seems that both are ok nowadays. English is still an evolving language and so what I was taught - "bored with" - may not be the norm nowadays, but that doesn't stop it jarring when followed by "of". How about "different" then? I always say "different from" and will accept "different to" at a push. What I can't stand is "different to", which is common with US English.

Whoops! What I meant was "different THAN"! You hear it on American shows all the time!

In answer to Jack's question about what can we do for our grandchildren:
I think what we can do for our grandchildren is to share with them the extraordinary depth and diversity of the English language. We should not do this by always pointing out things that we think are "wrong" but by helping them to understand how language evolves and changes, how great writers have invented and coined new words and phrases, how words have left the UK changed and come back again and how we have adopted words from other cultures and languages.
We should not be obsessed with narrow rules that we learnt in grammar lessons, but we should help them to understand that different forms of writing and speaking need different styles and registers and that there are times when accurate writing is essential. We should not assume that they do not learn the formal rules of spelling and grammar - because they do. We should try to talk about what they know and then help them to build on their understanding.
We should share nursery rhymes, songs, poems and stories. We should model richness in language and vocabulary and discuss and celebrate our language together.

"Different than" is standard American English.

The fact that a usage appears in a dictionary merely means that it exists, and is common enough that the lexicographer feels that it should be recorded. The dictionary describes the language in use, it doesn't prescribe what it should be.

My pet hate is "should of" instead of "should have"!
Also get annoyed by "on the weekend" instead of "at the weekend"!

Lindajoy I think I shall run screaming in the street if I see one more person writing "should of" - especially if it's in an item by a supposedly professional journalist! Also have to curb my homicidal instincts if someone says different to instead of different from or asks if they can "get" a coffee/ tea/ cake etc.

I'm with the "it's just language changing and developing" camp - but I have to confess it does grate!

How do you feel about waiting on instead of waiting for ?
Each correct when used in the correct context but so often used wrongly.
Another current irritant is using eldest or tallest child when there are only two of them . Same goes for the best of two choices!

I'm not so bothered about the use of bored of/with/by, what really gets to me is the misuse of their/there/they're, moor/more, border/boarder, and my own particular failing, to/too, I never seem to get the right one

I've a feeling even Jane Austen used eldest when she was only speaking of two.

Carrots are not boring. Neither is cabbage, especially if you cook it this way. Great with pork chops.

I sometimes flash fry cabbage and add to brown rice with nuts - yummy!

Mmm. Sounds good, lucky.

I don't think any veg is boring!

Eeee, I'm that bored!

Just been reading the pink princess thread and a reference to the car sticker "Princess on board" reminded me of the sticker we had. It said "Baby I'm bored". That's the only time I've 'said' I was bored.

Sort of said I should've said.

Lindajoy I'm with you re the 'should of'. I think the trouble these days is that, although such misuse has been around for decades, we are all on the internet now and reading examples like this on a daily basis. If you hear someone say 'should of', it would be difficult, depending on their enunciation, to be certain that they'd said 'of' instead of 'have' or even the shortened 'should've'. When it's actually in print in all its misspelled glory, we know they've got it wrong and it immediately grates.

And while I'm prepared to accept 'bored of' and 'fed up of' as the natural evolution of language - after all, the prepositions are accepted as perfectly correct when used with similar words, I find it hard to accept 'should of' or 'would of' because it is actually messing with verbal tenses and makes no sense.

Another common error is "Try and run faster". It should be "Try to run faster", i.e. the infinitive 'to run' is needed. This is proved by trying to put this in the past tense: "I tried and run faster"? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? It should be "I tried to run faster"

Grandchildren seem to live at a higher level than I, they are always using,"up" when I see no need for it."Wait up", "I'll 'phone you up" "listen up",etc.I fear that like most of my dislikes, it's American (do I dislike it because of that I wonder?!)

Love your post, mamie

Thank you Bags
I do believe very passionately in encouraging joy in the richness of the English language for our children and grandchildren and was beginning to think it had fallen on deaf ears!