Slovenly speech, incorrect grammar etc.

Fings ain’t wot they used ter be! .......i luv all wot u has posted.

There's a lot of confusion between 'may' and 'might' nowadays and it can only get worse, though primary school children are learning more grammar than ever with the recent emphasis on SPAG (spelling, grammar and punctuation) in SATS.
The rule about not ending a sentence with a preposition is completely out-dated. Imagine meeting a stranger and asking, 'From where do you come?' I am sure you'd get some very strange looks.
I quote none other than Sir Winston Churchill: ^ When criticised for occasionally ending a sentence on a preposition, h replied, "This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put." Churchill's reply satirizes the strict adherence to this rule.^

I saw a notice at the local leisure centre which said 'please may you put your belongings in the lockers provided.'
'May you' !!! Whatever next!!!

This business of people answering the question "How are you" with "good" I feel like asking "good at what". Then "quite unique", it's unique or it isn't. "Different to" drives me mad. "Reflect back" - can one reflect forward? Ending sentences with" from" ire Where did it come from" should be" From where did it come", don't end sentences with prepositions. I could go on for pages but will stop now.

Can I ask you people? In death in paradise the island is Saint Marie. Should it not be Sainte Marie?

I know this is my uber-pedantry at work, but I wince to see bags of frozen 'Petit (sic) Pois in Asda.
Not quite as bad as what I've seen on printed Asda notices in the past, though - e.g. New Zeeland Chedder, Rasers are now in the shampoo aisle, etc.
Oh, and instructions on a butternut squash, telling you to 'half' it.
It's no use saying anything (I have done so in the past) - they just don't care.

*Acanthus - thank you! I watch Sky News often and then sit there shoutin' when Beth Rigby starts talkin'. She is always introduced as "Sky's Senior Political Reporter" !!!! If she didnt try so hard to speak with a plum in her mouth, it wouldn't be quite so annoying - sorry annoyin' . Grr!!

My latest rant concerns those who say, "I was stood at the front" or "I was sat at the back".

grandtanteJE65
^A century ago the person who said "If you was..." would have been thought to be using the language correctly!
"If you was" being the subjunctive (used in a hypothetical sentence) where "If you were" is the indicative (used for making ordinary statements.)^

Really? I never knew that ”if you was” was once the correct subjunctive. Can you give examples of this? Also, ”If you were” is not the indicative; it is the subjunctive. Just as ”If I were” is the subjunctive. I find your statement interesting but surprising. Can you please elaborate.

'I'm sat here' or 'he was sat on the beach' - misuse of tense. Also bored 'of ' and starting every sentence with 'so'
'So' I'll say no more.

I hate people,often presenters using the word was in a sentence when it should be were. It really grates, if I'm in a bad mood I shout at the telly!

grandetanteJE65

Older not elder

^ but the evolution of language should not sacrifice subtle distinctions of meaning.^

I completely agree with you, varian. What annoys me is that by losing these subtle distinctions our language becomes impoverished, not enriched (as many of the 'language changes' brigade would have us believe).

And, I think that it hinders precise communication because you've lost the vocabulary with which to express shades of meaning.

Saying 'the floor' when it should be 'the ground' and vice versa. So annoying.

" The lad done good" used to be a joke about ignorant football commentators but I'm sure there are now far too many folk who don't see the joke.

My bug bear is the use of an adverb as an adjective ( I think or the other way around ) someone put me right please.

As in 'I eat healthy' when it should be ' I eat healthily '.

Azie09 I totally agree with you. I am always correcting my family when they say LESS rather than FEWER! I don't feel able to correct people other than my family but often shout at the radio!

When we were in primary school we were asked to write sentences to illustrate the difference between "uninterested" and "disinterested" or "imply" and "infer".

That was not considered a difficult exercise for a nine year old. Yet now these words, and many others, are abused and misused on TV by people who should surely know better.

I agree that language can change. I use the word "bin" as a verb these days, whereas it used to be a noun and never a verb, but the evolution of language should not sacrifice subtle distinctions of meaning.

I am not implying that language is cast in stone so please don't infer that is what I mean.

My father was rather particular about the English used by my brothers and myself when we were growing up, and he had wonderful 'use of English' himself. However, I now believe that language evolves just like other things otherwise we would still be using the English of Chaucer or other former times.
Having said that, I remember being horrified when I went to the open day at the local selective school, to find that the headmistress used a split infinitive in her speech! I was not impressed!

Quite unique, annoys me.

Mahdah for murder?

Another one I've just seen, 'excited for'. Why? On whose behalf are you being excited?

What happened to 'excited about'?

And 'pissed' for 'pissed off'. I always read it as 'drunk'...

Totally agree Lj about immature speech.

Thinkin’, thankin’ wantin’...
When asked by a barista what the person would like responding “Can I get a coffee?”. I could go on and on.

Another pet hate of mine is when people drop their aitches then replace the letter 'a' with 'an'

A house would become an'ouse!

'F' for 'th' is immature speech and most children grow out of it. Those that don't usually have parents who have immature speech and so, to them, it sounds normal.