That’s it, I give up….

MarinaL

Yes this annoys me too. Does nobody proofread anymore!

I love you, MarinaL, I really do!
Proof read, edit, even just a glance over many pages of news should tell these 'editors' & 'proof readers' their staff know absolutely nothing about writing for newspapers. Half of them can't even string together a sentence for a toddlers book. They make it so hard to make sense of things these days!

Kate54, I fully agree, and I would make a degree in English the bare minimum requirement for any presenting job on television. Furthermore, I would set minimum standards of English and mathematics for school leavers and if they are not met, the student would repeat the final year of school - if they failed again the following year, I would fine the parents. That ought to wake everyone up - English is a beautiful and complex language and it breaks my heart (and makes me angry) to see it being systematically dismantled by the next generation.

Language changes and develops all the time. I am sure in 50 years time many of the words and phrases in common use today will sound old fashioned and outmoded.

I’ve worked at a college for young adults with physical and learning disabilities for 15 years, my husband for 30 years and my daughter for 5 years. It teaches you wonderful things about tolerance, understanding, and compassion. A lot of people have dyslexia and other conditions that effect how they speak and write. People don’t make mistakes on purpose. Everyone has their own set of skills that they can bring to the table.

Lay can mean to put something down gently or carefully. You can look in the Oxford for that meaning. I think that the Queen was put down gently and carefully next to her dear husband Philip.

On my church WhatsApp group, I got into a discussion after a member claimed that ER II was at Richard III’s. funeral. My inner pedant, not far from the surface, said she wasn’t.

Or ‘them’ cakes instead of ‘those’ cakes.

I found it grating too. I also can't abide "I was sat", instead of "I was sitting", which seems to be commonly used now.

Grammatically ‘Lay me down to sleep’ comes from old English - when verbs like ‘sit’ and ‘lay’ were used with a personal reflexive pronoun - eg ‘pray sit you down, madam’.

French uses this construction - eg ‘se coucher’, se lever’ etc

Ditto #Sodapop

People that instead of people who. That is for things or animals.

My teeth grate when people say, and they do so often, a phrase like 'I will try AND get to the meeting'. It alters the meaning completely; if you 'try TO get to the meeting', you may or may not. If you are announcing that you will 'try and get to the meeting' you are effectively saying you will try and you will get there. Anyone still awake? I am beginning to bore myself with this one.

Yup cannot bear poor grammar and misuse of words and even spelling ! Call me old fashioned, pedantic or just plain right ! Haha

A very common error is the written use of Loose, instead of Lose and vice versa.
Makes one VERY cross !

www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/inside-200-year-old-royal-20431235

My understanding of the St. Georges vault is that they are not buried as such - they actually are just in their lead lined coffins on the plinths and shelves, having been embalmed. I remember a piece on it when Philip died, but can't find that - only finding on a quick search the picture of it, which is as I remembered...
www.rct.uk/collection/700770/the-royal-vault-st-georges-chapel-windsor

Kate54

Not convinced! It’s meant to be present conditional I think. In the same way one would say to
One’s OH ‘ If I lie here long enough, will you bring me a cup of tea?’

No, it should be past conditional, which is normal English usage.

"If I lie here long enough, will you bring me a cup of tea?" doesn't have "would".

Soda pop- the of instead of have is my pet hate and makes me so angry.Also irritating is 10pm tonight or 10am this morning. PM has already identified night and AM morning.

rockgran I think you are on to something...women get laid. but doesn't Dylan then say 'lie upon the big brass bed?'

have you tried following a tv programme with subtitles! now should that be program? my excuse,,,,old age!

Lay Lady Lay always does my head in! But then, if Bob had sung Lie Lady Lie, the meaning would have completely changed, so maybe he shouldn't have written it that way at all.

I absolutely agree with this issue of grammar but also how presenters speak is poor to my mind. Are they really too lazy to pronounce words properly. Sends CC and myself into the stratosphere.

Thank you for your replies. As I thought, I am laying myself down. Such a bugger knocking back strong pain relief at present which is causing foggy brain!?

I admit I wouldn't have caught that.

I also admit to telling my dog to 'lay down'; I guess I will have to change that. Always learning here on Gransnet...

Indeed. Not the altar. I wonder about some of the people employed to speak to millions …