RIP prepositions?

I hate "for free" when it just used to be "free".
"Try and" - NO, it's "try to".
Also "disinterested" when people mean uninterested.
We had a very strict English teacher at school. Sadly ours might be the last pedantic generation I fear.

I guess if prepositions are becoming redundant we won't have to be careful about not ending a sentence with one.

Skydancer

I hate "for free" when it just used to be "free".
"Try and" - NO, it's "try to".
Also "disinterested" when people mean uninterested.
We had a very strict English teacher at school. Sadly ours might be the last pedantic generation I fear.

Like language pedants will just evolve. In 50 years time there will be people complaining people are talking about "parking" and not "parking up".

I don’t think you’d cope in Australia! 😃

the thing is, many people do not have the interest, or the intellectual ability, or literacy skills, to grasp much of this.
those who do understand it have always been a minority, i think.
as long as meaning is clear, does it really matter.
i am uncomfortable about excluding swathes of the populace.
it's alright as a kind of abstruse game, bit like chess ?

Excited for and reach out make my toes curl.

What about off of, as in get off of the bus.

Agree with all these, esp debate Harris and park up.

Here’s one that may be dialect: ‘we had beetroot and potato salad to sliced ham’, as opposed to ‘with’

I live in hope that we are not the last generation of pedants. At a restaurant earlier this week, my DGS (aged 10) opened the menu and immediately found a typo!

I believe that in the US a number of people fell into a coma .
They began to wake up some 40 years later and when they did the medical staff were struck by the way that they spoke .
It illustrates how a language is dynamic .
My children have laughed at the expressions that I use and been more polite at the ones my parents employed .
I have to admit to disliking the recent one of omitting the article .
I hate it when people "go toilet ."

The redundant ‘of’ does irritate me, as in e.g. ‘outside of the town centre.’

sassysaysso

I guess if prepositions are becoming redundant we won't have to be careful about not ending a sentence with one.

As Churchill put it, ‘This is something up with which I will not put.’ 😂

JamesandJon33

A daughter of a friend thought a preposition was something you got at the doctor’s !

I have forgotten any "grammar" I was taught at school, but this thread strikes a chord with me! is that grammatically correct..
what really bugs me is,,, me and her.... I was taught to always put the other person first.... when did it change?

all this is said with a smile, as language evolves, so I understand

Witzend

The redundant ‘of’ does irritate me, as in e.g. ‘outside of the town centre.’

That really irritates me too, and the use of of instead of have.

Eg We of got

A lot of the changes are because American English has polluted the river, as it were. The Americanisation of English helped by television and media increased exponentially due to the Internet. Younger generations continue to adopt US spelling, pronunciation and usage.

I grieve for my dead loved ones.
I park the car.
I beat someone fair and square when I win; I do not 'beat out' the competition; that's something one does with grouse, is it not?
Different from is English. Different than is US. Different to is just wrong.
Something impacts on me. If it impacts me, it means I need a laxative.
If I pass, it's because I can't answer a question on Mastermind. When I kick the bucket, I shall pass away.

I hate it when "to be" is missed out of a sentence e.g. 'It needs done' 'it needs painted' - so often heard on the "Homes under the hammer" programme by a female presenter. Please say "it needs doing... needs painting" ....etc. or "it needs TO BE done, needs TO BE painted ! Drives me crazy. Rant over 😡

Does 'watching on' grate on others? I always used to just watch.

OldEnough2noBetter

A lot of the changes are because American English has polluted the river, as it were. The Americanisation of English helped by television and media increased exponentially due to the Internet. Younger generations continue to adopt US spelling, pronunciation and usage.

I grieve for my dead loved ones.
I park the car.
I beat someone fair and square when I win; I do not 'beat out' the competition; that's something one does with grouse, is it not?
Different from is English. Different than is US. Different to is just wrong.
Something impacts on me. If it impacts me, it means I need a laxative.
If I pass, it's because I can't answer a question on Mastermind. When I kick the bucket, I shall pass away.

You will die, pass away to where? go away? where to? why can't we say what happens, we die. It is very confusing for children and people with dementia and indeed elderly people when we don't speak properly. We need to normalise speaking about death so it is not such a taboo subject.

How about “I wrote him and he didn’t reply”? Probably, I would have done better to “write TO him”!

And, yes, all these ridiculous euphemisms for dying. Both my husband and son died recently, I didn’t “lose” them, they didn’t just pass away (unless one adds “to a better place”. As for some people saying my chaps are “late”. Huh!🤔

Aveline

'Different from' seems to have mutated to 'different to'. We were always taught 'different from' but 'similar to'.

This has occupied my DH and I for fifty years 😁. We shout at the radio in unison.

But does it matter?

grandMattie

How about “I wrote him and he didn’t reply”? Probably, I would have done better to “write TO him”!

Brought up in Scotland we always said “TO him” - the omission of “to” is much more common in England. I remember being totally puzzled by phrases like “Give it me” or “I gave it her” (although “I gave her it” sounded fine - something similar to Dative before Accusative ?

grandMattie

And, yes, all these ridiculous euphemisms for dying. Both my husband and son died recently, I didn’t “lose” them, they didn’t just pass away (unless one adds “to a better place”. As for some people saying my chaps are “late”. Huh!🤔

My late father in law - is OK though.