Proper English

Ahnimus

Well that was interesting. Back to discussing grammatical affairs I guess.

Does anyone know german grammar? Oder Grammatik?

zackmorris

i feel cheated by the american public education system. if we wouldve had no child left behind when i was in school then theirs no way i wouldve turned out this way. but no, the clinton administration did things there way and i WAS left behind. does anyone feel this way two? when its all said and done, no child left behind will be bushs legacy. to bad clinton couldnt come with a program this good.

i'm sure the clinton administration did there very best but, irregardless, i still feel cheated!

hippiemom

zackmorris wrote:

i feel cheated by the american public education system. if we wouldve had no child left behind when i was in school then theirs no way i wouldve turned out this way. but no, the clinton administration did things there way and i WAS left behind. does anyone feel this way two? when its all said and done, no child left behind will be bushs legacy. to bad clinton couldnt come with a program this good.

i'm sure the clinton administration did there very best but, irregardless, i still feel cheated!

Thanks, that made me laugh

seagoat2

flustrated.....

or

nucular instead of nuclear

Eli

I was not born in an English-speaking country, but I have always loved the English language. I simply marvel at its wide vocabulary and simple grammar structures. Although I know this thread is geared towards native English speakers, I couldn’t help but post a reply. I think that communication is the most important thing in a language. If someone has a good command of spoken English, and if they can get their message across, that is what really matters. I do understand, though, what most people have been discussing here. Sometimes it can be quite annoying to see or hear someone repeat the same grammar mistake over and over, either when writing or speaking a language. When I was in the United States, instead of saying “I should have given” I heard people say things such as “I should have gave.” Instead of using the past participle of the verb “to give,” which is “given,” they would use the simple past tense “gave,” just to give you an example. It was funny, especially when you know the standard form. Then it suddenly dawned on me that native speakers make mistakes as well. Oh, well, nobody is perfect. I have noticed they make a lot of spelling mistakes. Why? Are they just being careless? I don’t really know. =\

Oh, another thing I’ve noticed is the misuse of the word “mischievous.” It’s hilarious, really. I overheard people pronounce that word like this: “miss – chee- vee - uhs” like they pronounce the word “obvious.” I stopped and thought for a minute, “Oh, they are not pronouncing that word the way I learned. Did I learn the pronunciation of that word correctly?” That kind of confused me, so I looked it up in the dictionary and yeah, I was right. It should be pronounced like this: miss - chI -vuhs, or something along those lines. As you can see, the word “mischievous” is not spelt like the word “obvious,” so obviously it should not be pronounced that way. The correct spelling is “mischievous.” Does this make any sense? I apologize if I have confused you as I tried to make my point here. Anyway, I just thought I’d share something related to the English Language, which is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, in my opinion.

Peace.

Ahnimus

Yea you have the pronounciation Mischievous right Eli.

We do hack up a lot of words to make them different though. A lot of people pronounce four like fo and it's a most basic word.

Abookamongstthemany

Ahnimus wrote:

Yea you have the pronounciation Mischievous right Eli.

We do hack up a lot of words to make them different though. A lot of people pronounce four like fo and it's a most basic word.

And that's good. I'm glad I don't live in a world where everyone says everything the same and follows every rules and guideline to a tee. I prefer the color, flare and flaws of the world to rigid cookie cutters.

Ahnimus

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

And that's good. I'm glad I don't live in a world where everyone says everything the same and follows every rules and guideline to a tee. I prefer the color, flare and flaws of the world to rigid cookie cutters.

I like colourful language as well. I think it might be hard for people to learn english though. I find it hard to communicate with some people from the middle east.

dkst0426

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

I prefer the color, flare and flaws of the world to rigid cookie cutters.

You mean "flair"?

Eli, thanks for your perspective. Having an international membership does make it interesting. I know and understand that sometimes it helps to be a bit more forgiving of those from non-English speaking countries when reading message board posts (not just on this board, but others). It does get frustrating when people from England, or Canada, or Australia, or the US make the same mistakes over and over.

sonicreducer

i say fantabulous a lot.

seagoat2

seagoat2 wrote:

flustrated.....

or

nucular instead of nuclear

Ok, having said that, I also like flair & people making up thier own words on occasion. Sometimes it's a lot of fun. Also, nobody's perfect, it just bugs me when the President can't pronounce the words in his own speech!

Sonja_S

Ahnimus wrote:

Well that was interesting. Back to discussing grammatical affairs I guess.

Does anyone know german grammar? Oder Grammatik?

I'd like to think I do. Even though spelling got difficult for us old folks after the 'Rechtschreibreform'

KessyWessy

If errors in grammar, syntax and spelling irritate you, go to this site: http://www.takeourword.com/

Issues upon issues with articles on word origins, modern uses, etc.

I've spent may hours pretending to work while I was reading the site.

floyd1975

Ahnimus wrote:

I was listening to CBC Radio One just now and the host said "An Hotel" and it was like nails on a chalkboard.

It says in the wikipedia quote that an hotel is accepted though as is any "h" word.

Ahnimus

zstillings wrote:

It says in the wikipedia quote that an hotel is accepted though as is any "h" word.

Yea, but it depends if you pronounce the H or not. People with french accents pronounce it "an 'Otel" which is fine.

Ahnimus

Sonja_S wrote:

I'd like to think I do. Even though spelling got difficult for us old folks after the 'Rechtschreibreform'

I've never heard of 'Rechtschreibreform' but I can guess what it is

My problem with German grammar is where to place words in a sentence.

Like does the verb always go at the end of the sentence.

"will you for me to the store go?" as an example.

I don't always get it and I am still having a problem with the word "Los" in this particular sentence. "Bitte frag' mich nicht, was los mit mir ist"

I understand it as "Please, don't ask me, what fortune is with me" but again, "Los" has so many meanings.

Ahnimus

Ok, this is the part where I make myself look like a dick.

I've recently learned the brain handles language in two different regions. One is expressive and one in comprehensive. Damage to one or both of these areas can cause difficulties with language. The comprehensive region is responsible for understanding grammar amongst other things. Damage to either of these regions (and perhaps underdevelopment) is called aphasia. Some aphasics are almost completely incapable of expressing themselves and/or comprehending language.

Recent studies show that a child suffering from brain damage due to stroke can compensate for this loss through brain development. While an adult suffering from damage to these regions is shit out of luck.

Perhaps some of us simply aren't capable of understanding the complexity of language grammar. Those same people may as well understand musical grammar, as seperate regions of the brain handle this function. Although Broca's area handles some of both language and musical grammar.

In conclusion it may not always be a person's fault if their grammar isn't perfect. There are varrying degrees of brain damage and brain development varies as well. On the other hand, some people just don't give a shit about language.

norm

Ahnimus wrote:

Ok, this is the part where I make myself look like a dick.

I've recently learned the brain handles language in two different regions. One is expressive and one in comprehensive. Damage to one or both of these areas can cause difficulties with language. The comprehensive region is responsible for understanding grammar amongst other things. Damage to either of these regions (and perhaps underdevelopment) is called aphasia. Some aphasics are almost completely incapable of expressing themselves and/or comprehending language.

Recent studies show that a child suffering from brain damage due to stroke can compensate for this loss through brain development. While an adult suffering from damage to these regions is shit out of luck.

Perhaps some of us simply aren't capable of understanding the complexity of language grammar. Those same people may as well understand musical grammar, as separate regions of the brain handle this function. Although Broca's area handles some of both language and musical grammar.

In conclusion it may not always be a person's fault if their grammar isn't perfect. There are varrying degrees of brain damage and brain development varies as well. On the other hand, some people just don't give a shit about language.

You're not excusing our president's lack of elocution with this post, are you?:)

decides2dream

cutback wrote:

You're not excusing our president's lack of elocution with this post, are you?:)

nah, just saying he's evidently brain damaged. explains a lot more than his poor elocution.

norm

decides2dream wrote:

nah, just saying he's evidently brain damaged. explains a lot more than his poor elocution.

:)!!