More about language problems........

[Bob Wright]

We recently lamented that fact that Hispanics are not learning English. Reading my morning paper, I see many of those here aren't doing too well in that respect, either. A case in point, from today's Commercial Appeal:

"The 14 year old boy was driving home with his mother, when she stopped............" Does this mean the mother jumped out of the car?

And recently, in speaking of a lady's enormous hair do: ".........displays her main.........."

If the paper does have proof readers, they are uneducated buffoons.

Bob Wright

 

[wwb]

A home improvement article in the local fish-wrapper regarding the upcoming home builder's show: ".....After the installation was in place, the waynes coating was ....."

Translation: ....After the insulation was in place, the wainscoting was....

Probably a Liberal Arts journalism major.

 

[SAJohn]

Bob, I'm with Teddy Roosevelt on the spelling issues with English. Despite what the French may think, English is the most powerful language in the world. This is mostly because of the blending in of other languages. Unfortunately, the English language also includes many of the spelling rules of these other languages thus creating a confusing mess.

I feel that far too much child learning time is devoted to memorizing our strange spelling rules and exceptions.

However, as a time waster, nothing comes close to the Chinese/Japanese character based writing system.

John

 

[coach]

I wonder if people or computers are proofing. I know my I phone spellcheck corrects to some weird combinations if I don't pay attention.
BTW-what did the paper write? Stopped short I figured out, but not the second.

 

[Bob Wright]

I wonder if people or computers are proofing. I know my I phone spellcheck corrects to some weird combinations if I don't pay attention.
BTW-what did the paper write? Stopped short I figured out, but not the second.

The first article concerned a shooting, in which the mother, who was driving stopped to let her son out to go into a a store to get change. The boy walked into the midst of a shooting and was wounded.

The second article concerned some beauty shop tips or something of that order. The comment was a photo caption and there was a black woman depicted with an abundant beehive of a hair do. The word should have been "mane" as in a lion's (or in this case a lioness') mane.

Bob Wright

 

[Pat-inCO]

In my opinion, a LARGE portion of the problem comes from the third to sixth
generation, U.S. Citizens, that are in a home that "speaks English", that do
not actually speak English, that graduate from schools that do not teach English.

How many of you remember "Eubonics"? Many swore it was invented for
those of slave heritage, so they could be understood. NOT TRUE! It was
invented for WHITE SPORTS CASTERS (as on TV), WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE,
that could/can not speak English.

A prime example is the word 'like'. Listen for a while to many conversations
and see if you can pick out one complete sentence that does not contain
the word 'like'. If it is similar to what I hear around here, it will be no more
than one in ten.
(got a war story on that, but I'll skip it for brevity)

 

[SamV]

A home improvement article in the local fish-wrapper regarding the upcoming home builder's show: ".....After the installation was in place, the waynes coating was ....."

Translation: ....After the insulation was in place, the wainscoting was....

Probably a Liberal Arts journalism major.

Yes, it should have been "Wayne's coating." People just don't use proper capitalization or punctuation.
By the way, a similar issue is Cole's law. This of course refers to the often misunderstand legal rules pertaining to lunch side orders.

 

[Fox Mike]

A prime example is the word 'like'. Listen for a while to many conversationsand see if you can pick out one complete sentence that does not contain
the word 'like'. If it is similar to what I hear around here, it will be no more
than one in ten. (got a war story on that, but I'll skip it for brevity)

I was in the local Waffle House and one of the servers was saying "like" about every other word. Finally I asked her "What it was similar to?" She just stared at me as if she didn't understand. I told her that she said something was "like" and I wanted to know what it was similar to. No reply at all. She still doesn't understand. They are nearly as bad as the "Ya know?" crew. The ones that say "Ya know" at the end of every sentence.

 

[blackhawknj]

The French are very adamant about French being the official language of France.
They have their Academie Francaise which is in effect their language police.
The harshest put down I ever saw of "Black English" was in the Black Muslim newspaper, Muhammad Speaks. And whatever you may think of him, Louis Farrakhan speaks English very well.

 

[volshooter]

Great posts. In the southern US, speech is difficult for some. I'm talking about just plain ole mountain speech. We sure got tired of folks makin fun of us. Piffttt. Enjoy it as it truer to proper English.
The speak of colored, black or African American folks might have been invented by some educated white guy, but has been embraced by them and modified to the point regular folks cannot understand the lingo. Same with young white kids with their letters meaning a phrase.
It's almost like they all want a secret code talk. It is frustrating to try to understand the message they want to convey. Accents I can overcome, new words with different meanings are unintelligible and useless for me.
I doubt very few members realize how hard it is for me to half way post in acceptable wordage.
I do not understand the extreme variance in English in my area. I cannot have a conversation with my 21 year old niece without asking, "what the hell does that mean".
Honestly, I hope I'm not around in 20 years. I will not be able to understand or communicate with anyone, and I don't think I want to.

 

[GP100]

Can I ax you a qwestion? Know what I mean, Know what I mean Know what I mean...

 

[Colonialgirl]

Don't feel bad, A couple of years ago I was over in England for a friends wedding (I was Matron of Honor) and they had a cousin that talked English so fast that my Southern Ears couldn't keep up nor understand her. Of course they all thought I spoke so slow with SUCH a NICE accent.

 

[eveled]

A home improvement article in the local fish-wrapper regarding the upcoming home builder's show: ".....After the installation was in place, the waynes coating was ....."

Translation: ....After the insulation was in place, the wainscoting was....

Probably a Liberal Arts journalism major.

Yes, it should have been "Wayne's coating." People just don't use proper capitalization or punctuation.
By the way, a similar issue is Cole's law. This of course refers to the often misunderstand legal rules pertaining to lunch side orders.

Nice try, but it is wainscoting. The narrow strips of verticle wood on the lower portion of a wall usually topped by a chair rail.

I am about half way through a fascinating book written by a retired proof reader. Confessions of a comma queen. http://www.amazon.com/Between-You-Me-Confessions-Comma/dp/0393240185 The thing I have learned is that not all of the rules are as concrete as you think they are. There are variations that are allowed.

 

[blume357]

The only thing I'm 'worser' at than grammar is spelling. Sorry, I had to write it that way..... I get ticked off at the language police here... even though they have been quiet for a while. Now, with that said.. I agree about the problems with modern day newspapers.... ours, here in Greenville, has just about become a sad joke.. when I can usually find numerous errors in every edition.... believe me.. that is bad.