Random annoyance at modern colloquial language.

[matthyaouw]

If I say to the average something is s**t, it is bad, however if I say it is the s**t, then it is good.

Am I the only one who sees little or no sense in this?
In summary, the language of kids today is terrible.


yours relentlessly,
Mattypoo
xxx

[Ivan Seeking]

While in college I was impressed with an essay by Orwell...I think called "The Importance of Speaking Correctly". I didn't spot the essay online but this article addresses similar ideas. Obviously this all ties into Orwell's newspeak and 1984.

Language and Truth Belong Together (http://i2i.org/article.aspx?ID=378)

Trivia: Why 1984? It was written in 1948; nothing deeper than that. :biggrin:

[dduardo]

There was a southpark espisode about this. They even counted the number of times they said ****.

[the number 42]

the language of kids today is terrible.

Are you using "random" in... (*gulp*)... a colloquial sense? Otherwise I have to take it that when you hear colloquialisms, you may or may not become annoyed based on non-sequential thought processes. Or do you throw a dice and if its a six or a one you will decide to become annoyed? This is intruguing.

[meowxorz]

Yeah, the way some people talk these days confuses me, and I'm supposed to be "one of them."

The worst I've encountered is when someone says something is "sick," meaning, "something entirely unrelated to, and quite the opposite of, sick."

Recently when I got a piercing I showed it to a friend and they chose "Sick!" as their response. I was beginning to become offended when I realized, "Oh, wait. Those crazy kids!! Ha ha!"

[Gokul43201]

I think he meant : Randomly sparked decision to voice annoyance at modern colloquial language - it's an elliptic usage. :wink:

I personally don't have an objection to "this is the $#!t" meaning the opposite of "this is $#!t". However, I find the overusage of "as hell" a little irksome. It's okay for it to be "hot as hell", but to also say that something is "cold as hell" is just a tad bit bothersome. Usage like "dirty as hell" or "scary as hell" are okay, but what's the sense in "loud as hell" or "funny as hell" ?

[Jake]

It's because of alternate meanings via context sensitivity which humans are quite adept at but the real question is what was the causation for "sh*t" to ever be used in a positive sense?

[Gokul43201]

...but the real question is what was the causation for "sh*t" to ever be used in a positive sense?

I don't see that in this usage "sh*t", by itself, carries a positive connotation. I think this is merely an elliptic usage for "this is the real sh*t" (as in, the real McCoy), where "sh*t" is simply used for "thing".

[mattmns]

us kids today are too lazy to expand our vocabulary, so, instead, we re arrange or re use words that we already know, to change the meaning :smile:

[matthyaouw]

I find the overusage of "as hell" a little irksome. It's okay for it to be "hot as hell", but to also say that something is "cold as hell" is just a tad bit bothersome. Usage like "dirty as hell" or "scary as hell" are okay, but what's the sense in "loud as hell" or "funny as hell" ?


The temperatures of the different parts of Hell vary greatly depending precisely on which circle you reside in, and has for funny as hell: How much do you suppose you will be laughing as you sit in heaven watching the guy who bullied you in high school rotating slowly on a spit being jabbed by a demon, and being deafened by the loud screams of those suffering around him?

Are you using "random" in... (*gulp*)... a colloquial sense? Otherwise I have to take it that when you hear colloquialisms, you may or may not become annoyed based on non-sequential thought processes. Or do you throw a dice and if its a six or a one you will decide to become annoyed? This is intruguing.

I have many annoyances regarding the English language, and chose one more or less at random, or at least as much as possible without the use of dice or a table of random numbers.

[Evo]

The same thing is true of the word "bad". It can be used both negatively and positively in slang.

[Moonbear]

I personally don't have an objection to "this is the $#!t" meaning the opposite of "this is $#!t". However, I find the overusage of "as hell" a little irksome. It's okay for it to be "hot as hell", but to also say that something is "cold as hell" is just a tad bit bothersome. Usage like "dirty as hell" or "scary as hell" are okay, but what's the sense in "loud as hell" or "funny as hell" ?

"Cold as Hell" must refer to Hell, MI. It's definitely cold there, and dirty, and scary. :rofl: Nothing funny or loud about the place though, other than all three or so buildings in the town are painted with flames on them. :biggrin: Though, it's an interesting change in the language, a shift from using superlatives to using similes as superlatives. Though, of course we all know the appropriate simile to use to emphasize cold is, "Cold as a witch's t**."

I don't care if kids have their own lingo, every generation does, but what bothers me is that they are failing to learn proper English as well. One of my pet peeves with this generation is lack of capitalization of words, especially at the beginning of sentences. Is it really all that difficult to hit the "shift" key on the keyboard?

[Integral]

I dislike the web appreviations: u 4 gr8 type of stuff. I find it very hard to respond postivily to any post that displays this form of what I consider simply lazyness.

[meowxorz]

One of my pet peeves with this generation is lack of capitalization of words, especially at the beginning of sentences. Is it really all that difficult to hit the "shift" key on the keyboard?

Heh, that's one of mine as well. I mean, I wont ever harass someone about it, because you always get the same stupid argument: "duhrr i am just chattin not writing engilsh paper lolz" And I guess as long as you can at least understand the person, there's no reason to make a big deal of it...

But of course, that doesn't mean it makes it any less sad... why WOULDN'T someone want to care about the very language they speak? Communication is extremely important, and especially on the Internet, where the method is primarily through WRITING.

[mattmns]

I don't care if kids have their own lingo, every generation does, but what bothers me is that they are failing to learn proper English as well. One of my pet peeves with this generation is lack of capitalization of words, especially at the beginning of sentences. Is it really all that difficult to hit the "shift" key on the keyboard?

it is not that difficult. I think it is not that important to capatalize the first letter of each sentence while speaking informally. that is why I only capitalize the first word of each sentence when I want to be taken seriously lol.

I think the reason, this may seem blatant, that many kids do not capitalize the first word of each sentence is because it is a waste of time. There is a big difference between written and oral English. When talking to a friend you are probably quite informal, but when you are writing, on these boards for example, you probably try to be as formal as possible. Formal English has too many rules. Jupiter is larger than any planet in our solar system. If I were to tell you that, you would probably agree; however, the sentence is wrong! Jupiter cannot be larger than itself. The correction is, of course: Jupiter is larger than any other planet in our solar system. Because very few people, none that I know, speak formal English there is no desire, or even need, to learn it. Now this is where the problem is created. Many kids spend time typing to their friends on aim, yahoo, icq, or whatever, this leads to very informal English, and then when they write on a forum they are, sometimes, very hard to understand. Now that I have completely drifted away from the subject, and have no clue what I am talking about anymore, I will have to end my post here: :confused:

[Zeteg]

I completely agree that language is important. Here are some more recent examples, that I've heard from peers.

"That's sick!" - I guess it was said before, but I couldn't catch the clear meaning of it. About three or four months ago, "That's sick!" meant, "That's horrible". Now, it means, "That's awesome!"

"Just joshing" - Okay, I'm completely stumped on how someone could come up with this phrase. Apparently it means that they're joking.

"Well -vs- Good" - This is the most common one that I find, and probably the second most annoying. When I'm outside and social, I correct at least one person a day on this. Sometimes it's strangers, sometimes it's people I know. "I did good on that test." You'd think after I yell "WELL! YOU DID WELL ON THAT TEST." They'd realize they have the change. The sad part is, my first language isn't even English, and I'm correcting them.

"im gansta" - This is probably the most annoying one. I can't get over how stupid these morons are. I walk around my school, and you can't go across the main hallway without morons saying it. Apparently now it means that they're cool. Someone please tell me how 'ganstas' are cool. Actually, if anyone wants a laugh, feel free to download this: http://brpg.japf.co.uk/zeteg/gangster.mp3.

While I can go on for quite some time talking about the deformalities of speech found in 'ganstas' I'll leave it at that.

Not all kids speak poorly. While the majority of kids these days do, there are still the few that respect themselves.

[Chi Meson]

Well, I liked that bit about Jupiter. I never knew that! And who the heck is "lol"?

[Zeteg]

Well, I liked that bit about Jupiter. I never knew that! And who the heck is "lol"?

Lol = Abbreviated "Laughing out loud", or in a more modern contect, "I think it's funny."

I often use abbreviations a lot, seeing as typing, "hahahaha" doesn't exactly convey a very "friendly" messenge. It's more or less the same thing of saying "okay", or "okies" instead of "O.K." In the previous example, one would sound less sarcastic.

Now, whenever someone speaks horrible English to me, I respond using the AOL-12-year-old translator.

[mattmns]

And who the heck is "lol"?

that is why I only capitalize the first word of each sentence when I want to be taken seriously lol.

Woops! My mistake. What I meant to say was: that is why I only capitalize the first word of each sentence when I want to be taken seriously. lol

As for who is "lol?"

I guess I should have used ":rofl:" instead. Which brings up another issue. Do you all find these smilies, when used, annoying?

I don't. I think its all a part of the fun that we call the |nt3rn3t :cool:

[Jake]

I don't see that in this usage "sh*t", by itself, carries a positive connotation. I think this is merely an elliptic usage for "this is the real sh*t" (as in, the real McCoy), where "sh*t" is simply used for "thing".

That's semantics to me. I'm just saying that when someone says "thats the sh*t", they mean that it's good, and yes "sh*t" is just the "thing", but why on earth use "sh*t" for that? It didn't just get there randomly, somehow it was either consciously or unconsciously put there and to me that's a curiousity.

[Moonbear]

That's semantics to me. I'm just saying that when someone says "thats the sh*t", they mean that it's good, and yes "sh*t" is just the "thing", but why on earth use "sh*t" for that? It didn't just get there randomly, somehow it was either consciously or unconsciously put there and to me that's a curiousity.

Hmm, interesting question. Just what was that first person who used the phrase "the sh*t" to mean something good thinking when they chose those words? Do these things start as inside jokes somewhere that catch on and spread as something they were never meant to be?

[Smurf]

Hmm, interesting question. Just what was that first person who used the phrase "the sh*t" to mean something good thinking when they chose those words? Do these things start as inside jokes somewhere that catch on and spread as something they were never meant to be?
So it's kind of like democracy then?

[Mk]

I dislike the web appreviations: u 4 gr8 type of stuff. I find it very hard to respond postivily to any post that displays this form of what I consider simply lazyness.
Ha, ha, everytime I see someone do that I twitch (not literaly)

Woops! My mistake. What I meant to say was: that is why I only capitalize the first word of each sentence when I want to be taken seriously. lol
Ha, I twitched when you didn't capitalize "that."

I guess I should have used ":rofl:" instead. Which brings up another issue. Do you all find these smilies, when used, annoying?
Nah, Its not annoying if you use less than 10 per post/IM

I respond using the AOL-12-year-old translator.
http://ssshotaru.homestead.com/files/aolertranslator.html

"im gansta" - This is probably the most annoying one. I can't get over how stupid these morons are. I walk around my school, and you can't go across the main hallway without morons saying it. Apparently now it means that they're cool. Someone please tell me how 'ganstas' are cool. Actually, if anyone wants a laugh, feel free to download this: http://brpg.japf.co.uk/zeteg/gangster.mp3.

While I can go on for quite some time talking about the deformalities of speech found in 'ganstas' I'll leave it at that.

Not all kids speak poorly. While the majority of kids these days do, there are still the few that respect themselves. Actually how I know it is "Ima gangsta" or just "gangsta," though in different regions of the world there are diffrent variations.
Sí, not all kids speak poorly, we should make the "LOGWRS," Legion of Guys Who Respect Themselves, or Legion of Gangstas Who Respect Themselves :biggrin:

"Cold as Hell" must refer to Hell, MI. It's definitely cold there, and dirty, and scary. :rofl: Nothing funny or loud about the place though, other than all three or so buildings in the town are painted with flames on them. :biggrin:

I don't care if kids have their own lingo, every generation does, but what bothers me is that they are failing to learn proper English as well. One of my pet peeves with this generation is lack of capitalization of words, especially at the beginning of sentences. Is it really all that difficult to hit the "shift" key on the keyboard?

Nah, I don't care either, yet I fail to think that proper English is not know, it is, just not used. Did I mention the twitching?

The same thing is true of the word "bad". It can be used both negatively and positively in slang.
Evo! Your avatar makes me want to take a wreath and do the same as featured.

[Chi Meson]

Lol = Abbreviated "Laughing out loud", or in a more modern contect, "I think it's funny."


Umm. Joking, Joking. After a while, you'll see that my jokes are distinguished by the remarkable absence of anything funny. ROFLOLPIMP.

[Moonbear]

Nah, I don't care either, yet I fail to think that proper English is not know, it is, just not used. Did I mention the twitching?

My view of it is that if they knew English well, using it correctly would be second nature, thus it wouldn't require any effort to do so. The most common excuse I hear for poor English online is, "This isn't for a term paper." To me, that implies they have to work at using correct English. None of us is perfect online because we are being conversational and not taking time to proofread, but when I see posts where nothing is capitalized or punctuated, I sometimes have to just pass over them due to their complete incoherency.

[tribdog]

I hate when people say anyways
I used to say anyways, then I worked with a girl who would say "Anyways? Anyways? Anyways?" everytime I said it. It was irritating, but now I say anyway.

[the number 42]

Guys, this is much ado about bugger all. If the English language never changed we'd still be speaking in Medieval English or summink. I really look forward to the day when my kids say to me 'Dad, you are so SICK', and really mean it in a modern way.

[Evo]

My pet peeves are the following slang words. It's tolerable if you're joking around, but I actually see people using these words in serious discussions.

gonna
wanna
could of
would of

AAAAGHHHH!!!!

[tribdog]

Somewhere I saw a guy use the word "freakin'" in a business meeting. I think it was some reality show.

[matthyaouw]

One of my pet peeves with this generation is lack of capitalization of words, especially at the beginning of sentences. Is it really all that difficult to hit the "shift" key on the keyboard?

I think that autocorrect on word processing software is at least partially to blame for this, along with careless use of apostrphes (a pet peeve of my own) and minor mis-spellings. Open Word, type a simple paragraph with some deliberate mistakes and count how many you have to go back and correct yourself- I'd guess very few. I learned to type largely using MS word, and found myself using the shift key and the apostrophe key increasingly little, as there was not the need to, which meant when I began browsing forums and using MSN messenger, my typing was frankly quite terrible.

[Gokul43201]

My pet peeves are the following slang words. It's tolerable if you're joking around, but I actually see people using these words in serious discussions.

gonna
wanna
could of
would of

AAAAGHHHH!!!!

I really don't understand the "could of", "would of", "should of" phenomenon. Is this now considered acceptable English ? I've only noticed it here on PF (as I don't visit any other forums) and I find it used by some members who use no other form of slang or colloquialism. :confused:

[Moonbear]

I think that autocorrect on word processing software is at least partially to blame for this, along with careless use of apostrphes (a pet peeve of my own) and minor mis-spellings. Open Word, type a simple paragraph with some deliberate mistakes and count how many you have to go back and correct yourself- I'd guess very few. I learned to type largely using MS word, and found myself using the shift key and the apostrophe key increasingly little, as there was not the need to, which meant when I began browsing forums and using MSN messenger, my typing was frankly quite terrible.

I turned auto-correct off. It was annoying. When I'm using standard abbreviations for hormones and brain regions, I need to mix capitals and lowercase letters in atypical orders, and it kept changing those to all lowercase on me. It also would get confusing when I'd automatically backspace to correct things like "teh" instead of "the" and the autocorrect was fighting me to do it itself. The only thing I let autocorrect do now is to change a few keystrokes into symbols so I don't have to keep mousing (am I allowed to use mouse as a verb?) to the menu to insert greek letters.

[Moonbear]

I really don't understand the "could of", "would of", "should of" phenomenon. Is this now considered acceptable English ? I've only noticed it here on PF (as I don't visit any other forums) and I find it used by some members who use no other form of slang or colloquialism. :confused:

That's actually and old and quite common mistake in writing. We say "would've" and they hear "would of." We can't blame the current generation for starting that one.

[ray b]

english, or should we now use "american english'',
is an alive, growing, mongrel, mess
that has roots in many different tongues
with bazaar rules that lack rhyme or reason

the kids on the net have invented a more usefull shorthand version
I feel no need to use 18th century formal english
and feel the teaching of it is a huge waste of time
and english majors the most useless form of life

[Zeteg]

Guys, this is much ado about bugger all. If the English language never changed we'd still be speaking in Medieval English or summink. I really look forward to the day when my kids say to me 'Dad, you are so SICK', and really mean it in a modern way.

Good luck. Children don't tell their parents they're cool... Well, maybe at young ages they do, I guess. Here's some tips, comming from me =)

- Don't ask about their day at school (You'll only get a "Good." or something, even if you do it).
- Don't ask why they're late, if they're a couple of hours late.
- Don't pester them to call whenever they reach their desired destination.
- Help them out when they're buying Christmas gifts for friends, especially if they've got someone they really like :)
- Give them some trust. I believe kids which don't have parental trust seem to go into bad stuff more often.
- Try and explore their interest of music. At the very least, don't tell them that it sucks.


As for the part about the old English, I wouldn't mind at all. I find it's a lot easier to project my voice in old English anyway. There seems to be a lot less sarcasm in old English. As my CALM teacher would say, "COMMUNICATION ROADBLOCK".

[Moonbear]

Good luck. Children don't tell their parents they're cool... Well, maybe at young ages they do, I guess. Here's some tips, comming from me =)

- Don't ask about their day at school (You'll only get a "Good." or something, even if you do it).
- Don't ask why they're late, if they're a couple of hours late.
- Don't pester them to call whenever they reach their desired destination.
- Help them out when they're buying Christmas gifts for friends, especially if they've got someone they really like :)
- Give them some trust. I believe kids which don't have parental trust seem to go into bad stuff more often.
- Try and explore their interest of music. At the very least, don't tell them that it sucks.

Oh, there's no winning on these things. If you don't ask about their day at school, or why they are late, or pester them about calling, they'll decide you don't love them and couldn't care less about what happens to them. If you offer to help them out buying presents for their friends, they'll get mad that you're interferring, and tell you to leave them alone.
The trust part you're right on, but it's a two way street; the kids have to earn trust and keep that trust as much as you should give it to them when they earn it.
If you show interest in their music, they'll be SOOO EMBARRASSED :redface: and will start seeking other music to listen to.

That's just what kids, especially teenagers, do, they get embarrassed and annoyed by anything their parents do. :tongue:

[Zeteg]

Oh, there's no winning on these things. If you don't ask about their day at school, or why they are late, or pester them about calling, they'll decide you don't love them and couldn't care less about what happens to them. If you offer to help them out buying presents for their friends, they'll get mad that you're interferring, and tell you to leave them alone.
The trust part you're right on, but it's a two way street; the kids have to earn trust and keep that trust as much as you should give it to them when they earn it.
If you show interest in their music, they'll be SOOO EMBARRASSED :redface: and will start seeking other music to listen to.

That's just what kids, especially teenagers, do, they get embarrassed and annoyed by anything their parents do. :tongue:

Oh come on, that's not true. I am a teenager :P
Maybe if you have a girl, she might decide that you don't love her. However, I really don't believe guys care that much, or would even draw those conclusions.

I meant give them money in buying presents :P

Teens don't care if you like their music, in fact, they certainly won't get embarrased. Well, not us Metal types anyway. My friend's dad loves metal, and we all think he's awesome :P

[Evo]

I really don't understand the "could of", "would of", "should of" phenomenon. Is this now considered acceptable English ? I've only noticed it here on PF (as I don't visit any other forums) and I find it used by some members who use no other form of slang or colloquialism. :confused:Think about it. First they took "would have" and abbreviated it to "would've" and then spelled it phonetically (would've=would of). :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

edit:just noticed moonbear already said the same thing.

[Evo]

the kids on the net have invented a more usefull shorthand version
I feel no need to use 18th century formal english
and feel the teaching of it is a huge waste of time
and english majors the most useless form of lifeThere is a big difference between a language evolving and being mutilated by ignorance.

Ever try to read something written in middle or old English? Notice that there were no real rules? The same word was spelled many different ways? Do you see what a problem that became? That is why today we have "rules" that are standard, agreed upon ways to spell something correctly and structure a sentence correctly. It doesn't mean that there isn't going to be slang coming in and out of fashion each generation, or within ethnic groups, but as a whole, there has to be some consistency, and people need to know at least the basics. Unfortunately it seems too many can't even grasp the basics.

[Moonbear]

Teens don't care if you like their music, in fact, they certainly won't get embarrased. Well, not us Metal types anyway. My friend's dad loves metal, and we all think he's awesome :P

Does your friend agree about that? The other kids' parents are always cooler than your own.

Rest assured, all us adults were teenagers once too, and while your generation might talk funny :wink:, the rest of that list is nothing new. Even my parents complained about my grandparents doing the same thing. :eek: When I was your age, I said the same thing, and swore I'd never do those same things with my own children, and now I look back and realize, yep, my parents just might have known what they were doing and I'll probably do the same thing to my own kids when I get around to having them. (Gee, thanks for making me sound old and responsible now. This isn't going to help my campaign for funniest PFer. :grumpy: )

[jimmy p]

I hate it when people say "thingy" because they can't be bothered to use the proper term. Was it the thingy they mentioned a minute ago or a new thingy? At this point I usually switch off.

Ooh massive pet peeve! When people say "you know". No, I dont know. Explain. It seems common nowadays to say "you know" a lot in normal conversation and it bugs me very much so.

What else?? Hmmm when people insist on TyPiNg LiKe ThIs. GRRRRRRRRR!!!! VeRy ChIlDiSh AnD iT mAkEs Me WaNt To HuRt PeOpLe WhEn I sEe ThIs.

How about when people say "and I goes to him [insert uninteresting crap here]". How can you go to someone? Don't they REALLY mean "and I said to him [insert more grammatically correct faeces here]".

[mattmns]

YeAh i HaTe ThAt StYlE oF tYpInG.

Another thing I dislike is this:

"So I says to her...."

The "says" part.

[Moonbear]

Uh oh! I know I'm guilty of "you know" a lot. I've cut it down a lot. It's an annoying habit I picked up from my mom. She has a really bad habit of always knowing more than everyone else and starting a lot of advice with, "You know what you could do..." (No mom, apparently I don't even though I thought I did.) Since I know it annoys me, it must be annoying when I use it too, so I try to catch myself, but still miss noticing at times.

[Evo]

I think that the "you know" is the type that's added at the end of every sentence. For example - I drove to the mall, you know. And there was this dress, you know. And it was, like, just what I wanted, you know. But, like, I didn't have enough money, you know. You have to throw "like" in there to get the full effect.

[recon]

From what I see above, the misuse of English in America is minor when compared to the misuse of English in Singapore/Malaysia/Brunei. This is an extract from a recent MSN Messenger conversation that I had with my friends:

Person 1: wah u look like loan shark liao...haha very garang like dat..eh bolo $50.
Person 2: $50 to him is nth lar, $500 more llike it.
Person 1: stupid...i need so much for wat? like u meh go thailand find those.
Person 2: yea lor, go thailand shopping need more than $500 le, wat find those stupid eke.

Translation:
Person 1: (talking to Person 3) Wow, you look like a loan shark because of that serious look on your face. Can I borrow $50?
Person 2: $50 is nothing to him. Ask for $500.
Person 1: Why would I need so much? It's not like I will be going to Thailand to find those ... (At this point, I have no idea what Person 1 is talking about)
Person 2: You need more than $500 if you want to go shopping in Thailand, especially if you want to find those...(At this point, I have no idea what Person 2 is talking about)

[Moonbear]

From what I see above, the misuse of English in America is minor when compared to the misuse of English in Singapore/Malaysia/Brunei. This is an extract from a recent MSN Messenger conversation that I had with my friends:

Person 1: wah u look like loan shark liao...haha very garang like dat..eh bolo $50.
Person 2: $50 to him is nth lar, $500 more llike it.
Person 1: stupid...i need so much for wat? like u meh go thailand find those.
Person 2: yea lor, go thailand shopping need more than $500 le, wat find those stupid eke.

Translation:
Person 1: (talking to Person 3) Wow, you look like a loan shark because of that serious look on your face. Can I borrow $50?
Person 2: $50 is nothing to him. Ask for $500.
Person 1: Why would I need so much? It's not like I will be going to Thailand to find those ... (At this point, I have no idea what Person 1 is talking about)
Person 2: You need more than $500 if you want to go shopping in Thailand, especially if you want to find those...(At this point, I have no idea what Person 2 is talking about)

:uhh: I'm really glad you translated, because I might as well have been reading another language. I had no idea what that whole conversation was saying!

[Gokul43201]

So how high does the "...and I'm like...", "...and she's like..." lines (to be construed in the context of the stereotypical female teenager to female teenager conversation) rate on your annoyance scale ?

It's pretty high on mine.

[Evo]

From what I see above, the misuse of English in America is minor when compared to the misuse of English in Singapore/Malaysia/Brunei. This is an extract from a recent MSN Messenger conversation that I had with my friends:I don't know how you could decipher that. recon, did you grow up in the US? Your English is perfect.

[Evo]

So how high does the "...and I'm like...", "...and she's like..." lines (to be construed in the context of the stereotypical female teenager to female teenager conversation) rate on your annoyance scale ?

It's pretty high on mine.It's like, very high. On par only with "dude". :biggrin:

[Gokul43201]

On par only with "dude". :biggrin:

I love "dude", but really, that's one word (if it is a word) that is far more potent spoken than when written. Also, it really ticks off Ivan...and that's just so much fun :biggrin:

[Gokul43201]

...did you grow up in the US? Your English is perfect.

I formally offer my protest against this line of thinking. :mad: A person can feel insulted to be asked a question like that. :grumpy:

There are many well educated people in non-English speaking countries that have a far better grasp of the English language than the average American.

(psst, Recon...don't burst my bubble...please)

[Evo]

Also, it really ticks off Ivan...and that's just so much fun :biggrin:I know someone who won't be getting any frozen broccoli in his stocking. :tongue2:

[Evo]

I formally offer my protest against this line of thinking. :mad: A person can feel insulted to be asked a question like that. :grumpy:I am callous and unthinking. :cry:

There are many well educated people in non-English speaking countries that have a far better grasp of the English language than the average American. Unfortunately, that's all too true. But she talks like an American, not British, there is a difference. Unusual for someone that hasn't lived here. Her (American) English sounds natural, not something you can usually pick up abroad, unless you are surrounded by native speakers.

[Mk]

I hate when people say anyways
I used to say anyways, then I worked with a girl who would say "Anyways? Anyways? Anyways?" everytime I said it. It was irritating, but now I say anyway.
Ha ha, I love to poke fun in it, and say "anywayses."
I turned auto-correct off. It was annoying. When I'm using standard abbreviations for hormones and brain regions, I need to mix capitals and lowercase letters in atypical orders, and it kept changing those to all lowercase on me. It also would get confusing when I'd automatically backspace to correct things like "teh" instead of "the" and the autocorrect was fighting me to do it itself. The only thing I let autocorrect do now is to change a few keystrokes into symbols so I don't have to keep mousing (am I allowed to use mouse as a verb?) to the menu to insert greek letters.
Yeah, I hate auto-correct, I never have it on, I mix abbreviations, capitals, and lowercases, and I end up backspacing to much because auto-delete does it, on top of me doing it.
the kids on the net have invented a more usefull shorthand version. I feel no need to use 18th century formal english
and feel the teaching of it is a huge waste of time
and english majors the most useless form of life
Well, biased and exaggerated, but kids have used a mutated form of enliglish, and laguage is mutations of other ones usually, look at English now compared to 200 years ago, we've shorthanded a lot of stuff successfully, gotten rid of the "ye"'s and such. A big waste of time? I don't think so, you have to have difference between slang and formal-er types.


Good luck. Children don't tell their parents they're cool... Well, maybe at young ages they do, I guess. Here's some tips, comming from me =)

- Don't ask about their day at school (You'll only get a "Good." or something, even if you do it).
- Don't ask why they're late, if they're a couple of hours late.
- Don't pester them to call whenever they reach their desired destination.
- Help them out when they're buying Christmas gifts for friends, especially if they've got someone they really like :)
- Give them some trust. I believe kids which don't have parental trust seem to go into bad stuff more often.
- Try and explore their interest of music. At the very least, don't tell them that it sucks. Ha, very true, I must be picked apart to tell what happened in school today. These points are very true, and good guidelines to follow. Definitley don't say a music type sucks. I'd say to help buy gifts. Girls jump to negative conclusions easily, not as much as guys, by a long shot.

The other kids' parents are always cooler than your own.
Ha, ha, that is sooo true.

[matthyaouw]

I think that the "you know" is the type that's added at the end of every sentence. For example - I drove to the mall, you know. And there was this dress, you know. And it was, like, just what I wanted, you know. But, like, I didn't have enough money, you know. You have to throw "like" in there to get the full effect.

It's often due to the mouth stalling for time when it's working faster than the brain. Not always, mind. It can just be force of habit- something you pick up from someone you spend a lot of time with. I must say I'm sometimes guilty of it.

Ever try to read something written in middle or old English? Notice that there were no real rules? The same word was spelled many different ways?

The most glaringly obvious thing when I read some of the stained old documents at work is that the letter F and the letter S seem to be entirely interchangable. Do you have any idea just how confusing that can be when I turn up to work after 3 hours sleep and a little too much beer?

[gerben]

what about many people (everyone?) here on physics forum not using whole English words but abbreviating them with an apostrophe, like in:

don't
it's (often confused with its)
I'd
I'm
I'll
we're
can't
could've (leading some to "could of")
wouldn't
haven't
etc.

Especially constructs like "didn't" are, I would think, more troublesome to type then "did not".

But what really annoys me is that Americans speak on television with beeps and write with *'s instead of letters, for example I do not know what Moonbear meant with: "Cold as a witch's t**." (in post #12)
I guess "t**" must mean something like vagina, *** or breast, but "t**" is not to be found in any Dutch-English dictionary.

[Moonbear]

Gerben, those contractions are not formal English, but they are standard English.

As for those words you can't find in a dictionary, that's why we use *s. People who know the slang words will know what we mean, and those who don't aren't being taught new words their parents would rather they not know. Since you asked, t** refers to a breast. I was referring to an often used colloquial expression, not making up something new. You might find it in a dictionary, but the definition will be a type of bird.

[gerben]

Gerben, those contractions are not formal English, but they are standard English.
Yes I know, I just personally find them "ugly" and I think it makes the langauge less clear.

As for those words you can't find in a dictionary, that's why we use *s. People who know the slang words will know what we mean, and those who don't aren't being taught new words their parents would rather they not know. Since you asked, t** refers to a breast. I was referring to an often used colloquial expression, not making up something new. You might find it in a dictionary, but the definition will be a type of bird.
It just generally annoys me that certain expressions are not allowed. Especially if it goes as far as people using the words being beeped out. I do now see what the "t word" was, there is also an 'i' and another 't' in it...

Here is an image of a blue t** (Parus caeruleus):

http://www.irishbirdimages.com/pages/trip_reports/feurt_photos/blue_tit.jpg

[mattmns]

So that is what a tit is. I always wondered what guys were talking about when they said some girl has some nice tits, and now I know. :cool:

[Moonbear]

So that is what a tit is. I always wondered what guys were talking about when they said some girl has some nice tits, and now I know. :cool:

Yep, they're very cute, aren't they?

[Zeteg]

Gerben, those contractions are not formal English, but they are standard English.


Wow, I never knew that. Are you saying that in essays and such, I should keep away from contractions? If not, what type of writting should I stay away from contractions in? :)

[tribdog]

Some tits are better looking than others. I believe my ex's weren't even in the same genus, they looked more like vultures. Might even have been something from the iguana family.

[Moonbear]

Wow, I never knew that. Are you saying that in essays and such, I should keep away from contractions? If not, what type of writting should I stay away from contractions in? :)

Correct, they shouldn't be used in essays. They are okay in letter writing, posting on forums :wink:, or in creative writing.

[Moonbear]

Some tits are better looking than others. I believe my ex's weren't even in the same genus, they looked more like vultures. Might even have been something from the iguana family.

I'm starting to think you might not have liked you ex. :rofl:

[tribdog]

I'm starting to think you might not have liked you ex. :rofl:
hated her would be too kind. I thought I was tough enough to date the old hag just as long as it took for her very rich parents to die. Couldn't do it though. I'd rather be poor than listen to one more second of her screeching.

[Evo]

hated her would be too kind. I thought I was tough enough to date the old hag just as long as it took for her very rich parents to die. Couldn't do it though. I'd rather be poor than listen to one more second of her screeching.I'm proud of you tribdog. I knew you weren't really a gigolo. :approve:

[tribdog]

I'm not a gigolo at all. I want the one man one woman white picket fence. I just get get labeled a gigolo because you feel like you should pay me when I'm done.

[Moonbear]

I'm not a gigolo at all. I want the one man one woman white picket fence. I just get get labeled a gigolo because you feel like you should pay me when I'm done.

:bugeye: Just what do you do with the picket fence? :tongue2:

[Smurf]

It protects him from all the women who he never called back.

[tribdog]

ouch, Smurf, ouch.

[Moonbear]

I wanted to put a picket fence around my house...I think it would look really good. But I don't see another single house in the entire neighborhood with a fence in the front yard. One of these days I'll have to check on the zoning laws, because it just seems too odd nobody else would have a fence otherwise. I probably should replace the falling down split rail fence in the backyard first anyway.

[tribdog]

I have a hammer

[Astronuc]

Interesting book on the subject.

Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care

by John McWhorter
Publisher: Gotham

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=bsq1dC58x8&isbn=1592400841&itm=1

See also The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter

[Moonbear]

I have a hammer

See, just goes to show what you know about fences. Fences get screwed together (at least modern ones). Of course split rail fences just get rails slipped in holes.

[tribdog]

See, just goes to show what you know about fences. Fences get screwed together (at least modern ones). Of course split rail fences just get rails slipped in holes.
Oh yeah, keep talking dirty to me baby. I'm getting so turned on.

[Moonbear]

Oh yeah, keep talking dirty to me baby. I'm getting so turned on.

Dirty? Yeah, you can't help but get a bit dirty when putting up fences. o:)

[Evo]

See, just goes to show what you know about fences. Fences get screwed together (at least modern ones).My fence didn't get screwed, it got nailed. :biggrin:

[tribdog]

was it a split tail..rail.split rail fence?

[Moonbear]

My fence didn't get screwed, it got nailed. :biggrin:

I thought you said it was too long ago to remember. :rofl:

[Evo]

I thought you said it was too long ago to remember. :rofl:It was, and based on how things are going, I may never get my memory refreshed. :cry:

[Gokul43201]

How did we transition from raping the language to banging our fences ? :confused:

[Moonbear]

How did we transition from raping the language to banging our fences ? :confused:

Evolution of language I guess. That, or we're all a bunch of lonely people who haven't had sex in a very long time. :rofl:

[tribdog]

this could be a new case of language rape.
"Hey tribdog. What did you and Moonbear do last night?"
"A gentleman never divulges"
"C'mon you can tell me. Did you fencer her?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"YOU DID! You fencered her didn't you?"
"Her entire property was properly enclosed. And believe me when I say I gated her community."
"you are such a lucky smeglefrong"
"No dismastitus, buddy, no dismastitus."

[Moonbear]

this could be a new case of language rape.
"Hey tribdog. What did you and Moonbear do last night?"
"A gentleman never divulges"
"C'mon you can tell me. Did you fencer her?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"YOU DID! You fencered her didn't you?"
"Her entire property was properly enclosed. And believe me when I say I gated her community."
"you are such a lucky smeglefrong"
"No dismastitus, buddy, no dismastitus."

:eek: I thought you weren't going to tell anyone! And here you are perfangling my reputation in public! What a slegedder you are! Go fencer yourself!

:rofl:

[tribdog]

perfangling your reputation? maybe if you didn't show everyone your niptottles then you wouldn't have anything to gish about.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, baby. I've been a real ik about all this. I'll try to be more lippyzipped in the future.

[Moonbear]

perfangling your reputation? maybe if you didn't show everyone your niptottles then you wouldn't have anything to gish about.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, baby. I've been a real ik about all this. I'll try to be more lippyzipped in the future.

Oh, fluffpuddle, you know I can't stay bliddo at you for long. Let's fencer and make up.

[tribdog]

You're making me cheekypink. When did you become such a pantsidrop?

[Moonbear]

:rofl: I can't stop laughing!!! My sides are hurting. I'm trying to figure out why "fluffpuddle" is the first term of "endearment" to come to mind. :rofl:

[tribdog]

lol, I know that my smeglefrong and dismastitus were simply good sounding, but after that I started puting a bit more thought into the words. pantsidrop took me at least 3 minutes to think of.
To bad none of these words will make it into English language. I took a real shot at getting rowful and el mayo accepted, but they didn't catch on. I also came up with two words to describe cybersex chatting, premature exclamation and oralgasms. they didn't catch on either.

[Moonbear]

lol, I know that my smeglefrong and dismastitus were simply good sounding, but after that I started puting a bit more thought into the words. pantsidrop took me at least 3 minutes to think of.
To bad none of these words will make it into English language. I took a real shot at getting rowful and el mayo accepted, but they didn't catch on. I also came up with two words to describe cybersex chatting, premature exclamation and oralgasms. they didn't catch on either.

:rofl: I like those - premature exclamation and oralgasms. They ought to catch on.

I think I'm understanding why kids mangle the language...it's fun!! :rofl:

[motai]

Lets not forget the contributions that our beloved Dubya has made. Hispanically speaking, we should be cautious of our strategeries. "This is historic times" and "This is an historic times" are also examples of modern colloquial grammar.

http://www.dubyaspeak.com/grammarian.shtml

In addition to the "gangsta" references, there is also the popular "thug" reference. Now everyone wants to be a thug, and its connotation has shifted from being petty to being cool. But then again, that is probably inline with the "gangsta" references. There is also the cryptic "fo' shizzle my nizzle" phrase...

[Moonbear]

Without grammar rules, we couldn't have had nearly so much fun playing with words last night. If we just randomly threw made-up words into a sentence that had no structure, it would have been very hard to figure out the meaning of those words, or even whether they were nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Once you know the rules, you can then take license to break the rules, which can be quite a lot of fun!

[tribdog]

you rebel you

[Moonbear]

you rebel you

That's me. The school librarian would tremble behind the circulation desk when I walked in ready to brutalize the language for the sake of entertainment. :tongue2: