Lingusitics Random annoyance at modern colloquial language.

[Gokul43201]

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

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

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

I know someone who won't be getting any frozen broccoli in his stocking.

 

[Evo]

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

I am callous and unthinking.

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 lagauge 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, ass 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 language 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.

 

[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.

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 , 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.

 

[tribdog]

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

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.

 

[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.

Just what do you do with the picket fence?

 

[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 Langauge 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 Langauge 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.

 

[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.

 

[tribdog]

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

 

[Moonbear]

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

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

 

[Evo]

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

It was, and based on how things are going, I may never get my memory refreshed.

 

[Gokul43201]

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

 

[Moonbear]

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

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.

 

[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."

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!

 

[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]

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.

 

[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.

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!

 

[motai]

! Dubya !

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.