DIYEFI.org Forum

Yes, that's right, here is your chance to find all my little mistakes and post them up so I can fix them!

In the last 24 hours I was caught saying "was a see of red" instead of "was a sea of red" and "when they meat the standards" instead of "when they meet the standards".

Enough is enough, if you find any examples of me participating unknowingly in internet engrish or txt spk please post them here with your accompanying smart arse remarks ;-)

If you find me guilty of any of these feel free to kick me in the nuts :

http://www.gcse.com/english/your.htm
http://www.gcse.com/english/there.htm
http://www.gcse.com/english/bought.htm
http://www.gcse.com/english/advice.htm
http://www.gcse.com/english/here.htm
http://www.gcse.com/english/too.htm
http://www.gcse.com/english/its_confused.htm

My pet hate is using then instead of than. If you find me saying that then something is more wrong than I thought and I'll do something mildly humiliating for it.

Fred.

It's cool, man.

My pet hate is when someone says they have brought an item when they should say bought.

All else is forgivable, brought instead of bought will incur the worst detonation in the automotive world to plague your combustion chambers.
Your forged pistons and cold spark plugs are no match for my detonation curse!

Get it right people its English not hieroglyphics!

Do you really dislike brought/bought more than then/than? I mean, they are both hideous, but still, then/than is just low class.

Fred.

Mine is with your/you're (or even worse ur), its/it's, and their/they're. I don't know if it's because English is not my first language or despite of it but the difference between them is so obvious that it annoys me.

Jean

ESL (english second language) people tend to get the basics more correct than us natives. I've known a lot of foreigners over the years and they've taught me a thing or two from time to time (embarrassingly).

Fred.

Fred wrote:ESL (english second language) people tend to get the basics more correct than us natives. I've known a lot of foreigners over the years and they've taught me a thing or two from time to time (embarrassingly).

Fred.

Please don't get me started on the irony of our (Brits) inability to correctly convey our linguistic skills in a manner befitting of our apparent intelligence.
Quite frankly, we are a disgrace as far as languages go!
Everyone else can get it right what's our excuse??

Fred! more correct??? shame on you! my old English teacher would have scowled for weeks at that little doosy!

MotoFab wrote:Its cool, man.

I used "its" that way as a joke, Fred.

davebmw wrote:Please don't get me started on the irony of our (Brits) inability to correctly convey our linguistic skills in a manner befitting of our apparent intelligence.
Quite frankly, we are a disgrace as far as languages go!
Everyone else can get it right what's our excuse??

I'm glad you agree. I was expecting a country full of David Attenboroughs and instead I find vandalism with "arse" misspelled as donkey!

Fred! more correct??? shame on you! my old English teacher would have scowled for weeks at that little doosy!

Well, isn't that ironic. I actually stopped and thought about that too. I was going to write something else and changed it to that. Of course what I have written is comparative superlative which makes no sense. I may as well have said "more best" :-)

Fred.

Well heck, language is in permanent transition. Being a reporter, the dictionary is an after-the-fact record of what happened. But dang if each successive culture or generation doesn't believe it is in possession of what is right and proper. Within each generation, policing these illusory rules are the self-appointed arbiters. Poor unloved hombrecitos, imagining they look down their nose.

It's very difficult for the parochial mindset to move forward. Similar to language, knowledge and wisdom are also always in transition. Though progress forward with a maybe a 100:1 reduction ratio. In reverse, they move much quicker. heh heh

- Jim