Language Metamorphosis in Real Time

Wow. Speech is now speach? I slammed on the breaks when I read that.

 

This one's easy... That, and how people write have seriously degraded over time... Just read any decent work from 2-300 years ago, and, obviously, something has changed... Then again, I'm sure illiteracy was much higher... Which just writing that makes me think, I wonder if there's a correlation to literacy rates and "dilution" of language?

...anyway, back on topic, the whole IM short hand thing is making it even WORSE.

 

I hope I won't be effected by all this bad grammar.

 

A lie repeated 1,000 times is still a lie, even when the lie is grammatical.

 

"A lie repeated 1,000 times is still a lie, even when the lie is grammatical."

Or, in Bush's case, even when not.

 

In the near future, all plural nouns will be required to have apostrophes before the final "s".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Apr 26 2007, 10:55 AM) [snapback]430532[/snapback]</div>

I'm sure there's a correlation... Back "in the day" your typical farmer and his family couldn't read very well, almost certainly couldn't write. Instead, it was the aristocracy that could read and write, and did so frequently. Learning such abilities made you a "scholar", which was highly regarded, and as in science today perfection was expected.

Fast forward today, and there is no such expectation for the written word. When everyone can read and write you don't have the same system of checks that you did back when only a small handful of "elite" individuals could. The dilution of control over the written word is whats lead to this "degradation" - as the literacy rates go up, the control we have over the language goes down!

 

Maybe yes, mabe no. I only use my nite light at night. May I inquire what you are enquiring about?

 

I have not recieved this news about grammer well at all. Its a disgrace!

 

Man, don't get me started on this topic. TOO LATE!

* On-camera meteorologists over-use and misuse prepositions. One example, "A cold front is going to move on off the coast." Remove "on" and it's correct.

* Traffic reporters tend to say things like, "The cause of the congestion seems to be further down up on Hwy..." Huh, "down up"?

* "exact same" as in, "It's the exact same thing."

* "but yet" as in, "...but yet he continues to repeat his mistakes." Remove "but" and it would be correct. This mistake is rampant in the U.S.A.

* Flight attendants say, "We'd like to welcome you to..." as if to say that they're thinking about it but decided otherwise. For that matter, most Americans use the passive voice in everything and "would like" to do a lot of things but never actually get around to doing them.

* "might could" is said by the greater majority in Texas, as in, "We might could go to the mall but I'm sure I'd spend too much money."

* "commundity" for "community"

* "calvary" instead of "cavalry" as in, "We were prisoners until the calvary rode in.

* Using the past tense instead of the past participle, as in, "If I'd have thought about it more, I'd have did it sooner."

* "sinner" instead of "center", as in, Centerville which then sounds like "Sinnerville"

* "inner-" instead of "inter-", as in, "interstate"

* cannot has become can not

Now, the question remains, why as Americans are we getting so bad at our grammer and pronunciation?

Any others that anyone would like to add?

Tim

 

I think part of it has to do with copyright laws, which prevent companies from registering words in common usage. That's how we end up with abominations like 'lite', and the less-than-scholarly among us end up not knowing how to spell.

 

If I would've known we was gonna get this picky 'bought grammer I would've just axed my teacher.

 

Language metamorphosis in real time. Here is one of the better examples of an educated man who, by way of his bad pronunciation, doesn't sound so educated.

Market Watch

 

This was proper English 700 years ago. Look how much we've screwed up the language since then. Even the best writing available today would be gibberish to scholars of that era.

 

Chaucer should really be heard. You can listen here:

http://academics.vmi.edu/english/audio/GP-Opening.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Apr 26 2007, 12:42 PM) [snapback]430635[/snapback]</div>

Much standardization of the English language has occurred over the last 700 years and thank goodness because even during the period that you cite the spelling variations were vast.

 

I'm guilty...

It is one of those words I have a problem with. Maybe because of the similarity to preach?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Apr 26 2007, 02:11 PM) [snapback]430653[/snapback]</div>

Well you know, maybe it should be "speach". After all, "speak" is not spelled "speek". Seeing how "speak" and "speech" are tightly related, and also considering word such as "beach" sound just like "speech" but have the "ea" of "speak", then one can only come to the conclusion that whoever decided that "speech" should be spelled with an "ee" instead of an "ea" was wrong.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Apr 26 2007, 11:25 AM) [snapback]430664[/snapback]</div>

It sure seems there is some validity to your idea. Maybe that is why a large percentage of people make the spelling error. I feel better about it now. LOL