Words in the wrong context

[Aliantha]

I guess we all notice things about how others communicate with us, but one thing that bugs me is when people use the wrong word in place of the right word.

As an example, and one of the situations that really bugs me, is when people use the word 'then' instead of 'than'. eg. 'I'd rather go to bed then watch tv', instead of, 'I'd rather go to bed than watch tv'.

Another one is when people say 'axe' instead of 'ask'.

I think my main objection to it is from a traditional stance in that the english language is bastardized more than enough through slang and local nuances. Do we really have to make it worse by using the completely wrong word? Isn't it possible to learn at least the basics?

[lookout123]

I argument with that.

[Aliantha]

of course

[ZenGum]

It's spelled "aks", Ali. As in, "didja aks her out?"

[Aliantha]

Oh yeah...silly me. I should have realized you don't type a real word when you're describing someone else's pronunciation errors.

[Juniper]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Oh yeah...silly me. I should have realized you don't type a real word when you're describing someone else's pronunciation errors.

There is actually a literary term for this. It is called "eye dialogue" or "creative respelling," and I am thinking of using it for my master's thesis, if I ever get that far.

A peeve of mine is saying "I could care less" when they really mean "I couldn't care less." If you could care less, that means you care a lot, right?

Then...there are those errors that you think about fondly, because someone you loved very much used to say them and though it irritated the snot out of you at the time, you'd do anything to hear it again....(sigh) My dad used to say this: "neither mind." (never mind)

[Juniper]

Originally Posted by Juniper

There is actually a literary term for this. It is called "eye dialogue" or "creative respelling," and I am thinking of using it for my master's thesis, if I ever get that far.

I just realized I made a mistake here. It's not "eye dialogue," it is "eye dialect." D'oh! Nothing like saying something dumb when you're trying to look smart.

[HungLikeJesus]

You mean, like people who say 'boot' when they mean 'trunk'?

[Aliantha]

or trunk when they mean boot even...

[Aliantha]

To be honest though, that's not really what I meant. I think you know that though right HLJ?

[ZenGum]

Don't misunderestimate yourself.

And youse guy's are really great.

I'm sure I could of thunk up more examples.

On this topic, I have been thinking about ZippyT's ... how can I put this ... unconventional approach to spelling. At first I dismissed this as the struggles of someone whose literacy level was sorely lacking (my apologies for this Zippy!) but I've been wondering, provided that there is a large enough group that take the same apporach, use the same spellings, etc, could we say Zippy is writing - CORRECTLY - in a dialect of English different from, eg, mine?

At what point does a local peculiarity become a legitimate regional dialect? And when or how does this become dominant?
For example, of course the correct spelling of words like colour and flavour involve the letter "u" ( ) but our American friends had to save ink (something about rationing during the war of independence, I think) and left the "u" out, to the point that this is now the (statistically) prevalent form. How many people need to agree on a non-standard usage or spelling for it to become an "accepted" variant? And then the "standard" form?

[Kingswood]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

At what point does a local peculiarity become a legitimate regional dialect? And when or how does this become dominant?
For example, of course the correct spelling of words like colour and flavour involve the letter "u" ( ) but our American friends had to save ink (something about rationing during the war of independence, I think) and left the "u" out, to the point that this is now the (statistically) prevalent form. How many people need to agree on a non-standard usage or spelling for it to become an "accepted" variant? And then the "standard" form?

The question on what spelling variants are included in the dictionary largely depends on the publishers of those dictionaries. These dictionary publishers tend to be conservative, so even a widespread misspelling would not generally make it into the dictionary.

For example, "embarrassed" is the dictionary-standard spelling. However, on the Web, it is not the most common spelling. The most common Web spelling is "embarassed" (one r, not two). Yet the dictionary makers would likely not include this most widespread spelling even though it outnumbers the correct spelling on the Web by about 2 to 1.

Other words take a long time to change their spellings. "Minuscule" is the correct spelling per dictionary, but it is slowly losing out to the widespread misspelling of "miniscule". How slowly? So far it's taken over a hundred years and "minuscule" is still the standard spelling.

"Through" is similarly entrenched against "thru". Even though "thru" was in acceptable use as a variant spelling when Johnson released the first edition of his dictionary in the 18th century, he chose to prefer the archaic "through" and that is what we have used ever since.

English spellings tend not to change because the spellings of English work a bit like this:
* The people use dictionaries to look up spellings
* Dictionaries record common usage
* Common usage comes from the people

This mechanism is similar to:
* Rock beats scissors
* Scissors beats paper
* Paper beats rock

[Aliantha]

What you suggest is true and obviously how languages evolve. Of course, english in all it's forms originated from german language, so perhaps the German people should be complaining about how we've destroyed their language.

I think my argument just stems from irritation at hearing words pronounced or used in the wrong way. No great philosophy about it. Just a basic human emotion.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

english in all it's forms

[snicker]

[/anal]



Sorry, Ali, love you really.

[HungLikeJesus]

Ali - yes, I'm just kidding you

ZG - I agree about 'could of'

This is a little different, but the phrase 'try and ___' drives me nuts, and I see it all the time. It should be 'try to ___.' For example, "I'll try and call before I leave." Now that I've mentioned it, maybe it will bug you too.