Just Being Pedantic...

[OzFab]

Yes, I'm a pedant & an analytical one at that, which means little things can get under my skin.

Being an excellent speller makes it even worse.

Now, I'm not pointing fingers & I mean no offence to anyone but, there are some words/terms that seem to repeat themselves here so, disguised as a spelling lesson, I'm going to winge about it... Feel free to join in:

Oh, a little footnote: Before anyone picks at my spelling, remember that American English is a bastardised version of real English so, yes, some of my spelling may be different (tyre, colour & centre just to name a few) but, that doesn't make it's wrong. The examples below don't change from country to country...

First up, I was taught a long time ago that a motor is an electrical device & an engine is a mechanical device (yes, I know "motorbike" only confuses that argument...)

The control device used to make a vehicle go or stop is called a pedal

The aparatus used to stop a vehicle is called a brake

One could/should/would not of, one could/should/would have...

You didn't seen it, you saw it or you have seen it...

I'm sure there's more, I'll add them later as I think of them...

 

[danssoslow]

And I ghought you were gonna pick at my "big thumb" ohone mishaps.

As well, I left the mistakes above to point out that it happens regularly.

Should've, would've, and could've by voice has smeared a generation that is now becoming accustomed to typing. Same goes for granite, instead of granted.

My peeve of peeves: irregardless. I hate that word.

 

[Oxymoron]

My peeve is the misuse of there/their/they're.

They're spelled differently for a reason.

Also, quite and quiet. They're not even identical phonetically like the above.

"The forum is quite today."

Quite what!?

 

[landuse]

Oh, a little footnote: Before anyone picks at my spelling, remember that American English is a bastardised version of real English so, yes, some of my spelling may be different (tyre, colour & centre just to name a few) but, that doesn't make it's wrong. The examples below don't change from country to country...

Why do Americans have to do everything different to us....

 

[itsid]

for the quite quiet thing....

allow me to try to find an explanation..
I find myself typing the german word "nicht" (not) "nciht" quite regularly; I think my right middle finger is lagging sometimes.
So this might be a speed-issue sometimes,
just like Tony just typed:

is a mechaincal

clearly a speed typo!

for the motor/engine part..
When invented the mechanical devices were called Otto Motor, Wankel Motor, Diesel Motor etc.

We do not have the engine/motor differentiation around here.
Motor, that's it.. if we need to clarify, we add a fuel information Benzinmotor, Dieselmotor, Elektromotor.

although I think I did this right previously, I think you could excuse if I didn't

The motorbike thing is somehow related, the first massproduced self proppeld two wheeler was called "Motorrad" ( Hildebrand & Wolfmüller;1894) and the term was patented.
And soon after there were more manufacturers there was this "walkman" thing going on...
people called any other Kraftrad (Powerbike) Motorrad too.. and
that couldn't even be stopped at linguistic borders

but before I start babbling, let me hit the brakes..
uhm *shrugs* hit the pedal to engage the brakes??

'sid
And again:
If you see me misspelling something,
I'm sorry.. but this is not my native language

 

[fowler]

I'd have to agree with the motor thing

A motor can be either

But an engine is internal combustion

 

[OzFab]

And I ghought you were gonna pick at my "big thumb" ohone mishaps.

As well, I left the mistakes above to point out that it happens regularly.

Everyone makes typo's but, that's not what this is about...

Should've, would've, and could've by voice has smeared a generation that is now becoming accustomed to typing.

I have to disagree with you on that one; my elder sister says "should of", etc but her kids (gen Y) don't. IMO, it comes down to attitude; her attitude is "it's my way so, it must be the right way"

Same goes for granite, instead of granted.

1. I don't think I've seen that one
2. How do you mix up those two, they're different in every way?

My peeve of peeves: irregardless. I hate that word.

What word, that isn't one

Why do Americans have to do everything different to us....

Dunno, maybe just to point out that they're different from the rest of us, maybe they consider that their language is "more evolved"... I beg to differ...

Phrases like "off of" & "straight away" seem a bit redundent to me:
Off of: there's no reason for the "of", you get the message across with just the "off". For example:
Take that off of there
Take that off there
See the difference?

Straight away describes when I'd like something done, not a section of straight road, which is simply that, a STRAIGHT!

for the quite quiet thing....

allow me to try to find an explanation..
I find myself typing the german word "nicht" (not) "nciht" quite regularly; I think my right middle finger is lagging sometimes.
So this might be a speed-issue sometimes,
just like Tony just typed:
clearly a speed typo!

See, even I make typographical errors now & then, we all do but, for the most part, the things I "picked on" aren't typo's... I've seen PEDAL typed as pedel, peddle, peddel & even padal

but before I start babbling, let me hit the brakes..
uhm *shrugs* hit the pedal to engage the brakes??

Yeah, I see what you did there...

And again:
If you see me misspelling something,
I'm sorry.. but this is not my native language

You're excused for that reason but, the sad fact is, members such as yourself & Nodroz, where English is not your native language, seem to use english better than some native English speakers.

Nodroz is a great example; according to him, he learned english by reading workshop manuals that had both Dutch & English sections. As a result, somehow, he uses almost flawless English...

I'd have to agree with the motor thing

A motor can be either

But an engine is internal combustion

That was the point I was trying to make. When I see posts like "I have a Honda clone motor..." my first thought is no, you have a Honda clone engine...


...& I just thought of another. This one is excusable but, it still annoys me, mainly because it makes the statement confusing:
Right = correct
Left = remaining

I remember itsid posting something a few weeks ago that went something like:

"So, what's left is right, the left becomes the right"...

I was totally baffled. I mean, I know English is your second language but, what? How can left also be right?

It turns out that what he meant was:

"So, what remains is correct, the left becomes the right" (it makes sense in context)

 

[machinist@large]

It's rather hilarious that some people seem to think the US is always the group that hacks up the English language; thanks to the power of YouTube, I've subscribed to several different channels from England, Scotland, and Australia. I see a lot more variation in the use of the language between those three area's than I do across the US.

In another thread I recently described an incident I saw at an international trade show; the mini version was that some one from Great Brittan was totally losing it because the counter staff at the food court were having trouble understanding him; I couldn't understand him, and the group of German business people behind me couldn't either. Yet when the guy took his walking coronary somewhere else, the folks from Germany, the counter staff and I were able to hold a perfectly understandable conversation in, you guessed it, English.

Here's my question for the forum: why is it I can have a clear and easy conversation with people who learned English as a second language, yet I hear people from the land that it originated in that are almost unintelligible? This is one of the things I've wondered about more that once over the years.....

 

[itsid]

...& I just thought of another. This one is excusable but, it still annoys me, mainly because it makes the statement confusing:
Right = correct
Left = remaining

I remember itsid posting something a few weeks ago that went something like:

"So, what's left is right, the left becomes the right"...

I was totally baffled. I mean, I know English is your second language but, what? How can left also be right?

It turns out that what he meant was:

"So, what remains is correct, the left becomes the right" (it makes sense in context)

Lol, I remember..

there is no right left in so much wrong there

No directions
Again, I'm sorry;
every once in a while I like to juggle with terms, words and phrases (mostly in german of course) and sometimes that is -as it was in that case obviously- a bad idea.
Didn't know how bad until you asked me to try again.
Sorry, I'll try to avoid things like that in the future.

At least I'm a perfectly good bad example (couldn't resist)

Here's my question for the forum: why is it I can have a clear and easy conversation with people who learned English as a second language, yet I hear people from the land that it originated in that are almost unintelligible? This is one of the things I've wondered about more that once over the years.....

dialects, idioms? And a person who is unable to retune his tongue to a commonly available set of sounds [Well that's mainly the reason why I don't understand some germans at least]

'sid

 

[danssoslow]

Granted and granite may be a local/southern thing. It's that, for lack of better terms, redneck draw. Granted is pronounced granite in these here parts.

 

[machinist@large]

Granted and granite may be a local/southern thing. It's that, for lack of better terms, redneck draw. Granted is pronounced granite in these here parts.

On a history trip to Savanna GA about 15 years ago, we had a local tour guide who summed it up pretty well "If you want to talk southern, all you need to remember is that every word has a minimum of two syllables".

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Ahh... Thanks for posting this, Tony! It's no secret that molesting the language infuriates me. I decided long ago that if you cannot put forth the effort to ensure that I can make sense of your post, I won't put forth a return effort to help you. Everyone has their limits.

Of course, this is indicative of my own very similar views regarding spelling, punctuation, and grammatical gaffes. Pedantic? Perhaps. Anal? Yeah. Deal with it. LOL

When I was in high school, I did two things- I made a political argument against the mandatory French credit course, and instead was allowed to take another English credit. The other thing I did was to pretty rapidly discover that I enjoyed literature and creative writing, and racked up yet more credits.

I wrote poetry and short stories, and then spent years writing song lyrics for both my own songs, and the band.

Naturally, I shake my head in dismay as I observe the general degradation of the written and spoken word these days.

I have not yet decided what's worse- ppl talkg in abrvtd txt spk k, or thows taht just cant bea bothred two prufreed there one speeling gramer adn punktuashun, insted leeving the langwage two dye uh horibul deth beefor my verry I's.

 

[OzFab]

Here's my question for the forum: why is it I can have a clear and easy conversation with people who learned English as a second language, yet I hear people from the land that it originated in that are almost unintelligible? This is one of the things I've wondered about more that once over the years.....

All English speakers studied English at school. The problem is, many think "why do I need to learn English, I already know it" so, they don't apply themselves to learning (these are usually the individuals who have no idea how to use the language).

The same is true for every language. It's when you choose to learn a second language that you apply yourself to learning.

Lol, I remember..

No directions
Again, I'm sorry;
every once in a while I like to juggle with terms, words and phrases (mostly in german of course) and sometimes that is -as it was in that case obviously- a bad idea.
Didn't know how bad until you asked me to try again.
Sorry, I'll try to avoid things like that in the future.

At least I'm a perfectly good bad example (couldn't resist)

Yeah, that's the one!

I wasn't pointing fingers, it was merely the first example I could think of (& it was a good one).

dialects, idioms? And a person who is unable to retune his tongue to a commonly available set of sounds [Well that's mainly the reason why I don't understand some germans at least]

'sid

Not to mention accents... I find it extremely difficult to listen to (much less understand) people from Manchester, England, which was probably the case in M@L's example...

There was a rant going around a couple of years ago where a scottish comedien was carrying on about Siri (Apples voice recognition software) not understanding him...

Then there was the episode of The Big Bang Theory where Indian Raj had no problem with Siri but, American Barry Kripke (kwipke) hated it

No, not westawant, westawant

Fun Fact: The Lamborghini Countach was named as a direct result of a localised Italian dialect; the word "countach" roughly translates to English as a wolf whistle...

Granted and granite may be a local/southern thing. It's that, for lack of better terms, redneck draw. Granted is pronounced granite in these here parts.

Don't get me started on "rednecks"; Swamp People is the only English speaking TV show I've ever seen that requires subtitles just so the viewer knows what people are saying...

Ahh... Thanks for posting this, Tony! It's no secret that molesting the language infuriates me.

To be honest, even as I was typing it, I was unsure how this thread would be accepted, I'm glad so many of you share my views...

Here's another one that reeeeally gets me going: too, two & to. Statements like

"I think I used to much oil"

simply don't make sense; you used too much oil & too little brain capacity to get that sentence gramatically correct...

Likewise, "I went too the shop". No, you went to the shop but, obviously, you went to school too infrequently!

 

[machinist@large]

All Engish speakers....

ENGISH?

Not to mention accents... I find it extremely difficult to listen to (much less understand) people from Manchester, England, which was probably the case in M@L's example...

That could be; the problem was the rest of us were laughing so hard, that none of us thought to ask before he went away...

Don't get me started on "rednecks"; Swamp People is the only English speaking TV show I've ever seen that requires subtitles just so the viewer knows what people are saying...

Oh, come on!!! Rednecks can be great entertainment!! Especially when they're trying to build things on the cheap!!!

 

[danssoslow]

Oh no! Not Swamp People! Realize, please, some have had no choice; dialect is a product of our environment. Those guys have turned it into something much more profound. Dare I say an art.

We've had a surge of people from up north move into Louisville as of lately. If I happen to be chit chatting with one, I make it a point to ask if I have a southern accent. I honestly can't hear it; but I must, if I'm reading those long pauses and looks on their faces right. I stopped asking after a while.

And machinist@large got a real good sense of it in Georgia. Man! Saying words that end in the letter R appear painful to them; always an "uh" after the word. "I'm gunna park the car-uh in the field to we can view the star-uhs."

 

[OzFab]

ENGISH?

Now that's an obvious typo but, thanks for pointing it out; edited...

Oh, come on!!! Rednecks can be great entertainment!! Especially when they're trying to build things on the cheap!!!

I didn't say they're not entertaining, just hard to understand...

Oh no! Not Swamp People! Realize, please, some have had no choice; dialect is a product of our environment. Those guys have turned it into something much more profound. Dare I say an art.

True but, can it still be called English?

We've had a surge of people from up north move into Louisville as of lately. If I happen to be chit chatting with one, I make it a point to ask if I have a southern accent. I honestly can't hear it; but I must, if I'm reading those long pauses and looks on their faces right. I stopped asking after a while.

That's because we become so accustomed to our surroundings that we can't tell the difference. Case in point:

Some years ago, I was lucky enough to spend a month touring the west coast of the USA. While there, the locals were falling over themselves to hear our accent but, upon returning home, the first person I had a conversation with was my mother who then sounded, to me, very "ocker" (think Steve Irwin). The fact is, my mother is a very eloquent speaker...

 

[robbie]

Everyone makes typo's but, that's not what this is about...

Typo's???? A plural does not have an apostrophe.

 

[OzFab]

That's a tricky one. You are correct, a plural doesn't have an apostrophe but, an abbreviation does (as in doesn't) & "typo" is an abbreviation...

 

[danssoslow]

Fabroman, you're going to get built up, and this feeling inside is going to spill over into other threads.


Edit:
Too late.

 

[OzFab]

Fabroman, you're going to get built up

Please explain?