The Grammar Thread

[stuart little]

With apologies to our friends over the Atlantic - and don’t get me started on the use of Americanisms in the UK.

I think the worst Americanism (in print) is 'coworker', should be 'co-worker', which sometimes they get right. The first time I came across it unhyphenated, I wondered what a ; 'cow orker' was!

 

[gcusick]

Obvious. Someone who orks cows.

 

[stuart little]

You seem unable to appreciate that this is no longer 'The Joke Thread'.

I don't know how, but it has now been designated separately as 'The Grammar Thread'.

I are an gramma student!

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

To air on the side of caution. I’ve heard that twice on the BBC recently. Lord Reith will be spinning in his grave.

Errrrrrrr?

 

[Limey Lurker]

The Holland and Anderson sign was finished, but Mr Holland asked for changes to the spacing between Holl and and and and and and and and and and and and derson.

 

[Limey Lurker]

I are an gramma student!

I bet you talk proper like what I do!

 

[Tris]

Not grammar, but the common misuse of discrete instead of discreet can be amusing or annoying

 

[Adam W.]

Errrrrrrr?

To Errrrr is human.

 

[Spectric]

The killer of grammar is social media and dumb phones, the language that is used now would be more at home in Bletchley or some secret service organisation. Everything is going downwards because no one cares and just accepts everything at face value and it then becomes the norm. Even schools seem to teach the english language mainstream in a way that was once reserved for the lowest bands who needed extra help. Look at the BBC, once upon a time they would never show misspelt words or be grammatically incorrect but now they cannot even reconise a female actress and insult them by calling them actors.

 

[niall Y]

helping your uncle jack off his horse

Punctuation. Grammar. Pointless.

A case for the use of " off, of " if ever I saw one.

 

[Just4Fun]

Look at the BBC, once upon a time they would never show misspelt words or be grammatically incorrect but now they cannot even reconise a female actress

Irony alert

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I'll bring the subject under discussion to wood.

The use of annular rings to describe the annual growth rings of early and late wood in sawn timber.

I think you've maybe nailed it. Slainte.

 

[paulrbarnard]

To Errrrr is human.

To Arrrrr is pirate

 

[Steve_Scott]

“The data shows…” bugs me.

 

[Yojevol]

@accipiter @jcassidy @Suffolk Brian @Mickjay @Hutzul @gregmcateer @Suffolkboy @Pineapple

I feel I have to come clean and eat humble pie. I've learned/learnt, subsequent to my post, that learned/learnt are indeed both past tenses of the verb 'to learn'. The adjective form of learned is pronounced with the emphasised 'e' as my learnEd friends would say.
I have been trying to think of similar instances where the past tense is not the regular 'ed'. The only one so far is 'to build', past tense 'built' unless you're asking the question 'Was Jerusalem builded here?' No mention of that in my Collins English Dictionary and the spellchecker doesn't like it.
Brian
PS just come up with another - ironically, spell, spelt and spelled.

 

[Droogs]

@Yojevol Here in the far north we have jump with a past participle of jamp and although contenious to most teachers has been used for around 500 years

 

[jcassidy]

@accipiter @jcassidy @Suffolk Brian @Mickjay @Hutzul @gregmcateer @Suffolkboy @Pineapple
I have been trying to think of similar instances where the past tense is not the regular 'ed'.

I read this thread and I thought if I ran with irregular verb ending, I would have died.

Hmm.. maybe not died, nor tied nor lied. But definately laid, said, and paid. And I threw in an Oxford comma for you, for free.

 

[Just4Fun]

I have been trying to think of similar instances where the past tense is not the regular 'ed'.

If I were a tidy person I would have swept my workshop. Instead I slept and kept things messy. SWMBO wept when she saw it.

 

[Yojevol]

I read this thread and I thought if I ran with irregular verb ending, I would have died.

Hmm.. maybe not died, nor tied nor lied. But definately laid, said, and paid. And I threw in an Oxford comma for you, for free.

If I were a tidy person I would have swept my workshop. Instead I slept and kept things messy. SWMBO wept when she saw it.

Yeah but, yeah but, what about 2 past tense words?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

To Arrrrr is pirate

Why are they called Pirates? Because they aaaarr.