KingVidiot
Well-known member
Anhar Miah said:
Yes, very true. :thumbup:
Does anyone else instantly think a person is retarded...
- Thread starter DammitJanet
- Start date
Yes, very true. :thumbup:
DammitJanet
Well-known member
Wow...I didn't expect the thread to go on like this. It's always nice to see so many opinions.
Suffice it to say that I'm not changing my opinion on the loose/lose thing, though.
Suffice it to say that I'm not changing my opinion on the loose/lose thing, though.
morten
Well-known member
hey! give us ESL people some slack willya! I've been living in Canada for close to 5 years now and I still both mispronounce, misspell and misuse the english language all the time. doesn't make me retarded: just proves that English is not my primary language.
porkypine, unfunny, no please, loung, lose - the english language is often less than obvious especially when it comes to spelling. but then again the US president seems to be treating the dictionary more like a booster seat than a language reference so...
porkypine, unfunny, no please, loung, lose - the english language is often less than obvious especially when it comes to spelling. but then again the US president seems to be treating the dictionary more like a booster seat than a language reference so...
English has inexplicable rules for grammar and spelling. My girlfreind is a ESL teacher. She says the hardest part of teaching english is the gerund tense. Theres no equivalent in most languages except german. ( which english is based on). Then again German, may just be a little more complex.
Billy Pilgrim
Stye in my eye
That's true about English being based somewhat on German. When I took Shakespeare in college, my professor was explaining that Elizabethan English is actually early modern english, and so he showed us a poem about the apocalypse, from the 1200s, written in true Olde English, and it looked and sounded very German. Who knows, internet slang might actually become the new english language, in a few centuries or so. There's already a series of books written that way (no, seriously), and my friends and I pronounce aim acronyms as words. Sarcastically, of course.
you are right. the current vernacular will stick. The japan model for example shows how dialects travel. Japan being a long slender nation, with the capitol city in the middle. Linguists use japan as a thriving test bed for dialect migration. The country has never been invaded, or disturbed for thousands of years, and has maintained a monarchy for centuries, up until the last 70 years. Its cuturally stable.
The Emperors palace and surrounding buildings being the epicenter of culture in feudal japan, is where the latest dialects were "born". This filtered down to the common people and like all languages gets passed on in a concentric ring from the source. however, japan being a long strip, the language dialects run in "bands". However, there is a band equidistant from Tokyo, on either side of Tokyo. so the dialects, geographically are "cut" off from eachother, but exist in two palces at once in one country. Linguists discovered this and i think its fascinating.
The Emperors palace and surrounding buildings being the epicenter of culture in feudal japan, is where the latest dialects were "born". This filtered down to the common people and like all languages gets passed on in a concentric ring from the source. however, japan being a long strip, the language dialects run in "bands". However, there is a band equidistant from Tokyo, on either side of Tokyo. so the dialects, geographically are "cut" off from eachother, but exist in two palces at once in one country. Linguists discovered this and i think its fascinating.
My $ .02...
My $ .02...
I can certainly understand changing colloquialisms...consider "chill"...to our parents, it meant to remove heat from something, now it also means "calm down." That's how a language "grows", and why Latin is used for specificity...it's no longer a "growing" language.
IMO, I can deal with sloppy spelling in forums like this, but not in the spoken word. In speech, I think it reflects a person's interest in - or level of attention to - detail, precision, and concisiveness. (Or is it "concision"? If it's not "concision", then perhaps it should be)!
Anyway, when I encounter it, I know I'm in for a rough ride. It also usually adds to the length - and difficulty - of a job.
BTW, Timur, I saw you on TV recently! Way to go!
x
My $ .02...
I can certainly understand changing colloquialisms...consider "chill"...to our parents, it meant to remove heat from something, now it also means "calm down." That's how a language "grows", and why Latin is used for specificity...it's no longer a "growing" language.
IMO, I can deal with sloppy spelling in forums like this, but not in the spoken word. In speech, I think it reflects a person's interest in - or level of attention to - detail, precision, and concisiveness. (Or is it "concision"? If it's not "concision", then perhaps it should be)!
Anyway, when I encounter it, I know I'm in for a rough ride. It also usually adds to the length - and difficulty - of a job.
BTW, Timur, I saw you on TV recently! Way to go!
x
George Orwell wrote a brilliant piece in the 1950s (I think) called Politics and the English Language wherein he noted really awful, deplorable mutilations like "tow the line" and "the jackboot has been thrown into the melting-pot."
Language (English, or whichever) can be - and should be - used like a finely balanced knife with a sharp tip. Unfortunately, colloquial English is frequently used more like a splintery, termite-riddled four-by-four...
Language (English, or whichever) can be - and should be - used like a finely balanced knife with a sharp tip. Unfortunately, colloquial English is frequently used more like a splintery, termite-riddled four-by-four...