Thanks in no small part to Mr Templeton I have been tipped over the edge. Bad writing, inappropriate use of words, the English language is a mess. But thats how it develops and grows, and is a large part of the reason that it is the lingua franca of the modern world. Well, that and the battle of Waterloo 😉
But still, there are lines. I’ve drawn mine with the use of "gotten". People, its a non-word, it has ceased to be, please, please, please stop using it. The only reference I could find in the dictionary claims that the word is obsolescent.
I appreciate that those of us living in the civilised (e.g. non-North American) world would rather pour boiling water on our own feet than commit such a heinous crime, so this request is not aimed at most of my smashing readers. But you need to be vigilant! If we are not careful this euphemism will make its way into your everyday speech and then we are all doomed, or at least those of us not too busy touching each other’s bases.
I shall continue my campaign by ridiculing bad English I see around the web or am forced to endure in my email. To protect the guilty I am not going to name names but you can be sure that the grammar police are watching you.
Say hello to today’s candidate for remedial grammar lessons;
"… in general seems to have been having problems over the last month or two regarding slowness in my personal experience."
Doomed, we are all doomed.
Bad American
“…some of out imports come from other countries…”
George W Bush
I think you may find it’s ‘our’ rather than ‘out’Jonny. Andy – you are doing an admirable job in the role of the grammar policeman even if there are occasional typos on your blogg. But ‘hey’ typos are unavoidable when there is no speelign checker!
A late entry – Andy do you scan for backdated contributions?
Admirable campaign indeed sir. Although I was a tad disappointed to see the conspicuous ommission of an apostrophe in “But thats [sic] how it develops and grows” in your opening paragraph.
My current bug-bears (any ideas of origins of that word?) are:
1) The misuse of the apostrophe (known as the grocers’ apostrophe) as in “potato’s 50p/lb”, also to be found where there’s a misunderstanding over it’s / its, with words that end in o(s)/oes(pl), and with acronyms/dates – they don’t require one – ie PDAs vs. PDA’s, the 1920s vs 1920’s (although I generally permit this last usage!)
2) The ommission of the apostrophe in its proper place where it correctly indicates possession ie “Todays [sic] latest offer…” or abbreviation ie “that’s”
3) The Ubiquitous misuse of “I” where “me” is perfectly correct – as in “please join Bobo and I for a dinner in Balham” 😉
4) Regimen instead of Regime (and the ugly pronounciation that goes with the former)
A late entry – Andy do you scan for backdated contributions?
Admirable campaign indeed sir. Although I was a tad disappointed to see the conspicuous ommission of an apostrophe in “But thats [sic] how it develops and grows” in your opening paragraph.
My current bug-bears (any ideas of origins of that word?) are:
1) The misuse of the apostrophe (known as the grocers’ apostrophe) as in “potato’s 50p/lb”, also to be found where there’s a misunderstanding over it’s / its, with words that end in o(s)/oes(pl), and with acronyms/dates – they don’t require one – ie PDAs vs. PDA’s, the 1920s vs 1920’s (although I generally permit this last usage!)
2) The ommission of the apostrophe in its proper place where it correctly indicates possession ie “Todays [sic] latest offer…” or abbreviation ie “that’s”
3) The Ubiquitous misuse of “I” where “me” is perfectly correct – as in “please join Bobo and I for a dinner in Balham” 😉
4) Regimen instead of Regime (and the ugly pronounciation that goes with the former)