Words that bug you - written or spoken

Jellybaby1

Quite a few times I heard on the RTE news, the reporters/journalists are guilty of saying 'Fizz-borough' instead of 'Phibsborough'. They all have degrees in journalism don't they? You would think they could pronounce Dublin place names properly. That's the way little kids used to pronounce it years ago.

rich.d.berry

That reminds me of "gardae". I notice that some news readers and reporters use the pronunciation gar-thee and some use gar-dee. Not really bugged by it, just puzzles me.

rich.d.berry

This resurrected thread reminded me of a YouTube video where Stephen Fry has his say about pedants. I found it quite clever, and gave me some pause for thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

Jellybaby1

rich.d.berry wrote: »

That reminds me of "gardae". I notice that some news readers and reporters use the pronunciation gar-thee and some use gar-dee. Not really bugged by it, just puzzles me.

And a lot say GOR-dee!! :eek: Which is the D4 pronounciation I expect.:rolleyes:

Jellybaby1

rich.d.berry wrote: »

This resurrected thread reminded me of a YouTube video where Stephen Fry has his say about pedants. I found it quite clever, and gave me some pause for thought.]

Lovely piece of animation there, really enjoyed watching it evolve before my eyes. Wouldn't people be amazed to hear Stephen Fry speaking in any other way, than perfect? I do agree that because someone doesn't pronounce properly doesn't mean they are ignorant or stupid, but I also agree that when on display such as an interview, giving a speech, reading the news, or even writing a sign for a shop display, the words should be grammatically correct, and spelled correctly. But that's just me being a perfectionist again.

borderlinemeath

Anthing ending in out.
Happy out.
Sound out.

Alice1

I hate hearing the word asterisk pronounced as asteriks. :mad:

The "Gawr-thee" one annoys me too - it's "Gar-thee"

slowburner

Blush_01 wrote: »

Amn't.

While it's not technically grammatically incorrect, it's bloody irritating. I'm not is a far more aurally pleasing contraction if one is necessary. (:o)

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I know some folk from 'Norn Iron' who say this:

'I love chocolate so I do'
'I already washed it so I did'
'he's a little darlin' so he is'

Why are the extra words needed? :)

And the word 'wee' is just everywhere in conversation.:D

looksee wrote: »

Even worse is 'can you borrow me €10!'

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Anthing ending in out.
Happy out.
Sound out.

Turns of phrase, like these are worth appreciating, I think.
They indicate a unique cultural and linguistic twist to the English language - something we Irish are very good at.
Without these idiomatic twists, I doubt we would punch so far above our weight in the world of literature.

Words that bug me?
All txt spk
Most Americanisms
Technobabble
Chinese to English instruction leaflets
Business and political neologisms - 'Going forward' hurts my teeth.

Colette X

'Going forward' hurts more than my teeth!

Why do people say 'I would have thought' when they really mean 'I think'?

'Less' when it should be 'fewer'

How many times have I heard 'pacifically' in place of 'specifically'?

Despite all that, I do think we should allow the language evolve as it has always done - e.g. whatever happened to 'thou, thee and zounds'? The term 'gay' has a completely different meaning now than when I first used it.

wats rong wit txt spk......... ok wit me.... I tink tis gr8..... Ha.. Lol:)

superstoner90

my turor of my course, has this terrable habit of saying "actually sorta kinda" he just puts these three words randomly into any sentances. Its very funny though.

Jellybaby1

I was walking through the halls of one of our Universities recently when I overheard a young couple chatting as I passed.

She: Ew m'gawd, I'm sooooooo sorry. Like, what did I deeuw?
He: Yew were soooooooooo drunk las'night, o m'gawd!

Is the future of our country really in the hands of these young people? Will a future President or Taoiseach really sound like this?

:eek: Ew m'gawd!! :eek:

JuliusCaesar

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I agree, they don't know what 'bored' really means anymore, it seems we must always be in a state of 'excitement'. People get 'excited' with recipes too!

Ha ha!

I actually meant the phrase "bored of"; we always used to say "bored with".

Yes, you're right, everything is amazing and exciting, even washing floors. Never did it for me, I'm afraid!

slowburner

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I was walking through the halls of one of our Universities recently when I overheard a young couple chatting as I passed.

She: Ew m'gawd, I'm sooooooo sorry. Like, what did I deeuw?
He: Yew were soooooooooo drunk las'night, o m'gawd!

Is the future of our country really in the hands of these young people? Will a future President or Taoiseach really sound like this?

:eek: Ew m'gawd!! :eek:

There will be a 'Teeshock' for a while, but he or she will be succeeded by the 'Main Dude' or the 'Main Beeyatch'; as our culture creeps across the floor of the Atlantic.

Rubecula

In old English there was a letter that was often used to replace 'th' It looked very much like a capital 'Y' and so in modern translations words that often started with th are now starting with a Y.

Thou = You
The = Ye.

In correct pronunciation it seems that these words should be said as The and Thou.

But as already said, language evolves just as other natural things evolve.

The words that are not so good will fall out of fashion, those that come in will either stay or fall away rapidly through lack of use.

Very Darwinian in a way I suppose.

Spread

English is a living language ........... so it changes and evolves. Hark back to Chaucer, Spencer and co. Old English, Medieval even Pepy's diaries. Your great grandfather would have used words that are not common today. Just the same as your great grandkids will not use words that you now use.
Because of the widespread use of technology, travel and changing mores, the change today has accelerated at an unprecedented rate. Being understood is the main thing in written or oral. Hence the lack of grammar and spelling. Ye can all understand Ali G? I was, you was, he was, she was, we was,ye was, they was. All perfectly understandable - yet grammatically incorrect. It sure would be dull if the language was perfectly homogenised.

JuliusCaesar

Rubecula wrote: »

In old English there was a letter that was often used to replace 'th' It looked very much like a capital 'Y' and so in modern translations words that often started with th are now starting with a Y.

Thou = You
The = Ye.

In correct pronunciation it seems that these words should be said as The and Thou.

But as already said, language evolves just as other natural things evolve.

The words that are not so good will fall out of fashion, those that come in will either stay or fall away rapidly through lack of use.

Icelandic still has two different symbols to give 'th' pronunciations - one is like in 'thin', the other like in 'the'.

Thee/thou etc were the familiar form of addressing somebody - in your family or friends ( like tu in French, du in German, etc) 'You' was the polite form ('vous' 'Sie' 'ustede') used with less familiar people and people in authority. Modern English is one of the few (the only?) modern European language that only has one form of addressing others, and that's because the fashion was for addressing everyone in the polite form.

It makes it difficult for us to have an instinctive understanding of when to use which, when using foreign (I mean non-national :rolleyes:) languages.

slowburner

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Icelandic still has two different symbols to give 'th' pronunciations - one is like in 'thin', the other like in 'the'.

Thee/thou etc were the familiar form of addressing somebody - in your family or friends ( like tu in French, du in German, etc) 'You' was the polite form ('vous' 'Sie' 'ustede') used with less familiar people and people in authority. Modern English is one of the few (the only?) modern European language that only has one form of addressing others.......

......except in Ireland where 'ye' is often used as the second person plural.
It might not be grammatically correct, but I don't think it should be frowned upon.
It's part of the uniquely Irish vernacular and its loss would impoverish us.

JuliusCaesar

IIndeed, 'yous' (I'm a Dub) is very useful.


Another word - I was over in AH, garnering opinions on the wearing of trainers instead of shoes - 'weary' instead of 'wary'.

Weary = tired; wary = suspicious and alert. Jeez!

scotty1

amazing

looksee

As a person with a noticeable English accent I also find ye (or yeez) useful when I am talking to a group of people informally. My heritage is south Yorkshire, where 'thi' (thee, pronounced like 'this') and 'tha' were normally used for 'you' in informal speech (sometimes reduced to 'tuh'). I am now trying to work out what the difference was between thi and tha!

paddyandy

I'd like a glossary of words and phrases as they are used in Ireland and what the often really mean as distinct from what they appear to say .I believe a book was published somewhere but i've no recall when or title . Must be a nightmare for people learning a new language and travelling abroad to try it out for effect .Same the world over i believe .
You learn then how it feels to be among the mentally impaired i imagine .

Jellybaby1

Dare I suggest 'Ross O'Carroll Kelly'?

http://digirbia.tripod.com/quotes/miseducation.html

ezryder

When someone says: 'Me and You' instead of ‘You and I’

Pulsating Star

It's the phrase "sure you'll have that " which always annoys me. I associate it with resignation to behaviours / processes that should not be. Acceptance of gombeenism as it were.
It's slightly off topic but it's all that comes to mind as having a consistent effect of winding me up.

Colette X

ezryder wrote: »

When someone says: 'Me and You' instead of ‘You and I’

This does bug me but sometimes I find it even worse when those who were taught always to say 'You and I' use 'I' when it should be 'me' ......'This is for you and I'.......I always say take the second person out of the sentence and see how it sounds.....'This is for I'!!!!!

Jellybaby1

Colette X wrote: »

This does bug me but sometimes I find it even worse when those who were taught always to say 'You and I' use 'I' when it should be 'me' ......'This is for you and I'.......I always say take the second person out of the sentence and see how it sounds.....'This is for I'!!!!!

That is exactly how my primary school teacher taught us how to work that one out. I don't think teachers worry too much about proper grammar or spelling these days.

slowburner

'A billion' is consistently used incorrectly.
A billion is a million, million. Which is written as 1,000,000,000,000 (UK English)
It is not a thousand million, written as 1,000,000,000.
This misuse of the word may explain some of the difficulties with our sovereign debt :eek:

While I'm ranting, here's a mispronunciation that annoys me.
The verb 'To Harass' pronounced 'Ha-rass', rather than 'Harris'.
Remember Frank Spencer? He started it. 'Betty, I think I'm being ha-rassed.'

Both remind me of an aphorism attributed to Anatole France - 'If fifty thousand people say a foolish thing - it is still a foolish thing'.

snowdaze

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I believe the reason is that teachers in our schools do not correct bad grammar and spelling as strictly as they used to in 'our day'. I was once told that if the child's family speak that way then they are not corrected. What a load of old turnips!!

I correct pupils all the time who say

I done
I seen

but they spend a lot longer at home with influence of their families...

I can only try!!!:D

Jellybaby1

snowdaze wrote: »

I correct pupils all the time who say

I done
I seen

but they spend a lot longer at home with influence of their families...

I can only try!!!:D

Glad to hear that Snow. I was told by a teacher that they don't correct bad grammar these days because children hear it at home. I remember my teacher distinctly saying 'that is wrong' and 'that is bad grammar, now what should you say?' etc., ensuring that I understood the rules no matter what was used at home. It used to be black and white but there is too much grey these days.

borderlinemeath

snowdaze wrote: »

I correct pupils all the time who say

I done
I seen

but they spend a lot longer at home with influence of their families...

I can only try!!!:D

On a serious note, how are pupils with spelling these days?
I only ask because I have a few nieces and nephews on my facebook and I cannot read their posts as they use nothing but text speak which at first I thought was baffling and now it just really annoys me! I don't mind shortening the odd word in a text message to send it in a hurry but it seems that every word must be spelled incorrectly for the sheer hell of it..