Flaunting their ignorance

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AndrewFlannigan

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I do wish that people would learn to write proper English.

My current annoyance is the misuse of "gifted". For the record: "gifted" is an adjective, as in "she is a gifted performer". It is not a verb; hence, "I was gifted a camera" is a nonsense. "I was given a camera" is the correct usage. Before the inevitable cries of "the language is always changing" are heard, I would say that there is change and there is misuse. There is also ignorance masquerading as cleverness.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I do wish that people would learn to write proper English.

My current annoyance is the misuse of "gifted". For the record: "gifted" is an adjective, as in "she is a gifted performer". It is not a verb; hence, "I was gifted a camera" is a nonsense. "I was given a camera" is the correct usage. Before the inevitable cries of "the language is always changing" are heard, I would say that there is change and there is misuse. There is also ignorance masquerading as cleverness.
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Really, does it make any difference? I see no harm in using something like I was "gifted a camera" The context in which words are used changes. Hence why dictionaries are continually revised.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gifted
 
I'm not sure the original premise is correct. Although rather an Americanism, "to gift" is a verb, hence something can be gifted to someone; I gift, you gift, etc. In that sense "gifted" can be a past participle. It is a conflation of giving and the noun gift, thus becoming (I think) a form of gerund in some cases?
 
lindsay said:
I'm not sure the original premise is correct. Although rather an Americanism, "to gift" is a verb,
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It is claimed here that such is the case...
www.etymonline.com

Gift - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

"that which is given" (c. 1100 in surnames), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse… See origin and meaning of gift.
www.etymonline.com www.etymonline.com
... but that example ("bestow a gift," 16c., from gift (n.)) seems a little thin to me.

My early Scottish education was quite clear that "gift" is a noun and "gifted" is an adjective. My later English education did nothing to disabuse me of this.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Obviously not to you but it does to me.
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That's fine, but as I have already pointed out the use of words and their meaning change and evolve. You carry on using it how you see fit and let others use it in the way they want to.
 
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I have a few pet hates of such changes in the English language.

The word versus to describe the opponents in sporting match was perhaps logically shortened to vs (in TV terms) but when it became v and was verbalised as 'vee', that IMO was the last straw!

Oh, adverts recently........ deodorant now being promoted as 'deo'.

Yes, language changes but some changes belittle the usage & meaning to what might be called 'text speak'.

PS and since when did normality become normalcy :thinking: :headbang:
 
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Box Brownie said:
Yes, language changes but some changes belittle the usage & meaning to what might be called 'text speak'.
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My point exact;ly.
Box Brownie said:
PS and since when did normality become normalcy :thinking: :headbang:
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Since some person with "a quite complex, complex" (to quote Tom Lehrer) decided that his dyslexia was more important than other peoples' desire to communicate?
 
I do agree with how "text speak" is used now, but that is different to the word the OP used. To be honest the main thing that concerns me, is the this threads title. It is not ignorance because people don't use a word in the way you want them to.
 
munch said:
I do agree with how "text speak" is used now, but that is different to the word the OP used. To be honest the main thing that concerns me, is the this threads title. It is not ignorance because people don't use a word in the way you want them to.
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Exactly. Language evolves, and each generation uses it differently to the previous one.
 
lindsay said:
I'm not sure the original premise is correct. Although rather an Americanism, "to gift" is a verb, hence something can be gifted to someone; I gift, you gift, etc. In that sense "gifted" can be a past participle. It is a conflation of giving and the noun gift, thus becoming (I think) a form of gerund in some cases?
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I agree, looking up an English dictionary it gives the example that the OP claims is wrong:

gift
verb

to give something in an official or formal way:
The child's grandmother had gifted her £10,000.

to make it easy for an opponent to score, win, or be successful:
She hit the ball into the net, almost gifting the set to her opponent.
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Perhaps we all need to remember that language is our main tool for communication.

If we make arbitrary changes to the meaning of words or worse, misuse words, then we reduce the quality of our communication. Possibly the understanding of this was the origin of the "Tower of Babel" myth.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Perhaps we all need to remember that language is our main tool for communication.

If we make arbitrary changes to the meaning of words or worse, misuse words, then we reduce the quality of our communication. Possibly the understanding of this was the origin of the "Tower of Babel" myth.
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So, who is the arbiter of the meaning of words? What about the way words were used in generations prior to yours? Would they be entitled to tell you that you're using words in the wrong way?
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Perhaps we all need to remember that language is our main tool for communication.

If we make arbitrary changes to the meaning of words or worse, misuse words, then we reduce the quality of our communication. Possibly the understanding of this was the origin of the "Tower of Babel" myth.
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Perhaps some of us need to to stop calling people ignorant just because they don't use a word how they think it should be used.
 
No-one is particularly wrong in this discussion. Sometimes words are ascribed a nuanced meaning which becomes normalised, however sometimes also words are used incorrectly grammatically and some of us care about that. However the key point made is that providing the words used convey the intended meaning, then communication succeeds. For a perfect example, look at Pidgin English. At the same time, the grammar police exist because an anarchic approach to language threatens the core understanding behind the use of words in a construct such as a sentence or clause. I suspect grammar matters more to those of us who had it hammered into us at school, and those of us who have learned foreign languages or dead ones formally (latin and Ancient Greek especially).
 
Marc said:
So, who is the arbiter of the meaning of words? What about the way words were used in generations prior to yours? Would they be entitled to tell you that you're using words in the wrong way?
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As we lack an equivalent of the Académie Française, the English language has no absolute definition.

We are all entitled to apply our own prejudices to the matter, which means that we are each entitled to be offended by what we consider misuse of "our"language.
 
The creeping changes that still communicate the meaning but trash the language as it stands/stood include:-

medalled (won gold, silver or bronze)

summited (reached the summit of Everest.......for example?) NB I have also seen the expression 'attempted the summit' what the bl***dy hell does the writer (speaker?) think the climber was there for in the first place!
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
As we lack an equivalent of the Académie Française, the English language has no absolute definition.

We are all entitled to apply our own prejudices to the matter, which means that we are each entitled to be offended by what we consider misuse of "our"language.
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Seriously? You're offended? Yet you state that the English language has no absolute definition.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
As we lack an equivalent of the Académie Française, the English language has no absolute definition.

We are all entitled to apply our own prejudices to the matter, which means that we are each entitled to be offended by what we consider misuse of "our"language.
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So are you now going to start a thread for every word, that in it's use somehow offends you. I find your use of some words inappropriate, yet here we are.

I don't see how you can be offended because a word is used in the "wrong" context. Mildly irritated, slightly miffed off, a bit peeved, maybe, but offended definitely not. ;)
 
Starting answers with ‘ So’ gets on my nerves, often by contestants on game shows, of ten it seems that every sentence starts with it. Many other things annoy me but most tend to be ‘merican’ so I do my best to ignore that.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Perchance we all must bear in mind that speech is our chiefest instrument for discourse. If we do make capricious alterations to the sense of words or worse, do misemploy words, then we do diminish the quality of our discourse. Haply the understanding of this was the genesis of the "Tower of Babel" fable.
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Come again?
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Perchance we all require to bear in mind that language is our principal instrument for discourse. Should we enact arbitrary alterations to the import of words, or worse, employ them amiss, then we diminish the quality of our discourse. It is conceivable that the comprehension of this was the genesis of the "Tower of Babel" fable.
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Ah, I get it now!
 
mj4456 said:
Starting answers with ‘ So’ gets on my nerves, often by contestants on game shows, of ten it seems that every sentence starts with it. Many other things annoy me but most tend to be ‘merican’ so I do my best to ignore that.
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So, how should I have started my answer?:D
 
Threads like this always make me think that the sort of person who'd criticise and nit pick the language used by another really should just stop... and usually the person doing it very quickly makes a mistake and in turn gets nit picked in the same thread too :rolleyes:
 
Marc said:
Seriously? You're offended?
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In a mild sort of way, I'm sorry to see that you appear to be offended by my being offended.
 
Espresso has to be one of the most common mispronounced words I've heard in person.

Perhaps we shouldn't get into how Americans say.... veeehic-hic-ular... :D
 
Good old Sammy J lists "gift" as the act of giving and while he doesn't specify it as a verb, the description does seem to infer just that.
 
mj4456 said:
Starting answers with ‘ So’ gets on my nerves, often by contestants on game shows, of ten it seems that every sentence starts with it. Many other things annoy me but most tend to be ‘merican’ so I do my best to ignore that.
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It's very common in Ireland, has been for decades , certainly not a new thing.

So, I don't mind it :)
 
ancient_mariner said:
"How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you"

"I'm well behaved too"


Other things that really annoy are the mispronunciation of certain words: secertary, nuculear being 2 examples.
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Can I get an iced latte decaf with caramel?
 
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ancient_mariner said:
"How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you"

"I'm well behaved too"


Other things that really annoy are the mispronunciation of certain words: secertary, nuculear being 2 examples.
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Not forgetting.......

Gonna or gunna rather than 'going to'
 
I do not like it when people say Virtually or Practically.

Such as," its virtually new", but its not new it is second hand, something can only be new once.

Next one is when someone says, "I am practically finished the job", but in reality the job is not finished.

Also I detest people or groups and company's picking a word and applying it to something to make things sound better.

The word "reimagined" comes to my mind, I always think they have copied something and claimed it as their own.
 
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