I see this time and time again, is it a regional thing?
Or....WHAT instead of pardon.......does my head in!!
I did this once when abroad but my girlfriend quickly apologized for me to the waiter and since then I use pardon
I did this once when abroad but my girlfriend quickly apologized for me to the waiter and since then I use pardon
Why do an increasing number of people use the letter Z when they should use the letter S?
Why do an increasing number of people use the letter Z when they should use the letter S?
Why do an increasing number of people use the letter Z when they should use the letter S?
It's that pesky spell-checker again
There any number of these rhymes. Have a look at http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media/poems.php if you enjoy the idiosyncrasies of English.
A lot of the errors people have cited in this thread irritate me too, then I have to ask myself if I'm just being precious about it. English is dynamic and has been evolving and changing for hundreds of years under various influences. Spelling didn't start to become standardised until the late C18th or the early C19th, and regional/local dialects, vocabularies and pronunciations have always existed. What is right and wrong, or incorrect, is usually just based on a comparison with Standard English, which is a pretty artificial construct anyway. No doubt this will continue.
Why do an increasing number of people use the letter Z when they should use the letter S?
Why do an increasing number of people use the letter Z when they should use the letter S?
-ize, -ise
There are two groups of words here, and these should not be confused.
The first group consists of words which are always spelled with -ise in all varieties of English. The most frequent verbs in this group are advertise, advise, apprise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, despise, devise, disguise, excise, exercise, improvise, supervise, surmise, surprise and televise, to which we may add the nouns demise, enterprise, franchise and merchandise, some of which are occasionally used as verbs. These words do not contain the Greek suffix -ize and may never be spelled with -ize. British writers attempting to use American spelling sometimes slip up here and write, for example, *advertize, which is never acceptable.
The second, and much larger, group consists of verbs containing the Greek suffix -ize. Among these are realize, civilize, ostracize, jeopardize, organize and trivialize; there are far too many to list here, and new ones are coined almost at will, like hospitalize, finalize and prioritize. These words must be spelled with -ize in American English. In British English, the spelling with -ize is traditional, and is still preferred in many conservative quarters, for example at the Oxford University Press. But the newer spelling in -ise is now widespread in Britain and is preferred in other quarters. British writers may use whichever spelling they prefer, unless they are writing for a publishing house which insists upon one or the other.
Whichever spelling you prefer, you must, of course, be consistent, and use it exclusively, not only with the verbs but with their derived nouns like realization and civilization.
There is a complication with the verb exorcize, exorcise. Historically, this word contains the suffix -ize, and so it should be spelled exorcize in the style that uses -ize. However, many people no longer perceive this as containing the suffix, and so it is sometimes spelled exorcise even in the style with -ize.
Note also the unusual word capsize, which is spelled -ize in all varieties.
I'm doing a business course at uni
When I was at school the teachers all came down on us like a ton of bricks if we said "What?" - it was considered very rude.We had this one at the start of the thread. I'm the opposite from you. "What?" is fine, but "Pardon/I beg your pardon" and "Excuse me" set my teeth on edge!.
My bug bear has to be - Me and Steve - NO it's Steve and I please
When I was at school the teachers all came down on us like a ton of bricks if we said "What?" - it was considered very rude.
English is dynamic and has been evolving and changing for hundreds of years under various influences.
English may well be dynamic and has change over hundreds of years. But the changes over these past twenty or so years have largely been due to poor education, bad parenting, and lazy apathetic people who look to every excuse around for their failings in life instead of getting their heads down and learning.
"Uni" is an abbreviation I can't stand. I'd never use "varsity", but imagine it has a similar effect on many.
"Uni" is an abbreviation I can't stand. I'd never use "varsity", but imagine it has a similar effect on many.
Varsity? Uni-varsity? Isn't it University... i'm confused.....
1846, "university," variant of earlier versity (1680), shortened form of university.
No doubt the American influence....
'Seperate' instead of 'separate'. :shake:
The Yanks saying 'math' instead of 'maths' drives me completely nuts. :bang::bang::bang:
That's one of mine too. And a trend they have in using "have" in a question and "don't" in the answer e.g. "Have you got any bread?" "No, I don't".
One of the worst Americanisms is "Do you got any bread?" Or "What do you got?"
Even more annoying, why do some people say 'lend' when they mean 'borrow' ??? :shrug:
One of the worst Americanisms is "Do you got any bread?" Or "What do you got?"
This is seriously getting ridiculous now.