there grammers pothetic

Originally posted by dragonsmusic
reply to post by notreallyalive

 

damn that's a good one. i didn't even think about martini being a variation on the word apple. and i drink like a fish , so it surprises me that i didn't think of it.

It's a surprising but common - and ancient! - phenomenon.
(It just goes to show the human nature hardly changes over time. )

The arguably most famous example of such a semantic switch is the word for "liver" in Romance languages - foie (French), fegato (Italian), higado (Spanish), etc. - which originally comes from the word ficatum, meaning - "with figs", in Latin.

How come?

Well, there was a famous gastronomy delicacy in ancient Rome, called iecur ficatum, "liver with figs".
So popular it was, apparently, that before long people started calling it simply ficatum ('with figs", omitting the iecur ("liver") part.

Eventually, the original Latin word for "liver" simply disappeared.
"With-figs" became the new word for liver.






[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

Nice thread, I do get annoyed by incorrect spelling and grammar, even when it concerns English language, which isn't my mother tongue at all... (therefore I probably make mistakes myself, from time to time). I tend to take someone who uses correct language more serious than someone who makes mistakes all the time...

Someone stated English is one of the hardest languages to use correctly, whether written or spoken... I wonder where you got that idea from? I might agree when it concerns written English, but when it comes to spoken English most people find it one of the easiest languages to learn.

Anyway, we keep on learning: until about 15 minutes ago I thought all of you were misspelling the word 'dyslectic' as 'dyslexic', but I just found out both are correct

reply to post by Vanitas


Thank you for the book recommendations I will take a look at those

I do read quite a bit of fiction, which I admit does help a little, but when I write I tend to rush a lot, so the mistakes pile up, thank god for the edit button on here

Thanks Vanitas

reply to post by valiant


No - thank you: for making me think (again) about these things.

BTW, have you noticed the website FREE RICE?

(I posted a thread about it, but initially I wanted to post it here.
So, now it's posted in both. )

I think you might like it!




[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

reply to post by Movhisattva


They say english is one of the hardest its true. One reason why you think it may be easy to speak, is that all the people you speak to, speak it. Its easier to learn something if you have to do it in practical situations, like real life.

Originally posted by Movhisattva
Nice thread, I do get annoyed by incorrect spelling and grammar, even when it concerns English language, which isn't my mother tongue at all... (therefore I probably make mistakes myself, from time to time). I tend to take someone who uses correct language more serious than someone who makes mistakes all the time...

Someone stated English is one of the hardest languages to use correctly, whether written or spoken... I wonder where you got that idea from? I might agree when it concerns written English, but when it comes to spoken English most people find it one of the easiest languages to learn.

My thoughts exactly.

English isn't my mother (or father ) tongue either. And I think this is precisely the reason why we (meaning non-native speakers, especially those who know more than one or two foreign languages) are so finicky about it: we were not only taught to write, read and speak it as correctly as possible; because it was not our natural, "inborn" mode of expression, I think we were/are more acutely aware of its structure (both spoken and written) - of its status of natural construct developed through history. (And of its beauty, too. )

That, of course, is true of any language when seen through the eyes of an outside observer. A person who does not live in a building is much more aware of the aspect and the structure of the building than its regular inhabitants.


(No wonder Professor Higgins says about Eliza that her English is much too good for her to be English. )







[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

reply to post by Vanitas


I earned 100 rice grains for my people in need!

English is a difficult language to use "properly". The grammar is a beast.

Have you ever tried learning another language? English grammar is much simpler than that of most languages. There is no concept of grammatical gender or case, and the verb endings are mostly very straightforward.

Try learning German or Russian if you want to know how difficult grammar can be!

Spelling is even worse.

That is true, and most foreigners report it as the single most difficult thing about English.

Still, on balance English is NOT a particularly difficult language. Moreover, the problems some people have with basic grammar or punctuation are not limited to English. A colon, a semicolon, a full stop and a question mark mean exactly the same in French and German as they do in English.

reply to post by notreallyalive


That's a 100 thank-you from them - and from me.

But really, now... are you saying you only had ten seconds to spare?!
Tsk, tsk, tsk...




I don't know about others, but I find it awfully addictive.
(There was a time when I spent EIGHT hours on the website.
My head still hurts.
I don't think I have ever really recovered from it.... )









[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

Originally posted by Republican08
Just so I can finally go ahead and make a notice.

Weather= Conditions outside.
Whether= Well the link can explain this better.

You left out this one:

Wether = A male sheep especially a castrated one

It's nothing to laugh at, but English is a funny language!!!

Originally posted by Franz

Try learning German or Russian if you want to know how difficult grammar can be!

German is (relatively) very easy, I think.
(I did say relatively, didn't I? )

But Russian... I would say, ANY of the Slavic languages could easily qualify as the "most difficult" for any English native speaker.
There is simply no comparison.
(No wonder they can master other European languages with such - again, relative - ease.)

Then again, French doesn't come easy to many, either...

Oh, and let's not forget the Semitic languages...
I could write a poetic dissertation on the benefits (and not just cultural/intellectual) of learning either Arabic or Hebrew - or both...
(Don't tempt, or I will! )

Even trying to learn languages from a totally different culture has lasting benefits.
But that's off topic, so I'll give it a rest.










[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

reply to post by Vanitas



It's great, and you're right, it is addictive

Originally posted by valiant
reply to post by Vanitas

 

It's great, and you're right, it is addictive

I see you haven't been here for half an hour...
I am guessing somebody, somewhere, is getting a lot of rice.

I posted my pet-peeves earlier, but am back to add that the only thing worse than seeing these common 4th grade errors in a post, is to see them on a thread TITLE. That really, really makes me cringe.

Surely one might check the Title to ensure that spelling and grammar are correct in that field, at least. Double check the Title. Please. If there is some uncertainly, look it up. At least for the title.

I know most of these are probably nothing more than typographical errors, but take a moment to double check.

In cast this ticks anyone off: I'm not talking about you.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting



If you're talking about this thread - it was done on purpose.
(And it makes me crack a smile every time. )


P.S. Then again, you are probably NOT talking about this thread.
Still, I've seen others complain about it, so I'll leave my comments above as they are.







[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

reply to post by Vanitas


Uh, yeah, I rather got the point of the thread title here.
Actually I was referring to those threads in which it is not apparently intentional.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


I know, I know...
That's why I hastened to add the post scriptum.

But, as I said, I have seen others complain about this thread's title - and I did NOT react, because I thought (wrongly, it turned out) they were being humourous about it themselves...

What I dislike the most about thread titles is the profusion of exclamatory marks - or, even worse, punctuation used improperly.
Like this:


IS THE WORLD GOING TO END !!!


(Try reading it aloud... )


That doesn't speak well of the author's education, I must say.






[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]

Well I have to agree that bad grammar drives me nuts on here and other forums I frequent. I know I make mistakes sometimes when typing esp with my computer having a key missing

I was always corrected while growing up when I used improper grammar and to this day I do it to people around me. Yes, it drives my friends and family nuts but if you are 30 years old and are still unable to figure out how to use words such as: you're and your or their, there and they're then you might want to have a refresher course. I know not everyone won the spelling bee every year like me (sorry I was very proud of that and the word astronaut is one that won me the title in 1st grade ) but some of the basic grammar skills are being completely thrown out the window by many people on various boards I read. You didnt forget what 1+1 is now did you? Sometimes when someone doesnt use the proper wording or spelling it makes it hard to understand what is being said, it can also change the meaning of the post. Another set of words people always seem to mess up are TO and TOO. For whatever reason that drives me bonkers the most.

I know not everyone on here has English as a first language, but for those who do IMO you have no excuse.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


The thread title is obviously done as a joke to prove a point. I looked at it funny too but then realized that is what the thread is about. I have seen quite a few thread titles pop up with missing words or the wrong word and it makes it a little confusing to understand what the OP is saying. This OP obviously did this on purpose and honestly it makes me laugh.

Originally posted by Tallsorts

It's nothing to laugh at, but English is a funny language!!!

Especially - and this is admittedly totally off topic - when in the haste of rabid writing, or simply as a consequence of a faulty keyboard, some characters are omitted that really, really should not have been...
(Like the time I was very busy writing something about "countless women" - and it turned out the O key on the keyboard didn't work properly every time... Worst of all: that message board did not have the "edit" option.
Oh yeah. That was one post to remember... )


Back to topic (somewhat): I am constantly baffled by the use of "except" instead of accept.







[edit on 27-10-2009 by Vanitas]