skin deep

[David T-W]

Originally Posted by Gothika85

I'd hardly say its a 'demise' of language. Language is forever changing. We don't speak the same English now, as we did a hundred years ago. Sentences are grammatically altered & words are gained & lost all the time.
I admit, I hate certain parts of colloquial English. For example, I hate double negatives. I'm also not too fond of the glotteral stop. Sounds weird to me.

But, I never call people on it & it doesn't bother me enough to avoid it.
I'm sure my Idionisms (sp?) annoy plenty of people.

The reason I say "demise" is because too few people even care any more. And yes, of course, change is necessary and normal. But shouldn't change come through some reason other than people not being arsed to get it right?

[Gothika85]

Originally Posted by David T-W

The reason I say "demise" is because too few people even care any more. And yes, of course, change is necessary and normal. But shouldn't change come through some reason other than people not being arsed to get it right?

That I agree with. There are a lot of people who don't care about the English language, but are the first to say, "Bloody foreigners!! They should learn English." Or, "If people want to live here, then they should learn our language." etc.....

To be honest, modern language is the way it is because people 'can't be arsed.' For example, I'm sure you've used words like, 'isn't,' 'wasn't', 'can't' rather than the longer, 'is it not/it is not, 'was it not/was not' etc...
They're the product of English speakers who couldn't be arsed.

Btw, foreigners only speak 'proper English' because they were taught how to speak formally.
I can only really speak French formally.
But, there is a legitimate form of French called 'verlan.'
From what I gather, speakers change sentences & words around. I think you'd really have to speak to someone like Phil to understand exactly how its formed.

As long as people are understood, what is the problem?
As long as we still have literature, formal English will never be really lost.

[David T-W]

Originally Posted by Gothika85

That I agree with. There are a lot of people who don't care about the English language, but are the first to say, "Bloody foreigners!! They should learn English." Or, "If people want to live here, then they should learn our language." etc.....

To be honest, modern language is the way it is because people 'can't be arsed.' For example, I'm sure you've used words like, 'isn't,' 'wasn't', 'can't' rather than the longer, 'is it not/it is not, 'was it not/was not' etc...
They're the product of English speakers who couldn't be arsed.

Btw, foreigners only speak 'proper English' because they were taught how to speak formally.
I can only really speak French formally.
But, there is a legitimate form of French called 'verlan.'
From what I gather, speakers change sentences & words around. I think you'd really have to speak to someone like Phil to understand exactly how its formed.

As long as people are understood, what is the problem?
As long as we still have literature, formal English will never be really lost.

I have a vested interest in people (magazine and book publishers, mainly) wanting language to be right. It keeps me in work. So, by virtue of that, I should be happy that people don't know grammar and language. But it still irks me when people who should know better (magazine editors, news anchors etc) don't know better.

But I do think there is a difference (and a big one) between formal English and incorrect usage. You can speak/write correctly without being formal, of course.

As to contractions, I do believe that is different. They may have come about as a result of not caring, but I don't think so. However, not caring where people put the apostrophe in a contraction is a sin, naturally. How many times have you seen "does'nt" instead of "doesn't", for example? Millions!

Originally Posted by David T-W

However, not caring where people put the apostrophe in a contraction is a sin, naturally.

i own 17 antique bibles. Bin frew a cupple n ca'nt find this bit! You got a copy i do'nt?