Funny/annoying grammatical mistakes and odd neologisms

Yesterday I heard Prince William say "She gave it to Kate and I." So much for a royal education.

I guess this is more difficult than it would seem.
 
TromboneAl said:
Yesterday I heard Prince William say "She gave it to Kate and I." So much for a royal education.

I guess this is more difficult than it would seem.
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I am more distressed about the demise of the adverb than I am about our economy (even today). Seems like words ending in -ly have become "uncool".
 
W2R said:
I am more distressed about the demise of the adverb than I am about our economy (even today). Seems like words ending in -ly have become "uncool".
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When I notice Americans using adverbs without "ly", I just assume it's their Germanic heritage sticking through. American English usage (particularly north of the Mason-Dixon line) is more influenced by German than is British English, and in German (and Dutch), adjectives and adverbs are written identically.
 
W2R said:
I am more distressed about the demise of the adverb than I am about our economy (even today). Seems like words ending in -ly have become "uncool".
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We need to breath deep and think different.
 
In Newsweek, a reporter wrote: "For me and my friends..." I can understand that the "I/Me" problem is slightly hard, but it's easy to know that "my friends" should go first.

Part of me thinks the rules are stupid, but they do make speech and writing easier to understand. If you can't hear every word, or you want to read very fast, you can comprehend better if words come in the expected order, and are in the expected form.
 
haha said:
"...they made a search party for the missing woman."
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I must be dense, but what is the flaw here? How to better express what we all must understand- what they did, and why? Newscasters aren't lexicographers.
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It's just not the standard idiom. You'd expect "They put together a search party" or "They organized a search party." You're right that what they said makes sense, but it's just different. If someone said "Do you want to form love tonight?" instead of "Do you want to make love tonight?" you'd say "What?"

The other night, a reporter said "Some say this old building is a historic monument, but others say it is a sight for sore eyes. [instead of "eye-sore"]." Pretty much the opposite of what she meant.
 
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How about:
"Being a medical specialist, they refused to follow my advice."
This gets used in newpapers all the time.
 
I heard "unthaw" again at the farmers market.
 
The improper use of "I" and "me" drives me crazy.
 
TromboneAl said:
If someone said "Do you want to form love tonight?" instead of "Do you want to make love tonight?" you'd say "What?"
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Perhaps, but it might depend on who was doing the asking. Forming love could really be interesting.

Ha
 
I hate it when newscasters say "so and so did not 'immediately' return our phone call". Does that mean the call might have been returned later?
 
TromboneAl said:
In Newsweek, a reporter wrote: "For me and my friends..." I can understand that the "I/Me" problem is slightly hard, but it's easy to know that "my friends" should go first.

Part of me thinks the rules are stupid, but they do make speech and writing easier to understand. If you can't hear every word, or you want to read very fast, you can comprehend better if words come in the expected order, and are in the expected form.
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Al, you could have been an air traffic controller. They are sticklers for prescribed phraseology.:D
 
As far as I can tell the only people who will prosper from poor grammar and punctuation are the lawyers. They will make a mint arguing what the contract really says.
 
Chuckanut said:
As far as I can tell the only people who will prosper from poor grammar and punctuation are the lawyers. They will make a mint arguing what the contract really says.
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When I sold my company, the lawyer from the purchaser put this in the contract:

"includes, with limitation, blah blah blah..."

when he meant

"includes, without limitation, blah blah blah..."

That could have been a costly mistake.
 
Ally said:
The improper use of "I" and "me" drives me crazy.
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Me too! I, too, am upset by that. Erm.

Another thing I hate is people using "myself", "yourself", etc, when they simply mean "me" and "you". "Myself" is only valid when using a reflexive verb. There seem to be lots of people who think it sounds more erudite to use the longer word, although it doesn't mean the same thing.
 
kcowan said:
How about:
"Being a medical specialist, they refused to follow my advice."
This gets used in newpapers all the time.
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Go dangle your participle somewhere else, Mister.
 
BigNick said:
Me too! I, too, am upset by that. Erm.

Another thing I hate is people using "myself", "yourself", etc, when they simply mean "me" and "you". "Myself" is only valid when using a reflexive verb. There seem to be lots of people who think it sounds more erudite to use the longer word, although it doesn't mean the same thing.
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I think people use "myself" when they are unsure of whether to use "I" or "me."

I have to admit that one has to think fast, when speaking, to get it right. Until recently, I used the trick of leaving out the "my friend and" part to figure out whether it is "I" or "me," but that takes too long. Instead, I now think about whether it is the subject ("I") or object ("me").
 
TromboneAl said:
I think people use "myself" when they are unsure of whether to use "I" or "me."

I have to admit that one has to think fast, when speaking, to get it right. Until recently, I used the trick of leaving out the "my friend and" part to figure out whether it is "I" or "me," but that takes too long. Instead, I now think about whether it is the subject ("I") or object ("me").
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Me? I don't worry about it myself...
 
BigNick said:
Another thing I hate is people using "myself"
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I wince when someone, (for example, often on the radio from a community group or some such), solicits telephone responses by saying "Call myself at......"
 
BigNick said:
When I notice Americans using adverbs without "ly", I just assume it's their Germanic heritage sticking through. American English usage (particularly north of the Mason-Dixon line) is more influenced by German than is British English, and in German (and Dutch), adjectives and adverbs are written identically.
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Hey, I resemble that remark!!! (2nd gen American, who's grandparents - all four, imigrated from Austria/Germany).

And yes, I reside above the MD line, and I still understand those of the south who still comment on "the war" :LOL: ...
 
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