Irregardless is NOT a word
Apr. 25th, 2004 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xaaraNeither is "cleanness." Saying that something "was broke" means that it had no money, not that it was forced to come apart. The past tense of "to hang" as in "The pirate is supposed to hang today," is hanged, not hung (though you can say that the picture hung on the wall). The plural of "cactus" is "cacti," the plural of "octopus" is "octopi," the plural of "index" is "indices," and the plural of "hypothesis" is "hypotheses." I won't even go into how to create the plurals of "crisis," "deer," or "moose" (which, by the way, should be "meese," but is not). Further and farther have distinct meanings, as do all the homonyms (like they're, their, and there) that people seem to enjoy mixing around.
People can't speak English!
And I hate it when people use words they can't define, as if saying something vague in three syllables is somehow better than saying something precise in two. I feel like saying We're using one of the most specific languages in the world - tell me what you really mean!
I'm sorry - that was just an angry English student's annoyed rant at the people of the United States. A pompous voice is so often valued more highly than an honest one; a person who understands the connotations of what he is saying is often replaced by another who recites his speeches without the most cursory consideration of what he is saying. It's horrible, really, that people don't seem to value the richness of the English language, because we're lucky to have such a huge vocabulary, such an enormous selection of words.
If I had to pick one reason to be glad to be American, it would be because I speak English as my mother tongue.
People can't speak English!
And I hate it when people use words they can't define, as if saying something vague in three syllables is somehow better than saying something precise in two. I feel like saying We're using one of the most specific languages in the world - tell me what you really mean!
I'm sorry - that was just an angry English student's annoyed rant at the people of the United States. A pompous voice is so often valued more highly than an honest one; a person who understands the connotations of what he is saying is often replaced by another who recites his speeches without the most cursory consideration of what he is saying. It's horrible, really, that people don't seem to value the richness of the English language, because we're lucky to have such a huge vocabulary, such an enormous selection of words.
If I had to pick one reason to be glad to be American, it would be because I speak English as my mother tongue.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-04-25 08:09 pm (UTC)*winks* Although I definitely get your rant. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-04-26 04:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-04-26 07:40 pm (UTC)Not "octopussi"? ;-P