LarryUK 343 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 What is happening to language? 'Allot'? This isn't a word. It's 'A lot'. What is it with this joining letters to words at the moment? The schools are failing dismally. Lets have 'awalk', 'ahouse' 'acar'. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duende 324 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 People often blame schools, but the people who I think need to shoulder the responsibility are actually the parents. A typical modern parent will hear their child has been told off and punished and instead of joining forces with the teacher and grill them will march up the school shouting the odds (and sometimes be very aggressive) in defensive of their angel. Not only are manners and common courtesy lacking in many parents teaching, but also sitting down with them and helping them with work and spending time with them. With text talk so popular amongst kids as well as the above too, it is a bit of an up hill struggle! Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LarryUK 343 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 I agree. It is the parents too. Texting is changing the course of grammar. People act as though it doesn't matter. It does though. Just because you drive to the shops it doesn't mean you don't need the ability to walk there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damian 1,582 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 What is happening to language? 'Allot'? This isn't a word. It's 'A lot'. What is it with this joining letters to words at the moment? The schools are failing dismally. Lets have 'awalk', 'ahouse' 'acar'. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr is actually spelled grrrrrrr..........just sayin'.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Versatile 465 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 This situation IMO began with humour and coolspeak Over the last 10yrs or so PC's and text-phones have caught on as fun ways to socialise Who would not, initially have been amused by the comedic potential?.... Hi m8 hru got a d8 2 c u l8er etc etc And then predictive text became de rigeur, as typing proper words with mini phone keys became too boring As usual, we are often our own worst enemies.... V Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duende 324 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Comedic potential V?! WTF LOL Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zigzag 335 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Yeah, that disappoints me alittle, too. People today don't respect the language. Our values have changed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LarryUK 343 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Yeah, that disappoints me alittle, too. People today don't respect the language. Our values have changed. Was this meant as a joke? Alittle? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest farnsbarns Report post Posted July 18, 2011 The staggering thing is that it is now acceptable to use txt spk in exam papers. I am also concerned at how quickly the OED now includes new usages. Simples is already in the OED. I think this almost willful bastardisation of language exacerbates the problem. I never mention it when I see it because it's not my place but some of the English used on this forum is atrocious. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigKahune 449 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 . The dictionary is changing all the time. The dictionary is based on usage. New words and contractions enter every year, and sometimes, depending on usage, meanings have to be adjusted or added to existing words. It ain't abig deal IMO. 'Scuse me while I work my iPhone on the cloud. B) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest farnsbarns Report post Posted July 18, 2011 . The dictionary is changing all the time. The dictionary is based on usage. New words and contractions enter every year, and sometimes, depending on usage, meanings have to be adjusted or added to existing words. It ain't abig deal IMO. 'Scuse me while I work my iPhone on the cloud. B) Yes but it bothers me how little usage there needs to be. That's what I mean by willful bastardisation. Re: cloud, this is another issue, this is caused by dumbing down. We already had a word for that, ether. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShredAstaire 623 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Re: cloud, this is another issue, this is caused by dumbing down. We already had a word for that, ether. Disagree...not dumbing down. Marketing gobbeldegook. Its designed to confuse people so that they buy new products and services branded with "the cloud"... And the word that it replaced in my opinion was "Internet", not "ether"... :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jinx2 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Language evolves. Always has always will. Get used to it... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy R 336 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Disagree...not dumbing down. Marketing gobbeldegook. Its designed to confuse people so that they buy new products and services branded with "the cloud"... And the word that it replaced in my opinion was "Internet", not "ether"... :) Agreed, most people don't understand the difference between services provided externally on or through the internet and what Cloud Computing is. Andy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kimbabig 230 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 English is a terrible language anyways. I mean, why do we have the letters c, x, and q anyway? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brad1 522 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 People often blame schools, but the people who I think need to shoulder the responsibility are actually the parents. A typical modern parent will hear their child has been told off and punished and instead of joining forces with the teacher and grill them will march up the school shouting the odds (and sometimes be very aggressive) in defensive of their angel. Not only are manners and common courtesy lacking in many parents teaching, but also sitting down with them and helping them with work and spending time with them. With text talk so popular amongst kids as well as the above too, it is a bit of an up hill struggle! Matt As a teacher, I just want to say thank you. So many want to blame teachers/schools. When did individual responsibility become obsolete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kimbabig 230 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 When did individual responsibility become obsolete? about the same time self-motivation did. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
milod 665 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 The problem I see with language is not the adoption of new words, but degradation of grammar and "political" changes of words. What that amounts to is a less expressive language, difficulty in communication and loss of history because of radical changes in meaning. For example, and don't takes this as being "political," but in the US the argument about "same sex marriage" centers at times on whether or not it is in the constitution. Yet the framers of the constitution relied on thousands of years and cross cultural concepts that "marriage" was by definition in hundreds of cultures something done by a person defined as "male" and a person defined as "female," even in societies where same sex intimate relationships were as accepted as opposite sex relationships, or in polygamous societies. My point is that I don't care what government does to establish such relationships with such legislation as might be considered necessary under today's legal climate to protect such people and require certain responsibilities, but rather the use of the term "marriage." "Chairperson" is another I loathe. Thank heaven they haven't figured out that even the word "virtue" is from the Latin for "man." Then again, it's a word we hear less and less in current Anglophone society. Grammar? It's so much like mathematics that it should be easy to determine the meaning of a sentence. But I agree that we're losing that ability because of personal suggestions of grammar that are meaningless to others outside certain jargon groups. As for respect for teachers? Some of that I blame on society as a whole and its expectations and some I tend to blame on teachers themselves as individuals and groups. Neither society at large nor our teachers' unions seem to value education as such. Academics yes at times, various institutions yes, but not education in the sense of the Latin roots of the word that mean "to lead out." OTOH, when one lives in an institutionalized world, I think it becomes increasingly difficult for people to figure out how to cope. That, I think, is too often where parents have difficulties with teachers. It ain't the individual, it's the institution in which they seem themselves in conflict. m Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LarryUK 343 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 English is a terrible language anyways. I mean, why do we have the letters c, x, and q anyway? We need them for 'unt' 'ueer' and 'factor'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kimbabig 230 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 We need them for 'unt' 'ueer' and 'factor'. no, we really don't Faktor. C can be replaced by k or s q can be replaced kw x can be replaced by z or ks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
milod 665 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 The letter "thing" was tried many years ago. It never caught on. m Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kimbabig 230 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 English really is a language of redundancy, I mean, I love telling people I'm an ecdysiast and confusing the hell out of people. but there's really no need for so many synonyms. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
milod 665 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Kimba... Actually, there may not be a need for so many synonyms, but there are many uses for them. Each carries a slightly different meaning, if not literally, then functionally as an expression of shades of meaning. They do communicate somewhat differently. m Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kimbabig 230 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 that's true and I agree, but when things are exact synonyms, that's when I get a bit perturbed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
milod 665 Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Actually I don't think that so many so-called synonyms do have the exact same meaning - by allusion if not directly. The difficulty comes in people being unaware of nuance and being unwilling to consider such nuance to determine meaning - especially in the written language. But then... such stuff has been where my head has been since I was a child. m Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
