apostrophes

[chal]

 

[Lakesailor]

FFS. Now you are talking nonsense "I got it off me mate" is bad English

It certainly is. Every estuary speaker knows that it should be "I got it off of me mate"

 

[Lakesailor]

That should be "I got it from my mate", so you're confusing the issue.

Otherwise its I or me as you say, and I have never heard of this "polite" substitution.

One of you got the joke

 

[maby]

It certainly is. Every estuary speaker knows that it should be "I got it off of me mate"

I thought it was "orf me mate"...

 

[nigelmercier]

... split infinitives ...

The "rules" about split infinitives have long been deprecated. And starting a sentence with a conjunction. Both were the products of incorrect publications.

 

[bikerbill]

It certainly is. Every estuary speaker knows that it should be "I got it off of me mate"

In Kelvinside (posh part of Glasgow) they would say " One acquired it from ones friend"

 

[maby]

While we're slagging orf the plebs, why is it that people who haven't pronounced the letter "H" on the front of any word that is written with it in their lives then insist on pronouncing one at the start of the name of the letter - where there isn't one?

 

[bikerbill]

It takes some practice if you are comfortabable square on the bottisit to learnabole the intrickeries of the diadodode...Oh Joy ! Marbelode !

For dedicated scholars of Unwinese there is an online Unwinese Dictionary available.

It certainly does. Three of us in the office are in the same age group and remember Stanley Unwin. We ended up googling Unwinese. What a laugh we had trying to speak Unwinese

 

[nigelmercier]

While we're slagging orf the plebs, why is it that people who haven't pronounced the letter "H" on the front of any word that is written with it in their lives then insist on pronouncing one at the start of the name of the letter - where there isn't one?

That is definitely a northern thing, calling "H" a "haitch" instead of the correct "aitch".

I would once have assumed poor education, but I have heard Professor Brian Cox say it.

 

[maby]

That is definitely a northern thing, calling "H" a "haitch" instead of the correct "aitch".

I would once have assumed poor education, but I have heard Professor Brian Cox say it.

Oh no - I work with plenty of southerners who do it - including some who purport to have a university education and certainly should know better!

 

[bikerbill]

That is definitely a northern thing, calling "H" a "haitch" instead of the correct "aitch".

I would once have assumed poor education, but I have heard Professor Brian Cox say it.

In London they have replaced the H (aitch) with F (eff) as in, " what you finking?" Meanwhile, Glaswegians have done away with Th, as in "whit ye hinking"

 

[Lakesailor]

I thought it was "orf me mate"...

Mark Blundell, ex F1 driver couldn't control his estuarity, he didn't last long as a commentator, thank the Lord.

 

[chal]

The "rules" about split infinitives have long been deprecated. ... Both were the products of incorrect publications.

Not according to some chap on Radio 4 a couple of days ago: he reckoned splitting infinitives was absolutely incorrect. I can't remember his name but it was a discussion rather like this thread and he represented the traditional expert vs the "if you can grasp the gist it's ok, like" approach. Obviously correct if on R4

 

[maby]

Not according to some chap on Radio 4 a couple of days ago: he reckoned splitting infinitives was absolutely incorrect. I can't remember his name but it was a discussion rather like this thread and he represented the traditional expert vs the "if you can grasp the gist it's ok, like" approach. Obviously correct if on R4

Hmmm, the split infinitive rule is really just down to smart ass linguists playing with comparative linguistics. In most languages, the infinitive is represented by a single word, so they extrapolate and say that conceptually, at least, "to go" is a single word - hence you can't insert another word ("boldly") in the space without it ceasing to be an infinitive.

 

[johnalison]

I don't feel strongly about split infinitives, in fact, they sometimes pass me by without my noticing them, but they can look clumsy and I think they are mainly a matter of style. I like to occasionally slip them into my writing but they are best used to special effect, as in, " to boldly go".

 

[nigelmercier]

to occasionally slip them into my writing ...

Indeed

 

[agurney]

I'm trying to be tolerant, making allowances for the inevitable daily inappropriate commas and apostrophes, when along comes Amazon this morning with a cracker of an invitation to purchase their latest book: "The Odyssey: A New Translation by Homer".

I think I'll just poke my eyes out.

 

[Amulet]

Plural of the noun "forum" which has neuter gender.(AFAIR )

Yes if you are speaking Latin, but we're not. I have found English dictionaries which allow "fora" as a plural but never one that prefers it over "forums". By the way - would you correct the "which" in my previous sentence to "that"? Most editors would I think. I can't work out whether this is a Scottish construction in my language or whether I'm just wrong, but things I write always come back from editors with most of the whiches turned to thats.

 

[chewi]

One of you got the joke

It went whoosh amongst the rest of the grammatic drivel!

Never end a sentence with with unless theres nothing better to end it with.

 

[John the kiwi]

Sorry, but I don't think so! I was taught at school (a long time ago) to use 'I' as it is deemed more polite.

You should sue. You were misinformed.

One can, I believe, only sue for failure of a good or service one has paid for. Me believe that Bikerbill didn't pay for his education. Me certainly would not have.
(Note, deliberate use of "me" to be deliberately impolite.)