College-level grammar lost on college students

The Digital Collegian (Penn State) ^ | Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | Jen Winberry

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

There are some things I just do not understand, and I am at a point where I have given up on figuring out many of these puzzlers.

But there are still some conundrums I am determined to solve.

For the life of me I cannot understand how it is that we have reached this level in our academic careers and we still cannot speak proper English.

We have all taken at least seven years of secondary English classes prior to coming to Penn State, and once we are here, we must take a minimum of two more classes. These courses, in addition to the primary schooling we receive and the out-of-class interaction we have with other people, should provide ample opportunity to learn, if not master, this language of ours.

I have to admit, I do find it humorous when people try to speak correctly and fail miserably. I had a friend who would say phrases such as, "If you have problems, come see Heather or I."

At the time, I never had the guts to correct her, but now in a public forum I will.

My friend should tell people to see "Heather and me," because if we were to remove Heather, my friend would not say "come see I," she would say "come see me."

I also hear people say, "Heather and me went to the movies."

Once again, without Heather, I doubt "me went to the movies." While you may think I am just an anal grammar prick, I am just tired of hearing Penn Staters sound like morons.

Critics will say students here are highly intelligent.

Yet on a daily basis I am inundated with examples proving otherwise.

For example, take the word "ignorant."

Now those who have actually picked up a dictionary know the word means lacking education or knowledge.

Chances are, if you have made it to college you have picked up a dictionary at least once, which is why I cannot understand for the life of me why people insist on using this word to mean "rude."

I hear phrases such as, "Gosh, he is so ignorant.

How could he even say that to you" all the time, but now that everyone is clear on the true meaning of the word ignorant, the next time I hear this statement, the "he" in question better be showing a lack of knowledge.

As much as I do not like misuse of the word ignorant, there are several things that irk me more. One of them includes our good friend, Mr. Supposedly. This guy just tries to live a normal life like any other word and then we come along and try to hook him up with Ms. Supposebly.

Now this would be great if "supposebly" were actually in the English lexicon. In fact, it is not, and it is a sorry excuse for the pronunciation of Mr. Supposedly.

And there is no convincing me that I am wrong or that this mistake is not that big of a deal; Chandler broke up with a girl for doing the same thing.

The common problems I hear do not always have to do with people making up words or mispronouncing ones that actually exist.

One thing to which I have really taken a notice lately is the overuse of the word "like."

It is one thing to "like" a boy or live "like" royalty, but it is quite another to, "Like, oh my gosh, did you like, hear like, what like he said to her?"

Now let's examine this for a second. Would anyone ever actually write that out on paper? No. So if you wouldn't write it out on paper, why would you say it aloud?

Amy Heckerling's 1995 hit Clueless introduced our generation to this horrible word, and ever since we have not been able to let go of it.

While it may have been trendy to use "like" in between each word back then, now it just makes the speaker look like a fool.

Imagine this: You graduate from Penn State and go out into the real world to a job interview.

The interviewer begins by asking you a few questions about your background and previous experience.

Now, do you honestly think the interviewer will hire a perceivably ditzy chica who used the words "like" and "you know" as often as it rains in State College?

Or will he or she choose a perceivably intelligent young lass who is well-spoken and articulate.

I think the answer is clear.

While this hypothetical situation may be several years off for many students here, it really is never too early to start looking to the future. Old habits have the tendency to die hard, and it will take a while to shake those old ways.

The future will look brighter though, and I am sure your professors and anal retentive English geek friends will appreciate the effort, too.

[firebrand]

No it doesn't. I was there too.

Maybe it depends where "there" was, but I don't think so.

[arthurus]

I was there and I used it that way, as did most of my friends.