Posted on 02/25/2005 11:29:26 AM PST by 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.
My son is a graduate assistant in the English Department at The University of Oklahoma. He is teaching Comp II this semester and all the Comp II classes had to do a paper on 3rd world workers. One of the papers he received on this topic was how the French started WWI and WWII and somehow this led to the 3rd world problem. The student not only missed the topic of the paper but got his history wrong along with that. My son had one paper last semester with so much foul language that it was tossed out -- still don't know what the kid was trying to say in that paper.
Our high schools are doing a louzy job in some areas. I am thankful all three of my kids attended high schools that stressed English and writing -- both in Texas and here in Norman as I am learning that is not the norm across the Country.
I know what you mean. My son told me he was in an electronics store and their register was down. My son handed the clerk a $5.00 bill, paying for an item that cost $1.83. The clerk couldn't figure out his change. My son told him, "are you kidding me?" He wasn't. My son had to tell the clerk what his change should be. And that kid graduated high school. Amazing.
Not actually incorrect, just clumsy.
I studied Latin for four years in high school and one year in college.
Studying Latin was of inestimable value to me. My vocabulary is richer, and my understanding of the logic behind the rules of grammar is greater.
I studied Latin for four years in high school and one year in college.
Studying Latin was of inestimable value to me. My vocabulary is richer, and my understanding of the logic behind the rules of grammar is greater.
Nothing is very unique.
It's the 'journey' to an answer that's important not wheather it's the right answer or not.Same with grammar. Just be content that you can scribble. It don't make no never mind if your comprehension is on the level of a duck.
Standard 'New Age' learning.
Sadly, your experience is not the norm.
If Bob Denver used it on TV then popular use predates that use by quite a bit. Mr. Krebs introduced me to Thelonius Monk and I will always remember him fondly for that.
Give it a rest. People have been speaking improperly for eons and yet civilization as we know it has managed to survive.
One thing that frustrates me is the fact that, after years of trying to move men to the mountain, so to speak, modern-day style guides and dictionaries are moving the mountain to them. Things that were bad in earlier times---ending or beginning sentences with prepositions, for one---are now classified in style guides as wrong but increasingly accepted.
I realized a zero tolerance approach to poor speaking and writing was a lost cause when I found a listing for "ain't" in Merriam-Webster.
I admit to having a terrible habit of saying "like" all the time.
It makes me feel like a teenage girl, and I hate it with passion. I obviously developed it as a way to not say "um" when trying to fish for additional thoughts, but it is a horrible habit. I hope I can get rid of it.
lousy
Yeah, I agree. I sort of have my life arranged in a before and after Dobie Gillis way. Dobie made me wish to seek out girls named 'Zelda'. Never found any...
She also spoke the words 'Well, Tim' umpteen times. I have some extra time right now so let me do a re-cap for you. I counted 27 'you knows' so maybe I missed one or two. For brevity's sake, I have deleted a lot of Hillary's holy words.
Transcript for Feb. 20
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, (D-NY): Well, Tim, this is an issue that Senator McCain and the rest of the delegation...
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, we have just finished meeting with the current prime minister...
There are lots of debates about, you know, whether we should have, how we should have, decisions that were made along the way with respect to our involvement here.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I understand the feelings behind that call.
We don't want to send a signal to the insurgents, to the terrorists that we are going to be out of here at some, you know, date certain.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I think that there are grounds both for concern and for, you know, vigilance about this. But again, I am willing to look at the situation and, you know, not yet jump to any conclusions.
Now, part that was because, you know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend and there was an effort in the opposition to Saddam Hussein to get support from anywhere you could.
There is a temptation on the part of the Iranians to try to fund, you know, their own interests on this side of the border.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I'm hopeful that...
You know, I am not yet in favor of, you know, taking actions like excluding Russia from the G8.
At the end of such engagement, at the end of an effort to try to, you know, move President Putin back on the path to democracy and free market economies...
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I think...
You know, I just have a fundamental disagreement, I guess, with the attitude of the administration with respect to a number of difficult areas. You know, I don't think it hurts us to be vigorously engaged, to be there, you know, conveying our point of view, to make sure we're aware of, you know, every possible option for both carrots and sticks.
Now, one can argue that that was a deliberate strategy by the administration because, you know, in the end of the day they're more interested in regime change than in anything short of that.
You know, what Putin said the other day was they were going to try to set up some system that would involve the control over the plutonium, and, you know, take spent fuel rods in and out of Iran. I don't know how realistic that is, but, you know, it would be very difficult for us to, you know, intervene and stop that...
So I would hope, first and foremost, that, you know, we get re-engaged.
As important as Iraq is to our future in so many ways, I think we've seen that there are a number of other places around the world that can have a direct impact on our national security and, therefore, I would hope we would, you know, be able to really get to the table and see what we could do before there's any talk of anything else.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, you know, Tim, I don't think that you either rule it in or rule it out. I think that, you know, depending upon circumstances, it's something that, you know, the American government would have to, you know, consider.
But I don't believe in having any president of the United States or anybody, you know, in a position like Senator McCain and I in the United States Senate, you know, saying we would take anything off the table. But before we get to that question, let's try to, you know, deal with the many other possibilities.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, we don't know what the plan is yet, Tim.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I was--that's right.
I have taught many clerks in stores how to count change. Some have been amazed that it is even possible. My friends' kids have all learned how to count change. I instructed them, and my nieces and nephews, too.
Newspaper and magazine editors whose command of the English language is sufficient to spot the following errors:
"His remarks inferred that he did not like the President's position."
"Leaders from ten countries comprised the economic summit."
"His comments included several quotes from Jonh Kennedy's speeches."
I read an extensive etymological dictionary through several times as bedtime reading. It helped me very much with my English. My daughter read the Cambridge Latin course diligently on computer for several years. She did not learn Latin but can parse sentences with the best and can figure out the meanings of new words every time.
I was trying unsuccessfully to be wry about one of my pet peeves.
Hopefully, I was at most nauseated and not actually nauseous, either. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.