[Willie Green]

Related threads:
College often not worth time, money
Arkansas House clears illegal aliens for college aid

[MHT]

This is a direct result of three things: (1) English teachers no longer drill on either grammar or spelling; (2) students no longer are required to diagram sentences; and, (3) television personalities (including erudite news anchors) use improper grammar.

To remedy this: (1) teachers have to start teaching again, by (God forbid!) rote memorization and drills; (2) kids have to start deconstructing their language visually to understand its logic; and, (3) we need better educated people in broadcasting who can write correctly and ad-lib (or at least read) proper English.

[ThanhPhero]

Between each...

[Tanniker Smith]

It is one thing to "like" a boy or live "like" royalty

You, of course, meant to live as royalty, right?

Reminds me of the "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" book author who complained repeatedly about the punctuation in Warner Brothers "Two Weeks Notice" (there should be an apostrophe in there).

Unfortunately, the same author failed to note, repeatedly, that there is no such organization as Warner Brothers. It is always Warner Bros. in print. Note the punctuation.

TS

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

LOL!

[chudogg]

5 entries found for colloquial.



col·lo·qui·al ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-lkw-l)
adj.
Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal.
Relating to conversation; conversational.

---

[From colloquy.]

---

col·loqui·al n.
col·loqui·al·ly adv.
col·loqui·al·ness n.

[Download or Buy Now]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Main Entry: colloquial
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: pertaining to words or expressions more suitable for speech than writing; in informal, conversational style
Etymology: Latin colloquium `speaking together'



Source: Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.5)
Copyright © 2003, 2004 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Main Entry: colloquial
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: colloquial language or speech
Etymology: Latin colloquium `speaking together'



Source: Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.5)
Copyright © 2003, 2004 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC


colloquial

colloquial was Word of the Day on August 18, 1999.


Source: Dictionary.com Word of the Day


colloquial

adj : characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation; "wrote her letters in a colloquial style"; "the broken syntax and casual enunciation of conversational English" [syn: conversational]

[evolutionary]

It's no wonder children don't have respect for the English languange when our President massacres our native tongue daily. When was the last time you heard an Ivy League grad speak as poorly as Bush?

[Rockingham]

The reason is simple: years ago, in the seventies, it became distressingly clear after integration took hold in the public schools that when existing standards were applied without regard to race, Black kids fared poorly. Their parents and various civil rights groups were then energized to claim discrimination.

For most teachers and school administrators, it swiftly became apparent that maintaining school discipline and high academic standards -- always a struggle -- now had the disabling burden of being accused of racism and having to defend oneself in court. Of course, students -- and especially Black kids -- were shortchanged by the lowering of academic standards. But the pressures to do so were impossible to resist and have become thoroughly institutionalized in American public education.

For most American kids, the quality of your education is now a matter of where you live and your home environment. Black kids in the suburbs from intact families do well compared to their inner city cousins being raised by a single parent or other relatives, but they still do less well than their white suburban peers.

As John Ogbu and others have repeatedly demonstrated, Black youth culture now subverts Black educational effort by deriding it as "acting white." Black youth culture thus now anchors most of America's K-12 schools to the lowered standards necessary to avoid the kind of gross racial disparities in grading patterns that invite federal lawsuits and charges of racism.

Of course, Black parents want better schools and a better education for their children, but they are mostly trapped in the fundamentally dysfunctional public educational system and unable to flee or force the necessary reforms. They have been badly served by their leaders, most of whom are compromised by organizational and money ties to the impresarios and performers of Black youth culture.

The divergent reactions to Bill Cosby's recent criticisms revealed a compromised Black leadership -- but also much reason for hope due to the amens that he got from Black parents. Who knows, but somewhere a dedicated civil rights lawyer is drafting a federal rights complaint that will challenge a major school system for the weak instruction and accommodating grading policies that guarantee most Black public school kids are never even offered the education that they deserve.

[tumblindice]

Our kids may not have any idea what 'The Trivium' means but they have really high, uh, self-esteem. Now, let's all sing 'I Am Somebody' and--trophies & ribbons for everybody!

[Libertarian444]

[LincolnLover]

Well, Jen, it is anatomically impossible for someone to think that you are "a prick", so I could nitpick your letter for use of confusing imagery.

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.

[rwfromkansas]

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.

[familyop]

"We have all taken at least seven years of secondary English classes prior to coming to Penn State,..."

It's very doubtful that students are going through that many English classes in secondary education. Lack of background in morality is obviously one problem for graduates now.

Another problem is that students are taught very little grammar. What little they see is very rushed and almost devoid of repetitions. But they spend enormous amounts of time on contemporary and recent fiction in order to make classes more enjoyable for teachers.

[Xenalyte]

My personal peeves (which are legion) include "anyways."

"Supposably" (as the author notes but misspells) is equally obnoxious.

Worse is the use of "incidences" for "incidents." It sounds like the speaker is saying "incidentses," which always reminds me of Gollum.

[JimVT]

My above was to Willie Green....sorry

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Well, having fought the good fight trying to teach grammar to people who don't care, I no longer bother about it much, and instead, get to sit back and watch the language mutate, which is even more fun.

But, in case anybody is interested, and nobody mentioned it in the countless replies I have passed over, since I got to the thread late, people use ignorant as a synonym for rude, because it has been a cultural reality for centuries, that uneducated people have not been schooled in the language of politeness, and therefore, frequently, ignorant is unintentionally rude.

This is why the word churl, which used to mean peasant, means rude or boring.

This is also why the word villain, which once also meant peasant, means wrongdoer.

Peasant and pagan have similar roots, by the way, meaning country person.

Quaint is interesting, starting off meaning clever, and silly once meant holy.

Fun things, words.

[TankerKC]

"If you have problems, come see Heather or I."

I can't tell you a single grammar rule. As far as poor grammar goes, I'm the worst offender. But there are two things that drive me crazy--this is one of them. I think that people say "Heather and I" because it sounds so awkward that it MUST be correct.

BTW, my other peeve is when people say "myself" when "I" or "me" will do.

[BBell]

"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."

This person has obviously never heard of Frank Zappa's Valley Girl. Like gag me with a spoon!

[MississippiMan]

The three language misuses that irk me the most are three VERY common mispronunciations:

1. Mischievous -- It is NOT mis-chee-vee-us!

2. Often -- It's OFF-uhn, not OFF-tuhn!

3. Sophomore -- The middle "o" is silent!

MM

[Ed_in_NJ]

But with all the degree-anal employers around, without the sheepskin one is scrooed.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

As long as we're kvetching about grammar, I'll give you my pet peeve. I've been hearing this affectation for at least five years now, probably much longer than that. It first started with media talking heads and has subsequently spread into almost universal usage.

"Last night, a car speeding down the interstate kills a family of...." No, I'm sorry, The accident happened last night and the past tense is appropriate; IE "The family was killed last night..." In a feeble attempt to make everything into breaking news we have thrown out the past tense. This sloppy habit has spread into everyday conversational English. Occasionally I've even caught my wife, a "language arts major" doing it!

To really compound the verbal felony, substitute "goes" for "says" or "said" and you wind up with "He goes 'lets grab lunch', and I go 'sure'!" What on earth has happened to our beautiful, rich, colorful, subtle, dare I say 'nuanced' language.

I fear it's been assassinated by adolescents.

Regards,
GtG