Spinoff of "Grammar Mistakes", when does a mistake become mainstream?

[SandrA9810]

Here's one that makes me nuts: "nother" is NOT a word!!!

"A whole nother thing..." is inserting "whole" into "Another."

It's like nails on a blackboard every time I hear it.

Wouldn't it be "a whole other?" Like "There's a whole other side to the story?" or "There's another side to the story?"

 

[IDoDis]

A mistake that has become mainstream is the phrase, "You've got another thing coming." The correct way is, "You've got another think coming." It's not "thing." The correct phrase would be, "Well, if that's what you think, you've got another think coming." Nearly everyone changes it to "thing" which is incorrect.

 

[Northstar]

A lot of grammarians think that the conditional tense is on its way out of the English language. "Was" is the verb form for the first person, but if it's something conditional, you're supposed to use "were," as in, "I wish I were..." or, "If I were...." Now people say "I wish I was..." and think that it's proper. It still makes my toes curl when I hear it, but apparently no one cares.

This reminds me of another type of subjunctive that we have preserved in North American English, but that has apparently disappeared from British English:

For example:
It is important that authorities be prepared to deal with an emergency
It is imperative that patient information be kept confidential

I am informed by British speakers of English that this use of "be" sounds as odd and archaic to them as "Here be dragons" on an old map of the world. They'd say:
It is important that authorities are prepared to deal with an emergency.
It is imperative that patient information is kept confidential.

So back to the question of when change is accepted as the new standard: do North Americans get to tell these Brits that they are incorrect and have given up the good fight to preserve the subjunctive?

Or do they get to tell North Americans that we sound like backward hicks and need to update our language?

And what about the many members of both speech communities who say "I never noticed that before. They both sound all right to me?

 

[ashley0139]

A lot of grammarians think that the conditional tense is on its way out of the English language. "Was" is the verb form for the first person, but if it's something conditional, you're supposed to use "were," as in, "I wish I were..." or, "If I were...." Now people say "I wish I was..." and think that it's proper. It still makes my toes curl when I hear it, but apparently no one cares.

I care! I care! That is my huge pet peeve. In songs, I always correct it when I sing it out loud. "Wish it WERE as simple as it sounds."

 

[ashley0139]

OP, I often wonder about "How are you doing?" and most people's propensity to say "good." I say "well," because the grammar geek won't let me say "good," but I feel like I sound awkward.

Yes, there is a fine line between sounding pretentious and awkward and not bowing to the common grammatical mistakes. I walk it "everyday."

 

[Lilliputian]

OP, I often wonder about "How are you doing?" and most people's propensity to say "good." I say "well," because the grammar geek won't let me say "good," but I feel like I sound awkward.

I say "well." I know it sounds off because so many people say "good," but I just remind myself that it's still wrong. Emily Post or Miss Manners (and my late grandmother) would tell you that the correct response to "How do you do?" is "How do you do?" They don't really want a report on how you're doing. Sometimes I say, "I'm doing well," so that it doesn't sound so silly, though.

Yes, there is a fine line between sounding pretentious and awkward and not bowing to the common grammatical mistakes. I walk it "everyday."

 

[Handbag Lady]

People saying Walla, Wala, Wallah (sp?) really drives me nuts.

The correct word is Voilà! It is a French word meaning "There it is!"

BINGO!!!! This is my worst pet peeve when people write this. The first time I read it here, I spent minutes trying to figure out what the person was saying.

 

[Robbi]

BINGO!!!! This is my worst pet peeve when people write this. The first time I read it here, I spent minutes trying to figure out what the person was saying.

It confused me too. Then, posters were talking about WaWa which is a store. I thought walla had something to do with WaWa.

 

[Mel522]

Well, no. A contraction would use all the letters of the main word. The contraction of 'am not' would be amn't .

Then where does the "I" come from? In standard contractions, you only remove a letter or two and replace with an apostrophe. You don't add random letters which is what makes the word "ain't" incorrect. To be a correct contraction for "am not" it should read "amn't" which makes no sense and therefore proves making a contraction for "am not" is pointless. Especially when you could just as easily use "I'm not" and be grammatically correct.

Also I've heard "ain't" be used in place of "aren't" or "isn't" and even "there's".

As in: "Ain't you coming?" Vs. "Aren't you coming?"
"Ain't that precious?" Vs. "Isn't that precious?"
"Ain't nobody here." Vs. "There's nobody here."

IMO, using ain't makes one sound incredibly uneducated. It grates on the ears!

From Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

"1706, originally a contraction of am not, and in proper use with that sense until it began to be used as a generic contraction for are not, is not, etc., in early 19c. Cockney dialect of London, popularized by representations of this in Dickens, etc., which led to the word being banished from correct English."

While today it is used more widely, it originated as a variant of the contraction "amn't" (am not).

ETA
Here is another source that is about the contraction "amn't", but also discusses the origin of "ain't". It is an interesting article from an interesting site. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-amn1.htm

 

[khertz]

OP, I often wonder about "How are you doing?" and most people's propensity to say "good." I say "well," because the grammar geek won't let me say "good," but I feel like I sound awkward.

I thought of this post last night as I was watching Big Brother! One of the contestants asked Julie Chen how she was doing and she said, "Well, thank you."

 

[mrsklamc]

I say "well." I know it sounds off because so many people say "good," but I just remind myself that it's still wrong. Emily Post or Miss Manners (and my late grandmother) would tell you that the correct response to "How do you do?" is "How do you do?" They don't really want a report on how you're doing. Sometimes I say, "I'm doing well," so that it doesn't sound so silly, though.

If they ask first, I say, "I'm fine thanks, and you?" It's when I've already asked them how they are, and they respond "good & you?" that I feel awkward.

 

[PigletsPal2]

Hopefully you know that an adverb can also modify an adjective, another adverb, a preposition, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence, expressing some relation of manner or quality, place, time, degree, number, cause, opposition, affirmation, or denial, and in English also serving to connect and to express comment on clause content.

No, I didn't know that an adverb was so versatile! I also didn't know about attitudinal adverbs. Thanks to you and Northstar, I'm a little smarter today. Thank you!

Queen Colleen

 

[7165red]

Not sure when it happened but ain't is now in the dictionary and is considered a correct contraction. For what, I have no idea and I won't allow it to be used in my home unless we're talking tongue in cheek.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I agree with you.

 

[7165red]

Irregardless.

I go crazy when I hear that word.

 

[phamton]

Substituting myself for me or I seems to be pretty common. I hope it is just a trend and not a permanent change. Examples: Jane, Joe, and myself were at the movies together. She invited my sister and myself to the party.