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

[kaytieeldr]

"Ain't" is a contraction for "am not." So instead of saying "I am not going to school today", you could say "I ain't going to school today."

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

 

[Piper23]

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

Not always true... Will not becomes "won't"

 

[kimblebee]

Yes, it should be should've, could've, would've and I've actually seen a poster here on the DIS use should of and would of in the same post, so it wasn't just a typo. She really thought the words are spelled out that way.

ohhhh, it's not just one poster who does this. When someone does that, I will admit that I assume they are not very highly educated. Judgemental, yes but that's just basic knowledge.

 

[Aliceacc]

I don't know the answer to your question, but one that I think has become
"correct" is the use of "less" when "fewer" should be used. I have heard it on the news and even read it in a book written by a journalist I respect very much.

It makes me insane!! But I really am thinking that it's so accepted that it's now the correct form.

It makes me crazy too. And I think it's not so much acceptable as a case of poor proofreading and editing.

I think a good part of the problem is that both word usage and grammar are so incredibly boring to teach and learn, that they somehow don't get the attention they deserve when kids are young. (When was the last time your kids had to diagram a sentence??)

 

[PigletsPal2]

My biggest complaint is the misuse of "hopefully." Hopefully is an adverb, and modifies a verb. You can wait hopefully, speak hopefully, pray hopefully, etc. Hopefully can't (shouldn't) stand on its own. Although its incorrect use has become the norm, I am hopeful that there are enough of us using the word correctly to turn the tide. I can dream, can't I?

Queen Colleen

 

[Northstar]

To answer the original question, when does a mistake become just part of the language?
When a critical mass of people have heard and read it used habitually, have incorporated it into their mental grammar, and do not register it as anything noteworthy when they hear or read it used but carry on listening or reading without the distraction of thinking, "wait... something not quite right in that..."

For example, when I was young, I had an older English teacher who used to go insane over the use of "contact" as a verb... as in "for more information, contact technical support." Apparently in his younger days, it was used only as a noun, as in "get in contact with technical support." This was news to all of his young students; to us, it sounded completely right, and we tormented him bringing numerous examples of "contact" as a verb in newspapers, advertising brochures, and even brochures from the colleges we were applying to.

Poor guy. Even the style manuals had dropped it, recognizing that the battle was over.

My advice to everyone is to stop riling yourself up and getting all outraged over your pet usage peeves. Some of them are going to enter the language, some of them are not, but you do not have control over which ones. Don't be like my poor teacher, emotionally invested in a losing battle.

 

[Lilliputian]

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.

 

[Dani784]

"Ain't" is a contraction for "am not." So instead of saying "I am not going to school today", you could say "I ain't going to school today."

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!

 

[Northstar]

My biggest complaint is the misuse of "hopefully." Hopefully is an adverb, and modifies a verb. You can wait hopefully, speak hopefully, pray hopefully, etc. Hopefully can't (shouldn't) stand on its own. Although its incorrect use has become the norm, I am hopeful that there are enough of us using the word correctly to turn the tide. I can dream, can't I?

Queen Colleen

This is a good example of misinterpretation of an error.

In YOUR mental representation of "hopefully," it is an adverb of manner, modifying a verb.

However, English has a large group of sentence-modifying adverbs, which do not modify a verb, but indicate the speaker's attitude towards the whole sentence. For example:
Luckily, I was able to change the dates for my reservation.
Frankly, I think you could use a fashion makeover.
Obviously, language changes over time.
Unfortunately, we can't recover the data from your hard drive.

Many people understand "hopefully" as an adverb of this type. That's why your logic does not register with them. They understand adverbs of manner, and would never misuse "violently" or "loudly" as an attitudinal adverb, but they don't feel that "hopefully" is only an adverb of manner.

Frankly, I think "hopefully" has broadened its meaning and you should start repeating "Luckily... frankly... obviously... unfortunately" to yourself when you hear "hopefully" used in this way.

 

[Bonnie151]

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.

Oh, I thought *I* was the only person who cared about that! "If I was..." drives me batty and everyone seems to say it these days!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I must have missed the top ten grammar mistakes. But there is one that drives me batty.
"Would you like to come to the store with John and I?" Or "she was talking to you and I" etc.
I was taught that grammatically, I should lay out the sentence without the "John and" so the correct phrasing would be "with John and me" the same as if you were saying " come to the store with me".

 

[leebee]

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! You aren't alone!! We are also distressed by the misuse (death?) of the adverb... as in "Eat healthy!" Eat healthy WHAT???? Many people use the adjective form of a word when they should be using an adverb. Makes me nuts! Using "of" instead of "have" (as posted earlier) also annoys me. Another peeve to add is the incorrect usage of "there," "their," and "they're." In grad school, they called me "The Queen of English." I made a pretty penny editing papers and dissertations, but I guess the "Queen" title has carried over into today; incorrect usage of everyday English makes me crazy!

I also struggle with 'prolly' for probably, 'walla' for voila, and most "lazy" spelling. I can't understand why people are ok with appearing either lazy or uneducated. I know they are not, but this is what it looks like to me. Oh well, not my problem. When I see too much of it written on forums, I most prolly will log off- walla! Just like that!!

 

[SandrA9810]

Yes, it should be should've, could've, would've and I've actually seen a poster here on the DIS use should of and would of in the same post, so it wasn't just a typo. She really thought the words are spelled out that way.

Google's spell check (chrome) does not like the words could've, should've, and would've. They always show up with a red line underneath.

 

[Ladcassidy]

Should have, could have, would have. No spell check issues.

 

[Robbi]

It's really should've, could've, would've and would be pronounced the same way . So are you talking about those words in print? Or spoken?

It is should have, would have, could have according to Google sources and my English teachers.

 

[Dani784]

I must have missed the top ten grammar mistakes. But there is one that drives me batty.
"Would you like to come to the store with John and I?" Or "she was talking to you and I" etc.
I was taught that grammatically, I should lay out the sentence without the "John and" so the correct phrasing would be "with John and me" the same as if you were saying " come to the store with me".

People use that one when they are trying to sound educated. At least that's what I've noticed. They think it makes them sound correct when in reality it just proves they have no grasp of grammar whatsoever. Yes, I am a grammar nazi!

 

[Lilliputian]

Another thing that really bothers me is that some terms can be used as one word in some situations and two words in others, but people always want to use them as one word. Everyday and login are the two biggest ones I see most of the time.

"Everyday" is a word that means plain, ordinary, and nothing special. "Every day" means every single day. When a restaurant advertises that the buffet is a certain price "everyday," that's wrong. For a while Dansani water wanted you to drink their water "everyday." I know that some things are a little picky, but a company the size of Coca Cola should have a staff of editors who review everything that goes in front of customers.

Likewise, "login" is an adjective, as in, "your login ID." "Log in" is a verb, as in, "Please log in to the system." (You could even make an argument that it should be, "Please log into the system." The differences would have to do less with grammar and more with how computers work.) Again, it's an error that doesn't mortify me when a regular person posting on a forum makes it, but when a large company makes the error in a user manual or on the screen with their software, it really irritates me.

 

[Aliceacc]

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.

 

[CPT Tripss]

My biggest complaint is the misuse of "hopefully." Hopefully is an adverb, and modifies a verb. You can wait hopefully, speak hopefully, pray hopefully, etc. Hopefully can't (shouldn't) stand on its own. Although its incorrect use has become the norm, I am hopeful that there are enough of us using the word correctly to turn the tide. I can dream, can't I?

Queen Colleen

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.

 

[mrsklamc]

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.