|
 |
Annoying mistakes in your native language | ||
Tags: Native Language | Error | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| GREGORG4000 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5333 days ago 307 posts - 479 votes  Speaks: English*, Finnish Studies: Japanese, Korean, Amharic, French | Message 137 of 151 14 May 2010 at 11:05pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I use I have and I've got interchangeably, and I'm American. Also, "Sam and me" as the topic of a sentence sounds about as grating as reading "would of" is.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| boon Diglot Groupie Ireland Joined 5969 days ago 91 posts - 177 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Mandarin, Latin | Message 138 of 151 18 May 2010 at 11:19am | IP Logged | ||
|
The words "tortuous" and "torturous" are pretty much never used correctly. Usually the mistake is using "tortuous", which means twisting, to mean "torturous", which means causing pain or suffering.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6282 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian | Message 139 of 151 18 May 2010 at 11:27am | IP Logged | ||
|
Really? My impression that "torturous" was usually used to mean "tortuous", not the other way around.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| QiuJP Triglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 5665 days ago 428 posts - 597 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Czech, GermanB1, Russian, Japanese | Message 140 of 151 18 May 2010 at 11:46am | IP Logged | ||
|
Annoying mistakes for a native Mandrian speaker:
Mixing up homophones and end up writing the wrong character in writing. Mixing up homographs and end up pronouncing the character wrongly during a conversation (that is quite embarrassing sometimes) Edited by QiuJP on 18 May 2010 at 12:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JPike1028 Triglot Senior Member United States piketransitions Joined 5207 days ago 297 posts - 337 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Portuguese, Czech | Message 141 of 151 18 May 2010 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I consistently say "work on me with" instead of "work with me on." I also find many people who say "offen" instead of "often."
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| anamsc Triglot Senior Member Andorra Joined 6013 days ago 296 posts - 382 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Catalan Studies: Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Written), French | Message 142 of 151 18 May 2010 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | ||
Actually, (and I'm being pedantic only because that's the theme of the thread!) "offen" is technically correct; "often" is a spelling pronunciation. The "t" was originally silent, but people read the word and see that there is another letter and think they should pronounce it. Compare: soft-->soften (/soffen/) oft-->often (/offen/) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5240 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 143 of 151 18 May 2010 at 7:50pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I love this thread because it is fascinating to see how many "mistakes" are not actually always mistakes. They are signs that usage is changing. I used to be peeved off by something in French like "la manière que je parle" instead of "la manière dont je parle" or in Engliish in "government planning and policy is in agreement" instead of "...are in agreement".
Now I've come to the conclusion that language is changing and that if enough respectable users (i.e. authors, journalists, politicians) use a certain form, then it can't be totally bad. For the longest time I used to make a point of saying: "It is I" instead of "It's me". Now it seems a bit stuffy. When I first heard "they grew the business", I was a bit surprised to hear "grow" in that usage. Or when people ask "How are you" and I hear: "I'm good". Certain mistakes are clear-cut (for example, spelling mistakes) that will remain objectionable for a very long time. "We is" instead of "We are" will be a mistake for the foreseeable future although it is widespread in certain dialects of English. At the same time, there is a gray zone of shifting usage. Part of the problem is that young people (and others) often take liberties with language that go against school teachings. With time, these liberties become widespread and soon the old ways can seem out-of-date and quaint. That's fine if you don't mind being quaint, but, if you want to communicate with a younger audience, you want to use their language. For example, I see Internet abbreviations creeping into the advertising language of my bank. Banks are notably conservative institutions; nevertheless, they are targeting a certain audience with a message like "student loans designed 4 u". Times are achanging. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JPike1028 Triglot Senior Member United States piketransitions Joined 5207 days ago 297 posts - 337 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Portuguese, Czech | Message 144 of 151 18 May 2010 at 7:53pm | IP Logged | ||
|
My favorite in English is "Where it goes?"
1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
