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Mistakes that irk you in your vernacular | ||
Tags: Colloquial Language | Error | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| nicozerpa Triglot Senior Member Argentina Joined 4119 days ago 182 posts - 315 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, Portuguese, English Studies: Italian, German | Message 25 of 73 19 June 2014 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Two Spanish expressions that bother me a lot: "Subir arriba" and "Bajar abajo". Subir means "to go up", and Bajar means "To go down". If the verbs already indicate where you re going, why do some people add the unnecessary prepositions "arriba" (up) and "abajo" (down)? As if it were possible "subir abajo" (to "climb downwards") or "bajar arriba" (to "descend upwards") :P
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| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4458 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 26 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Haha, people actually say "coup de grace" like "coup de gra?" Never knew that...
The only thing that really irks me is when people hypercorrect and then insist that their hypercorrection is the right version. Like "viri" or "virii" for the plural of "virus." Oh, and in French I think for a long time I failed to learn the proper gender of "(une) espèce" because saying "un espèce de [masculine noun]" seems to be somewhat common. :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| biagio Newbie Italy Joined 5001 days ago 26 posts - 33 votes Speaks: English | Message 27 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
A similar thing happens in Italian when they say "entrare dentro": "entrare" already means "to go in", so why add "dentro" (in)? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3875 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 28 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
What is the correct way to ask this? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4458 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 29 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:41pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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"Where are you?", I guess. "Where are you at?" sounds fine to me, just less formal. Interesting that tacking on a preposition makes it seem more colloquial.
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| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4702 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 30 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Mistakes with apostrophes really bother me. They are more common in the UK than in the USA, as far as I can tell. In the UK they call an apostrophe used in a plural word a "greengrocer's apostrophe", because it is common to see it on hand-drawn signs at grocery shops. For example: "strawberrie's 95p" (or even "strawberry's 95p"), "banana's 50p", etc. Luke's mistake is a bit more difficult to avoid, and I accidentally write "it's" when I meant to write "its" when I'm in a rush.
It should simply be, "Where are you?" The rule is that you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. This rule might just be one for sticklers, and there are probably perfectly good examples where it sounds fine. But in this instance, it is redundant. This reminds me of a joke:
I am aware that I have broken a "rule" in this post. You're not supposed to begin a sentence with "and" or "but". However, I tend to use "but" anyway just because I want to. The correct option is to use "however", but I think it sounds a bit too stuffy. I tend to alternate in this case. EDIT to explain "it's" versus "its". You only use the apostrophe for "it is" in this case. Edited by Jeffers on 19 June 2014 at 1:47pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5055 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 31 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:47pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Where are you? The "at" at the end is redundant. Slang/informal usage of the phrase is high in many areas. In New Orleans, locals are known as "yats" because they'll often say "Where y'at?". The "y" has a slight "ye" sound. "Where y'at?" is like a "secret handshake" almost a "shiboleth" amongst New Orlenians. I almost never hear the phrase here on-island except from people from New Orleans. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3875 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 32 of 73 19 June 2014 at 1:48pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I thought the kids these days say "Where you at" rather than "Where are you at". Edited by Gemuse on 19 June 2014 at 2:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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