What are your pet peeves re English usage?

McTag wrote:

Setanta wrote:
That is something i've wondered about McT--because it is really bad form here, and others would likely take you to task for it if you did it habitually.

Yes. Here at least you would lose your audience; or lose a friend, or get a knuckle sandwich, depending on circumstances.

It's the same everywhere, McTag. People know intuitively that those who correct, all too often, have no idea what they're talking about.

There is no rule, save for a false one that demands we use 'the' before a consonant, and 'thee' before a vowel.

'thee' is the strong form, 'the' has at least two weak forms. 'thee' is used to describe the ultimate, consonant or not.

I'm gonna take you to a place where they make thee hamburger.

There are a number of reasons for choosing one form over the other and even if the tendency is to choose as the traditional rules states, it's only a phonological preponderance, not a cast in stone edict.

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McTag wrote:

It makes me smile when someone starts with "with all due respect" and then proceeds to say or write something exeedingly disrespectful.

It's impossible for the truth to be disrespectful, McTag! Sometimes the truth hurts. As intelligent as Set seems to be, he really doesn't have a very good grasp of these language issues and he seems to delight in hauling this out every once in a while and parading it about.

JTT, haven't all your posts concluded essentially that "if people say it, it's all right as a valid form of English"? (Which I disagree with.) Maybe I haven't been paying attention. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Okay, consider yourself corrected, Sire.

I've never said that everything that people say or write is correct. I've often said that the vast majority of the pet peeves, which are simply recycled old wives tales, inaccurately malign aspects of language that are perfectly correct and perfectly grammatical.

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I have to agree with JTT on the the/thee controversy. I, too, dimly recall being taught that distinction at a young age. But it really seems to be no more than someone's pet idea of how to speak 'properly.' Saying 'thee' seems to be more of a case of putting vocal emphasis on the word being modified. It would generally be italicized in a printed text to indicate this pronunciation. Few people observe the distinction in spoken English any more and that's all to the good, say I.

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Our need to use it would be on the top of my list.

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Merry Andrew wrote:

Few people observe the distinction in spoken English any more and that's all to the good, say I.

I was taught so, used it my life long ... ... ... and I'll stuck to it.

(Okay, will try to forget it for the next 14 days ... ... ... :wink:)

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

Merry Andrew wrote:
Few people observe the distinction in spoken English any more and that's all to the good, say I.

I was taught so, used it my life long ... ... ... and I'll stuck to it.

(Okay, will try to forget it for the next 14 days ... ... ... :wink:)

That's why we foreigners sound so strange when we speak German, Walter, 'cause we follow old wives tales instead of the natural rules of German. :wink: :wink:

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To say a phrase like "the old lamplighter" without uttering "thee" is to require a glottal stop. This has nothing to do with emphasis. It's simply easier.

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Merry Andrew wrote:

Saying 'thee' seems to be more of a case of putting vocal emphasis on the word being modified. It would generally be italicized in a printed text to indicate this pronunciation.

Respectfully disagree

Quote:

Few people observe the distinction in spoken English any more and .....

Up here where English is spoke good, it's the standard form. It's not old-fashioned at all, and will not become so IMO (here or elsewhere), because as stated before, it's easier to say that way.

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McTag, I agree with you in such constructions as "the old lamplighter." It does, indeed, roll more nimbly off the tongue as "thee." My point, really, was that there should be no set rule on this, that vowel or consonant have little to do with it. It is a matter of ease of pronunciation. If it sounds right, it probably is right. It's one of those cases that should not be 'legislated' by self-appointed language experts. I feel much the same way about using 'an' in front of an H. It makes perfect sense as a modifier for a word like 'historical', where the 'h' is largely silent as pronounced by most people. But (again IMHO) there's no reason not to say "a hotel lobby" inasmuch as the 'h' in 'hotel' is usually pronounced quite clearly.

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I bet each and every one of you DOES observe the distinction, without ever realising you do it! It is simply easier to say.

When I had to learn to transcribe what people were saying in phonetics, everyone I listened to did it quite instinctively, though almost nobody realised they were doing so, and, if asked, believed they siad "thee".

Mostly, we use 'thee' before vowels only if we are wishing to be very emphatic.

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Did you mean "before consonants"? Embarrassed

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Yes, damn your black, pedantic heart!!!!

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dlowan wrote:

Yes, damn your black, pedantic heart!!!!

Just trying to be helpful. Embarrassed

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dlowan wrote:

Yes, damn your black, pedantic heart!!!!

My heart is light, airy, cheerful and happy.

And if I can help anyone else as I stroll along life's highway..... :wink:

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Would you not prefer, in your black, pedantic heart, McT, to speak English well, rather than to speak English good?

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Setanta wrote:

Would you not prefer, in your black, pedantic heart, McT, to speak English well, rather than to speak English good?

Indubitably. Shoorly you did not miss the tongue-in-cheek intention?

Not that I'm above making mistakes, of course (as I'm continually reminded here :wink: )

Now here's one: can you say, without looking this up, what the difference in meaning is between continually and continuously?

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How about the lack of English usage, as in the spanish version of the U.S. National Anthem? More that just a peeve.... Evil or Very Mad

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That would not be a "peeve," however, with the English language.

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Not sure about that one...there must be a need?

BTW how else should they sing it in El Paso, La Jolla, Sacramento or Los Angeles? :wink:

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Obviously, McT, making mistakes is not a continuous occupation of yours, as people continually point out...

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What are your pet peeves re English usage?

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