You've got another think coming???

But even then everything is subjective, so language is pointless.

 

Another one that annoys me is people saying "I can't be ASKED". :forehead:

 

You're pointless.

 

Yeah but so many people say it that it just means language has evolved and that's what it is now; don't be a language dinosaur.

 

Yet you replied. :biggrin:

 

Bubble's just done one on the Season Ticket thread.

 

I've heard people say "state of the ark", and "Donkeys years".

It should be Donkey ears, as rhyming slang for years, but it's evolved.

 

Yeah, I've heard 'state of the ark' too, which is quite funny because it implies the opposite of what is meant.

Donkey's years doesn't count because it's CRS and the point of that is that words don't mean what they say but an unassociated thing they rhyme with.
I'm making the rules here!

 

Here's another one, in Bristol I often hear the phrase 'where to', the first time I heard it I honestly had no idea what it meant. I understand it to now mean 'where is it' or something similar. Is 'where to' grammatically correct or just a phrase in the West Country?

 

I thing this thread is ****.

 

Yes, I concur.

Or is that wrong to?

 

That should be 'too'.

 

Well, who'd have thunk it.

 

Ha, a very interesting debate.

Personally I've always thought that is was "another thing coming", but to be honest I'm prepared to admit that I might be wrong. But to claim that anyone who thinks this is a ****** or doesn't understand English is just stupid.

Everyone grows up hearing phrases and understanding what they mean, but perhaps some people hear them differently. Some people feel compelled to go and look everything up in a dictionary, some don't. Over the course of history countless phrases have been changed in popular use, and retain their meaning regardless of whether they were the 'correct' original phrase or not. This in my mind is one of the amazing things about evolving language.

After all, if the Oxford English Dictionary was the be all and end all of the English language, it would never need updating would it?


Having said all of that it really frustrates me when the word "ask" is mispronounced as "arksed". I never said I was perfect.

 

My Mother wasn't taught how to speak in the Queens English until she was 10, before that it everyone spoke in a dialect. Of course the dialect returned immediately at the end of school, but the a foundation was built.

I don't know how English is taught these days but are the basic rules still drummed into kids or is text talk now accepted as the norm in the English language ?

 

Afanof, what should it be out of interest? (The one you pulled Bubble up for in the ST thread)

'Set foot' ?

 

Yes.

set foot on (or in) [often with negative] enter: go into; he hasn't set foot in the place since the war

 

It was the original poster who called those voting for the correct answer 'idiots'.

I don't feel compelled to look things up but if I'm going to have an argument on a public forum I will check the facts because I'm not arrogant enough to believe I can't be wrong.

The internet is full of absolute garbage where people assert the most erroneous nonsense with confidence and authority. Reliable sources online often have to be subscribed to or signed up for, so reaching for a book off the shelf is the easiest and most reliable way to check. Everyone should have an English dictionary and it is precisely BECAUSE the OED is updated that makes it a reliable arbiter of the language.

 

Whilst it was the original poster who said 'idiots' about one set of people, your comments above say the same thing about the other set don't they?

My comments apply equally to both sides.

 

I admit i was wrong.

 

No they don't. Your comment, " to claim that anyone who thinks this is a ****** or doesn't understand English is just stupid", can only apply to one side.

So, what are you? The pot calling the kettle black, or hoist with your own petard?

 

But that's precisely the point. Sure, some phrases get altered, sometimes by wit and sometimes by the complete lack of it, but what we are discussing here is a completely meaningless sentence.

If someone says to you "you've got another thing coming," what on earth do they mean? It is just noise and air coming out of their mouth.

Despite what Simms, with his 4 months of philosphical study might argue, the purpose of language is to communicate. When it ceases to do so, it becomes pointless. There is an element of today's society, mostly amongst the young, where speaking at length and effort without actually saying anything. This is because, unlike Birdy's mummy, they are not taught the value of language and how it works properly.

 

I mislead everyone when I said the Queens English , it was the Kings English, when the days were Black & White ( can you say that now ) and entertainment was an evening around the wireless.

 

Sorry for digging this one up again, but I've recently noticed people commonly saying "of an evening" instead of in an/the evening. Have also heard "of a weekend" instead of at a/the weekend.
I've heard this said quite a lot around the East End/Essex, but also from a well educated person from Ricky...
Does anyone know where this has come from? Not another silly Scott Mills ism is it?

 

I would put that down to a local dialect.

 

Where is it to? Where ya to?
Are South Western dialect goes from Brizzle down to Kernow

 

I live in Gloucestershire and I have to say I've never heard either of them used :biggrin:

'Where to?', occasionally, yeah

 

This sums up my entire feeling on the matter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iRN8iJDi_I&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[yt]5iRN8iJDi_I[/yt]

 

That annoys me. It's like they say, "so what've you been up to of an evening?". Nothing. But I've been up to something in the evening!!

 

This is quite OK.

"of" meaning to pertaining to or belonging to. Therefore, activities which are taken part in "of an evening" are the activities which belong or pertain to that space in time.

 

I don't think they would say it quite like that, the tense isn't right. "What do you get up to of an evening?" or " What is there to do of an evening?" is the same as "What do you get up to in the evenings?" (plural and general) or "What do you do in the evenings (plural and general)?" It does not refer to a specific evening.

I agree with moog, there is nothing wrong with it and it is commonly used, though probably a little dated.

 

Today I overheard ( ok I was being nosey ) today three old boys having a similar conversation to this thread.

One expression I use myself quite often is when someone asks you "how are you" I would say "I'm good thanks" , one of the men was saying that it doesn't make grammitical sense, but it is widely accepted.

I walked past him hoping he would say to me "Hi Doug, how are you" but he didn't, just did the nod of the head to each other as I walked bye.

 

I can see how it could make grammatical sense. Though I'd never use it myself.
I wonder why I thought it was "new" if it is so commonly used? The people I have heard using it are quite young too, so perhaps it is making a 'resurgence' due to some or other TV show.

 

To me, it sounds antiquated, but it seems to have gathered a new momentum.

One could imagine promenading along the cobblestones, courting with a young lady, of an evening, in the hope of stealing a kiss under the gas lamps.

 

You're such a romantic at heart.