[quino_16]

(09-13-2014 04:38 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

(09-13-2014 06:29 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

One mark of an educated person is knowing your homonyms and using the right word.

I can't help it, when I see mistakes in these words, I discount the writer's intelligence.

Using the right word in a phrase is an indication of education.

I very much agree, but with one large caveat: those born in the '80s and later may not have been taught English grammar, even if they otherwise received a good education. The reason is that during the '90s, educators in the English-speaking world came up with the moronic idea that children would simply "pick up" grammar by reading, writing and speaking the language.

Nailed it.

I went through middle school and high school in the 00's, and the majority of my English teachers rarely taught anything about grammar. The ones who did would only glance through it for a day at most. I only remember taking one grammar quiz in high school - that's how shitty modern education is.

Quote:


It wouldn't surprise me at all if that change was caused by Feminism; i.e., women taking leadership roles in education establishments and then working to reduce the technical aspects of the curriculum to make it easier for females.

If my memory is right, I recall Orwell saying that those who control language, control thought. It is not surprising then, that they are using this strategy to brainwash everyone for their own agenda.

[RexImperator]

playa/playa

One is a "player" and the other is a dry lake or beach.

(^^^Technically those are homographs...)

[Sp5]

(09-14-2014 04:51 PM)quino_16 Wrote:  

(09-13-2014 04:38 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

(09-13-2014 06:29 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

One mark of an educated person is knowing your homonyms and using the right word.

I can't help it, when I see mistakes in these words, I discount the writer's intelligence.

Using the right word in a phrase is an indication of education.

I very much agree, but with one large caveat: those born in the '80s and later may not have been taught English grammar, even if they otherwise received a good education. The reason is that during the '90s, educators in the English-speaking world came up with the moronic idea that children would simply "pick up" grammar by reading, writing and speaking the language.

Nailed it.

I went through middle school and high school in the 00's, and the majority of my English teachers rarely taught anything about grammar. The ones who did would only glance through it for a day at most. I only remember taking one grammar quiz in high school - that's how shitty modern education is.

Quote:


It wouldn't surprise me at all if that change was caused by Feminism; i.e., women taking leadership roles in education establishments and then working to reduce the technical aspects of the curriculum to make it easier for females.

If my memory is right, I recall Orwell saying that those who control language, control thought. It is not surprising then, that they are using this strategy to brainwash everyone for their own agenda.

I don't buy the "I was poorly educated" excuse.

You can read whatever you want on your own. If you read on your own, you learn words. That's the issue - homonym mistakes are a mark of being poorly read.

read / red / reed

[Feisbook Control]

These are not homonyms, but they're still pet peeves:

I should have went.
"Teached" and other incorrectly conjugated past tense verbs.
"Less" for countable nouns. For example, "I have less apples than him." It should be "fewer apples". Less is for things you can't count. For example, "I have less water than him."
Adjectives used instead of adverbs. For example, "think different" or "I hope you do good on your exam."
Plural nouns that shouldn't have an "s" at the end. People generally seem to have problems with the words "criterion" and "criteria". I hear "one criteria" or "two criterions" frequently.
"Some" used in questions instead of "any". For example, "Did you catch some fish?"

This is perhaps my greatest pet peeve, and I hear it all the time from Americans under the age of 40 (older Americans don't tend to say it), including on television or in movies; it's even taught in Taiwanese schools as being correct:

John: I don't like apples.
Sam: Me too.

Sally: What are you doing this afternoon?
Lucy: Me and Amy are going to the park.

Also, although acceptable in American English, I dislike the American usage of license as a noun and practice as a verb because they look really strange when compared to other words. Americans also tend to avoid the perfect tense most of the time. For example, "I just ate" instead of "I have just eaten". I find the substitution of the simple for the perfect quite jarring.

Is "hung" (for a person who has been executed, not clothes) acceptable in Standard American English? I have encountered that relatively often.

Now I'll have a whine about Australian English. I can't stand how many Australians say "bought" for both bought and brought. For example, "I bought those books over for you." It drives me up the wall. I once heard Kerry O'Brien on the ABC (the national broadcaster) say it and nearly had a fit.

There are also a couple of strange phenomena creeping into English that I don't think used to exist. The first is the word order in negative statements. I hear "I don't know what time is it" quite frequently now. Another is the incorrect placement of adverbs in sentences containing an auxiliary verb. I hear things like "I often don't go to the park" quite frequently now, but I've only noticed a dramatic increase in this structure in the past couple of years.

[Saweeep]

Licence/license

[Bad Hussar]

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

To.

To Who?

Surely you mean "To Whom"?

[Sp5]

One I look up to check before using everytime:

imminent / immanent

[quino_16]

(09-15-2014 01:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

I don't buy the "I was poorly educated" excuse.

You can read whatever you want on your own. If you read on your own, you learn words. That's the issue - homonym mistakes are a mark of being poorly read.

read / red / reed

My post wasn't meant to be interrupted as an excuse.

Instead, it was meant to provide an example to the lack of grammar being taught in today's schools. Of course, this is just a symptom of the actual problem, namely the decline of intellectual rigor in modern education.

root/route

[Barry Scrotada]

ordnance / ordinance

Ok I admit that one is not common.

[Sombro]

(09-15-2014 06:19 AM)Feisbook Control Wrote:  

These are not homonyms, but they're still pet peeves:

I should have went.
"Teached" and other incorrectly conjugated past tense verbs.
"Less" for countable nouns. For example, "I have less apples than him." It should be "fewer apples". Less is for things you can't count. For example, "I have less water than him."
Adjectives used instead of adverbs. For example, "think different" or "I hope you do good on your exam."
Plural nouns that shouldn't have an "s" at the end. People generally seem to have problems with the words "criterion" and "criteria". I hear "one criteria" or "two criterions" frequently.
"Some" used in questions instead of "any". For example, "Did you catch some fish?"

This is perhaps my greatest pet peeve, and I hear it all the time from Americans under the age of 40 (older Americans don't tend to say it), including on television or in movies; it's even taught in Taiwanese schools as being correct:

John: I don't like apples.
Sam: Me too.

Sally: What are you doing this afternoon?
Lucy: Me and Amy are going to the park.

Also, although acceptable in American English, I dislike the American usage of license as a noun and practice as a verb because they look really strange when compared to other words. Americans also tend to avoid the perfect tense most of the time. For example, "I just ate" instead of "I have just eaten". I find the substitution of the simple for the perfect quite jarring.

Is "hung" (for a person who has been executed, not clothes) acceptable in Standard American English? I have encountered that relatively often.

Now I'll have a whine about Australian English. I can't stand how many Australians say "bought" for both bought and brought. For example, "I bought those books over for you." It drives me up the wall. I once heard Kerry O'Brien on the ABC (the national broadcaster) say it and nearly had a fit.

There are also a couple of strange phenomena creeping into English that I don't think used to exist. The first is the word order in negative statements. I hear "I don't know what time is it" quite frequently now. Another is the incorrect placement of adverbs in sentences containing an auxiliary verb. I hear things like "I often don't go to the park" quite frequently now, but I've only noticed a dramatic increase in this structure in the past couple of years.

Good points. But I'm rather loath to criticize people's vernacular -- usage varies geographically, of course, and also within context, i.e. co-workers all speak properly, but outside of work in a less formal setting, all start sliding into dialects. (Involuntary "code switching"? Must look that up.)
Being in the South in the US, I probably overuse "got" in place of "have."

As for the printed word, though, I am a stickler about proper usage.

[Meganitix]

Excellent thread!

with regard/with regards - not exactly interchangeable

with regard = with reference to/in terms of/pertaining to

with (my best) regards to... = I would like to express (my best) wishes to....

Also:

bore/boar

[richler]

tenet/tenant.

[Sp5]

Just saw another one

white / Wight

Someone wrote "Isle of White" in a YouTube comment

[Sp5]

apposite / opposite or apposition / opposition

sound alike but are almost antonyms

[Windom Earle]

paid/payed

inquiry/enquiry

break/brake

heresy/hearsay

judgment/judgement

flawed/floored

Illicit/elicit

piece/peace

deviate/deviant

cast/caste

need/knead/kneed

wreak/wreck/reek

[turuk]

There/Their

Defence/Defense

Counsil/Counsel

[Windom Earle]

(09-21-2014 05:32 AM)turuk Wrote:  

Defence/Defense

These are variations in spelling, i.e. check/cheque.

They mean the same thing, but are spelled (spelt? haha) differently according to the country in which you hail from.

(09-21-2014 05:32 AM)turuk Wrote:  

Counsil/Counsel

Also, counsil is not a word.

[Sp5]

(09-21-2014 04:48 AM)Windom Earle Wrote:  

judgment/judgement

flawed/floored

Illicit/elicit

piece/peace

deviate/deviant

cast/caste

need/knead/kneed

wreak/wreck/reek

Great list, but isn't judgment / judgement a spelling variation, too?

[Windom Earle]

(09-21-2014 06:02 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

Great list, but isn't judgment / judgement a spelling variation, too?

Judgment, at least in Australia, is predominantly utilised in a legal context.

Judgement tends to be reserved for usage when quantifying an attribute i.e. display good judgement.

[Sp5]

(09-21-2014 06:39 AM)Windom Earle Wrote:  

(09-21-2014 06:02 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

Great list, but isn't judgment / judgement a spelling variation, too?

Judgment, at least in Australia, is predominantly utilised in a legal context.

Judgement tends to be reserved for usage when quantifying an attribute i.e. display good judgement.

OK, in the USA, judgment is the usual spelling for all uses of the word.

[Sp5]

catch / ketch / cache / cash / caché

(the last not much of a homonym, pronounced "ca - shay")

[Moma]

(09-15-2014 01:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

I don't buy the "I was poorly educated" excuse.

You can read whatever you want on your own. If you read on your own, you learn words. That's the issue - homonym mistakes are a mark of being poorly read.

read / red / reed

What do you recommend for those who reside in America to maintain their grammar and vocabulary? Do you have any good talk shows/discussions or books etc that you can recommend?

[Brodiaga]

(09-15-2014 09:27 AM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  

Licence/license

What is the difference?

[Sp5]

(09-21-2014 12:08 PM)Moma Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 01:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

I don't buy the "I was poorly educated" excuse.

You can read whatever you want on your own. If you read on your own, you learn words. That's the issue - homonym mistakes are a mark of being poorly read.

read / red / reed

What do you recommend for those who reside in America to maintain their grammar and vocabulary? Do you have any good talk shows/discussions or books etc that you can recommend?

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, Gowers's The Complete Plain Words, any used high school grammar book.

Read what you like, fiction, non-fiction. As long as it's adult level, you'll get a better sense of language. My best teacher in high school used to push us to read thrillers from Alistair MacLean and others and science fiction.

There are plenty of smart writers in paperbacks, take George Martin and Stephen King for example.

If you're interested in a non-fiction subject, read about it. History, finance, science, there are plenty of good writers.

Just read a lot.

(09-21-2014 12:35 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 09:27 AM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  

Licence/license

What is the difference?

I don't think there is a difference, it's just another British / American distinction, like defence / defense.

Like all of the colour / color / favor / favour words, and the -ise / ize words (example of a word with two variations: glamourize / glamorize).

[buja]

border / boarder

(I see this in the Travel forum occasionally).