My mother insisted that I speak proper English, spell correctly, and use proper grammar. I have to remind you that my mother was the smartest person I ever knew. Because I am the oldest of 7 I was expected to excel in these areas.
As you may have noticed I do not use good punctuation. I do that on purpose to save time because my typing skills are bad.
I say all that because I have a few peeves about language usage.
First of all there is no 'x' in especially. There is no 'x' in asked. There is no 'x' in espresso. There is no 'x' in etcetera. You get the idea. I cringe when I hear words like these mispronounced.
Pronoun misuse is another peeve. I is used as a subject; me is used as an object. You and I are going to the store is correct. Would Harry like to go to the store with you and I is incorrect. Following a preposition you will use an object form of the pronoun. With you and me is correct.
If you are in doubt drop the first pronoun to see which one you will use. You would not say with I; you say with me.
I drive my family crazy correcting the television. The script writers should be learned enough to know the difference.
The end of my peeves for today. Stay healthy.
I loosely follow blogs these days. I've done some catching up with yours. I am so sorry about the health issues you have been dealing with. Getting older takes a lot of fortitude. I especially hate that your daughter has had to deal with breast cancer. I hope her chemo, radiation goes well. They have a lot more treatment today.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the South. Our speech might try your patience, lol. I taught in Canada for one year and every once in awhile I would catch a pronunciation that I needed to improve ASAP. One was the world boil. My pronunciation did not include the diphthong.
I actually like the color of regional accents and pronunciations. Saying boll instead of boil is pleasing to my ears.
DeleteLanguage is trash these days; especially with the self selection of identifying pronouns.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to bed last night I was plagued by thoughts of more peeves. I need to stop letting it bother me.
DeleteI'd have a Midwest accent if I were visiting home grounds . I'll visit Pike County, Illinois, sometime in July. Don't know when tossing cow chips happens there. Anyway, we are a family of teachers, and you can almost hear a collective scream when reading. Even on bulletin boards!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I was raised in Nebraska and now live in Iowa.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteEmma, I share your peeves. As for there being no X in the word ask, I noticed that even US Representative Bennie Thompson mispronounced the word. However Bennie Thompson is from Mississippi, a state in which I spent my first 37 years, and I don't think I ever once heard a black Mississippian pronounce the word ask without the X. Sword is another such word. Black Mississippians pronounce it sward. I don't why.
ReplyDeleteI also don't know why pronouns have become so misused. One of the contestants on Jeopardy! last week was an MD who twice said, "Me and my buddy went ___." If he had been a high school dropout, I would attributed his misuse to ignorance, but to what am I to attribute such mistakes when they're made by someone with 20-plus years of schooling? I get the idea that many people have simply concluded that as long as their meaning is clear, it makes no difference how they speak.