Well, see, even if you don't like it, language is constantly evolving. So, deal with it. Word Nazi.

I liked the video on the 10th dimension, but this one is just kinda annoying. I agree with some of the obvious stuff, like "ax" instead of "ask" but really, who cares about "either"?

If you're going to go as far as to say that we shouldn't say "A whole 'nother apple" then shouldn't you be targeting the actual construction of that sentence? I mean, you wouldn't say "I want a whole other apple" because that sounds just as poor.

*nochannel *comedy *talks

I wonder if the grammar error in the phrase "things we say wrong" is intentional, because he never seemed to address it.

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OK. You're off base. This isn't about Linguistics. This is prescriptive grammar.

There's two basic sets of rules of language, prescriptive and descriptive. The first is standard grammar, where rules are given by the keepers of language in ivory towers; you must say it this way, not that way. The second type, the descriptive rules, look at how native speakers actually speak, and describe those rules without judgement. This field is called Linguistics. Linguistics is not at all concerned with how others perceive the language, or about what's officially correct or not.

What this guy is talking about is prescriptive rules of grammar, which has nothing to do with linguistics.

There's a saying in linguistics: "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy." This means that whichever variety of a language is spoken by those in power is perceived as the correct way, and other ways are considered wrong. Even the normal TV news anchor standard way of speaking English is full of silly things that don't exist in "strange" dialects.

Take Newfoundland, Canada. In a variety of English spoken there, it's correct to say I is, you is, he is, she is, we is, and they is. To us, this sounds uneducated, but it makes much more sense than I am, you are, etc.

Beyond everything else, he confuses "four" with "for" and "two" with "to" which are different words, and have similar pronunciations by coincidence. There are clear, logical rules for why "for" can be pronounced "fer" but "four" never is.

I thought he said 'Wong.'

As in:

"What's 'wong' wit dat?"

OK - I have to take this chap to task on this one: "I feel badly". To say that he "feels badly" is to say that he is not very good at feeling, which is unlikely to be what he means. He means that he feels bad, and no, that doesn't mean "I feel evil".

^ Wrong. I feel poorly means you're sick. I feel badly means you feel less than good(ly).

>> ^nibiyabi:
>> I wonder if the grammar error in the phrase "things we say wrong" is intentional, because he never seemed to address it.

I can't tell, but he does say "things we say correctly" at one point. My first instinct is that he wasn't trying to be ironic.




>> ^FlowersInHisHair:
>> OK - I have to take this chap to task on this one: "I feel badly".

Yes, he's trying to assume that only an adverb fits there. Saying "I feel sick" is a description of what a person feels, not how he/she feels it. He would probably look at someone oddly if they said "I feel exhaustedly".

Irregardless. Not a real word. Nuff said.

He didn't tackle the infamous 'off-ten'?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'what, you, ought, to, know, grammar, linguistics, language, english' to 'what you ought to know, grammar, spelling, linguistics, language, english' - edited by xxovercastxx

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