We’ve all heard them: the horrible faux pas uttered by the ignoramuses who plague we, the learned. It’s baffling how one cannot speak one’s own native tongue, particularly those monosyllabic words that infants can master that still provide consternation for some adults. Perhaps it’s Sharon in Payroll who errs on a regular basis, each time her mispronunciation grating on you like a block of parmesan cheese. Maybe it’s your dear friend, Clarence, who you’ve known for an eternity and it would be rude for you mention it at such an advanced stage in your friendship. Or maybe it’s every Thomas, Richard and Henry whose bastardisation of the English language irks you to the point of contempt.
Well, fear not! We’ve taken the hard part out for you and with our new “Grammar 101″ series, you can harness the power of social media and the invasive nature of Facebook and like this post for it to show up in your feed, ready for your foolhardy associates to be enlightened to their erroneous ways. You can even nominate words that irritate you and require clarification by leaving them in the comments below. Arise, intelligentsia!
Our first word of the series is ask, which so many seem to have difficultly in mastering. It is not a flotilla of nautical animal transport, nor is it a tool you chop a tree down with—why is it so hard?
You’re welcome to nominate words requiring clarification. Please leave your comments below.
Rob Moyle
7 months ago
Excellent! Sometime in the future maybe we could see some little lessons (pretty pictures and all) on:
- The difference between “then” and “than”
- How to pronounce “-ing” words as opposed to “-ink” words
- Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve… I should of mentioned this earlier…
Agony Uncle
7 months ago
Great! Thanks for your feedback, Rob. We’ll add these to the list. And don’t you mean ‘should have’?
Rob Moyle
7 months ago
I would’ve thought that it was clear I was being “clever” there! In retrospect I should have highlighted “of” somehow!
Tuppy Glossop
7 months ago
I would queston the ‘r’ in ar-sk. I manage quite well with just plain ‘ask’.
On another tangent, have you noticed how the English seem to have forgotten how to pronounce ‘oo’ as in ‘book’? They seem to have adopted a sort of strangulated ‘beuk’ or ‘boek’ sound. I am not sure where it comes from; perhaps some regional dialect has escaped into the mainstream.
I know that the language is always evolving, but some things just won’t do.
Agony Uncle
7 months ago
Hello Tuppy
The reason we used the ‘r’ was to illustrate that we favour the British English pronunciation as opposed to the American.
Yes, it is odd and mildy unsettling. Eww to ‘beuk’!
Nicole
7 months ago
May I also ask for a their/there/they’re definition:
And also some of those clever poems our grandparents used to recite to remember grammar rules. “i before e except after c, or in cases like a as in neighbour and weigh”
anne
7 months ago
Agony Uncle,I often hear YOUR’VE in voice mail messages, eg. your’ve ‘phoned blah blah. Fix that one please.
Also the usage of YOUR instead of the correct you’re. eg. your going to like this …. Another one for the fix-it.
Oh, I can hear all those female sheep. EWES instead of you. No such word as yous or youse!!
Good luck with your endeavour!
Agony Uncle
7 months ago
Yes, there’ll all terrible and yes, ‘youse’ must be eradicated.
Evie
7 months ago
Please do a refresher course on the use of ‘a lot’, not ‘alot’!! Seems to be quite a tricky concept for some!
Evie
7 months ago
oh and bought and brought!
Agony Uncle
7 months ago
We did this one last week—very important!
http://idobelieveicamewithahat.com/2011/10/grammar-101-brought-vs-bought/