New Weekly "off Topic" Topic No. 25 (23/07/12)

[MBOU]

I'm having to remember for all my assignments not to abbreviate anything. No e.g its got to be 'for example' and not 'there's' its got to be there is. And so on.. I never realised how much we really to abbreviate stuff when we type.

For me it is generally because I type so slowly and want to reply before ten other people do first

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I've heard some say peoples, which I never could understand if it works like "There are a lot of peoples". People seems to refer to a group of humans, saying that there are a lot of groups can imply the use of "peoples" would work. I am not sure on this one.

You are right Blast.... same applies to fish and fishes... and the other confusing one is sheep, which has no plural.... one sheep many sheep... (not sheeps as some South Africans would say).

 

[FishBlast]

I'm having to remember for all my assignments not to abbreviate anything. No e.g its got to be 'for example' and not 'there's' its got to be there is. And so on.. I never realised how much we really to abbreviate stuff when we type.

For me it is generally because I type so slowly and want to reply before ten other people do first

We still were allowed to abbreviate as "there's" or "I'm", but I've been told that when writing a book, it's better to use the non-abbreviated forms "there is", "I am" etc. I probably still break that rule though when writing (not entirely sure if I did or not). Though will use non-contracted words when characters speak formally, and use it abbreviated when they'd speak casually.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Wrong tense, should be 'There are a lot of people in the world', am I correct?

Almost got it Standby.... it should be as you say "There are a lot".... but it is not the tenses rule which applies (tenses being present or past), but it is the singular/plural rule.... more than one "are" and one "is".... This is the most common mistake made by South African English... the is and are (sometimes even get "I is")..... and then the tenses which is have, had, & has also cause confussion.

So are you referring to it as "There are a lot of persons" or "There are a lot of peoples" as in, multiple groups of persons? This is what I find confusing here. People = plural of persons, but it can be used as a singular to define 1 group, then if you have more groups, they are peoples.

No... you can still use the peoples, but that would be refering to many nations and the term people .... (as you said) will refer to the number of persons in the world.....

 

[FishBlast]

I've heard some say peoples, which I never could understand if it works like "There are a lot of peoples". People seems to refer to a group of humans, saying that there are a lot of groups can imply the use of "peoples" would work. I am not sure on this one.

You are right Blast.... same applies to fish and fishes... and the other confusing one is sheep, which has no plural.... one sheep many sheep... (not sheeps as some South Africans would say).

The "fish" and "fishes" kind of confuse me. I usually call one or more of these finned creatures FISH. But is FISHES used for more species?
The sheep part I know.
Another word that seems to give trouble to people: mouse. This one is used as singular: MOUSE. Plural: MICE. But you will hear some people say MOUSES. -.-

 

[MBOU]

Really 'cringeworthy'

But I fit into the the 'Berkshire/Home Counties' accent LOL and it slips from my sort of accent straight into a fairly poor example of Essex haha

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9q_vedO7w

 

[Ludwig Venter]

The "fish" and "fishes" kind of confuse me. I usually call one or more of these finned creatures FISH. But is FISHES used for more species?

Yes... exactly... that is how i recall.....

The sheep part I know.

Another word that seems to give trouble to people: mouse. This one is used as singular: MOUSE. Plural: MICE. But you will hear some people say MOUSES. -.-

Ha! Ha!.... yes!.... 1 house, but 2 houses and not Hice..... 1 Mouse and 2 Mice but not Mouses.... English sure is a fascinating language....

 

[MBOU]

I always found 'One goose but two geese' to be amusing and it always made me angry that it wasn't 'One moose but two meese'. I couldnt never get why that didnt work!

 

[FishBlast]

Really 'cringeworthy'

But I fit into the the 'Berkshire/Home Counties' accent LOL and it slips from my sort of accent straight into a fairly poor example of Essex haha

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9q_vedO7w

LOLED at most accents. The proper English is the one I speak, but what is this "posh" everybody keeps mentioning? LOL.
Also: LMAO wiggers mentioned. There sure are a lot of these wannabes in the world, including some friends of mine, but they're from America though.

I can't get that word out of my head... posh, POSH, POSH, POSH, POSH!

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I couldnt never get why that didnt work!

This is also great.... notice the double negative in your sentence above.....

 

[FishBlast]

I couldnt never get why that didnt work!

This is also great.... notice the double negative in your sentence above.....

Lol, there are a lot of these, even in media.
"I didn't do nothing" is another example.

 

[MBOU]

That was actually a typo/spelling mistake, was trying to write 'couldn't ever' but after having to correct the spelling when the two words ran together, i forgot to delete the 'n'.

Even my spelling is out to get me today!

 

[StandbySetting]

The "fish" and "fishes" kind of confuse me. I usually call one or more of these finned creatures FISH. But is FISHES used for more species?

Fish refers to either a single fish or a group of the same species, fishes refers to multiple species, though it is rarely used properly, I'd feel a bit of an idiot asking the store assistant: 'can I have some fishes please/'.

 

[fluttermoth]

I always feel a little bit conflicted on this subject!

On the one hand, I do try and use the best English I can and get irrationally annoyed at some things (grocer's apostrophes, people thinking words like 'corydoras' are plural just because they end in 's', your/you're, their/they're/there etc), although I always keep in mind that some people aren't native speakers, or might be dyslexic, and try very hard not to judge.

On the other hand, I appreciate that English is a living, dynamic language that is always changing its spelling and, especially, usage, and I see that as a good thing! I would hate for English to stop growing and changing, and slang and 'non-conformist' usages do help keep things moving.

I think it's a case of 'familiarity breeds contempt' with native English speakers; they just don't take the time to learn to use it properly. I do feel there's something amiss in the education system too though.

Just for instance, my eldest son has an old school friend (they're 23/24) that I know quite well and have as a friend on Facebook; this is an example of the posts I get from her, "Caiden toke his first bottle yesterday bless him so its lookin good now they said four me two ring up tuesday and see if they have any beds four me so i can cear four caiden in hospital till he comes home cant wait two have him home x x"



And I think; you managed to get through school like that?!!!

My fifteen year old, in contrast, is home educated and was asking me yesterday how to use apostrophes for plural possessives correctly! He also uses 'may I?' rather than 'can I?' and 'only' properly, which makes my heart swell with pride

 

[FishBlast]

I always feel a little bit conflicted on this subject!

On the one hand, I do try and use the best English I can and get irrationally annoyed at some things (grocer's apostrophes, people thinking words like 'corydoras' are plural just because they end in 's', your/you're, their/they're/there etc), although I always keep in mind that some people aren't native speakers, or might be dyslexic, and try very hard not to judge.

On the other hand, I appreciate that English is a living, dynamic language that is always changing its spelling and, especially, usage, and I see that as a good thing! I would hate for English to stop growing and changing, and slang and 'non-conformist' usages do help keep things moving.

I think it's a case of 'familiarity breeds contempt' with native English speakers; they just don't take the time to learn to use it properly. I do feel there's something amiss in the education system too though.

Just for instance, my eldest son has an old school friend (they're 23/24) that I know quite well and have as a friend on Facebook; this is an example of the posts I get from her, "Caiden toke his first bottle yesterday bless him so its lookin good now they said four me two ring up tuesday and see if they have any beds four me so i can cear four caiden in hospital till he comes home cant wait two have him home x x"



And I think; you managed to get through school like that?!!!

My fifteen year old, in contrast, is home educated and was asking me yesterday how to use apostrophes for plural possessives correctly! He also uses 'may I?' rather than 'can I?' and 'only' properly, which makes my heart swell with pride

Lol, that facebook status sounds like how my friend Travis types. But he's a football player and cage fighter, not like he uses language over muscle. lol.

Sometimes, kids learn at home better than at school. English classes weren't taken too serious in high school here. They were a bit more serious in school though, but still, I already knew how to speak and even write a bit, and when I was in 2nd grade, my teacher was amazed. (that's when we began the English classes).