# All things spelling, grammar, and word use **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290 "2008-09-26T04:59:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/21 "2008-09-28T00:41:43Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > When did “I’m like…” or “I was like…” come to mean “I said”, “I thought”? I think I first noticed it \*en masse \*around 2000 when I was between jobs and watched a lot of daytime tv and happened to tune in to Rosie O’Dognell, who used it, like, a lot (which is, like, another matter). Well, _Valley Girl_ came out in 1983, and they didn’t just make it up out of thin air, so I’d guess people have been saying this at least as far back as the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/22 "2008-09-28T00:57:28Z")
delete duplicate ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/23 "2008-09-28T00:59:17Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > “Drum” is a Germanic word, so it’s irrelevant here. I prefer “forums” myself, but “fora” is not wrong. With English words derived from Latin, there’s a continuum from those that almost always have the Latin plural (the plural of “genus” is “genera”, and I’ve never seen “genuses”) to those that should just have the English plural (the plural of “campus” is “campuses”, partly because the Latin plural is not “campa”). “Forum” is one of the words that is part way along this continuum. Sorry, I don’t agree at all. I was giving examples of Englis words ending in -um. The fact that you can construct the plural only by knowing the origin of each word shows me that your system is incorrect. There is no need to complicate English by using rules from other languages depending on where the word came from. Latin plurals should disappear from our language, making it easier to teach and learn. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/24 "2008-09-28T01:15:45Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > **It’s** is _it is_ and nothing else. It’s often been used as a contraction of “it has”, too. > [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > if you can add more information in the same number of syllables, why not? By that logic, one could come up with a word like, I don’t know, “Actrin”, meaning an African American actor, and claim that it is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/25 "2008-09-28T02:53:45Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > If someone says “I could care less”, then they do care a little. > > If you say “I couldn’t care less” means you do not care at all. > > Its irrefutable. I don’t doubt that you sincerely believe that. However, it is at odds with the facts. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/26 "2008-09-28T16:12:56Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > It’s often been used as a contraction of “it has”, too. > By that logic, one could come up with a word like, I don’t know, “Actrin”, meaning an African American actor, and claim that it is acceptable. Of _course_ it isn’t acceptable. The word you’re looking for is “blacktor.” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/27 "2008-09-28T16:21:30Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > It’s often been used as a contraction of “it has”, too. Can you give an example? This sounds British to me; I don’t think I’ve ever heard it in the US, though maybe an example would jog my memory. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/28 "2008-09-28T16:22:20Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Can you give an example? This sounds British to me; I don’t think I’ve ever heard it in the US, though maybe an example would jog my memory. It’s been my experience that “it’s” can mean “it has.” 😃 ETA: The post you quoted used it as “it has,” just as mine did. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/29 "2008-09-28T16:24:53Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Can you give an example? This sounds British to me; I don’t think I’ve ever heard it in the US, though maybe an example would jog my memory. [Respectfully submitted for your perusal](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ2O_YxkUE4) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/30 "2008-09-28T17:38:10Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > It’s been my experience that “it’s” can mean “it has.” 😃 > > ETA: The post you quoted used it as “it has,” just as mine did. See, I must’ve known this subconsciously, because I kind of knew it would make sense when I saw an example :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/31 "2008-09-29T09:34:58Z")
Please add a spell-checker to your toolbar, and USE it. Please! It can’t catch correctly spelled words in the wrong usage, but it at least shows you maybe TRIED. **Definately** is **definitely** not right and I’ve seen it in several posts just today. It irks me to no end! AARGH! Okay. I feel better. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/32 "2008-09-29T12:57:52Z")
There are plenty of things people say that are flat-out wrong, but I won’t go into them here because it would take all day. Instead, I’m using today’s ration of bile on people who insist on using baroque, Edwardian spelling and/or word variants like _spelt_ and _whilst_. Like it or not, folks, you’re living in McDonaldland, and saying “I saw Anthony Rapp whilst I was in line to get tickets to _Rent_” just makes you sound twee. They may be in the dictionary and therefore technically correct, but we all know that “the dictionary” (as if there were only one) is like a wimpy kid that will go along with anything if enough people get in his face about it. Just because “the dictionary” says you _can_ use a word a given way doesn’t mean you should, if you don’t want people to think you’re an emo-haired effete high-school freshman who writes with a quill pen. “Spelt” is a kind of grain. Say “spelled” like a normal person. (related) and for the love of Mike, will you all PLEASE stop saying “whinge” when you mean “whine”? ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/33 "2008-09-29T13:01:54Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Language, **especially English** is highly open to interpretation; Bolding mine. I hope this does not constitute a hijack and if it does, I apologize, but what makes you say that English is special and somehow unlike other languages in this respect? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/34 "2008-09-29T13:02:10Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Sorry, I don’t agree at all. > > I was giving examples of Englis words ending in -um. > The fact that you can construct the plural only by knowing the origin of each word shows me that your system is incorrect. > > There is no need to complicate English by using rules from other languages depending on where the word came from. > Latin plurals should disappear from our language, making it easier to teach and learn. What about irregular Germanic plurals? Why not say “childs”, “gooses”, “mans”, “mouses”, “womans”, etc.? THat would make English easier to learn, especially when you have to work out the plurals of words like “mongoose”, “shaman” and “Walkman”. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/35 "2008-09-29T13:20:30Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > When did “I’m like…” or “I was like…” come to mean “I said”, “I thought”? I think I first noticed it \*en masse \*around 2000 when I was between jobs and watched a lot of daytime tv and happened to tune in to Rosie O’Dognell, who used it, like, a lot (which is, like, another matter). “I’m like” and “I said” are not completely equivalent. If you say “I said” you are required to accurately tell the words that you said. If you say “I’m like” you are required to accurately reproduce the words you said, with their original intonation and any pertinent body language. At least that’s my take on it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/36 "2008-09-29T13:56:34Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I find it funny watching some on the dope twist their sentences around in stilted and awkward ways to avoid splitting infinitives or ending sentences with prepositions, as if a fist on a spring would boing out from their monitors to punch them in their faces if they fail to follow ridiculous prescriptivism that had nothing to do with English in the first place. I guess so, but it’s tough to see everything deteriorate around you and not try to preserve something yourself. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/37 "2008-09-29T13:57:31Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Ever noticed that no one can say drink the Kool-Aid around here without someone pointing out that it was Flavor-Aid? So the saying is Kool-Aid and the stuff was Flavor-Aid. Which one should we say?. Kool-Aid. The phrase trumps the facts, as it always does in language. Re plurals: The origin of the word is irrelevant. Some words take plurals from the Latin; others follow Germanic rules; others follow Old English, and still others follow English. It’s the speakers who decide. The same for the King Canutes who insist that “data” is plural because the Latin is plural, but have no problem with using “agenda” as singular. “Data” is a collective noun meaning “information,” and should be treated that way, no matter where it comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/38 "2008-09-29T14:21:11Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I guess so, but it’s tough to see everything deteriorate around you and not try to preserve something yourself. Every day I lose 30 to 40,000 skin cells. You’d think after 26 years I’d have fallen apart by now! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/39 "2008-09-29T14:46:51Z")
I agree with actor–after all, many female actors are members of the Screen Actors Guild. However, anyone who calls me a “man” because “man” means “a human being” is lookng for a fight. As long as “people” and “person” are words, there is no need to use the false generic of “man.” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290/40 "2008-09-29T14:47:09Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I guess so, but it’s tough to see everything deteriorate around you and not try to preserve something yourself. But that’s trying to “preserve” something that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. English isn’t Latin. It hasn’t ever had the same rules as Latin and sticking Latin rules on English doesn’t make sense. Even if it makes sense to insist on certain rules (it doesn’t), it can’t make sense to import Latin rules into the English language and then contort sentences around to fit. That’s not preserving something that’s deteriorating; that’s imposing goofy rules for the sake of goofy rules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-spelling-grammar-and-word-use/465290.md?page=3)