And by the way, the title of this thread reminds me of one of Stephen Wright’s jokes:
“Yeah, I had to go to the eye doctor the other day. I was speed-reading and hit a bookmark.”
Thank yuh, thank yuh verah much…
CanvasShoes, I’m sure they are taught correctly. But language patterns are formed early. If children learned it from family members, they may continue to use it. Much depends on what is required of them.
My father continued to use taken’d instead of took all of his life. He was well-read, but the habits of childhood, the lack of a disciplining higher education and a lifetime spent in a rural area never made the connection for him – even though he knew better. I think that I read somewhere that that usage came from Scotland, but I’m not sure of that. If anyone knows the origin of its use, I am interested.
Yes, we use that in budgeting discussions frequently. But, if it saves your sanity…
You’ll notice that the word “costed” is followed by “out”??? I’ve never seen it used in that way (that is, referring to budgeting), without the “out” part, or some other jargon-like “qualifyer” with it.
Starving Artist, I guess that depends on what the meaning of id id.
Snort!
Snerk!
Re: cost and costed.
“The item cost four pounds” is correct.
“We have costed the work and found it will cost four million pounds” is also correct.
Different verbs, not interchangeable.
Or, “For all intensive purposes”.
I understand what you mean about the ‘hads’ but what I really object to in this sentence is the use of ‘myself’ when it should be ‘me.’
I see (and hear) that all the time and it drives me crazy. People use ‘myself’ in place of ‘me’ because they think it sounds better, but it’s just wrong.
“If you have any questions, please contact Sally, Jane or myself.”
NO! If should be, “… please contact Sally, Jane or me.”
Actually, now that I’ve read it again, the sentence I quoted should read, “… our neighbor had went and yelled’ “Knock it off!” to us.”
I got stuck on the use of ‘myself’ and skipped over the awkward use of 'him and myself."
THANK YOU!!! This has to be one of the most irritating things I’ve ever seen. And the worst part about it is that people who use “myself” in this manner always think they sound educated. When in fact they really just sound stupid.
And the word “me” is NOT always wrong, people! I just HATE it when someone uses the word “I” incorrectly, as in “Mary brought the reports to Jack and I to proofread.” If you wouldn’t use “I” by itself (“Mary brought the reports to I”–wrong!), then you don’t use it in a compound sentence!
It’s truly distressing how prevalent bad grammar is. I’m going to die young from a heart attack or stroke induced by bad grammar, I just know it. I spend my days suppressing screams.
A few that make me want to blow chunks:
“Surveille” as the verb form of surveillance. There’s no such word as “surveille,” you dolt. The verb is survey.
“For free.” No, it’s just “free.”
“Conversate.” 'Nuff said.
Eats, shoots & leaves.
Great book! Should be mandatory reading.
I also recommend “Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English,” by Patricia O’Connor.
“If I’d’a saw that, it wouldn’a ran.” - My Boss
Yes, we are in the South.
He has a sign over his desk: Some people lead, some follow, which are you!
Drives me nuts.
Maybe they are all dyslexic 
No, seriously, I am and I have in addition to that no clue about English… Yet when it comes to the poor spelling and what I call “feeling” for the language and its grammar rules displayed by people born into the language: It is even for me visible enough and something that leaves me with questions about the standards for language skills in the education system.
I mean: For a country where children only need to learn one language - this at least during the years of basic education - it is in my view the quality of this language education that should be questioned first of all. (Not those who are the victim of it.)
Salaam. A
Bah. “Parentheses” always sounded so… pretentious, especially when discussing programming. We alwaus use the logical way of referring to the ()<>{} characters: “round bracket”, “square bracket”, “angle bracket”, “curly bracket”… Besides, isn’t saying “parens” IBM-style easier?
[QUOTE=Terrorcotta
He has a sign over his desk: Some people lead, some follow, which are you!
[/QUOTE]
Wow, I actually felt another hair turn gray when I read that. I assume he made the sign himself, though it wouldn’t surprise me if it were mass produced.
What can you say to someone that clueless? That’s the worst thing about grammar butchers–they think they’re perfectly right, and no amount of explanation or reasoning can get through to them. When you offer an alternative construction, they still think it sounds wrong and their way sounds right. And forget about getting into technical grammar-related jargon about clauses, modifiers, etc.; they just look at you like you’re nuts.
I still don’t have the hang of quoting. 
[Phoebe]Wow - I just got that![/Phoebe]
I first read it as meaning “Some people lead; some – which are you – follow”.
See - bad grammar gets in the way of reading comprehension.
What does - the steering wheel on your pants? 
Is “orientate” actually a word in any language?