• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Several days until I attend my next meeting of Pedants Anonymous

Hotshot-Tottenham said:
Roland, you'll like this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11642588
Click to expand...

Very interesting. It is, as I feared ...

Haytch is a standard pronunciation in Irish English and is increasingly being used by native English-speaking people all across the country, irrespective of geographical provenance or social standing. Polls have shown that the uptake of haytch by younger native speakers is on the rise. Schoolchildren repeatedly being told not to drop Hs may cause them to hyper-correct and insert them where they don't exist.

Jo Kim

BBC Pronunciation Unit

I had heard that in Ireland the aitch/haitch pronunciation was a clue as to religious upbringing, but that could just be a myth.

All of my kids pronounce H as "haitch" despite knowing I 'ate this practice more than I hate people from Surrey supporting ManUre, and my only regret is that I never got home from work in time to attend Parents' Evening at their junior school to berate the teachers for teaching them to pronounce it this way.

I really do need to get over it, but it sets my teeth on edge.
 
Roland Beurre said:
Very interesting. It is, as I feared ...

Haytch is a standard pronunciation in Irish English and is increasingly being used by native English-speaking people all across the country, irrespective of geographical provenance or social standing. Polls have shown that the uptake of haytch by younger native speakers is on the rise. Schoolchildren repeatedly being told not to drop Hs may cause them to hyper-correct and insert them where they don't exist.

Jo Kim

BBC Pronunciation Unit

I had heard that in Ireland the aitch/haitch pronunciation was a clue as to religious upbringing, but that could just be a myth.

All of my kids pronounce H as "haitch" despite knowing I 'ate this practice more than I hate people from Surrey supporting ManUre, and my only regret is that I never got home from work in time to attend Parents' Evening at their junior school to berate the teachers for teaching them to pronounce it this way.

I really do need to get over it, but it sets my teeth on edge.
Click to expand...

I hate it as well.

I certainly think there's a link between repeating aural 'mistakes' (if you like) and a lack of reading; actually seeing the written word. (not saying that your kids don't read btw..!)

I'm thinking about a time when I heard Olly Murs talking about 'chafing' but referred to it is 'chathing'. He clearly thought the way he'd heard the word was wrong - people dropping their 'th' for an 'f' sound, but as he's presumably never seen the word written down, he doesn't actually know what's correct and what's not.

Similarly, you get that a lot with 'sliver' and 'slither'; people mistakenly 'correcting' the perceived dropped 'th' sound.

You get a sliver of cake whilst snakes slither.
 
Hotshot-Tottenham said:
I hate it as well.

I certainly think there's a link between repeating aural 'mistakes' (if you like) and a lack of reading; actually seeing the written word. (not saying that your kids don't read btw..!)

I'm thinking about a time when I heard Olly Murs talking about 'chafing' but referred to it is 'chathing'. He clearly thought the way he'd heard the word was wrong - people dropping their 'th' for an 'f' sound, but as he's presumably never seen the word written down, he doesn't actually know what's correct and what's not.

Similarly, you get that a lot with 'sliver' and 'slither'; people mistakenly 'correcting' the perceived dropped 'th' sound.

You get a sliver of cake whilst snakes slither.
Click to expand...

You can get a sliver of snake too if you slice it thinly ;)
 
richie_spur said:
You can get a sliver of snake too if you slice it thinly ;)
Click to expand...

Just make it slide over a Mach 3 razor.


Personally I get very annoyed by people confusing brought and bought. Also lose / loose. Very annoyed. Silly really, perhaps it is because they are so oblivious.
 
Double negatives.

I hate double negatives.

...and people who say pacific instead of specific (there's two people who do this at my workplace. Two). I want to actually punch them in the face.
 
stinkfoot said:
Double negatives.

I hate double negatives.

...and people who say pacific instead of specific (there's two people who do this at my workplace. Two). I want to actually punch them in the face.
Click to expand...

REDUNDANT use of 'actually' as it would be plainly obvious you wished to punch them in the face by simply saying, "I want to punch them in the face.'

:lol:

Your sentiment in that specific situation, however, is beyond dispute.
 
Maybe it's an Australian thing, but the amount of times I hear usually a sportsperson use the word "obviously" in an interview shuts me.

I think deep down it shows a lack of confidence in the speaker. Obviously they are trying to play down the importance of what they are saying, obviously to deflect any attention away from either it's correctness, relevance or, obviously, obviousness.
 
Superted said:
Maybe it's an Australian thing, but the amount of times I hear usually a sportsperson use the word "obviously" in an interview shuts me.

I think deep down it shows a lack of confidence in the speaker. Obviously they are trying to play down the importance of what they are saying, obviously to deflect any attention away from either it's correctness, relevance or, obviously, obviousness.
Click to expand...

it is also, in reality, quite arrogant and rude to state an opinion as "obvious". What might be obvious to the speaker may well be blissful ignorance to the audience. It is something I have tried to educate staff over the years, to limit the use of the word "obvious" especially when talking to superiors, as it is something that can easily irk them and elicits the standard response of "if it was obvious I wouldn't have asked the question".

Anyway that is my rant

oh, and stationery/ary, committment, lose/loose, except/accept, advise/advice, effect/affect. I encounter these on a daily basis and it riles me to the point of fining staff for the continued misuse (or incorrect utilisation !! just for you Roland) of terms or words.
 
thfcsteff said:
REDUNDANT use of 'actually' as it would be plainly obvious you wished to punch them in the face by simply saying, "I want to punch them in the face.'

:lol:

Your sentiment in that specific situation, however, is beyond dispute.
Click to expand...

touche-my-friend-touche.jpg
 
I've now moved on to ranting about tautologies.

Safe haven - if it is not safe, it is not a haven. The term "safe haven" users are probably looking for is "safe harbour".

PIN number - personal input number number? I have taken to referring to it as "my PI number".

Pre-order - I am ambivalent about this one, as it does serve a purpose in clarifying things, but when I was a lad, if you wanted to buy something that had not yet been released, you ordered it. Now you have to "pre-order" it, but I suppose the usage is useful in distinguishing between ordering something that is simply not immediately available and pre-ordering something that has not been released yet.

---

On a positive note, is the old borrow me/lend me confusion dying out at last? Someone must have learned them...
 
there is an advert on tv over here, can't remember what it's for as it's ****, however there is a point where two kids have the caption
BFF 4eva, now forget the text spelling etc, what really gets me is they are saying Best Friends Forever Forever, really ****es me off (and my family as I shout at the tv every time it comes on)

also, where do you stand on iterate/reiterate ? always bugged me !
 
Thebarbarian said:
oh, and stationery/ary, committment, lose/loose, except/accept, advise/advice, effect/affect. I encounter these on a daily basis and it riles me to the point of fining staff for the continued misuse (or incorrect utilisation !! just for you Roland) of terms or words.
Click to expand...

Can someone clarify this one for me? I've taken to avoiding the use of either of them simply because I never know if someone will pick up on it.
 
I have to think long and hard about effect/affect, I think the basic rule is affect is most commonly used as a verb, and effect as a noun.
 
Seedy Ron said:
I have to think long and hard about effect/affect, I think the basic rule is affect is most commonly used as a verb, and effect as a noun.
Click to expand...

In general this is true (some exceptions to the rule but you can probably ignore them). The verb "affect" is generally "to alter", whereas the noun "effect" is commonly "the result of".

By affecting the wind direction I was able to stop my house blowing down
The effect of the wind direction was my house being blown down
 
While we're on it then.... Glenn Hoddle/Andy Townsend drive me mad when they refer to 'the' Gerrards, 'the' Rooneys, and 'the' Lampards of the world. Are there several Steven Gerrards or just the one? Grrrrr
 
Roland Beurre said:
I've now moved on to ranting about tautologies.

Safe haven - if it is not safe, it is not a haven. The term "safe haven" users are probably looking for is "safe harbour".

PIN number - personal input number number? I have taken to referring to it as "my PI number".

Pre-order - I am ambivalent about this one, as it does serve a purpose in clarifying things, but when I was a lad, if you wanted to buy something that had not yet been released, you ordered it. Now you have to "pre-order" it, but I suppose the usage is useful in distinguishing between ordering something that is simply not immediately available and pre-ordering something that has not been released yet.

---

On a positive note, is the old borrow me/lend me confusion dying out at last? Someone must have learned them...
Click to expand...


I regret not having tagged this as my favorite Random Thread in those polls. You, Sir, are a genius.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back