I hate language evolution....

[chaparrito]

There is no literacy entrance exam prior to one's participation on the internet. I don't think language is evolving differently than it ever has, it's just that we have to read these errors more often, and they're somehow more glaring when typed. You have to assume that when someone types that they "seen it coming", they really don't know any better. Surely they'd have corrected themselves otherwise.

Pet peeves, as long as we're on the subject:

Stray and/or missing apostrophes make me nuts. It's really not that hard.

Mis-use of "sale" and "sell". I see "for sell" and "must sale" all the time. ACK!!

The Needs + past participle construction. "Needs fixed, painted, washed" etc. This is reputedly an upper midwestern colloquialism. Would it kill you to stick a "to be" in there?

Colloquial speech and its development is fascinating, and thank goodness we don't all sound alike. On the other hand, there's a real good reason for standard, correct language: clear communication.

 

[chaparrito]

There is a free app called Grammarly that works in the background on most browsers and word processing programs. I recommend it to students often for use on research papers .

 

[Old_Cop]

Another thread where social commentary would be inappropriate.

 

[Triggernosis]

Mis-use of "sale" and "sell". I see "for sell" and "must sale" all the time. ACK!!

Misusing "then" for "than" (mainly in print/typing) will cause me an ACK! attack.

 

[Warren Sear]

There seems to be a lot of difficulty with "your" and "you're".

 

[Mike G 0351]

Want to hear bad grammar, Watch Cops....
"What I Did"

 

[moosedog]

Eye nose watt's U be meaning.

 

[Bajadoc]

Improper use of ones first language cannotes lazeyness and or ignorance. Dat being said, I seen a lot of smart people butcher da language mon.

 

[snubbyfan]

Me speakum good english Kemosabe.

 

[rct269]

I once stopped by to visit a friend at his auto parts store in St.Louis. He was at the counter. I stepped up---off to the side. The next customer said, "I'se needs a wampum f'my Sabu." My friend left, and returned with a water pump for a Saab----and that's exactly what the man wanted. I was told, "You get used to it after a while."

Then there was the time I asked a gentleman for his address (down here in east Tennessee). The name of the town came out like "Murrvul". "What?", I asked. He repeated it-----louder. Then I committed the cardinal sin of asking again. This time he repeated it three times in rapid succession----MUCH LOUDER. I asked him to spell it. "M A R Y V I L L E".

Next is a southern thing with one syllable words-----there aren't hardly any of them. My favorite is "four"----"foh-uur". Of course "for" IS a one syllable word---"fur".

I realize this has nothing to do with the evolution of language---only the evolution of me. I'm to the point I can understand most of this stuff---but it took quite some time.

Ralph Tremaine

 

[cybermgk]

Some evolution is natural and inevitable, but a lot of the variation we see is just ignorance. .

Or forced evolution, to justify/fit in with a particular Ideological narrative.

 

[LostintheOzone]

At times you need to be kinda careful how you talk. I know a lot of good ole' boys who might at times take offense of how you speak to them. Some folks might assume you are talking down to them. I know a lot of places that it is to your advantage to try to blend in as best you can.

When I'm in Texas, I speak Texan. Takes me about a day to pick it up again. The whole dadgum family is from Texas, I escaped.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The Beowulf poet, The Bard and Geoffrey Chaucer would think today that we all speak with our mouths full of treacle.

 

[BearBio]

"I'm not laughing with you==I AM laughing AT YOU!" (usually in criticism of someone's driving).

My pet peeve is use of the term "Data"==it is PLURAL. The "data are....."; "the data show....."==NOT "the data shows..."

The singular is "datum" or "datum point".

 

[cybermgk]

"I'm not laughing with you==I AM laughing AT YOU!" (usually in criticism of someone's driving).

My pet peeve is use of the term "Data"==it is PLURAL. The "data are....."; "the data show....."==NOT "the data shows..."

The singular is "datum" or "datum point".

Got to disagree with you here hoss.

Data | Definition of Data by Merriam-Webster

Is data singular or plural?




Data leads a life of its own quite independent of datum, of which it was originally the plural. It occurs in two constructions: as a plural noun (like earnings), taking a plural verb and plural modifiers (such as these, many, a few) but not cardinal numbers, and serving as a referent for plural pronouns (such as they, them); and as an abstract mass noun (like information), taking a singular verb and singular modifiers (such as this, much, little), and being referred to by a singular pronoun (it). Both constructions are standard. The plural construction is more common in print, evidently because the house style of several publishers mandates it.

 

[Inusuit]

Read Chaucer. You will be thankful for the evolution of language.

 

[BC38]

Languages evolve, but I don't want my English to evolve because of something that is repeated to the point that it becomes accepted.

Watching news or reading paper they are interviewing witnesses:

"I seen him coming down the road"

"We seen him hit the kid on the bicycle"

I hear/read this every time there is a witness interview. I can't remember when the last time I heard "I saw him" or "We saw him"

Some changes are ok, but the ones I don't like are not ok.

Poor grammar is not language Evolution.
It is language DEvolution.

 

[BearBio]

Got to disagree with you here hoss.

Data | Definition of Data by Merriam-Webster

Use it singular and submit a scientific paper..........

Besides: First definition/usage in a dictionary is usually the preferred one.

 

[UncleEd]

"I seen the big man shoot the little man."

"I seen the kid steal the candy."

"I seen those two beat up that one."

These quotes are among the reasons
police report seens of the crimes.

 

[Absalom]

Nobody spells proofread with a hyphen anymore. Well, almost nobody does.
BTW, you cannot “utter” on the keypad, as utterings require sound.

Well, possibly. But nit picking, or nit-picking, or nitpicking (that’s how most noun-verb compounds evolved), in other words, picking semantic nits, is different from just plain incorrect grammar or spelling.

The Beowulf poet, The Bard and Geoffrey Chaucer would think today that we all speak with our mouths full of treacle.

Something else that has gotten mixed up in this thread is the change in language over time, as from the way Shakespeare wrote to the way we write, and the differences between the various “social variants” of language.
Many of the examples quoted by earlier posters here have nothing to do with evolution of the language, they are simply slang and dialects of regional and social origin that have always existed.
Obviously, we don’t have sound recordings, but I bet the language and grammar among the “common people” in Shakespeare’s time was just as mutilated and profanity-laden as today.