Just getting this off my chest

[bobdea]

in the east we have weird expressions and hard core accents but people in the west seriously need to work on their english in the sense that I've heard more cheeseball terms for everyday objects and actions than I've heard from canadians or the english and they live in other countries. LA might be in another dimension but still one that resides in the US.

[wavechaser]

I think it's all pretty cool - it's interesting to me to hear all the different ways English is twisted in our own country. Otherwise we wouldn't enjoy things like:

The movie "Fargo"

The Blue Collar Comedy guys

Bert and I from Maine (http://www.bertandi.net/)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Hoosiers

Eminem

Mel Brooks

Ray Romano

Scarface

Bob and doug McKenzie (Great White North = OK Canada, but still)

...you get my drift.

[pebu]

Who says we enjoy those things?

Ok, I like Blue Collar Comedy tour, except the fact that Larry the Cable Guy's accent is painfully fake.

[wavechaser]

Who says we enjoy those things?

Ok, I like Blue Collar Comedy tour, except the fact that Larry the Cable Guy's accent is painfully fake.

Pebu - YOU may not enjoy those SPECIFIC things - but you can't deny that there are a whole ton of people who do...they all made a ton of money and that meeans a lot of people like them. And of course Larry's accent is fake - it's a comedy "act".

I was using those things to illustrate a point within a pretty minor and just for fun discussion C5 and I were having, not as a be all and end all of things I think everyone in the world likes. It's diversity and I find it entertaining and interseting, even when I don't like it...it adds color to our world...like Bob Jenney's location: Bahstin, Massatwocheets...where is that dude anyway?

This is my O-P-I-N-I-O-N...:)

[carvedog]

in the east we have weird expressions and hard core accents but people in the west seriously need to work on their english in the sense that I've heard more cheeseball terms for everyday objects and actions than I've heard from canadians or the english and they live in other countries. LA might be in another dimension but still one that resides in the US.

That's funny. You sound pretty normal online. :D

[C5 Golfer]

I think it's all pretty cool - it's interesting to me to hear all the different ways English is twisted in our own country. Otherwise we wouldn't enjoy things like:

The movie "Fargo"

The Blue Collar Comedy guys

Bert and I from Maine (http://www.bertandi.net/)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Hoosiers

Eminem

Mel Brooks

Ray Romano

Scarface

Bob and doug McKenzie (Great White North = OK Canada, but still)

...you get my drift.

Mel Brooks-- where would movies be without him.

Blazing Saddles one of my all time favourite movies. ( don't you love it when people spell some words like that - I am half English so I spell that way 1/2 the time.!!!

[wavechaser]

Mel Brooks-- where would movies be without him.

Blazing Saddles one of my all time favourite movies. ( don't you love it when people spell some words like that - I am half English so I spell that way 1/2 the time.!!!

How colourful! Mongo like! ;)

[John Bell]

I used to be a copy editor, but you'd be surprised at what doesn't bother me. Like sentence fragments. And starting sentences with conjunctions. And there ain't nothin' wrong with a little folksy flavorino, neighborino.

What does bug me is ill-informed attempts by people (usually TV hosts) to sound smart by giving English words French pronunciations. The biggest example is "homage." I think we stole this word from the French about 400 years ago, whereupon we started pronouncing the "h." (The Brits still do, God bless 'em!) Then, sometime in the last few decades, people started thinking it should be "ahmadge." And now I hear "oh-MAZHJE" all the time. I grew up saying "herb" like "Herb" and felt stupid when I later heard everyone else saying it the other way. Then I found out the Brits, yup, say it the other way--because it turns out we stole that one from the French about 300 years ago. (Of course, the Brits will Anglicize the "ll" in "quesadilla"--and that's just wrong.)

Sometimes you just have to give in to the majority, though. Case in point: "forte"--French for "strength" and sans accent mark, so the "e" is silent. However, everyone says "fortay," which is Latin for "loud." But I know damn well that if I go into a job interview and say something is or is not my "fort," the interviewer is most likely gonna think I'm an idiot. And I would be--but for being arrogant, not ignorant.

Long as I'm not both at the same time!

On a related note: I must say how refreshing it is to be on a forum where people can actually put a sentence together. Go over to snowboard.com, and your inner grammarian will be forever scandalized. ("I haven't rode one of those," etc.) Somebody learn them kids some writin'!

[wavechaser]

Go over to snowboard.com, and your inner grammarian will be forever scandalized. ("I haven't rode one of those," etc.) Somebody learn them kids some writin'!

I actually heard the dialogue below at the Mt. Ellen base lodge here at Sugarbush last winter. I memorized it and later wrote it down because I was so "whorified" (thanks skipuppy ;) ) at the total lack of command of the Engrish Ranguage displayed therein...

Dude: "Like, I like that red like stuff, that jelly they like, put in like those jelly donuts".

Dudette: "Like NO WAY...ewww...like, you like, LIKE that stuff? Like yuck".

I s*** you not. She managed to use the word "like" three times in the space of four words...and they both used it FIVE times in each statement. They were local High School SKI team kids...that's right - like ski racers.

Then there is the time honored insult of being "double duded".

It goes like this...

Dude One: "Dude, check out that rockin' Betty over there"...(or alternatively)..."Dude, I spilled Red Bull down your snowboard boots".

Dude Two: "DUDE, dude"!!

I have never been "triple duded" - but after reading up in Wikipedia about Buffalo buffalo buffalo (etc.)...I'm sure it will happen soon!

PS - I love when people shorten etcetera to "ect." instead of "etc."...or say "asteriks" or "induvitavely"

[D-Sub]

PS - I love when people shorten etcetera to "ect." instead of "ect.":freak3:

I hate that too ;)

[wavechaser]

I hate that too ;)

F!!......the above has been edited for content...:lol: :lol: :lol:

Dude, dude!

[D-Sub]

There is simply way too much laziness when it comes to grammar, spelling, punctuation (guilty sometimes) and I've long argued that this spills over into life in general. Don't care how to spell, park your car crooked? Social anarchy surely follows!

[BobD]

I've been annoyed by the Spanish pronunciation of the word junta in the Burma crisis. As I understand, the word has no military connotation in Spanish. This use of the word is British not Spanish (with the J pronounced) to describe a ruling military council.

BobD

[John Bell]

Uh,oh!

Looks like BobD is right: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/junta

This was news to me. I've been saying "hoonta" all these years.

And it puts me in a real pickle. If I say it the correct English way, 90% of people will think I'm an ignoramus. My wife just chimed in that at the United Nations, all the delegates say "hoonta"--including the native Spanish speakers. Of course, maybe they also say "Hoolia Child."

Speaking of Burma, a fantastic book on what modern Burma is like under the regime there is Finding George Orwell in Burma, by Emma Larkin.

I think bad spelling and the like are more a result of societal decay rather than a cause--but that's a big discussion. Besides, it ain't all bad; we my have lost articulate newscasters, but we also got rid of segregation and lead paint. It's a tradeoff--and a good one in my view.

"Like" is, like, totally a disease these days. I confess to having the "you know" disease at times. I heard the Toastmasters club makes its members give speeches during which they rattle a big can of rocks every time you say "uh." Wavechaser, you should carry around an airhorn and blast it every time you hear a kid start in with the likeitis.

[carvedog]

After another missed appearance at work, one of the young workers was trying to explain why she missed work. Apparently she was in a minor car accident and instead of going to our local er ( about 10 miles away) she was driven to Twin Falls, a good 75 miles away.

We were giving her a ration of sh!t about this decision.

"It's not like I could I stop them, I was in the back seat with like, head trauma". Then she shakes her head, rolls eyes up into head with sounds "uuuhhhhh, uhhhhhhh, uhhhhhh" for emphasis. Pretty damn funny. I thought about keeping her around for comedic relief, but a couple more missed days and out the door she went.

[pebu]

(Of course, the Brits will Anglicize the "ll" in "quesadilla"--and that's just wrong.)

I do that all the time... But I realize I'm doing it and it's just to be a dork, so it's ok.

And I really hate it when people pronounce the "un-" in words like "unfair" as "on-". It's really annoying and I usually find these people also pronounce my name, Ben, with an I instead of an E... Bin... Or something you write with; a pin... Grrrr..

Just thought of another thing that really pisses me off. I know a guy that pronounces the word "asphalt" with an extra H in there. Yeah, that's right, he says "ashphalt." Every stinkin time. And every time he says that I just want to jump up and smack him. He's a doctor, for goodness sake, he should know better.

[ecnalubma]

"Supposably" and "nuc-u-lar", I believe if you have access to the button, you should be able to pronounce the word.

[carverchick]

Ok I hate when people say axe rather than saying ask. Or finna (as in about to)

I was in the elevator the other day and overheard a conversation between two people.

"I need to axe you a question" "Axe me later, I'm finna go to the store"

Finna is not a word. Well at least not in my vocabulary and axe should only be used to describe the tool itself.

Argh!

P.S. Hip-Hop and Rap only encourage the use of such words.

[Steve Prokopiw]

Be carefu wha ya axe fo!

[pebu]

Or finna (as in about to)

I've never heard anything like that in my life. How is that even derived???

[Steve Prokopiw]

Is that like"fixin ta" like some of my friends from the great country of Texas say? I'm fixin ta cook me up some rattlesnake.Y'all want some?

[John Bell]

"Finna" (or "finta") is just urban slang for "fixing to"--which is ubiquitous in my home state of Texas and I believe in other southern states. I think "fixing to" and its derivations make perfect sense: "I am preparing to do something."

I have no problem with regionalisms or cultural flourishes. I mean, would Chris Rock be funny if he talked like Jerry Seinfeld? I think the linguistic variegation (e.g., "Ayup" in Maine, "you'uns" in Ohio, "I don't know from [noun]" in the NY area) makes the country interesting. If I can learn to tolerate New Yorkers' mangling of the word "pecan" (the state tree of Texas), then you Yoopers can suffer through "finna"! ;)

PS: And Steve, you're makin' me hungry.

[carverchick]

Yes it is. Or some people will saying fixing to.

I just hate when someone uses finna (I heard this used constantly in high school)

Is that like"fixin ta" like some of my friends from the great country of Texas say? I'm fixin ta cook me up some rattlesnake.Y'all want some?

[willywhit]

Is that like"fixin ta" like some of my friends from the great country of Texas say? I'm fixin ta cook me up some rattlesnake.Y'all want some?

Jeet yet ? nope, jew ?

Yo possum's geddin cold!

[Scuff]

then you Yoopers can suffer through "finna"!

I've never heard "finna" used. Must be a term that is still

creeping westward.

John: Who you calling a Yooper?

Ben (Pebu) is from Caddilac MI which certainly makes him a "Troll ."

Oh - Also heard a coworker use the phrase "You Guys's" four times today.

~Karl (former Troll )