When people mess with the English language...

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youngishbear

Mon, Aug 16 2021, 11:45 pm

pause wrote:

I have a special affinity for people who mess up their idioms. Like the teacher who was complaining about the student who is a "lively wire." Or the woman who bought a coat that cost "a bomb and a leg." And the guy who described his friend as a very "up and becoming" person.

This made me laugh out loud. Please compile a list.

I know someone who is prone to mix-and-matching idioms and clichés.

"They got along like two peas in a pod."

And with such confidence.

youngishbear

Mon, Aug 16 2021, 11:47 pm

Bubby6 wrote:

Hasn't anyone here heard of being dyslexic? I know a few dislexic people. They are avid readers, very intelligent but can't spell! My dyxlesic co-worker is proud that she can misspell the same word many different ways in one paragraph.

To paraphrase a Yiddish adage, it takes talent to spell נח with seven errors.

youngishbear

Mon, Aug 16 2021, 11:48 pm

vintagebknyc wrote:

It’s like, is alittle a word?

No, but allot is.

I wonder if that's where the confusion comes from.

essie14

Mon, Aug 16 2021, 11:58 pm

pause wrote:

This made me LOL

Love it!

b.chadash

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 12:26 am

Loving this thread.

My pet peeves are:
-Using borrow instead of lend : She didn't want to borrow me her dress, even though I always borrow her my clothes.

- You welcome (grrr!)

Those are mostly from Yiddish speakers.
And the worst of all, because I hear and see this from "educated" people...
"Ect." Can't Believe It

They pronounce it "Excetra."
People, its ETC. It stands for Et Cetera.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 3:54 am

On the board, I have learned to give people a lot of slack, because many of them are non native English speakers. For some reason, Yiddish seems to really butcher the English language.

In Mishpacha, it's unforgivable! Oy, you can find a typo on every single page. How can I relax on Shabbos when facing such travesty? Can't Believe It

When any non native English speaker makes a mistake while talking to me in person, I always tell them "It's OK, English is a really confusing and complicated language. Your English is much better than my (Hebrew, Spanish, etc.).

I don't want to discourage anyone from continuing to learn, and mocking people never helps anything.

Siriusly?

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 4:13 am

BrisketBoss wrote:

I will never forget, my friend missed the word 'ancient' on a spelling test because of 'except after c.' I got it right because I relied on my hours of reading experience instead of the 'rules' teachers make for this unruly writing system.

The way I was taught the rule was "I before E, except after C, when the sound is 'ee'". That takes care of words like ancient.

Nevertheless:

singleagain

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 7:38 am

Siriusly? wrote:

The way I was taught the rule was "I before E, except after C, when the sound is 'ee'". That takes care of words like ancient.

Nevertheless:

I actually remember reading somewhere that there are more "ei" words than "ie". In other words.. more exception than rules.

watergirl

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 7:56 am

Bubby6 wrote:

Hi! I have dyslexia (and dyscalculia). I was diagnosed when I was in elementary school when I was in third grade and my teacher realized something was wrong - I could not read. One of the first things I was taught after being diagnosed was this amazing thing called "Spell Check". Back then, no one had a home computer, but we all had word processors, and even those came with a spell check feature. Imamother has a function where any misspelled word gets a red underline. Any program such as Microsoft Suite G Suite has spellcheck. There is no reason for a coworker to misspell anything, much less to be proud of it in a work environment. Even on imamother, (where a lot of people like to just relax and not care to correct the red underlined words), it's generally seen as a lack of respect to use shorthand, text-speak, and a paragraph full of errors (non-native english speakers - I take my hats off to you for every post no matter how many errors. I can't imagine doing this in hebrew!).

Please do not use something like dyslexia as an excuse for poor spelling. All of us in this club know how to fix our spelling and most of us are so self-conscious about the dyslexia, we are even MORE careful with the spelling!

(By the way, Bubby6, you spelled dyslexia wrong in your post twice, each time with a different spelling, both incorrect Wink

)

Amelia Bedelia

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 8:48 am

watergirl wrote:

(By the way, Bubby6, you spelled dyslexia wrong in your post twice, each time with a different spelling, both incorrect Wink

)

That was a joke. She did it purposely.

Amelia Bedelia

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:01 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

The problem is that many Yiddish speakers are actually born and bred Americans, and it irks me that they can't learn their native country's language correctly.

Some more common Yiddish speak:

* "Sounds" when they mean "seems" or "feels"
"It sounds like it's Friday today because the kids only have a half day of school."
* "My wedding date is September One."/ "I live on Fifty-Two Street."
* "Country" when they mean "bungalow colony".
"In my country, the pool is only open until 5:00."
"Country" many times being pronounced "Kunt-ree", rolling the "r" like a chassidish "reish."

saybesser

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:10 am

Spelling the word drawer without the last two letters

zaq

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:18 am

Sunny Days wrote:

Well, the English (or is the proper way to say the British?) go to hospital or to toilet. Americans go to *the* wherever.

Anyway, (or anyways, as many people I know would say Wink

) loving this thread! I admit my English is not the best- it is my second language. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t have my pet peeves. Hadtata is the worst...

Edited a typo

What's hadtata?

vintagebknyc

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:18 am

Today’s peeve: “As per xxx thing.”

No. It’s “per,” no as. Just “per”

And I am grateful I have copy editors on my payroll.

PinkFridge

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:23 am

saybesser wrote:

Spelling the word drawer without the last two letters

I've heard it said without letters 4 and 5. (Ok, I plead guilty. But I do know how to spell it.)

ETA: saybesser, I hope you don't mind my matching you to the thread title. Couldn't resist!

shaqued_almond

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:25 am

English is my second language, so when I read incorrect phrases in Jewish magazines or books, I get confused.

synthy

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 9:43 am

Did anyone mention "expresso" yet?

CatLady

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 10:12 am

My pet peeve (and I have so many that I'm tempted to open a petting zoo) is when meat is described as "soft". Wrong. The word is "tender". Soft meat just sounds... ewww. Whereas a pot roast that's so tender that you could cut it with a fork is delicious.

b.chadash

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 10:15 am

Bubby6 wrote:

You're a riot!

invisiblecircus

Tue, Aug 17 2021, 10:26 am

Sunny Days wrote:

Well, the English (or is the proper way to say the British?) go to hospital or to toilet. Americans go to *the* wherever.

Anyway, (or anyways, as many people I know would say Wink

) loving this thread! I admit my English is not the best- it is my second language. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t have my pet peeves. Hadtata is the worst...

Edited a typo

British people don't say "to toilet." It's not correct and I've never heard it said even as a mistake.

Both "to hospital" and "to the hospital are used."

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