Language usage that annoys you

General discussion about learning languages
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mercutio
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby mercutio » Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:51 pm

Your vs you're (really is so damn easy to remember the rule!!!! So there's no excuse)

"Could care less" when it's "couldn't"

People in England saying " to be fair...." and "I'm not going to lie...."
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Cola
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby Cola » Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:21 am

tarvos wrote:d/t mistakes in Dutch.

^
sgat, tog, gezigt.... Those sort of Dutch spelling mistakes annoy me. Actually, the reason it annoys me is because most of the time it's not a mistake but a conscious choice. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy? :( :lol:
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby tommus » Sat Mar 11, 2017 3:48 pm

mercutio wrote:People in England saying " to be fair...." and "I'm not going to lie...."

And similarly, English speakers everywhere who say: "To be honest ...", and "To tell you the truth ...", leaving the impression that normally they are not honest and truthful.
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby Cainntear » Sat Mar 11, 2017 4:41 pm

tommus wrote:And similarly, English speakers everywhere who say: "To be honest ...", and "To tell you the truth ...", leaving the impression that normally they are not honest and truthful.

Why? It's a tag that informs the listener that some people might not like what you're about to say, and that you're not 100% comfortable about saying it.

Language has an interpersonal dimension, and without this sort of language it would be sterile, soulless and unwelcoming.
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby ed_phelan » Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:12 pm

People in England saying 'can I get' rather than 'can I have'.
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby Cainntear » Mon Mar 13, 2017 4:51 pm

ed_phelan wrote:People in England saying 'can I get' rather than 'can I have'.

Isn't the goal of the exchange to obtain something? "Get" seems far more correct.

Also, why doesn't it bother you in Scotland or Wales...?
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby YtownPolyglot » Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:41 pm

Please forgive me if I have missed this in the previous 19 pages, but "I seen." It should be "I saw" or "I have/had seen." The worst is the negative as "I didn't seen."
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Re: Language usage that annoys you

Postby Adrianslont » Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:28 am

Cainntear wrote:
tommus wrote:And similarly, English speakers everywhere who say: "To be honest ...", and "To tell you the truth ...", leaving the impression that normally they are not honest and truthful.

Why? It's a tag that informs the listener that some people might not like what you're about to say, and that you're not 100% comfortable about saying it.

Language has an interpersonal dimension, and without this sort of language it would be sterile, soulless and unwelcoming.

"To be honest" "honestly" and "tbh" annoy me, too.

Cainntear, I think your definition of it is spot on and I agree totally about the interpersonal dimension of language BUT there is something going on here.

TBH has had a huge boom over recent years and i think its meaning has changed. To me it is now often used seemingly redundantly - when people are about to present information that is - or at least, used to be - quite uncontroversial. Maybe people feel uncomfortable more easily when expressing an opinion or even a fact these days?

On matters such as this ie when I am interested in a new word, a new acronym or I suspect a recent change in meaning I usually go to the urban dictionary. I only read the first two pages of definitions and no one seemed to really nail it but I liked the one that said it is overused and gave the example sentence, "The french come from France tbh."
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