Grammar that makes you cringe

[Wowbagger]

Mrs. Wow refers to people as being "older" when she just means "old" but is trying to be polite. I'm not sure if it's a Northern phenomenon, restricted to Stalybridge or just some idiosyncratic nonsense from Mrs. Wow's Mad Mother.

[tatanab]

If that truly is an Americanism, then it's a recent one (been away for a few years).  I've never heard newer/older used in such a way.

I lived there 97-01 and it is common in for sale adverts.  It is one of those  annoying (to me) things I now find in use in this country.  It is fairly recent, only the last year or so, and can even be found in use in for sale ads on this forum.

[Andrij]

If that truly is an Americanism, then it's a recent one (been away for a few years).  I've never heard newer/older used in such a way.

I lived there 97-01 and it is common in for sale adverts.  It is one of those  annoying (to me) things I now find now in use in this country.  It is fairly recent, only the last year or so, and can even be found in use in for sale ads on this forum.

Interesting.  Can I ask where in the US?  I left in '99 and I never heard it; wonder if it's regional.

[tatanab]

Interesting.  Can I ask where in the US?  I left in '99 and I never heard it; wonder if it's regional.

All up and down the West coast.  Here's an example, a "newer" house NWhomes

[peliroja]

Mrs. Wow refers to people as being "older" when she just means "old" but is trying to be polite. I'm not sure if it's a Northern phenomenon, restricted to Stalybridge or just some idiosyncratic nonsense from Mrs. Wow's Mad Mother.

I've also heard this, up north.

[Andrij]

Interesting.  Can I ask where in the US?  I left in '99 and I never heard it; wonder if it's regional.

All up and down the West coast.  Here's an example, a "newer" house NWhomes

I see.  Well, they do funny things out on the Left Coast (born and bread Mid-Westerner speaking).

[border-rider]

Mrs. Wow refers to people as being "older" when she just means "old" but is trying to be polite. I'm not sure if it's a Northern phenomenon, restricted to Stalybridge or just some idiosyncratic nonsense from Mrs. Wow's Mad Mother.

I've also heard this, up north.

It sounds quite usual to me - very common usage in Yorkshire, I think.

[nicknack]

Fish has 2 plurals too. Fish and fishes.

[little miss mac]

This includes the middle aged newsreader who used "one pence" one TV a few evenings ago.

Heard on BBC telly and radio respectively:

"Viscount", pronounced as spelled.

"Corps", pronounced as spelled.


Morons (pronounced as spelled).

[Mr Larrington]

The Toady program, this morning.

"Skill" is a noun.

Camila Batmanghelidjh please take note.

[rower40]

Fish has 2 plurals too. Fish and fishes.

And person.  Persons and People.  (Sort of)

[Ian H]

Fish has 2 plurals too. Fish and fishes.

And person.  Persons and People.  (Sort of)

People has a plural.

[grayo59]

Isn't an elision different from a contraction?  As in saying for examples:-

"vegtable" instead of "vegatable" or "librey" instead of "library" are elisions which may be pronounced but not written whereas "can't" for "cannot" is a contraction which can be written.

[citoyen]

People has a plural.

Should that be "People have a plural"?

d.

[Julian]

Newsagents, stationers, poundshops and assorted retailers of West London:

You sell many items.  You thrive on variety.  There is little that cannot be sourced along the Uxbridge Road by the determined shopper.

However, whilst I acknowledge the surge in popularity of homegrown veg, keeping chickens, starting allotments and even the odd pig here and there, take it from me.  None of you are selling 2010 dairies as advertised.

H'mkay?

[Bledlow]

None of you are selling 2010 dairies as advertised.

Is some great advance in milk processing technology imminent? 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

However, whilst I acknowledge the surge in popularity of homegrown veg, keeping chickens, starting allotments and even the odd pig here and there, take it from me.  None of you are selling 2010 dairies as advertised.

H'mkay?

I bet the signs actually say "dairy's" or "dairie's."

[citoyen]

Greg is normally on the ball. Tesco is a company, therefore I think it should be:

Tesco also produces a 'local farmers' milk ...

Tesco sells milk produced by cows on local farms.

[Wowbagger]

None of you are selling 2010 dairies as advertised.

I hesitate to correct m'learned friend, but "none", being an abbreviation of "not one", requires a singular verb.

[Cudzoziemiec]

This includes the middle aged newsreader who used "one pence" one TV a few evenings ago.

Heard on BBC telly and radio respectively:

"Viscount", pronounced as spelled.

"Corps", pronounced as spelled.


Morons (pronounced as spelled).

When finding the corpse of more than one such aristocrat, you can do a discount (not pronounced as spelled).

[L CC]

Pressurised.

You can do it to chambers. You can do it to gases. You can't do it to a farrowing house.

Mortality is unacceptably high. This area needs to be pressurised.

No it doesn't. It needs greater attention to be paid, it needs greater staff focus, it needs prioritising, it needs a procedural/ medication review. It might even need condemning, but it doesn't need to be pressurised. If it did, we'd need to rebuild the sheds to be air and water tight, and that would be dreadful for the poor little piglets.
Tcha.

[Andrij]

Pressurised.

You can do it to chambers. You can do it to gases. You can't do it to a farrowing house.

Mortality is unacceptably high. This area needs to be pressurised.

No it doesn't. It needs greater attention to be paid, it needs greater staff focus, it needs prioritising, it needs a procedural/ medication review. It might even need condemning, but it doesn't need to be pressurised. If it did, we'd need to rebuild the sheds to be air and water tight, and that would be dreadful for the poor little piglets.
Tcha.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

[Bledlow]

"Critique" as a verb.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Heard yesterday: "You have been involved in two pop-culture phenomenons."

Normally these Latinate plurals don't bother me either way - I don't mind when bacteria is used as a singular, say. I don't think I'd mind if they'd said "phenomenas" but "phenomenons" really grates.

[Cudzoziemiec]

And I don't know if "don't disgard it"
Gold at $5,000 an ounce? Don't disgard it - Telegraph
 means "don't discard it" or "don't disgregard it".