If only; my English is appalling! I was dreadful at school; I am sure my long suffering teacher despaired of me. I also have a tendency to write as if Caesar, with far too many sub-clauses. The people who really impress me are those non English speakers who post word perfect threads.

Doctor wrote:

The people who really impress me are those non English speakers who post word perfect threads.

Mika's written english is astonishing and I'm still sure Electrified is an expat!

9 LEE wrote:

Larskoelle wrote:

Lee, I would have a problem understanding your sisters` - 'yeh, woz wicked - now off to town wiv ma mates' 

.. and i have a problem with it too.  There, we have crossed international boundaries! 😂

to translate though..

yeh = yes

woz = it was

wicked = excellent

now off to town = i am now going to travel to the city centre

wiv = with

ma = my

mates = friends

 

As an addendum, i can honestly say that 7 years of reading posts by our very own Peter (Doctor) has improved my English beyond recognition.  I have been dragged from the gutter and now sit on the kerb thanks to that man!  A true English Gentleman, personally as well as online.

I actually knew most of those words from watching BBC America.  The expression I hate which I hope is confined to the US is 'send me a ticktock'. This is actually used by business people asking for an electronic appointment request by email or iPhone.

For great fun with new expressions, look at the Urban Dictionary at http://www.urbandictionary.com/

Peter is indeed a gentleman.

Soundproof also blows me away with his English.  He often uses words I myself have to look up - and i'm English !!! 

Peter, stop being modest. Thank you.  Another one of your wonderful traits which endear me to you even further..

Anyway - back to the thread!

My son (daughter left last year) goes to a school where non-competition is key.  They've taken the happy-clapping tree hugging thing one click too far on the 'nice-o-meter', with every child being made to feel 'special' in their own way no matter how badly they do.  I get the ethos, but is going this far really going to prepare them for the real world?

Anyway... sports day 2009.  My daughter wins the 25m sprint (i know, i know) and is given a little something as winner as she is pronounced over the loudhailer.  Next up comes 2nd place, a little smiling girl who is pronounced proudly 'Second Winner' - then followed by 'Third Winner'.. 'Fourth Winner' then 'Fifth Winner' followed of course by last place - 'Sixth WINNER'

I stood there in complete disbelief.  How on earth can this play on words help these kids in later life?  "Sorry Miss Smith, you didn't get the job - but you were third winner.. hurrah!"  - or "sorry, you've lost out this time on promotion - but you're still fifth winner.."

What a load of rubbish.  Granted, i'm not up for thrashing losers with twigs or returning to Victorian values - but as a species we're competitive, that's the idea. At least get kids used to losing, which will in order make them want to win.. surely?

oops.. off on a tangent there - but 'Second Winner' is my annoying word(s)

Lee

Stonk wrote:

Doctor wrote:

The people who really impress me are those non English speakers who post word perfect threads.

Mika's written english is astonishing and I'm still sure Electrified is an expat!

😳 I still annoy myself enough with unsure preposition usage and such that I've thought of reacquiring that English grammar book I sold more than 20 years ago after clearing high school!

Believe it or not, but it is also thanks to Beoworld. I used to write a lot on Usenet in the early '90s, but after that mostly degenerated into reading CS, electronic engineering and mathematics text books. Apart from some fine exceptions, they don't do much for your language skills. I'm sure my active general purpose vocabulary has grown massively since I registered here!

***

I don't text much with teenagers so I'm pretty safe from those horrors... but whenever I see 'ur' or 'coz' on a web page that has been typed in with a perfectly functional full scale keyboard, my first reaction is to click on 'back'. The author may have saved a couple of keystrokes, but I'll rather save my time than waste it on text that has been deliberately made hard to read.

I also hate 'sonically'. I suspect it's correct though and I can't suggest a better alternative, but that's not my job, I'm not a native speaker 😁

9 LEE wrote:

My son (daughter left last year) goes to a school where non-competition is key.  They've taken the happy-clapping tree hugging thing one click too far on the 'nice-o-meter', with every child being made to feel 'special' in their own way no matter how badly they do.  I get the ethos, but is going this far really going to prepare them for the real world?

Anyway... sports day 2009.  My daughter wins the 25m sprint (i know, i know) and is given a little something as winner as she is pronounced over the loudhailer.  Next up comes 2nd place, a little smiling girl who is pronounced proudly 'Second Winner' - then followed by 'Third Winner'.. 'Fourth Winner' then 'Fifth Winner' followed of course by last place - 'Sixth WINNER'

I stood there in complete disbelief.  How on earth can this play on words help these kids in later life?  "Sorry Miss Smith, you didn't get the job - but you were third winner.. hurrah!"  - or "sorry, you've lost out this time on promotion - but you're still fifth winner.."

What a load of rubbish.  Granted, i'm not up for thrashing losers with twigs or returning to Victorian values - but as a species we're competitive, that's the idea. At least get kids used to losing, which will in order make them want to win.. surely?

oops.. off on a tangent there - but 'Second Winner' is my annoying word(s)

Lee

-and I thought that it was only in Scandinavia we had these schools, driven by old hippies ("we're all alike...", "You must wait for the others...")  😉 I see that You have your battles too. 🤔😁

Steffen

How about ...

SWMBO: "Can you tape that for me?"

Sobbing, I start the EyeTV hard disk recorder ...

And Lee, your story reminds me of the time I was a "Little Ath(letic)s" with my son (no one wins, we just beat our PBs (which is actually a nice philosophy)), when there was a thunderstorm so we shuffled all the "little vegemites" into the safety of the sports pavilion, and to keep them entertained I started drawing pictures, asking what they were, and labelling them: "CAT", "MAT", "DOG".

There was a look of horror on one woman's face and she said "we do not do capitals any more" 

Larskoelle wrote:

One more thing which comes to my mind while I am writing that post is ... using three points or any other punctuation to end a sentence without really ending the thought in the sentence. 

Guilty again. (Normally I would have typed three points here) Another word I particularly hate is sparring partner. I have no problem with the original meaning of the word, but I can't stand the way it's used in think tanks by types who spent too much time brainstorming (nearly used three points again).

Some nice ones here!!

I like the 'tickbox'

On our ever increasing number of property shows - or are they just repeats? - I like people for whom it 'ticks all the boxes'. Obviously they work in local government and have forms to fill to show they have met all their targets.

But here's another: "yeah no" or "yeah, yeah no". Seems to be common to 25 to 40 year olds when in conversation with one another. Like a nervous twitch!

Another word I don't like: facilitate