English, innit?

[wsc]

I believe, most natives in the world dont actually speak their own language properly simply because their native language evolves into different dialects with the inclusion of various slang. I think an English personwho learns French would more likely to technically speak the language better than the natives. As far as I can tell, most foreigners in this country speak far better English than I do. I would also have to add that maybe the more multi-cultural a society becomes, the more the native language becomes fused with the "parents" home language, thats just a guess though!

I do find it a little sad though that no one speaks like George Sanders or Trevor Howard etc, that old quaint Queen's English is such a rarity now. At least we have people like Stephen Fry (who is not even English born!) keeping that beautiful language alive :)

you ought to come up to our posh university halls sometime, Mr G. half the people there talk Queen's. its wierd!

spending my obligatory year in halls was one of the odddest things I ever did. The med school is even more far out.... I sat down in a seminar once and the other students were reminiscing of their pack days as kids when foxhunting!! first time in my life i ever met a foxhunter!

Theres people you'd think were never posh talkers, they've got a good yorkshire look about them and suddenly they start speaking posh! Before coming here I'd never seen an asian or black person talk posh. man, its an eye opener seeing an asian chick talking queens. Or the shock on the first day when my black neighbour first opened her mouth ' oh yay, i''d love a cup of teeea'.... i thought she was fooling around at first! its the wierdest thing, esp wehn you've never seen it for nearly 30 years of living!

Oxbridge/Durham?

[raj101]

I believe, most natives in the world dont actually speak their own language properly simply because their native language evolves into different dialects with the inclusion of various slang. I think an English personwho learns French would more likely to technically speak the language better than the natives. As far as I can tell, most foreigners in this country speak far better English than I do. I would also have to add that maybe the more multi-cultural a society becomes, the more the native language becomes fused with the "parents" home language, thats just a guess though!

I do find it a little sad though that no one speaks like George Sanders or Trevor Howard etc, that old quaint Queen's English is such a rarity now. At least we have people like Stephen Fry (who is not even English born!) keeping that beautiful language alive :)

you ought to come up to our posh university halls sometime, Mr G. half the people there talk Queen's. its wierd!

spending my obligatory year in halls was one of the odddest things I ever did. The med school is even more far out.... I sat down in a seminar once and the other students were reminiscing of their pack days as kids when foxhunting!! first time in my life i ever met a foxhunter!

Theres people you'd think were never posh talkers, they've got a good yorkshire look about them and suddenly they start speaking posh! Before coming here I'd never seen an asian or black person talk posh. man, its an eye opener seeing an asian chick talking queens. Or the shock on the first day when my black neighbour first opened her mouth ' oh yay, i''d love a cup of teeea'.... i thought she was fooling around at first! its the wierdest thing, esp wehn you've never seen it for nearly 30 years of living!

Oxbridge/Durham?

lol do me a favour, guv!

i'd never go there, especially oxbridge...ugh formal meals every week, sky high rents and huge college lawns tha you are forbidden to ever use? (its nottingham, although nottingham is considered an oxbridge alternative these days anyway, so you were quite close, wsc, well done).

man its horrfying that no one from durham (except from the rare local public schools) actually goes to durham uni.

[The Sparrow]

I heard some little white scally say aks instead of ask last night. I wanted to slap him. It's bad enough hearing black Americans say it without British idiots copying.

[steve]

It really gets my goat when they say ax instead of ask.

[Razam]

from the bbc website:

we gave the same phrase to children in different parts of the country and ask how they would say it in their own slang.
The phrase we chose was: "John's girlfriend is really pretty. But she got mad with him the other day because he wanted to hang out with his friends rather than take her to the cinema. She got really angry and stormed off. It was very funny."
Now see how the phrase was regurgitated in the local vernacular in five schools.

Bishopston Comprehensive School, Swansea, Wales
"John's missus is flat out bangin'. But she was tampin' the other day 'cause he bombed her out for the boys instead of going to the cinema. She... started mouthing. It was hilarious."

Holy Family Catholic School, Keighley, West Yorkshire
"Jonny's bird is proper fit and she got in a right beef the other day cos he'd rather chill with his mates than go to the cinema. She got stressed and did one. It was quality haha."

Cardinal Newman High School, Bellshill, Lanarkshire
"John's burd is well stunnin'. She wis pure mental wae 'um the other day cos he wantit tae hing aboot wi 'is pals 'n no take hur tae the Showcase. She took a hissy 'n bolted. It wis well funny."

Phoenix High School, Shepherds Bush, west London
"John's chick is proper buff but she switched on her man the other day 'cos he wanted to jam with his bred'rins instead of taking her out to the cinema. She was proper vexed and dust out. It was bare jokes."

St Cecilia's College, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
"John's girlfriend is pure stunnin'. But she was ragin' cos he dogged her out of it to got to the pictures with his muckers. She pure went into one and booted. It was some craic."

Rodborough School, Godalming, Surrey
"John's gf is well fit. But... he wanna chill wid his m8s rathr than take her to the film. She got like well lairy n she leggd it. LOL."

[soonforgotten]

from the bbc website:

we gave the same phrase to children in different parts of the country and ask how they would say it in their own slang.
The phrase we chose was: "John's girlfriend is really pretty. But she got mad with him the other day because he wanted to hang out with his friends rather than take her to the cinema. She got really angry and stormed off. It was very funny."
Now see how the phrase was regurgitated in the local vernacular in five schools.

Bishopston Comprehensive School, Swansea, Wales
"John's missus is flat out bangin'. But she was tampin' the other day 'cause he bombed her out for the boys instead of going to the cinema. She... started mouthing. It was hilarious."

Holy Family Catholic School, Keighley, West Yorkshire
"Jonny's bird is proper fit and she got in a right beef the other day cos he'd rather chill with his mates than go to the cinema. She got stressed and did one. It was quality haha."

Cardinal Newman High School, Bellshill, Lanarkshire
"John's burd is well stunnin'. She wis pure mental wae 'um the other day cos he wantit tae hing aboot wi 'is pals 'n no take hur tae the Showcase. She took a hissy 'n bolted. It wis well funny."

Phoenix High School, Shepherds Bush, west London
"John's chick is proper buff but she switched on her man the other day 'cos he wanted to jam with his bred'rins instead of taking her out to the cinema. She was proper vexed and dust out. It was bare jokes."

St Cecilia's College, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
"John's girlfriend is pure stunnin'. But she was ragin' cos he dogged her out of it to got to the pictures with his muckers. She pure went into one and booted. It was some craic."

Rodborough School, Godalming, Surrey
"John's gf is well fit. But... he wanna chill wid his m8s rathr than take her to the film. She got like well lairy n she leggd it. LOL."

This makes me sad.

[Magic Arrow]

Language evolves. There's not much you can do about it.

[aruif]

I'll start this thread of becuz it really annoys me when people can't speak write. Maybe I shouldn't of bothered, because I'll probably offend someone bye somethink I say but I could care less, innit.

(I should say this applies to native English speakers. I have respect for anyone who can speak another language, even poorly. However, if one can barely master their own native tongue, they should spend less time on the internet spewing rubbish and more time improving their literacy skills.)

So if you've seen or heard any brutal violations of the English language that make you cry on the inside, feel free to share them here, because I, if no one else, will understand.

i get called a snob for wanting to write properly. Don't get me wrong, in certain circumstances I do go a little txt spk but for the most part it really irritates me.

The one word that REALLY is bugging me right now is that people say "no" as in know. It makes reading things really difficult. You no?

[Preston1990]

What is this? A thread for the grammar police?

I saw a post on FMUK the other day where people openly mocked another member's post. How do you think that poor person would have felt, if they had seen it? I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who was absolutely appalled.

It dismays me when people criticise other people's incorrect use of vocabulary, punctuation and spelling. I think it sends out the wrong message and could lead to a situation where people, who don't have a very good command of "correct" English, feel excluded to the point where it puts them off from joining in.

Is that really what we want here? I thought that FMUK was supposed to be a friendly welcoming forum, not a place where people sit in judgement and take great delight in pointing out mistakes and adopting a morally superior attitude.

Remember that English is not everyone's native tongue and some people may be dyslexic or suffer from learning difficulties.

For goodness sake, if you see a post that offends your sensibilities because of incorrect spelling or grammar, can’t you just bite your lip?

And, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t FMUK just a chat forum for all people who share a love of films rather than a highbrow literary guild?

[soonforgotten]

What is this? A thread for the grammar police?

I saw a post on FMUK the other day where people openly mocked another member's post. How do you think that made that poor person feel? I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one to see it who was absolutely appalled.

It dismays me when people criticise other people's incorrect use of vocabulary, punctuation and spelling. I think it sends out the wrong message and could lead to a situation where people, who don't have a very good command of "correct" English, feel excluded to the point where it puts them off from joining in.

Is that really what we want here? I thought that FMUK was supposed to be a friendly welcoming forum, not a place where people sit in judgement and take great delight in pointing out mistakes and adopting a morally superior attitude.

Remember that English is not everyone's native tongue and some people may be dyslexic or suffer from learning difficulties.

For goodness sake, if you see a post that offends your sensibilities because of incorrect spelling or grammar, can’t you just bite your lip?

And, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t FMUK just a chat forum for all people who share a love of films rather than a highbrow literary guild?

Firstly, I cannot comment on the post you mentioned because I've not seen it.

As for the point of this thread, it's meant to be about peoples' usage of the English language. It's not about people who are dyslexic or non-native English speakers and I think that is clear. No one here is talking about misspellings or typos.

I don't think it's about moral superiority. There's nothing wrong with saying there should be standards. I disagree with dumbing everything down for the sake of inclusion. I think that is detrimental to society. It's far better to expect more of people than to just lower the bar. People should think before they speak, considering the words that come out of their mouths and whether or not they make sense. I don't think that is asking a lot and I for one will not feel bad for criticising it.

I don't mean for this to sound defensive or anything, I just feel strongly about people being able to speak properly. It's appalling hearing people use the word "like" six times in a sentence or "innit" in just about any context. People should have pride in being able to communicate properly and it is an important aspect in a functioning society.