Grammar shock
Apr. 23rd, 2003 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lobelia321I just googled "I didn't use to" vs "I didn't used to".
The phrase "I didn't use to" (correct) got 7,930 hits.
But the phrase "I didn't used to" (incorrect) got 18,300 hits!!
This is on a par with the ever-creeping misuse of the pronoun "I" in sentences such as: "Look at this photo of my friend and I." Oh, where's a dative when you need one?
I am grammar sensitive. I can feel a coronary coming on.
The phrase "I didn't use to" (correct) got 7,930 hits.
But the phrase "I didn't used to" (incorrect) got 18,300 hits!!
This is on a par with the ever-creeping misuse of the pronoun "I" in sentences such as: "Look at this photo of my friend and I." Oh, where's a dative when you need one?
I am grammar sensitive. I can feel a coronary coming on.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 02:26 pm (UTC)oohh!
*cracks knuckles and waits for opportunity to practice CPR skills on Lobelia*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 02:29 pm (UTC)What about my biggest peeve? about:
"could care less" vs "couldn't care less"
That one drives me bonkers!!!! "couldn't care less" makes logical sense (you care so little, you can't possibly care any *less*).
*mutters*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 02:55 pm (UTC)*puts on schoolmarmish cheeseboard hat*
"I couldn't care less" = register of standard speech; it means: I don't give a fuck.
"I could care less" = register of irony; commonly used in speech (not so much writing), with emphasis on "could"; it means: I don't give a fuck. (see above)
It's like saying: "I could care less.... NOT."
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 03:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 07:51 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 08:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 03:04 pm (UTC)Occasionally people will use that variation, and intone the appropriate sarcasm. There are a large number (the majority of my encounters with that variation) that simply don't think about the meaning of the actual words, and so use it with the same intonations one would use for the first version.
I think that's a large part of the problem, people these days (and really, it's probably an age old problem) tend to try to remember phrases rather than words, resulting in this stupidity over missing words, incorrect tenses, and bizarre possession.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 09:58 pm (UTC)*mutters*
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 05:41 am (UTC)I feel, sometimes, that some people simple stand there waiting for the wind of the logic train passing them by.
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 07:18 am (UTC)*mutters* yes
I feel, sometimes, that some people simple stand there waiting for the wind of the logic train passing them by.
*smirks* and then there are those who complain that something messed up their hair (and hence, their day), not realizing it was the wind from that logic train. ;)
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 07:22 am (UTC)That expression always reminds of George Carlin, and his assertion that it is indicative of the mass superficiality of our culture. As he says, "Wear a hat, you shallow prick!"
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 07:30 am (UTC)*big grins* heh heh heh
That _expression always reminds of George Carlin, and his assertion that it is indicative of the mass superficiality of our culture. As he says, "Wear a hat, you shallow prick!"
*laughs* heh heh heh. some days...*has love/hate relationship with my hair*..if they'd let me get away with a hat at work, I think I'd try it!
*G*
Oh, you're fun. And intelligent and witty. Naturally, I friended you. ;)
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 07:35 am (UTC)And, given the same considerations, I've added you!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 07:53 am (UTC)You People!
Off to groom the grammar hair.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 08:13 am (UTC)*dies laughing*
antheia, we started something :)
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 08:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 02:30 pm (UTC)I'm right there with you. Ugh.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 02:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 03:02 pm (UTC)*ducks*
but hey, I admit it! ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 03:45 pm (UTC)Billy lay on the bed.
Viggo lays Karl on the bed - Karl is laid on the bed.
Karl and Dom lie on the bed where once Billy lay.
Viggo lies on the bed too, for good measure. "Ah," he thinks. "Now maybe we'll all get laid."
The End.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 07:58 am (UTC)If all grammar lessons were like this....! &heart; &heart; &heart;
I'm pasting this onto my Stickies.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 08:18 am (UTC)Yes, Sheldrake, great grammar lesson!
*saving this as well* ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 03:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 07:51 am (UTC)Do. Not.
Or we'll still be here by the time RotK comes out.
*lays down, lays the table and tells a great big whopping lay*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 03:53 pm (UTC)Ahahaha! ... Ouch.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 03:31 pm (UTC)Anyway, don't believe everything you get off of the internet. deliberate. :) And found in many, many published novels. Kill! Maim! It's the only language they understand!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 06:41 pm (UTC)And then read anything else by Bill Bryson because he is god, and is hilarious.. though Mother Tongue isn't really one of his funny books.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 07:54 am (UTC)*clings on with toes, teeth and labia to the remnants of grammar remaining in this world*
Re:
Date: 2003-04-24 10:55 pm (UTC)and really, clining on with your labia? there's an image I wasn't expecting *L*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 07:09 pm (UTC)The creeping I misuse is one of my biggest pet peeves. We hates it, precious. Plus, I also break out in a rash every time I hear someone be all proper and say: "Well, you should of thought of that..."
Aaaaaargh!
Grammar Nazi Bitches of the world unite.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 07:56 am (UTC)Mwuahaha. *falls down*
Now this is one I actually *say* all the time, with big emphasis on the 'of'. Mainly to annoy t'hubster who falls for it ever time. Well, I've got to do something to unsettle the holier-than-thou I'm-a-native-speaker smart-bum!
However, I have seen it written in student essays. In such instances, I am the Bolt of Tash.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 03:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-24 03:42 pm (UTC)Or should I say: "U rok!"
Or perhaps: "U suk!"
*smooches*