OT: Another Grammar Rant

How about 'me and hubby' ? I prefer to use a first name anyway, not sure what a 'hubby' is, perhaps related hub caps ?

Which puts me in mind of my grandmother who always declared "If the wife had the first and the husband had the second, there might be a third but there would never be a fourth" -

Waaaay more interesting lol

No, no ! Livened a damp morning.

And "troops"! I *very* often hear newscasters say, "There were 23 troops killed in [wherever]" No, there were *not* 23 troops killed, there were 23 **soldiers** killed!!! From dictionary.com:

1. an assemblage of persons or things; company; band.
2. a great number or multitude:

I even went so far as to email the local tv stations about this. 2 of the 3 have changed.

And what's the deal with "prolly"????? I hate Hate HATE that word! What's wrong with "probably"?

Joan

Butbutbut.....words that end with e make the previous vowel a long sound! If it were to rhyme with john, it would be spelled scon!

Take *that*, Trish! :)

Joan (not john! -- two vowels make the first one long: moan, mean, jean, boar, receipt, etc. )

It's prolly not good for you to get so upset lol

(It's computer speak)

Not my computer. I always thought it was British or Canadian speak!

OK so it's UnAmerican - sue me Mrs. McCarthy lol

I'm sure here in FL I could find a lawyer willing to do so.

My version of this was that if there was a third child, there would be a guarantee of a fourth. Because women are not only seductive; they are also vindictive. Jim.

Shouldn't that be the other way around????

Spew warning needed for that one - after the "service" definition.

Ellice

GRRRR! I don't accept that reason. If something *has* to be shortened (which 99.9999% of the time doesn't *need* to be) "probly" would be better...at least you're getting the consonants correct. Prolly just makes one sound like an uneddicated idjut!

imo, of course!

To be truthful, I think it's a typing thing - so many have to hunt for the b, rather than touch typing, that prolly is easier.

Pbblllfffttt! *Nothing* is regular in the English language and it's the exceptions to the rules that make it interesting. Hence, we have one mouse, two mice; one house, two houses. And so on. (You'll be pleased to know that our Eglantine is still kicking on, even after all this time. I have to give her a hot water bottle at night, since she's alone, but other than that, she's as spry as a phly. Isn't that great?)

A propos of two vowels, what about 'gaol', then? Hm? And 'cough' (koffkoff)?

Getting back to scones, did you ever see a film by the name 'The Stone of Destiny'? It has Robert Carlyle ('Hamish MacBeth' and 'The Full Monty') in it and is about the kidnapping of the Stone of Scone from beneath the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey and its subsequent return to Scotland. We enjoyed it enormously!

FWIW, I cannot make decent scones to save my life! When I make 'em, they weigh a ton and would qualify as decent ammunition rounds rather than light, fluffy treats. Snif! I have scone dyslexia!

Getting back to the subject at hand, another peeve of mine is the almost universal use of an apostrophe to form plurals. Where on earth did that come from? I mean, it's not that hard to remember apostrophes are used for contractions and for ownership. Is it? I nearly fainted when DD's principal did it *three times* on the front page of the school newsletter! Urgh!

A sign outside our local farm shop announced....... '100 Real Ale's' I said to my husband that we should pop in. 'For the beer?' he said. 'Nooooo...... so that I can ask them to correct the sign'. And another thing! We went to the school Summer Fete yesterday, and noted in the programme were the raffle prizes. I wonder if I've won a *Neckless* ?