Monthly Archives: October 2012

English Language Usage on Facebook – Survey

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Viktorija Kostadinova

In the beginning of the last century, some notable linguists and scholars, George Philip Krapp, Sterling Leonard, and Fred Walcott, to name a few, expressed their cogent views on the relativity of linguistic correctness. Correct language is not something absolute, … Continue reading →

Posted in polls and surveys, technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Euro English

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Carmen Ebner

Dear all, We will all become witnesses of the rise of a new English variety: Euro English. Those of you, who are not yet familiar with the term or the variety, do not panic. To cut a long story short, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Discussing correctness with Bryan A. Garner

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

Matthijs Smits sent us a link containing a discussion in the New York Times Online between American usage expert Bryan Garner and Economist journalist Robert Greene. The interview deals with the usual descriptivism/prescriptivism question, and by way of an illustration … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Webster’s ain’t

Posted on October 26, 2012 by BtU Admin

Just out, The Story of Ain’t by David Skinner, editor of Humanities magazine, is not about the verb form in the title but about “the controversy over Webster’s Third” when it was published “with much fanfare in 1961″. The book sets out to explain why … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Speaking correctly and French

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

This blog is primarily concerned with correctness and attitudes to usage in English, but English is not the only language in which correctness in language is an issue – has been an issue for centuries: French is well-known for having … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Settling the split infinitive differences

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Morana Lukač

Letters to the editor (LTE) sections in historical newspaper databases are rich sources for investigating the language pedants’ pet peeves.  The split infinitive seems to be among the prominent causes for their perpetual discussions. A 1904 article in the Washington … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Strong verb questions

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

It seems we’re getting interested in strong verbs! Earlier on in this blog we reported on variation between snuck and sneaked, and on the use of went for gone, still quite common in eighteenth-century English but possibly on the increase … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Have went?

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

Several people in the attitudes survey I have been carrying out commented in their texts that they often hear have went and even see it written down sometimes. These people are all teachers, all in their late fifties, early sixties, … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Jack Lynch on proper English

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

Clearing up my mail box, I found a New York Times book review of Jack Lynch’s  book THE LEXICOGRAPHER’S DILEMMA. The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English, From Shakespeare to ‘South Park’ (Walker & Company, 2009). Useful for anyone interested in our … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Touchy about questions of usage

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

In a wonderful new book that came out last year, called The Language Wars: A History of Proper English, Henry Hitchings writes that “English-speakers are touchy about questions of usage” (p. 4). What English speakers does he mean, I wonder, Brits, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment