[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37496186/ns/us_news-life/
 
It's almost unbelievable.  You've got to read this.

Great avatar, dude!

 
I have to (strongly) agree that these people are a bunch of idiots.  Children for generations have managed to learn English relatively well.  Sure, some people still spell 'they're' as 'their', and make little grammatical mistakes (which I can understand, since it's probably not the most important thing on their mind), but changing words so they're spelled phonetically?  That's just a crock , man.
 
I'm sounding like an old man who remembers when he was your age (I'm 24...

), but I blame it all on technology.  We're adapting our lives to technology, when it should be the other way around.
 
When I was a kid, I made some common mistakes (alot instead of a lot), but I quickly learned the proper methods and whatnot, and I haven't forgotten it since.  Let's stop babying our children and making everything so easy.

 

[9pintube]

Yeah! One thing that I can't figure out is who does a home schooled teen take to the PROM??.  Also, I'd love to find out what past winners from over the years are doing today!!

 

[chinesekiwi]

There is a great 8 part documentary series which details why English and English spelling is the way it is, and how English has evolved into arguably the most dynamic language in the world.
Anyway, it's called 'The Adventure of English' and I highly recommend it. Most words in English aren't of English origin at all. English = basically the mongrel child of the world's languages, with most words coming from French and Latin. 'Ketchup' is of Cantonese origin 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_English

 

[Danneq]

In Sweden a lot (or alot) of people, mostly younger, are more and more starting to separate words that are supposed to be written together. Thus the meaning of a word can become completely different.
A small example: "En brunhårig man" (a brown haired man) is completely different from "En brun hårig man" (a brown hairy man). The epidemic of separating words is sadly not only confined to young people. I remember reading about a supermarket that advertised: "kyckling lever" (chicken is alive) when they probably meant "kycklinglever" (chicken liver). Outside of a bakery I saw a sign which said "pumpa bröd" (pump bread), which probably was supposed to be "pumpabröd" (pumpkin bread).
 
Another annoying thing is that younger people are starting to confuse the plural of third person subject and object forms when writing. While they would probably write correctly in English, they write stuff like "dem tittar på TV" (them is watching TV) in their native language.
 
About the origin of English, I remember from my studies in Linguistics that the old dialects of the Frisian language in present day Holland/the Netherlands were a big influence of English.
 
Sorry for not being able to add anything from an English speaking perspective. I have gotten compliments for my written English and I think it is a bit sad that I probably write better than some native speakers...

 

[Danneq]

I just remembered that I CAN contribute something for the English language discussion. If any of you have not seen Idiocracy by Mike Judge (of Beavis & Butthead, King of the hill and Office space fame) yet, you HAVE TO see it!
I find it more and more hilarious every time I watch it. It is a very cleverly constructed story that criticizes modern society by describing an Uhmerica 500 years in the future when the average IQ level is about 75 and money looks like this:
 
 
A very very funny movie which disappeared very fast from theaters and has become a cult movie. It is constructed in a very "meta way", i.e. getting the audience to laugh and then hold up a mirror. Thdealing with a serious thing in a funny way and the intrigue becomes stoopid as well. I feel that it is something that Mike Judge intended, and in this way we, the audience who laughs at the stupid people are made to look stupid because we get caught up in monster truck races.
 

 

[Head Injury]

I don't want to change English. I already know it.
 
Quote:

Eheh... they think modern English is too hard? They should try Chinese (traditional), Japanese (with Kanji)

Chinese characters (and kanji) are different beasts entirely. They're hieroglyphic. English uses a phonetic alphabet in a quasi-phonetic way. Japanese with hiragana (and to a lesser, more frustrating degree, katakana) is easy to read. That's what a phonetic alphabet is supposed to be. Hieroglyphs are fast, phonetic is easy. English is neither. At least not to foreigners.

 

[SP Wild]

More subtleties and nuances in a language enables more creative and artistic imagery, as well as efficiency and effectiveness of communication.  These positives can only be realised (I hate it when the computer tells me I am spelling realised, colour, and organisation wrong) when the language is mastered - difficult to master, it is.
 
I seem to be using hyphens a lot in my elder years - why this is so? I do not know.  Anyone care to enlighten me on the correct use of hyphens?

 

[Region2]

Quote:

I seem to be using hyphens a lot in my elder years - why this is so? I do not know.  Anyone care to enlighten me on the correct use of hyphens?

It's not a hyphen.  What you're using is what is called a long dash or an em dash.  It is called an em dash because the dash is about as long as the letter m versus the letter n (en dash).  They're rather useful because they can replace commas, parenthesis, etc.  It is most useful when presenting an abrupt change of thought in the sentence--I like to use them when I make an aside.  I also feel that long dashes are more representative of spoken English than written English.  But that's just my 2 cents

 

[leeperry]

one thing sure annoying is young ppl who say "this went smooth" instead of "this went smoothly"..grammary fail! and "publicly" hahaha, terrible idea.

 

[jfeser2]

I think the en dash is only for breaking words across lines and for joining words together.  I don't think it can be used to control sentence structure.  Just a bit more information.

 

[SP Wild]

 
Quote:

It's not a hyphen.  What you're using is what is called a long dash or an em dash.  It is called an em dash because the dash is about as long as the letter m versus the letter n (en dash).  They're rather useful because they can replace commas, parenthesis, etc.  It is most useful when presenting an abrupt change of thought in the sentence--I like to use them when I make an aside.  I also feel that long dashes are more representative of spoken English than written English.  But that's just my 2 cents

According to wikipedia:
 
"Like em dashes, en dashes can be used instead of colons, or pairs of commas that mark off a nested clause or phrase. They can also be used around parenthetical expressions – such as this one – in place of the em dashes preferred by some publishers, particularly where short columns are used, since em dashes can look awkward at the end of a line."
 
Region 2 100% correct.  I am surprised that I have been using them correctly without being taught.  Simply by using it through imitation of other posts.  I have never used them in university level essays - only lately when I joined Head-Fi - the only forum worth posting in.
 
Head-Fi teaching more than headphones?

 

[SP Wild]

I think the article proclaiming changes from "fruit" to "froot" is made up in an attempt to discredit the organisation.  Where is the evidence that the organisation in question gave that example.  "fruit" to "frute" If I were to promote change.
 
Some words I have problems with and changes I propose.
 
beautiful - byutiful
receive - receve (i before e before c before v or whatever can be avoided)
 
Two words that obviously (obviosly, obviusly - O or U, not both!!) need changing.
 
Knife/Knight - nife/nyte (to not confuse night, which henceforth becomes nite - the whole KN/GH  thing is ridiculous)
 
Any other suggestions? (that appear intelligent as opposed to froot)
 
PS.  Phone to fone (we already knew that, right?)

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

I think the article proclaiming changes from "fruit" to "froot" is made up in an attempt to discredit the organisation.  Where is the evidence that the organisation in question gave that example.  "fruit" to "frute" If I were to promote change.
 
Some words I have problems with and changes I propose.
 
beautiful - byutiful
receive - receve (i before e before c before v or whatever can be avoided)
 
Two words that obviously (obviosly, obviusly - O or U, not both!!) need changing.
 
Knife/Knight - nife/nyte (to not confuse night, which henceforth becomes nite - the whole KN/GH  thing is ridiculous)
 
Any other suggestions? (that appear intelligent as opposed to froot)
 
PS.  Phone to fone (we already knew that, right?)

 

 

[G.Trenchev]

English isn't my genuine language,but I find it quite simple compared to deutch and russian(I've studied these).Movies and computers and magazines and all kind of stuff were sufficient and it was effortless to learn it.I just don't get the point of these guys.

 

[plaidplatypus]

u ppl lik 2 typ n olde En
good 4 u