Degradation of language, part 2

[dougjwray]

But why is it "less hair" even if you're balding so bad, you could count the individual strands of hair on one hand?

Maybe because "hair" can be either discrete things or a substance?
"Baby hair is soft."

 

[DCErik]

Idk, maybe real Nazism is worse than Soup Nazism, just sayin'.

Exactly as I said.

 

[12BitSlab]

I’ve noticed on many message boards that the people/posters who claim that spelling, word usage, and grammar don’t matter are generally the first ones to complain that the board’s search facility is useless.

Hmmmm………

 

[fig]

"Some people have a way with words. Some people...uh...no have way." - Steve Martin

 

[bholder]

'Twas in the Age of YouTube that I discovered the war against "to be", for example: "My bass needs repaired."

How did this happen? When? Why wasn't I notified in advance?

Last I knew, it's a colloquialism, oft used down 'cross the border in Pennsyltucky.

 

[skycruiser]

Positive "anymore" is the one that makes me feel nauseous. Like nails on a chalkboard.

 

[roccobass]

I love Appalachian English. In some ways it's closer to Elizabethan/colonial English than modern American English. In other words, it should be taken as more "correct" by those who think languages aren't allowed to change.

My dad's family spoke fluent Western Pennsylvanian, which I love to hear, but have never mastered. It sounds almost like cockney to me.

I’ve noticed that in the REAL rural areas of countries, (at least 3 that I’m aware of), in the main language, the words get “clipped”. Geez, I could hardly understand my grandfather when I last saw him. He was originally from Oklahoma.

I had an ex-girlfriend who was French Canadian. Some of her acquaintances would come over and they were from rural parts of Quebec. They were clipping words in French and sometimes she had to ask them to repeat what they said.

My ex-wife’s family came from a rural part of Italy originally. So the Italian she learned was from the “family”. She would try to speak it to Italians who had just come over from the main country, and they would look at her funny, and and actually correct her. (No no, it’s this way) Boy, that would piss her off. But even I knew her Italian was a regional flavor.

 

[bholder]

Last I knew, it's a colloquialism, oft used down 'cross the border in Pennsyltucky.

i suspect that instance comes from older German dialects via the Pennsylvania "Dutch". The shortened version approximates valid German sentence structure, if I recall anything about my German (been 50 years or so).

 

[roccobass]

1) "Less" applies to a substance. "Fewer" applies to things which could be counted.
"There is less water in this glass."
"There are fewer water molecules in this glass."
It drives me nuts when people say something like "There are less jazz fans in Iceland." It should be "There are FEWER jazz fans in Iceland."

2) Use "who", not "that", when you're referring to humans.
It's not "They are the people that run the country", it's "They are the people WHO run the country."

Some people get twisted when there's a 1/32" gap between the pickguard and control plate on a Jazz Bass.
I get twisted when people are tonedeaf about language.

Thank you for your time. Goodbye for now.

I understand fully your dilemma. However, my tolerance line is bit higher. At least you’re getting complete sentences. Try hearing it as “Ain’t too many jazzers in Iceland, uh huh”.

(My grandfather provided me with the template for that example.)

 

[fhm555]

Just wanted to say thanks for expanding my musical universe. I think of myself as musically neutral, I like all music. Granted some I like more than others, up until just a moment ago when I decided to look up Mambo #5. Having never heard it I thought I'd give it a spin, and like seeing a decapitate corpse in a mangled bunch of metal and that was once a car, I will never be able to unsee (unhear??) Mambo #5. So thanks for proving that no matter how well rounded I believe myself to be when it comes to music appreciation, for the first time in my life, I now have an understanding of what it's like to have a visceral dislike for a piece of music. As I am officially older than dirt, I can now without hesitation confirm that old saw telling us no matter how much you believe a thing to be true, there will always be an exception to disprove that notion. Today I found my musical kryptonite.
As for regional accent? My folks were both born and raised in Alabama, I was born on a military base in Alabama. I had lived in three states and a foreign country before I hit the second grade. When my dad got out of the Army, we moved back to Alabama, first to the Birmingham area where both sides of my family are pretty much concentrated, but within a year we had moved back to south Alabama where my dad took work on the same base where I was born. I finished high school there before joining the USMC. When I got to Camp Lejeune I was often asked where I was from, when I told them I was form Alabama most asked why I didn't sound like a hayseed when I talked. I attribute that to my gypsy upbringing, but here's the twist. After leaving the Corps I returned to Alabama, and while I've ranged far and wide for work, I somehow wound up back in my sweet home. These days I sound just like the rest of the good ole boys with a genuine Alabama drawl. The odd thing is, until it was pointed out by someone who knew me from back when, I was completely unaware my accent had not just changed, but had done so without any conscious effort on my part, and me being totally oblivious to the shift.

 

[Major Seven]

Just wanted to say thanks for expanding my musical universe. I think of myself as musically neutral, I like all music. Granted some I like more than others, up until just a moment ago when I decided to look up Mambo #5. Having never heard it I thought I'd give it a spin, and like seeing a decapitate corpse in a mangled bunch of metal and that was once a car, I will never be able to unsee (unhear??) Mambo #5. So thanks for proving that no matter how well rounded I believe myself to be when it comes to music appreciation, for the first time in my life, I now have an understanding of what it's like to have a visceral dislike for a piece of music. As I am officially older than dirt, I can now without hesitation confirm that old saw telling us no matter how much you believe a thing to be true, there will always be an exception to disprove that notion. Today I found my musical kryptonite.
As for regional accent? My folks were both born and raised in Alabama, I was born on a military base in Alabama. I had lived in three states and a foreign country before I hit the second grade. When my dad got out of the Army, we moved back to Alabama, first to the Birmingham area where both sides of my family are pretty much concentrated, but within a year we had moved back to south Alabama where my dad took work on the same base where I was born. I finished high school there before joining the USMC. When I got to Camp Lejeune I was often asked where I was from, when I told them I was form Alabama most asked why I didn't sound like a hayseed when I talked. I attribute that to my gypsy upbringing, but here's the twist. After leaving the Corps I returned to Alabama, and while I've ranged far and wide for work, I somehow wound up back in my sweet home. These days I sound just like the rest of the good ole boys with a genuine Alabama drawl. The odd thing is, until it was pointed out by someone who knew me from back when, I was completely unaware my accent had not just changed, but had done so without any conscious effort on my part, and me being totally oblivious to the shift.

I acquired a Boston accent in less than 2 years. After leaving Boston it faded.