You are MURDERING the King's English!!

steepler wrote:

It's actually the Queen's English!

Thanks, Einsteen. Your very adapt at fingering out the play of words.

My roomate pronounced the full version of King Tut... "King Tuttencommon"

I argued that it should sound like "King Tootenkahmen"

He is an idiot and murderer of King's English.

I suspect you mean "roommate." A "roomate" has sex with marsupials. Ick.

Yes, "forte" (meaning "strong point") comes from French, and has a single syllable. "Forte" (meaning "loud" or "forcefully") comes from Italian, and has two syllables.

As pointed out above, many letsrun types seem to think "could have ran" is correct. It should be "could have run."

Also, people run *gantlets* and not *gauntlets*--which are gloves.

I've pretty much given up on getting people to use "comprise" correctly--even the Supreme Court (in Bush v. Gore) used it incorrectly.

"Since" refers to time; "because" refers to causation.

Oh, yes: people *flout* rules. They don't *flaunt* them (unless they type the rules up and pin them to their lapel or something).

Another that sometimes bothers me:

A sojourn is *not* a trip. It's a temporary stay somewhere.

Tonight my daughters (ages 12 and 14--the elder is a student at Stuyvesant HS) asked when "who" and "whom" should be used. I was taught this in fourth grade. It appears that the school system has thrown up its hands on this subject. (When I tried to explain and used the terms "nominative" and "objective" [cases], my kids gave me one of those looks...)

picking nits wrote:

Stuyvesant HS

Get-toe!

picking nits wrote:

Stuyvesant HS

Matt Damon Bailey wrote:Get-toe!

Huh? Stuyvesant is far from ghetto; it's in Battery Park City and has strict admissions testing to enroll.

"roomate"? wrote:

I suspect you mean "roommate." A "roomate" has sex with marsupials.

.

If your roommate has sex with marsupials it is NOT called 'beastiality,' it's 'bestiality' -- and it isn't pronounced how it's spelled.

I love Steven Wright...

>>Why isn't "phonetic" spelled the way it sounds?>Why do they have such a long word for "abbreviation?">How come there's no other word that means the same thing as "synonym?">Why does flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?>If people from Poland are called "Poles," why aren't people from Holland called "Holes?>Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?>Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?>Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one?>Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?>Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race car not called a racist?>When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts," and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?>Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?>Why do croutons come in airtight packages?>If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and dry cleaners depressed?>Where do you go to find another word for Thesaurus?<<

Book on dinosaurs.

Okay something happened there with that post...it's missing all the spaces and answers like,

Why are more than one mouse called 'mice', yet more than one grouse not called 'grice'.

Just listen to the interviews of many of the US sprinters and you will be witness to serial killings of the English Language.

Jim-

I completely agree. I'd like to add that I hate it when people do not know how to use preopositions correctly! (sorry if this has been mentioned already).

examples:

"where's the meet at?"

"i don't know where you're at with your training..."

"is the race over?"

"what room are you in?"

jimmy buffett.......... wrote:

I work with a guy who butchers English worse than anyone I ever met. He is a serial killer of the spoken word.

"...than anyone ELSE I ever met."

How about "I been knowin' him since back in da day."

Instead of "I have known him for a very long time."

Because I am a resident of the state....

It is MISSOURI, not Missourah. I think even our present Governor pronounces it incorrectly.

Who resuscitates these ancient threads?

(BTW, based on some of my recent posts, I'm thinking of changing my name to grumpy oldXCguy.)

not sure if this one has been mentioned, but the phrase " allow me to reiterate..." always bothers me when people use it to say they are repeating themselves. Iterate means to repeat..reiterate means repeat many times.

malmo wrote:

Actually forte is one of the most commonly mispronounced words. It's pronounced "fort" -- one syllable please.

For info:

*1+0&dict=A

mdsc83k wrote:

malmo wrote:

Actually forte is one of the most commonly mispronounced words. It's pronounced "fort" -- one syllable please.

For info:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=forte

*1+0&dict=A

Sorry that didn't work. If you type forte into the search box on the link yo'll see the pronunciations.

It is not spelled DEFINATELY, people!