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The Vagaries of The English Language

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As a keen reader of both books and other printed media,
both as hard copy and online, I'm invariably intrigued by
the misuse, overcomplexity, and often strangely inexplicable
use of modern global English by some writers of all ilks, be
they professional wordsmiths or lay people.

What prompted this today was reading this absurd phrase
in my local ABC Australia news feed:

I have decided "to step away from the role".

Whatever happened to the word "resign"?

I do have a mental library list of other words and phrases that
often—too often—leap out at me from the written words of
others. And of course also spoken by others.

"reach out" —what happened to "contact"?
"in actual fact" —uh, you maybe mean "actually"?

"in back of" —seriously? How about simply "behind".
"off of the agenda" — no... no; just "off the agenda".

"let me say this" —nope... just say whatever it is. Easy.
"in terms of" —why not simply say "about"?

"at the end of the day" —silly... just say "ultimately" or "inevitably".
"where's it at?" —try "where is it?"

And yes; I understand that this sort of thing is pretty
inconsequential in today's beleaguered world, but then
I am of a grumpy old man vintage.
 
Wait, did you just start a Gen Chat thread on language within a day of joining?
Ooooooh!

Should we stick to discussing the type of vagaries you used as examples or can we discuss wider language issues as well?
ausGeoff said:
"reach out" —what happened to "contact"?
Click to expand...
Oh my, guilty as charged, not even 5 minutes ago. Not linking the post, I prefer to try to hide my sins.

Tagging @Annb , @LivingLightly , @MrsA2 , @Zhnyaka , and @maglil55 , who are all interested in language and might find this thread worth keeping alive.
(My apologies for the spaces before the commas, no tagging with a comma right after the name.)
 
Oh yes... by all means you don't have to stick to
the sort of stuff I've listed as examples of some of
my English language pet peeves.

I'd be guessing some people would disagree with mine anyway.
 
Haha, @Antje77 , you mentioned in the topic about the language of a person who practically does not speak English This is the first time I've seen half of the words on the list at the top.
I'll be proud of myself if I put the verb in the right tense without a Google translator.
 
Doesn't matter that you're learning English, you still love language and how it works!
And your English must be better than you think, translation software is far from perfect but whatever you write on the forum usually makes perfect sense, including the 'rhythm' of the text.
 
Another word(s) I see every day and used—in my humble
opinion incorrectly—is "excited" and/or "exciting".

Particularly in advertising and email spam. As per "We're
excited [proud] to offer you an even better toothpaste" or
"You'll be excited [pleased] to know we've extended your
policy at no extra charge" or "This exciting [appealing] new
Toyota has everything in the way of comfort and performance".

Can, or should anyone be excited about a better toothpaste?
Seriously? If so, maybe, just maybe, they need to get out a
bit more.

But bear in mind when I post this stuff, I am a curmudgeon
at heart.
 
ausGeoff said:
Can, or should anyone be excited about a better toothpaste?
Seriously? If so, maybe, just maybe, they need to get out a
bit more.
Click to expand...
It's worse after you actually ordered some product or other. You always get asked if you would recommend the product to family and friends on a scale of 1 to 10.
Yes, my friends and I are so boring that we have nothing better to talk about than the exciting tube of toothpaste ot the box of 4x40 torx screws I received in my mailbox because I was to lazy to go out for them. Sure.
 
Fellow curmudgeon here.

The phrase (among many) that I really detest is when somebody "finds themselves". Not something like they went to a Buddhist Retreat to find themselves (although that is bad enough) but something like "I found myself on the ferry heading for France" or "I found myself going upstairs". Really? Bless my soul: who would have thought it. You didn't know where you were and then you........
 
Keep those annoyances coming please (and maybe the quirks you love about the English language as well, if you have the odd not so curmudgeonly day). They are exactly the things I need to think about if I want to improve my English.
The forum worked wonders for improving my diabetes so why not my English?

Oh, and yes, please correct me. I've asked before on the more chatty threads but people are usually too polite. Which is kind, but also useless.
I don't mind making mistakes on here, the main thing is being able to have people understand what you're trying to say on a diabetes forum. But I often know something isn't quite right when I write something, without being able to work out what is wrong exactly.
 

after a good drink, this is a very appropriate phrase. Sometimes you really find yourself in the wrong places
 
Zhnyaka said:
after a good drink, this is a very appropriate phrase. Sometimes you really find yourself in the wrong places
Click to expand...
Good point!
Much like the overuse of the word literally when it's meant figuratively. As in: "I literally died yesterday" when feeling embarrased, or from laughing. All fine to say you literally died yesterday if you needed CPR or electroshocks to get your heart going again of course.
 
Last edited:
Oh yes - that's another really annoying misuse of a perfectly good word!
 
Oh yes!

Downunder, that would have to be one of the most incorrectly
and overused words in our daily lexicon.

They probably mean "virtually", "nearly", "practically", or "almost".

—And yes, as an Aussie I invariably use the so-called "Oxford comma".
 
Consider this sentence:

"The divisions competing for budget allocation are Marketing, Students and Learning and Research".

Without an Oxford comma, is it clear whether 'Students and Learning' is one division, or 'Learning and
Research' is one? The Oxford comma in the following version makes it clear:

The divisions competing for budget allocation are Marketing, Students and Learning, and Research.

And this sentence (who said you can't start a sentence with "and" LOL):

"He went to the party with his brother, a famous actor and a prize-winning novelist".

Does it mean that he went to the party with three people or does it mean that his brother is a famous
actor and a prize-winning novelist? The meaning of the sentence is ambiguous, but including a comma
after the word ‘actor’ makes it clear that the sentence is a list of three people.
 
I love the Oxford comma. It gives clarity.

We used to be frowned at for starting a sentence with And, But, Because or So, but I agree that it is perfectly reasonable when used for emphasis or clarity.
 
I've noticed lately—often on other forums—Americans in
particular using the terms "welp" and "anywho". The latter
would appear to be a deliberate misspelling in order to ...
what exactly? What's wrong with "anyhow"?

And as for "welp"? Who knows? Although I've noticed a
correlation of its use, and the youthfulness of its users.

And don't get me started about "m'kay" —a true abomination
in the English lexicon.
 
I've noticed another strange Americanism, along the
lines of their trailing "at" at the ends of sentences.

As per; "Do you live with them or?" and "Can you let me know or?"

I watch a lot of US police interviews on YouTube, and this
is very common with LEOs and I'm assuming its intended
to elicit further information from the suspect. It could also
be forcing a response to an open-ended question, but is
nonetheless ungrammatical.
 
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