To mourn the loss of the word 'sitting' from English?

[UngratefulMoo]

No one seems to use it these days. It's all, 'I was sat there', 'She was sat down'.... well, no, unless you were forcibly put there or instructed to sit by someone else, I think you'll find you were 'sitting' there.

Where has the word sitting gone, and am I alone, or unreasonable in pining for it?

I don't like the tendency to use "they" when the person's gender is actually known, when people are obviously referring to a man or a woman and still use the plural pronouns. That makes no sense whatsoever. I also think it is usually possible to avoid the use of "they" even if the sex/gender is not known. I do rather enjoy the invented word "themself" to refer to one person, because it shows the impulse for a singular pronoun.

dainty

Glad I'm not the one

I have just come upon a You Tube Channel called "We Are History!" Spoof history programmes.

only one. Jeez, my typing has gone all to cock

Some people do use 'they' as a preferred pronoun - have you come across this? People who don't feel they identify as a 'he' or a 'she', so use 'they' for themselves.

I suspect it will become more acceptable.

In the north, when people say "I am going pub" with no "the", there is usually a t sound before the pub.
It's where the Peter Key joke about "t'internet" comes from, instead of "the internet".
So it's more like "I am going t'pub"

In my experience, the t' is almost always omitted. "I'm going shop" is completely 'normal' without a t' in there. It makes me sob a little bit.

I do wish we had a gender neutral singular personal pronoun that was accepted. If we do have to use one, then she is the logical choice as there are more women than men, so statistically more accurate. In the absence of anything better, I advise they, but only after a lengthy explanation. Even the politest of kids have been known to gently roll their eyes as I launch into my abbreviated history of personal pronouns.

I still say stitting, am 26.

Yanbu

Upthe, I like you very much, but I really hope you're joking

Yes, Jeanne -- or rather, sending myself up (hence the grin emoji) - I do notice and judge grammatical errors etc. I can't help it. But I stop myself from acting on that judgement, and I recognise that judging in that way in everyday life is a waste of energy and it also creates bad feeling. Although I correct it in essays. I also correct sexist or non-inclusive language in essays.

But I can't lie: "was sat" for "sitting" does grate.

I judge anyone who uses "sat" when they mean "sitting". It says a lot.

Ok, fair point, there is a difference between judging and acting on judgement, and I should have acknowledged that. Better?

And I can't be pious about it, as 'was sat' doesn't grate for me, but there are other things that do.

Recently I was leaving a pub as they were reading out a question which omitted the word "which". As I stepped outside, I did a perfect school ma'am repeat of the question but with the correction in it. It kind of happened without me knowing I was doing it.

I've done that.

My mum used to be able to hoot 'to whom' at a pitch that made your ears vibrate.

I inherited this ability.

It is not good in public spaces.

What really winds me up is this...

"I'm going Mcdonalds later"
"I'm going Bens house now"
"I'm going Scotland next week"

Aarrgghhhh... its "TO, I'm going TO".

This was mentioned earlier decision

Whoops, I can see others have already expressed their displeasure at this!

However, I hear it from Southerners, not those lot int'north.

Sorry referring to a post on page 3 but reddaisy I find that quite a snobbish attitude. I attended neither a private school nor a RG uni yet my grammar is no where near as bad as you seem to be suggesting.

I would say I sit, I am sitting, I will sit, I will be sitting, I sat down but I was sitting. I would never say I am sat or I was sat.

While we're at it I suggest you read up on the issue of aitch/haitch. While I use aitch I also recognise the link to bigotry when the use of hatch is derided.

That was mentioned too, decision. It's a Southern dialect thing.

There's a glottal stop standing in for 'to', usually.

Blueshoes

I think you should reconsider what it means. In other words, examine your prejudice

Is using 'I was sat' characteristic of a particular dialect in a region of England? I've never heard it used by anyone outside of England but I couldn't pinpoint exactly where in England I've heard it. Definitely not typical usage in Ireland, Scotland or the U.S. anyway...

Definitely sitting and standing here. Now how do we feel about people who say they are laying in bed when they mean they are lying in bed e.g. I was laying in bed when the phone rang".? Seems very prevalent now and makes me think of chickens.

Together with "advanced" notice of roadworks (a phrase beloved of many councils nowadays), it drives me mad.

Oh yanbu. It irks me no end but I fear we're fighting a losing battle as it seems more and more prevalent.

Soals

Read the thread. People have said it's prevalent in the North, and in Essex

Carly

Fight on, good heart, fight on! Some things are worth it!