To tell you that it's "rein" not "reign".

[FlyingElbows]

Because it is and it's doing my tits in!!

Rein. Rein. Rein. Rein. Rein.

Free rein. It's an equestrian term meaning to give the horse freedom of movement.

It is NOT reign. That's what the Queen does.

It's right up there with "intensive purposes" and "doggy dog world"!!

Also it's rather sweet to see obviously fairly parochial Mumsnetters who have not ventured far from the south east of England suddenly coming across expressions and dialect from other parts of the UK, and having this explained to them on threads like this. I hope it forms part of their life long learning.

People have always used half-known phrases. The difference is that today we communicate a lot more in writing, so the mistakes are more obvious. An "eh wallah" spoken aloud is just a slight mispronunciation.

Languages are my job so I feel obliged to find out exactly what I am saying, but I don't expect non-linguists to get it right. Doesn't stop me from reading "I tore a strop of my dh" as if the writer really did mean "of" and momentarily turning into Victor Meldrew, though!

Haha, lost the battle with my spellchecker over that "strip" there :)

It's spit and image not spitting image.

What fascinates me about threads like these (and there are a lot of them) is the sheer snooty superiority some posters have over language. The vast majority of posts by this type of poster simply show their ignorance that language varies and can change through space and time. These posters cannot see past their own narrow Lexicon, anything outside it is 'wrong' and requires derision.

I'm not talking about spelling errors here but pronunciationn and the use phrases that have evolved. I'm not even talking about the majority of posters.

I'm sure someone who feels that I mean them will come along to point out an error in my English or to mock an incorrectly placed comma (in order to get their pathetic feeling of superiority back).

Language changes, it adapts to all sorts of different situations (the internet being the biggest one at the moment).

Shakespeare invented words which are used today as established words. He also didn't sound like many people think he did nor would he have pronounced some words like they are pronounced today.

My DH and I went Christmas shopping. Not myself and my DH. Not me and my DH. Take away my DH and it makes sense to say I went. It makes no sense to say me went, or myself went. Aaarrgghhh. 😡

Of course it makes sense. It's not correct English but it makes total sense.

The meaning is clear but it's in spite of the grammar, not because of it. Similar issue:

'Pat invited Alex and I...'

No. Nobody would say or write 'Pat invited I'. The correct version is 'Pat invited Alex and me'.

My theory is that people are told so often that 'me' is incorrect, e.g. in phrases like 'Me and Alex are going to the party', that they come to the conclusion that 'me' is always wrong in any phrase with 'and'.

Then there's the announcement which ends Any problems see myself.

And it's not just pedantry. Speaking accurately gets the message across better.

In early 1979 there was a strike in the German steel industry about over-capacity and closures, and it was obviously going to be our turn next, as indeed it was in 1980. Panorama had a long discussion with workers and managers from Germany and from Britain. Naturally the Germans were chosen partly because of their good English, and I expect you could have trawled for British steel workers and managers who spoke German, probably among the sons of Tommies who were stationed there and married local girls.

What stuck out like a sore thumb was that the Germans' command of English was better than that of the British speakers: fluent and accurate if not very idiomatic. And that could only have been achieved by them being taught to speak their own language properly before they learnt any other.

And the teaching of English here has not got any better since then.

Passed and past.

As I passed the crossing, a train went past.

Have been educated by the 'spit and image' correction. Bit of googling revealed biblical origins and nothing to do with a rubbery Margaret Thatcher. Who 'would of' thought?

DodoRevival, I get where you are coming from - but if I make a joke about a mis-pelling I don't always end with a a disclaimer that actually, I realise that I am being a pedant and should know better. Even though that is the case. Sometimes I just want to share the funny image that came into my head. I'm just as much a result of my education and background as anyone else, so just as imperfect, if in a different way.

There is a well-known radio show featuring a film critic who regularly displays his lack of understanding about how language changes and how grammar works, e.g. correcting people who end a sentence with a preposition even if it creates a complete Frankenstein's monster of a sentence. That also riles me no end. He is a pedant, and I am pedantic about his pedantry. Does that make me a super-pedant?

And has anyone mentioned constructions like "I'm sat on" for "I'm sitting on"?

Oh god or "so I was sat." My DM's school kids used to say that and she'd say, "oh? Who sat you there?" every time, in the hope that repetition would correct it!

I haven't RTFT but am compelled to point out to the posters mentioning "pedants corner" or "pedant's corner" that it's Pedants' corner. It is a thread for all the many MN pedants. A prime example of Muphry's Law in action.

(You sometimes find the odd pendant hanging around there too.)

Muphry's Law?

Ever-diminishing circles here. We will disappear up . . . no, Andrew, behave yourself and leave it there!

Didn't know spit and image.

Thank you.

"Spitting image" has been used since the 1800s, so I think it might be starting to become acceptable :)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law

The one that really got to me (because I was already in a pointless rage on the thread) was where a poster used the expression "right of passage" in a way that exacerbated my annoyance because the whole thing was about "rites v. rights" in a sense.

the thread was about whether the older child automatically gets the best bedroom and an astonishing number of posters said "obviously, yes" and had no actual reasoning for it.

When someone piped up "Oldest! Right of passage!" [sic] I just had to have a word with myself and walk away because A RIGHT IS DIFFERENT FROM A RITE

Thank you, Raven. Mentioning Muphry's Law usually does produce a small but perfectly formed circle, Andrew.

English is hard. It is inconsistent and often phonetic thinking doesn't help at all.
I realised when I was about 8 - as did probably most of the people on this thread - that I had a weird knack for it that made me more accurate at it than most adults already. At that point I realised that I was definitely going to be a dick if I kept pointing out other people's mistakes, instead of focusing on what they were actually saying.

That right / rite thing slipped out because in general I stick to my 8-year-old guns and avoid being a twerp about happening to know the correct (or older, realistically) way to write something.

Has anyone mentioned 'breaks' instead of 'brakes'? There was a thread recently with this in the title and consistently in the OP, and a few years ago I came across a newspaper article which did likewise. No prizes for guessing it was the Guardian.

If your car brakes break, you're in trouble!

Of course it makes sense. It's not correct English but it makes total sense

Weeee-eell, up to a point, Lord Copper.

Thing is, communication is difficult enough. Getting people to understand what you really mean can be difficult at times - just look at the threads here in AIBU!

So, in written English (or in whichever language one is writing), it behoves us to try to remove as many barriers to clear & direct communication as possible.

So it helps in communicated to use clearly demarcated sentences (Capital letter to start, full stop to finish it). Paragraphs to delineate the thinking process - I teach undergrads that:

"A sentence is a unit of meaning; a paragraph is a unit of argument."

Clear spelling and punctuation help others to understand - quickly and clearly - what you really mean. Spelling errors, grammatical errors, twisted sentence structure, malapropisms - all these things make it harder work for others to understand what you want to say, and what you want others to understand, and actually agree with.

But then I still use the subjunctive in everyday colloquial speech, and find it hard to end a clause with a preposition ...

I ... find it hard to end a clause with a preposition
I love your sense of humour :)