It’s GIVEN not GIFTED FFS !!!

[TriflePudding]

Oh god it’s all over Facebook and it’s driving me crazy - “I have here to gift ...a tatty old sofa I can’t be arsed to get rid of myself so I’m fobbing it off on someone else”
or “I have been gifted a bag of baby clothes but they are too small, does anyone know if anyone in need ?”
Or “looking to gift some donations to local women’s refuge/children’s hospital- who do I get in touch with ?”

JUST FUCK OFF !! Say “given” and while we are at it just donate stuff quietly without any fanfare !

YABU - it is perfectly acceptable to use “gifted” as a verb

Or

YANBU - the word “gifted” being used as a verb was invented by Beelzebub himself.

Please feel free to add your own !

@Thewinterofdiscontent

I still want to hit people for saying “I’m good” enthusiastically when asked how they are. Well what a relief to know you’re not a psychopath.

May I also offer 'it's all good.'

Whenever someone says (for example,) 'I hope everything's OK, and I haven't spoken out of turn' and the other person says 'it's all good.......'

Grrrrrr

"In actual fact"

"Could of"

"Speaking for myself personally "

And I completely agree with you about Facebook posters asking for recommendations of someone "in need" to give their old bits and bobs to. If you want to give things away, just post them on Facebook marketplace as free. Whoever is in need of whatever you are trying to get rid of will find you! Are you worried that whoever gets your old box of baby clothes won't be sufficiently needy or do you just need all your Facebook friends to know what a generous person you are?

What does winningest mean?

I think it’s because some people take advantage of free giving sites and flog stuff on. On my local town pages least if you put “in need” and you catch them selling on Facebook marketplace you can alert people to them.

@DuckyMcDuck

Also, you go TO a place

You don't go cinema - go TO the cinema

Go London - no, no, no go TO London

Go Tom's house - go TO TO TO TO TO his bloody house

And breathe

Similarly, the car needs washed. The baby needs fed...

Most of these I have never noticed and feeling like I would if my friends suddenly curated a shoe collection.
I’m not on social media though which maybe helps.

“Free gift” drives me mad. A gift by its very nature is free. It’s either “free” or a “gift” - choose one

@AndThenTheDayBecomesTheNight

'I was sat' - to me - is a nuance thing again. It's about frustration - implies being stuck somewhere, not quite of your own free will - basically an abbreviation of 'I was sat there like a lemon'. Or in the third person implying that someone's altogether too comfortable where they're not welcome. 'There she was, sat in my kitchen, drinking my tea and eating my biscuits'.

That’s an interesting inference, but I don’t think most users of ‘I was sat’ mean it to have such a subtle distinction. It’s just become the normal way of saying ‘I was sitting’ for many, particularly younger people.

As PPs have said, ‘I was sat’ is a traditional and valid regional variation. That’s fine. However, over the last twenty or so years it’s spread everywhere in the UK, far beyond its original ‘boundaries’. People from London say it, people in Scotland say it. Prince Harry says it.

My original point was that, while it’s clearly becoming the predominant usage in the UK, ‘I am sat’ , is still ungrammatical English. And it’s not my native dialect, so I won’t be using it.

Beginning a sentence with "And" or "But" has me (as an English teacher) reaching for the red pen. As does not using commas where they're needed.

I don't correct need + past participle obviously, because it's not wrong.

@TheKeatingFive

I think it's just surprising that so many people are bothered by words. Language is dynamic, what's the problem?

I totally agree, I find people to be very rigid about this.

What I always love about these threads is the application of Muphry's Law. Never, ever fails.

@IsThisNews

"In actual fact"

"Could of"

"Speaking for myself personally "

And I completely agree with you about Facebook posters asking for recommendations of someone "in need" to give their old bits and bobs to. If you want to give things away, just post them on Facebook marketplace as free. Whoever is in need of whatever you are trying to get rid of will find you! Are you worried that whoever gets your old box of baby clothes won't be sufficiently needy or do you just need all your Facebook friends to know what a generous person you are?

What's wrong with "in actual fact" ?

(Clue: nothing, and a student would get a mental tick for using it instead of "in fact" or "actually" because it's stylistically richer)

"A not insignificant amount"

Lovely phrasing- also stylistically richer usage.

@rawalpindithelabrador

Reach out. No fucker ever contacts anyone anymore.

I hate almost every one of the neologisms mentioned, but this is the one that really has me ready to commit a violent act of some sort.

It also invariably makes me think of the Four Tops "Reach out and I'll be there", so I have an ear worm for the rest of the day.

My pet (irrational) dislike is the word ‘utilise’ as a synonym for ‘use’. Nothing wrong with it linguistically; I just think it’s unnecessary.

@StepOutOfLine

Beginning a sentence with "And" or "But" has me (as an English teacher) reaching for the red pen. As does not using commas where they're needed.

I don't correct need + past participle obviously, because it's not wrong.

Unlike comma splicing, it is not incorrect to begin a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’. Fine if you are correcting the student’s style but neither is inherently grammatically incorrect.

Similarly, the car needs washed. The baby needs fed. This really annoys me, also "My bad" my bad what? When did bad become a noun?

I was on an independent tea producers website, about to order some loose leaf tea but stopped when I saw that, instead of "contact us/email us/call us", it said "reach out to us" Who reaches out to buy tea?!

I didn't say it was wrong. I said I'd red-pen it.

Not sure it's been mentioned as haven't read ATFT but what grinds my gears is the use of 'myself' or 'yourself' instead of me / I / you. For example 'My husband and myself are looking for a house' or 'perhaps yourself and your children would like to...'

You do not sound educated even though you may think you do.

The other horror which I've noticed spring up on social media lately (among young people) is 'tryna' ffs.

@Billandben444

Before the days of catch-up TV - no, you weren't going to video a programme: you were going to record it on your video recorder.

Even though we've had some form of digital video recorder for over 20 years, longer than I ever used an analogue vhs machine, I still refer to recording a programme as 'taping' it. It makes my adult children wince.

It's amazing how we adapt to modern technology. I used to think being able to go to a video store and rent a film I wanted to see was incredible. Then came DVDs, so compact, so shiny. They were relatively affordable so I could buy the films I wanted and keep them forever. As I got older and deafer I could use the nifty subtitle option! And you didn't have to rewind them! Now the thought of having to find the disc I want to watch and insert it into the DVD player (which may or may not work - they seem to be very unreliable) seems like too much faff. Nowadays I press a few keys on my iPad and I can buy the film or series I want and watch it anywhere in the world on a tv, phone or laptop. I can't wait to see the next innovation.

I can’t be doing with famalam either!

'Higher purchase' seen recently. It doesn't even make sense.

@Invisiblewoman1

Also, when people say “sorry” instead of -excuse me or pardon. Why do so many people do that

'Pardon' is dreadfully common! 'Excuse me' or 'sorry' are acceptable.

Also; something “needs doing”, or it “needs to be done”. It doesn’t “need done.” I’ve only ever seen this excrescence (thank you P G Wodehouse) on Mumsnet and it is sooooooo annoying!

@WonkyCactus “Can I get instead of the May I have”
I am in complete agreement with on this one
Also people replying “I’m good” when you ask them, “how are you?”

I'm listening to the today programme on radio 4 and I swear that someone American just said.. "Joe Boden has telegraphed .. "

Is this a fancy way to say he's said something or has someone on a pushbike just delivered a slim sheet of paper with a message fresh from the USA via the Morse code office? Perplexed, I'm off to.investigate!

Ah. I stand clarified. Telegraphed can mean:
convey (an intentional or unconscious message), especially with facial expression or body language.