AIBU to say it's not "ect"

[IceCreamWoes]

I've seen about 8 threads in the last 2 days with posters writing ect when they obviously mean etc. I probably am being U but it really does irrationally fucking irritate me!

I need to get out more, yes. I've had two (big) glasses of wine 😂.

So, am I?

I saw a post on FB yesterday about direrear, I suppose that’s quite appropriate!

Kerb and curb.
That would only irritate me if "kerb" was used when it should be "curb", not the other way round.

"Curb" is the more etymologically coherent variant. There's really no very good reason for British English to have the 'kerb' spelling - the purpose of the kerb is to curb.

No worries. Just to clarify, if you say “I’ve seen” that is OK because it’s the same as “I have seen”.

My current real annoyance is bear/bare. I had never noticed it until I joined Mumsnet, where it's a several times a day problem and now I see that it's everywhere, even in things written by people who write for a living. At least it's one where you do usually know what people mean, I suppose. Been/ being is a really puzzling one - how can anyone confuse them?

This is, of course, a more complicated topic than most people realise. Language is a changing thing; changed by developing custom and practice. If one particular phrase, despite being grammatically incorrect or poorly spelt, becomes the norm then that becomes 'correct'. The process of becoming the norm is long, ill-defined and subjective.

I have just as many moments of having my teeth set on edge when I hear things that I perceive as incorrect, but I also recognise that language changes and nobody can stem the tide. It just happens, like it or not. And that process is fascinating - and entertaining.

In general, the use of incorrect grammar and spelling is caused by a lack of education. Lack of education is rarely a choice that has been made by the uneducated; it is caused by culture and poverty and lack of opportunity. So it isn't a reason to be judged. At the same time, we are all allowed to have things that irritate us and to talk about those things. And we are all judging each other all the time for the most unreasonable things! It's important to understand our own behaviour and to realise how unreasonable we are ourselves. And then laugh at ourselves

This would of annoyed me two 😁

Boarder instead of border for the edge of things

While @Emptyandsad is correct about how language evolves, I think mutations which cause a loss of functionality should be resisted if possible.
The purpose of language is for communication, there are some words where altering their meaning can impair this.

YATNBU and it's also not e.t.c.

I do notice that the meanings of envy and jealousy have been conflated these days. I taught my children the correct usage but it's so common to misuse the terms now that, if they queried a teacher's misuse of the terms, they would be told they were wrong.

@QuiMoi , as an ex TEFL teacher, I can’t altogether agree that English is grammatically very simple. OK, we don’t have noun genders (except for a ship!) and except for the 3rd person ‘s’ we don’t conjugate verbs or decline nouns, but some constructions are very complicated for more elementary learners.

E.g. question tags - which is many languages are so much simpler - e.g. n’est ce pas?, nicht wahr? and among others, a similar one in Greek.

Whereas in English we have to match it to the rest of the question - didn’t you? Isn’t it? Won’t she? Aren’t they? etc.

Plus the question form of the simple past - e.g. Did you go? compared to the equivalent of ‘Went you?’ in some other languages.
My poor learners (mostly speakers of Arabic) found these hard, anyway! I still remember one poor chap answering the homework question - ‘What did you do on Friday?’ (Their Sunday) - ‘I did was go my village’

Oh, that would make my teeth hurt.

In addition to the use of ‘on accident’ mentioned above (instead of ‘by accident’), there has also been an almost universal takeover by ‘excited for’, especially among younger people. It used to be ‘I am excited about going to the party’. Excited ‘for’ used to be used only if people were excited on behalf of others. ‘You’re going to Italy? I’m excited for you!’
I would be very interested to know how and why this change has occurred. As others have said, language changes are fascinating.

Dinning room seems to be gaining traction too.

It's not possible...

Lack of education is rarely a choice that has been made by the uneducated; it is caused by culture and poverty and lack of opportunity.

I can think of a large number of wasters at my school who skipped classes and messed about and emerged with shockingly bad spoken and written English. Yet many of us at the same school did very well and went on to good universities. We were all in the same classes with the same teachers.

Where the F**K do you get the idea that I took ‘the piss’ out of her? And I didn’t mention ‘friends’ at all. Jesus.

It's not possible...
In some cases where it really matters it is.

Were you in the same homes with the same parents? Because that is far more relevant to the culture, poverty and lack of opportunity referred to than the school you attended.

This is going off topic a bit. I had an Arab friend and I was complaining to him about how difficult it is to differentiate some Arabic sounds. He laughed and said "chip, cheap, ship, sheep" which, to many Arabs, are identical sounds. The same is true in Italian: capello, capelo, cappello, capello all sound completely different but i can't hear the difference because I don't speak Italian. We lose our ability (which we have at birth) to distinguish between sounds if there is no need for that ability.

Our bodies and minds are clever like that. If you patch one eye for a period of, say, 6 months, when you take off the patch, that eye will be blind although there has been no physical atrophy of the optic nerve. Use it or lose it.

But different parents and different friendship groups I would imagine

The French have tried hard with their Academie Francaise, with limited (but perhaps valuable) success

@HumphreyCushionintheHouse

What a marvellous thread! I can think of it all day!

Wrought iron! To compromise [a bit] that "engineers" would specify it as "Wrot" iron!

It's raining else I would get out [more]

Oh god, yes!

What’s with the ‘of’?

I groan at ‘off of’. E.g. ‘Tony Hadley off of Spandau Ballet’. Urggghhhhh

Que Que Que Que Que

I feel better now. YANBU