to absolutely hate the how people are speaking English!

[exse24Londoner]

I really hate how we have "suddenly" starting gifting presents rather than giving them as we did only a couple of years ago. Vacations - when did we start having vacations instead of holidays?????? The other day I saw an advert for pants - turned out to be trousers. Apparently when I speak to someone it is now liaising & if I call or text, I am reaching out..... the other day someone was talking about the front end, or as I prefer to call it - the beginning!!🙄

Dont get me wrong, I love the evolution of language & that generations make it their own but this isn't that this is not teenagers or cultures developing own language its...... weird management/pop psychology speak

is it just me??

@honeylulu the irony of Gotten being old English, that we should reclaim is killing me. Why you ask - well because somewhere in the past, it was replaced with something else and I bet if we had MN back then, this thread would be happening in reverse 🤭.

Hate split infinitives as in to boldly go sadly every few minutes on mn as elsewhere. Plus invites instead of invitations
On the other hand love the words used in the North Midlands by older relatives eg naughty for stroppy, shirty
Miserable for sullen, unfriendly

Spelling is dying out everywhere. I read a TV review on the website of a national newspaper last night which referred to "an illusive stranger".

Edited to say that I know illusive is a word but it means something that isn't real rather than it just can't be pinned down (elusive). I might find out next week's episode of Industry that the illusive stranger was imaginary rather than someone who suddenly left the premises once the police were on the way. If so I shall feel very foolish.

I know people mention American TV and media influencing us and it does of course- but I manage to watch and enjoy their films and programmes without speaking like a shit copy of them so I don't see why other people can't. "Reaching out" and "gifting" are extremely annoying as is the more and more common habit of asking where the "bathroom " is. It's a bloody toilet ! No one's going to faint if you say it.

I try to tell myself not to be annoyed - it's just our natural dislike of change. It's the evolution of language (which you say you love). Changes originate in all sorts of places and with all the access to media we have nowadays, we maybe see more changes more quickly than we used to.

Ill-gotten is an adjective like well-trodden.

Interesting, while you can’t have gotten dirty, you can have trodden in dog poo.

There's nothing wrong with a split infinitive.

It’s just you. I haven’t heard any of those phrases being used in real life and I work with a ton of people who have all ages

"Always been pants for trousers in the NW"

Yes dh's family all say pants.

I'm late 30s and have used 'pants' for trousers my entire life, as do my family (who are from both Cumbria and Greater Manchester). I don't think this is a new term.

So how are these answers landing with you @exse24Londoner ? And what learnings are you going to take from it?

😉

I can just hear the vocal fry…

You don’t shoot people here, you stab them.

I would like to see the reinstatement of the words 'embussed' (got on the bus) and 'debussed' (got off the bus). I came across them in some documents from a hundred years ago and I think they should be resurrected. We can re-evolve language and fight the vacation heads.

.

Where do you live in Ireland? I'm Irish and have lived in 5 different counties and had a dad from Donegal and mum from Cork and not once have I ever heard pants used for anything except knickers! And trousers are trousers

Sorry, not legal.

I have an aversion to those who pick up on split infinitives without nuance, regarding this as some sort of signal of poor English usage. In the early C20, Fowler pointed out that a split infinitive is a stylistic choice and may be justified to avoid awkward language usage. He suggested that where split infinitives are concerned, English users divide into five types:

1. Those who do not know or care
2. Those who do not know but care greatly
3. Those who know and condemn.
4. Those who know and approve.
5. Those who know and distinguish

Well first of all we can't all be like you, sadly 😞 and secondly some younger people who grew up with the internet, don't even know the difference - theatre V theater , I have seen many examples like this. Honestly, It's like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube .

I can remember my mum complaining at me picking up Americanisms from watching TV shows like Starsky & Hutch and Charlie’s Angels in the 1970s! Nearly 50 years ago. Language evolves, think about changing slang and words that are ‘in’ for teenagers. And I don’t imagine any of us speak like Shakespeare on a regular basis. And then think of all the regional variances that are often discussed on here.

I agree OP...

Exactly!
"I arrived at the supermarket and someone took the parking place I was about to drive into. I was really pissed so I had a go at him".
I find myself thinking "What?!! You shouldn't be driving if you're drunk!"

‘Gotten’ arrived in the US with English settlers in the 16th century. It derives from Middle English and Old Norse, and was in common usage in England until later in the 17th century. It’s very much English.

Yes there is. It's an old English word that has fallen out of fashion in some dialects but has been retained in others, such as hiberno English.

I'd say lift and z-ed but I would also say vit-a-mins. Others might say 'vite-a-mins'