Do members of your family say things that bring out the pedant in you?

[UnquietDad]

MIL always says "them [nouns]", and "what" where she means "that" or "which". It makes me almost homicidal.

"Them books what you bought the other day."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!

And DW - who in most other ways is a precise user of language and a bit of a stickler - allows herself to lapse when in the presence of her ungrammatical Northern family. So, for example, when talking about her sister, she will say "Me and Jane are going..." I can never stop myself saying "Jane and I".

And they all just look at me as if I have broken wind.

that is not difficult to understand. I don't know why my flatmates were busting my chops. Unless, when I was 23 (17 years ago) I didn't get it, but I have absorbed it without being conscious of doing so.

It's just when you put yourself in someone else's place and when you don't -- it's easy to come up with individual examples of when you do and when you don't, but harder to explain why. So that may just be something you absorb over time?

Surely "durn't" for "don't" and "nur" for "no" is just accent, rather than lack of grammar? (although "I aren't" doesn't fall into that category, obviously).

Ds1 says 'Should've went'. I don't know why, I've never said it and I don't think xh (his dad) ever said it either.

But I do place the blame very squarely at xh's door for ds1's persistent mispronunciation of words like 'advance'- he pronounces it with almost a 'T' sound instead of the 'D'.

I've been correcting ds1 for 12 years and it still hasn't sunk in.

However ds1 no longer tries to believe that the letter 'h' is pronunced 'haitch' since I beat him soundly about the head with showed him the dictionary.

Indeed, accent is part of the issue ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave, but if, as seems to be the case from this discussion at least, "grammar" is short-hand for "using language in a mutually meaningful and intelligible way" there is a case to be made, methinks. After all, if I tell you that I'm sitting on the "surfer", round here that could mean something rather more exciting than is actually the case

Mmm, but in (much of) Wales "their", "there" and "they're" are pronounced in clearly distinct ways (so are much less commonly confused than in (much of) England). This is a more mutually meaningful and intelligible way of speaking than RP, so should it therefore be adopted by everyone?

Love the surfer example, though...

It's very odd but ds2 has always said Haitch instead of aitch.

I have no idea where it came from and despite correcting him every single time he still says it and obviously I still beat him soundly when he does.

My middle sons says so many things wrong in spite of his excellent upbringing that I have had to desist beating him soundly and turn to drink and tranquilisers instead - the authorities are starting to notice the marks.

I and me- how are they used correctly? So I can show dp that he is wrong. Also going up, going down to places- am I missing something I just say to, as in going to...

Alouiseg - obviously you can hope he will grow out of this. His continuing to say Haitch into adulthood will be good grounds for your disinheriting him.

lazycow - the occasional "somethink" is the one thing I don't like about Matt Smith's Doctor.

LOL at Euphemia's Dad and his QI knowledge.

Is the first thing in NYC the giant elephant?

this littlesisterlola the I and Me thing is easy enough to demonstate - just ask the person what would they use if they were talking about themselves only, rather than themselves and another person?

So 'my husband and I went on holiday' is fine

'This gift is from my husband and I' is not fine.

Likewise:

'Me and my friend went swimming' is wrong

but 'Would you like to come swimming with my friend and me?' is correct.

Don't know why some of my bold came out and some didn't but I'm sure you get the gist.

Quite a few people I know from the Welsh Valleys use the word 'do' twice in a sentence, for example:

'I do do the washing up.'

I do do the cleaning on a monday'

But then they also say:

'Where to is it?'

There is a brilliant scene in Gavin and Stacey featuring the immortal line 'where to is it?'

Well my MIL (Rodean educated) corrects my reasonably ok grammar (Welsh comprehensive educated) and it drives me bloody bananas.

eg, using "less than" rather than "fewer than". I usually make some comment about how antiquated hyper-correct grammar is.

Pick your battles people.

I think this might be my favourite ever thread!

MIL says 'picture-q' for picturesque

I repeat the correct version after her and she still doesn't get it - or perhaps she thinks I'm wrong!

Patsy99. This is Pedants Corner! These are the battles we want to fight.

These are the battles we enjoy fighting :)

Mind you, a MIL picking her DIL up on grammar is on dangerous ground.

Actually, after I posted I realised I was in pedants' corner. I will take my slightly dodgy grammaar elsewhere.

(Though one might wonder where your apostrophe is.)

Patsy, that's a good example of somebody taking it too far. I know that fewer sugar lumps is correct, and less sugar in the bowl, but I don't think I'd even bother to correct my children if they said less sugar cubes... It's general usage now isn't it?

No! No, it's not, or it certainly shouldn't be. Just as Alouiseg should promptly self-flagellate for missing the apostrophe out of Pedants' Corner.