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Linguistic practices you would like your dialect to adopt

ebola?

ebola?

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Joined
Sep 21, 2001
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This, for me, is a sort of reverse pet peeve. Spending so much time on an international forum, I've accidentally adopted some less-than-Americanisms that I like:

1. reference to bell peppers as "capsicums". I dunno. Having a single word just seems cleaner and more precise. On the other hand, capsicums contain no capsaicin.
2. reference to things having gone awry as "having gone pear-shaped". I dunno, I just like it.

ebola
 
I prefer some aspects of American English over British English. I prefer the spelling of program over programme for example. I also personally dislike that, in Australia, the majority of people have adopted amidst, amongst, and whilst over amid, among, and while. I despise it when someone says unbeknownst.

If I can expand this to other languages... English would be far more functional if it were phonetic.
 
I just wish people would stop saying "like" as some sort of substitute for um or ah
 
I just wish people would stop saying "like" as some sort of substitute for um or ah
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Heh, this battle has been lost, and this is really the opposite of what I'm talking about in this thread. ;)

Yagecero said:
I also personally dislike that, in Australia, the majority of people have adopted amidst, amongst, and whilst over amid, among, and while. I despise it when someone says unbeknownst.
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Oddly, I use a combination of all of these.

ebola
 
my gripes are all fashion related. 'pinafore' is a sore subject, especially. in america a pinafore is commonly called a 'jumper' and in england it's called a pinafore (because jumper is a sweater.). pinafore is a better word. also cravat vs ascot vs day cravat. let's all make a choice that says cravat : formal and ascot: casual. who needs the 'day cravat' anyway?
 
I'd like to learn some Russian at some point because, well it just sounds badass.
 
i am with you on "gone pear-shaped", a. i use that all the time.

i'd like people in the u.s. to:

- stop saying "on accident" and start saying "by accident"

- learn when to use "which" and when to use "what"

- learn when to use "less" and when to use "fewer"

alasdair
 
aside from my peculiar enunciation... i use the term save to mean but or except, i don't think that is typical american english. proper is another adjective i use, such as "i want a proper hamburger, not something from mcdonalds".

i'm sure there are other odd things i say but those are the two that come to mind.
 
OG Loc said:
Also: amount of vs number of
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I'm pretty sure that I either do really poorly with this one or implement it unconsciously.

ebola
 
I love the word y'all. It's high time English had a 2nd person plural pronoun, I feel cheated without one.

I'm pretty sure that I either do really poorly with this one or implement it unconsciously.
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8o Good god man, how do you sleep at night?
 
I'd like the population around me to ditch the semi-southern accent and begin to enunciate each sound of every word. I'm a fan of enunciation and proper pronunciation.
 
Thanatos said:
I'd like the population around me to ditch the semi-southern accent and begin to enunciate each sound of every word. I'm a fan of enunciation and proper pronunciation.
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and then you'd effectively be from nowhere. i like hearing different "linguistic practices" because it makes people interesting.
 
I'll use the phrase "Roll Tide" when im agreeing with a person who is complaining about something trivial.
 
I read in the new Yorker about translators that are trained in a language(s), and once the drugs are administrated into the "suspect" the linguistic practice is to determine "answers" to questions by dialetic/regional slang.
I thought I was kinda keen to post in thread because of the movie I rented tonite: Schwarzenegger "The Terminator". I've heard Governor Schwarzenegger promotes ebonics in the public school system.
 
I'd like everyone to refer to their body-mind in the 3rd person as if it wasn't them. I'm not sure if this is in fact the correct way of doing things in German, I'll look that up. Anyone know?

So that 'I like cake' becomes 'he likes cake'. But would that work?
 
In Dubio said:
I'd like everyone to refer to their body-mind in the 3rd person as if it wasn't them. I'm not sure if this is in fact the correct way of doing things in German, I'll look that up. Anyone know?

So that 'I like cake' becomes 'he likes cake'. But would that work?
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Wtf? Why would that be the correct way of doing things in German of all languages? Normally germans don't talk about themselves or body-mind(?) in the third person.

I would never say Er mag Küche when talking about myself. I could say, Ich mag Kuchen (I like cake(in general)), Ich mag den Kuchen (I like the cake (more specific)) Den/Diesen Kuchen mag ich (I like that/this cake). Regional dialect/spoken German/slang is quite a bit different, but not in third person.
 
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