neil

I want to start by saying that this is intended as a different thread than the irritating phrase one because what I want to get into isn't quite the same. Maybe things like this happen in England too but I felt the need to post this.

This morning I opened a new carton of eggs and as I did I noticed three words on the packaging - "Vegetarian Fed Hens". Now, my first thought was: that's what you get for becoming a vegetarian, but I didn't know hens ate people! How many other examples of poor English are there around in the US?

I'd love to hear some more examples. I'm sure there may be some crossover with the irritating phrase thread, for example the use of winningest and one I heard a friend say last night "That would be funner" (instead of more fun), but hopefully this will go off in a completely different direction.

Englishmum

A couple of days ago I heard a radio presenter say "worser".

Patrick

Star Trek - to boldy go

"This door is alarmed" - why what scared it, surely this door is fitted with an alarm

"more taste, less filling" - still taste like shit

patrick

neil

You just reminded me of another one that I don't like - "25% more free", maybe this should just go into the irritating category though. Is it really any worse than "25% extra free"?

anotherlimey

This might have been mentioned before, but I hate it.

'Winningest' - "He's the most winningest poker player"

I think it's in the American English dictionary but not in the Oxford English dictionary.

-tom

NC Penguin

I'm sure you're joking/being humorous about the vegetarian fed hens. You really know what that term means, right?

Instead of the poulty being fed other animal parts in the form of bonemeal, for example, these hens that produced the eggs you bought were fed a diet free of animal parts...

From: http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/fact_041202_eggs

"Vegetarian eggs are distinguished (sic) because the diet of the hens do (sic) not contain ingredients sourced from either meat or fish."





NC Penguin

neil

Of course, but doesn't that make them "vegetarian hens", or "hens fed on a vegetarian diet", rather than "vegetarian fed hens".

fatbrit

Come in and we'll give you a $40-value whatever free.

Wierd...

Englishmum

I heard this one tonight on NBC news:

'Johnny Carson is gone'.

Gone is something that happened in the past....

It is either 'has gone' or 'is going'.

Sigh.

(The BBC World Service radio announcer said that "...Johnny Carson has died". I much prefer this - it's as if the US presenters dare not utter the word dead/died.).

Tami2

Hi Mum,
I am an American, so I know my English is quite different from yours, but I have a quick question. If you've finished the soup and your son wants more would you say "Sorry, dear, the soup has gone." or "Sorry, dear, the soup is gone." To me, it sounds wrong to say the soup has gone.
Just curious
Tami

neil

Personally, I'd say "Sorry dear, there's none left."
Seriously, though you would surely have to agree that you would say that "The soup has run out" rather than "The soup is run out", no?

Tami2

Actually, no, I wouldn't say either one, my instinct would be to say Sorry, the soup is all gone. That's just the way I've always heard it, but then I'm from the midwest (Indiana) and I know we have some peculiar ways of saying things. LOL

Celtic_Angel

How about just "the soup's out"

why does the soup get to go out and where did it go?

LOL love your vegetarian fed hens statement that's hilarious....how about seeing cans of Vegetarian beans!! :scared:

Just Jenney

Some examples of poor English grammar usage which are VERY annoying and seem to becoming more prevalent day by day:

Less vs Fewer -- "There are less people in rural areas than in urban areas." ("Less" should never be prefaced by "are".)

Your vs You're -- "Your a nice person. I also really like you're dog."

There vs Their vs They're -- "There are 50 people waiting in line for concert tickets. They got their hours ago and are hoping they're tickets are close to the front row."

Had came vs Had come -- "I had came home from work to find my house had burned down." (This also goes for "had went" and "had ate" and "had wrote" and many, many others.)

Drive slow vs Drive Slowly -- "It's best to drive slow when it's icy outside." (Again, a multitude of improper adverb usages abound.)

Who vs That -- "I have a friend that has a Corvette." (I hope your friend is a person and not a thing!)

There are tons of others, I'm sure, but these are the ones which jump to mind right away.

~ Jenney

Ben

Aren't you being just a tad pedantic.

The problem with the english language is the lack of consistency. Teachers think up rules to help kids learn and remember but none of the rules really work all the time. There are always exceptions. And the English language has been through so many changes and received changes through influences from other languages too. And don't forget just the differences within England between the north, south, east and west. I bet if you put a cockney and a geordie in a room together and asked them to speak as if they were talking to their mates, they wouldn't understand a word they were each saying! And that is just England - there is still Scotland, Ireland and Wales. And that is just our own neck of the woods. Then you have the rest of the world that speak English!

And how many other languages still have to have spelling tests for kids at 10 years old? There are many that never need to have that weekly spelling test because of the consistency within their language.

Maybe it is about time that we stopped making such a big deal of some of these mistakes and allowed the language to carry on developing as it has for many centuries. After all, isn't that what makes our language so great.