Common Errors in English Usage . . .

[OneBlueSky]

have fun . . . :)

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

[Mnemosyne]

1. One, did you notice that brain is misspelled in http:? ?n/t

edit> oops! Brian is author's name, sorry. It's early.

[RebelOne]

2. Great site.

It will be very useful to me at my job, since I am a copyeditor.

[laruemtt]

3. since i transcribe for doctors

who NEVER make mistakes, haha, i can add to this thread all day.

how about, "hopefully, this increase in dosage will help alleviate his low back pain."

[OneBlueSky]

4. sign on newsman Edwin Newman's door . . .

"Abandon 'hopefully' all who enter here" . . .

[Jim__]

6. From my Oxford American Dictionary

hopefully: 1. in a hopeful way. 2. it is to be hoped, Hopefully, we shall be there by one o'clock->Many people regard the second use as unacceptable.

Is this usage correct? Who decides?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. "Hopefully" is much derided, but in fact, like the

use of "dumb" for "stupid" ("dumb" originally meant "mute"), it is an Americanism influenced by the waves of German immigrants who came to this country throughout the nineteenth century. (Germans were the Latinos of the nineteenth century, as far as their numbers and influence are concerned.)

There's a standard German word "hoffentlich" which is exactly like the "misuse" of "hopefully," and I "hopefully" entered American English through this immigrant group.

[Jim__]

9. Thanks - that's good information

I certainly didn't know how this use of the word came about.

My understanding is that France actually has a committee of some type that rules on what usage of the French language is valid and what is not. But American English evolves freely through usage; and common usage determines what is valid.

Hopefully, I have that right. :-)

[GregW]

5. What? No moran/moron?

Guess this guy needs to start reading DU!

[phillybri]

8. Irregardless...

This one drives me crazy!!!

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/irregardless.html

[Speck Tater]

10. Face it...

Shakespeare would consider the finest modern English to be grossly incorrect. He would cringe at the way we speak. Chaucer, in turn, would find Shakespeare's English to be horrifying.

There are only two constants where language is concerned:

1. Language is always changing.
2. There are always some who condemn every change as "wrong".

To declare a new usage wrong is to foolishly try to resist the inevitable. If the language is forced to toe the line by "language police" (as is the case with French) then it is no longer an evolving language, and is on its way to becoming an extinct language.

[laruemtt]

11. okay. he just dictated:

'she has began walking' - another regular with this doc.

[laruemtt]

12. and another -

'her and her husband are planning a trip.'

how'd this guy get through med school. hubby just passed the MCAT and there was emphasis in the prep class on the importance of good grammar. oh well......