A mild rant about the English language as practiced in the US

[gryphonrhi]

Note the first:  this rant is based on recent occurrences in pro-fic.

The past tense of shine is shone.  The past tense of kneel is knelt.  And, no, alright is not all right.  Don't even start me on Microsoft Word's spell checker thinking that just because it's analog that it should then be dialog and monolog.  The words are dialogue and monologue,

Comments

[marbleglove]

Hee. Because I cannot resist and everyone needs some poetry regarding the craziness of the English language:

English is tough stuff
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~xleroy/stuff/english-pronunciation.html

The English Lesson
http://humbleapostrophe.com/english.html

[gryphonrhi]

Okay, that English is tough stuff thing is EVIL. (The first couple stanzas were fine. Then I wussed because my headache got worse.)

And the second is hilarious, and slightly less evil. Thanks for the links!!

[troutkitty]

Oh, god. All right. ALL RIGHT. Alright is an ugly misformed blob on the page.

[gryphonrhi]

Yes! Unless it's in dialogue, I don't want to see 'alright.' Even in dialogue, I'd rather have 'a'right.' ::amused:: Glad it's not just me who has these reactions!

[themouseketeer]

I nodded in complete agreement.

And then go to 'alright.' My old English teacher (in both senses of the word 'old') used to rant that it was 'all right' and I vividly remember it.

However, in the UK at least, it has become such common usage that 'all right' seems odd. It also seems to convey a different meaning to my eyes: 'All right' meaning 'everything is correct' and 'alright' meaning 'it is good enough, but not necessarily perfect.'

Interesting.

Oh, and the teeth grinding one for me? 'Burglarized' WTF? What on earth is wrong with 'burgled' that it needs to have additional syllables added? (ditto similar words)