Just letting off steam!

[Biker]

This thread brought back some fond memories ...

At comprehensive school we were forbidden to start a sentence with And ...  and got a smack on the knuckles with a ruler if we did. 
One day I thought I'd be clever and said that if it was good enough for Hemmingway which we were studying for O Levels who often started sentences with And ... then why not in class.   Mysteriously, I got a lecture about the evils of Enid Blyton (which was banned in our school on the strength that the grammar was a poor example to pupils) and a clip round the ear with the blackboard eraser! 

I still feel a bit guilty if I go to start a sentence with And .... 


Jonathan

[GRACELAND]

And i was just going to say !!!!!!!!!!!!!           

         

[tallted]

Sutton and Jillj,
I sympathize with you both. Teaching and editing for proper grammer are exacting professions and to see what happens to language when slanged, if that is a word, can be frustrating.
But, and a big but, if we want to communicate with our children, their culture and our grandchildren then we have to keep up rather than fight the "current" of the linguistic river.
Both my daughters have PhD. degrees in Science, one in Zoology and one in Cancer Cell research, they are both so much better educated than I am and I find it hard to keep up with their modern usage of English at times.  I keep reminding myself that to learn it is so much more fun than fighting it.
So, I am on your wavelength as far as proper use of the English language, but also enjoy keeping up with the young ones. "Twenty three skiddo" and "Here's lookin at ya kid".
Ted

P.S. the quotes didn't pass the spell check.

[GRACELAND]

 

 Spell checker can,t even understand text 

[JillJ]

Ted

Being of the female species I have to at least try to have the last word!

You are quite right - we should, and I hope I do, learn from the youngsters and it is great fun - but that is no excuse for them not to learn to use their own language properly.   I text on my mobile phone using every abbreviation I can dream up, but there is no way I would use that language for any other purpose.   I can also write shorthand, but wouldn't use it to write a letter.   I'm sure I sound stuffy but...and I quote "a big but" there is a right and a wrong way of doing most things!

I rest my case.

Jill

[Paul E]

Hi suttontrust

Respect! (To you, I mean).  I'm a bit ambivalent about the subject, really, but The Story of English, which I read last year, convinced me about the evolution of language.

Wasn't really having a go at your Ands and Buts - just teasing!

All best wishes

Paul

[deadants]

I must think about getting my license and a set up now I can afford it

Now that the UK has the Foundation license, it's never been  easier to  get a Amateur Radio License.
http://www.rsgb.org/

deadants

[honeybun]

Having just read through this from page 1, I agree entirely with those of you who want to continue with legible, coherent and EXPRESSIVE English.  I have no problems with slang but it is "of its time" and usually runs its course.  My argument is with those who cannot use the language properly.  Yes, apostrophes do matter and so does punctuation.  It can completely change the sense of a sentence, and so can spelling.

English is a wonderful mixture of other languages (read Malcolm Bragg's "The Adventure of English" and you will see why) and it is still evolving.  Those who can't or won't make the effort to use it to the full are missing so much and I feel sorry for them.

You can probably work out my age from this posting without having to look up my profile ....

Honeybun

[Paul E]

You can probably work out my age from this posting without having to look up my profile ....

Honeybun

But Honeybun ... you don't sound a day older than 57!