English, the Language.
- Thread starter iBender
- Start date
Hey, if you're happy to do it the wrong way, more power to ya, but don't try to corrupt us with your wrong-minded wrongness, Mr. Wrongey McWrongerson.
(I should have read that better^, I thought you said you wouldn't recongnise it.)That's all well and good, if you're studying for an English Exam.The way I see it is, Herb and Erb both mean the same thing but Music's the true universal language, so fuzz you all,
(Music and maths.)
Indeed. Mean same thing. But English (my language of communication) is 'herb'. Though if others use 'erb' I will recognise it, even if not correct.
I say, 'go with the flow'. English is different, it seems, where people come from and go.
(In that case then, hear hear! Too true, well said, and what not.)
**Please Delete My Post
Can you not do better/more original than recycled Blackadder jokes? Although not a fan, even I can see whiff of desperation. How am I going corrupt anyone? I've already stated that 'erb' is perfectly acceptable of pronouncing 'herb' . We have a word: 'herb'. It is pronounced (as far as been taught): 'herb'. Though there may be variations.
I'm sorry, but not prepared to accept American as definer of my language...even at risk of death I will still speak 'herb' as 'herb'....and damn you all to hell...
Now I'm actually curious to know why the British started pronouncing the 'h' in the 19th century, while Americans (and Canadians) kept using the older pronunciation.
If I had to guess, I would say it had something to do with the spread of literacy--with people reading the word, seeing it spelled with an h, mispronouncing it--and then what started as a mispronunciation becoming standard.
A quick web search leads me to think I may be correct: this phenomenon is called "spelling pronunciation." But why wouldn't that have happened in North America as well?
I don't recall injecting any Blackadder jokes into my post.
Furthermore, the difference between you and me is that you're trying to act as if "herb" is right and "erb" is wrong, whereas I claim that "herb" and "erb" are both right. English being funny like that and all.
Plus, get a sense of humor, for fuck's sake. You'll have a heart attack before you reach the age of 15.
Furthermore, the difference between you and me is that you're trying to act as if "herb" is right and "erb" is wrong, whereas I claim that "herb" and "erb" are both right. English being funny like that and all.
Plus, get a sense of humor, for fuck's sake. You'll have a heart attack before you reach the age of 15.
Crap, I forgot about the Canadian Sorry (well, northern accent in general, there are plenty of Americans from Minnesota that say it the same way).
Sounds closer to "Ar" than to "Or" when I say Our, Horrible, Florida, Oranges.
You said "erb" was a corruption and that "Herb" was the only correct way of pronouncing it. You were the one who was trying to correct people.
I chalk it up to differences. Just don't go acting like one is right and one is wrong and I'll do the same.
Actually, it did, just not for that word. The majority of American coastal dialects are non-rhotic, meaning they don't pronounce Rs (Mid-Atlantic being the only exception). As people moved away from the coast, they began to think that the R at the ends of words should be pronounced. So they started bringing it back. Same phenomenon, just a different letter.
Dropping the H makes perfect sense since the word comes from Romantic languages which almost universally don't pronounce Hs. Rs are an entirely different story and have to do with people thinking it was an ugly sound.
I don't understand the modern speaketh and text speech and the all around lack of grammar, punctuation, and degradation of the English Language. It took hundreds of years before Old English changed to Middle English and we can still read Shakespeare and the King James Bible well enough- especially old school folks like me who didn't have cheat sheet translations when we learned those things.
Today however, I fear even more recent literature will soon become unreadable to future generations. Less than 200 years and folks are struggling with Dickens? Sad.
Hmm, will have to read all the pages in this thread soon!
Today however, I fear even more recent literature will soon become unreadable to future generations. Less than 200 years and folks are struggling with Dickens? Sad.
Hmm, will have to read all the pages in this thread soon!
Well, of course a French person would say that.
I'm doing my best to be a bad cliché
You would have been scandalised by the way my students butchered the pronunciation of French names in my French Revolution seminar this past semester.
Even I was a little scandalised, to tell the truth. For some reason, though I don't speak French very well, I've always been able to pronounce it fairly well.
So I was surprised by some of the mangled and mutilated pronunciations I was hearing. In some cases, I couldn't even tell who or what place my students were talking about.
If you don't spot BA jokes sure others will. If not, statis.
Crap, I forgot about the Canadian Sorry (well, northern accent in general, there are plenty of Americans from Minnesota that say it the same way).
Sounds closer to "Ar" than to "Or" when I say Our, Horrible, Florida, Oranges.
You said "erb" was a corruption and that "Herb" was the only correct way of pronouncing it. You were the one who was trying to correct people.
I chalk it up to differences. Just don't go acting like one is right and one is wrong and I'll do the same.
Where did this factor of me stating 'herb' is right and all others wrong come from? All hail the god Lurok. C'mon people, get a grip and sense of perspective before you make complete asses of self. I stated 'herb' is how taught and pro nounced under correct RP system ( I doubt few would argue?). I did say there was room whether regional/other dialect that might drop 'h' and still valid, but still doesn't change fact that dropped 'h'.
Are there people here so excited about supremacy of 'h'? I don't give a flying fig how you pronounce it in your region, but here it's 'herb' with a 'h'.
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Perhaps from this:
Or this:
Or this:
Or this:
If you're going to try to falsify history, you should really destroy the evidence first.
Smote!
Wow, can't catch up because new posts are still coming! About pronunciations, I realized my nieces msut not be getting a proper education in school when we were singing 'What Child is This' and they kept saying 'Whoahum' instead of 'whom'!
Is it an education issue? Is vocabulary going the way of penmanship and simply not being taught? I remember even when we learned Spanish, we still learned the formal Spain usted usage even if we were never going to use it. Is formal grammar and rules no longer required? Pity.
My nieces dropped their forks at the dinner table once when I said to them, 'You ought not to do that. It isn't seemly.' I got a big HUH? in response. So I said again, 'Don't do that, it doesn't look right.' Only then did I get a Why did you say that in the first place!
I love Whom, and I try my darndest not to end sentences with prepositions. Ironically, by using whom- which I hear is really going by the wayside- solves the problem of preposition endings.
Is it an education issue? Is vocabulary going the way of penmanship and simply not being taught? I remember even when we learned Spanish, we still learned the formal Spain usted usage even if we were never going to use it. Is formal grammar and rules no longer required? Pity.
My nieces dropped their forks at the dinner table once when I said to them, 'You ought not to do that. It isn't seemly.' I got a big HUH? in response. So I said again, 'Don't do that, it doesn't look right.' Only then did I get a Why did you say that in the first place!
I love Whom, and I try my darndest not to end sentences with prepositions. Ironically, by using whom- which I hear is really going by the wayside- solves the problem of preposition endings.
Well, of course a French person would say that.
I'm doing my best to be a bad cliché
You would have been scandalised by the way my students butchered the pronunciation of French names in my French Revolution seminar this past semester.
Even I was a little scandalised, to tell the truth. For some reason, though I don't speak French very well, I've always been able to pronounce it fairly well.
So I was surprised by some of the mangled and mutilated pronunciations I was hearing. In some cases, I couldn't even tell who or what place my students were talking about.
Maybe not scandalised but certainly surprised by so much imagination
I experience this problem with tourists who can't pronounce the place they want to see. I often prefer when they just show me the name on a paper.
BTW, if I remember correctly, your written French is very good.
Seriously, I get double takes when I say it. And the prepositions! I asked a teammate, 'You are from where?' And she hesitated because of the way I asked it. What was I supposed to say? 'From whence do you hail?' and really scare the locker room?
I don't get it, wouldn't one rather sound like an educated and respectful human being? Maybe that's what bothers me more, that intelligent folks are resorting to omg ppl wuteva!
I feel like Bean in The Hitcher, 'You useless waste!' or the snotty waiter in Ferris Bueller, 'I weep for the future!'
I don't get it, wouldn't one rather sound like an educated and respectful human being? Maybe that's what bothers me more, that intelligent folks are resorting to omg ppl wuteva!
I feel like Bean in The Hitcher, 'You useless waste!' or the snotty waiter in Ferris Bueller, 'I weep for the future!'
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