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[EFLImpudence]

In "would've" it's not just the H that has been dropped, it's "ha" that has been dropped.

How do you pronounce dv?

 

[Deleted member 18243]

I don't know when 'fast' came to mean 'hard to move'.

It's in my Oxford dictionary, which is 90 years old. Fast = firm, fixed, steady. Think of the word "fasten" and it makes sense.

 

[JohnD]

Archers and horsemen still say "hold fast"

 

[Deleted member 18243]

Would've, could've, should've - everyone I know pronounces these as wudduv, cudduv, shudduv. It's perfectly normal, I don't know what the fuss is about.

When written, it's a different matter. Anyone who writes "should of", "could of" is showing their ignorance.

 

[EFLImpudence]

I'm from Devon and it is definitely woodav etc. - possibly with several 'a's.

 

[JohnD]

Spitalfields

Is the area outside the city walls of London where the hospital used to own farmland.

Disease was not allowed within the city.

 

[Stivino]

Spitalfields

Is the area outside the city walls of London where the hospital used to own farmland.

Disease was not allowed within the city.

I'm sorry, I don't get it.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Some strange uses of "have" have occurred in recent years (yes they have!)

At one time, if you asked "Do you have any bananas?", the reply would be "Yes, I have". Now people say "Yes, I do". I suppose the latter is correct, but it sounds odd as I'm not used to it. Habits of a lifetime.

Precisely. I've noticed this too. Sounds unfinished. "yes, I Do" - yes you do what??? It started in The States, and soon came here.

Same as it used to be "are you finished" now we're all "done". Americanism again.

And every sentence starts with "so". What's that all about?

As for doable?? WTF?? What's wrong with achieveable or possible?

Q How are you? A I'm good. Q2 Yes, I know, love - but how are you?

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Editorialized = edited.

Whoah! Hello stranger. Welcome back.

 

[JohnD]

I'm sorry, I don't get it.

Some languages drop the "h" in "hotel" or "hospital."
Some drop the "s" in "hospital"
This has happened over many centuries

In English we usually don't

But I gave an example where in English we dropped the "h" and the "o" in "hospital."

It's common and accepted usage.

You can't say it's wrong.

The first duty of a lexicographer or a grammarian is to observe how people speak.

Not to prescribe how he thinks they ought to speak.

For example, in English, it is not wrong to sometimes split an infinitive.

 

[Stivino]

Some languages drop the "h" in "hotel" or "hospital."
Some drop the "s" in "hospital"
This has happened over many centuries

In English we usually don't

But I gave an example where in English we dropped the "h" and the "o" in "hospital."

It's common and accepted usage.

You can't say it's wrong.

It was the story about spitalfields that I didn't get.

 

[EFLImpudence]

The first duty of a lexicographer or a grammarian is to observe how people speak.

Not for using the wrong word.

 

[JohnD]

Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. had a large cemetry outside the city walls.

Contains Petticoat Lane, Brick Lane.

I think it used to be a Borough. Not sure.

 

[EFLImpudence]

At one time, if you asked "Do you have any bananas?", the reply would be "Yes, I have". Now people say "Yes, I do". I suppose the latter is correct, but it sounds odd as I'm not used to it. Habits of a lifetime.

The use of 'do' is a strange quirk of English. I cannot find a reasonable explanation for it.

 

[sodthisforfun]

Of course new words can be accepted.

Kids using a word to mean something else, e.g. sick, (or wicked to mean good) should be regarded as slang (or code) and dictionaries could note it as such.
However, sick does not mean well or a good thing, does it?

Do you envisage a dictionary entry to read:

"Wicked: evil, good."


Anyway this is not what started the discussion. That was words being used incorrectly because people don't know what they mean.

There is no better example than the "would of". Does any one think that in a dictionary 'of' should be described as meaning 'have'?


Do you of brown hair? I want to of a cup have tea.

It's nonsense. We cannot be ruled nor have things decided by the stupid.

Yes, things do get decided by the 'stupid' (cough, Trump, cough!) but if it occurs often enough and the use is so high, then it becomes the new norm.

The way people spoke in your grandad's time will be probably different to yours. It changes, there's nothing that can be done but I guess, with each generation, those changes are forgotten. The changes become normal, the everyday way we communicate.

I understand the annoyance but I don't mind it at all. Language has always changed, it changed before us and will continue to do so long after we are gone.