English Grammar Pet Peeves

[JPablo]

Grrrr!
Hmph!
Uba-guba-guba-whom!

Mmmm... even primitive people used to use "jum"!

[Sancho Panther]

"Pre-order" drives me crackers as does "Free gift"; "Refute" does not mean "Deny", it means "Disprove". "Cohort" means a large group - it is not the same as "Crony" as many think. You "Imply" with what you say and "Infer" from what you hear.

The other week I heard a classic "...And tomorrow they've got to repeat it, once more, again!".

I'm a bit ashamed at citing that as an example of bad English as it referred to the first of the funerals of two young police-women shot dead by a nut-case; but good English is the job of reporters even if they are upset and emotional at a human tragedy.

On another forum entirely I remember reading about an English lady staying with friends in the US who was having her leg pulled (¡le tomaba el pelo!) about her UK accent. So she wrote down "Merry Mary, marry me" and got her American host to read it aloud. He was quite cross because all three words sounded totally alike when he read them but UK speakers pronounce all three quite differently!

[Elaina]

Wondering what the different pronunciation would be....
Any help?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Sancho Panther

The other week I heard a classic "...And tomorrow they've got to repeat it, once more, again!"..

Reminds me of arguments I'm having about 'potentially dangerous' which is ridiculous tautology. In Spain however there is a legal distinction between a dog of a specified breed or size, which is 'potencialmente peligroso' and one which has already attacked people, which is 'peligroso'.

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by Elaina

Wondering what the different pronunciation would be....
Any help?

Sadly, if you don't distinguish them yourself when speaking then you'll probably struggle to hear the difference when listening.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pjt33

Sadly, if you don't distinguish them yourself when speaking then you'll probably struggle to hear the difference when listening.

Not if it is an British man, say like you or Perikles?

Would you be kind enough and send us a recording of that?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by chileno

Not if it is an British man, say like you or Perikles?

Would you be kind enough and send us a recording of that?

I don't know how to do that, but these words have identical vowel sounds:

merry = very, cherry
Mary = fairy, wary, air, dare, care, hair
marry = carry, cat, hat, sat, mat

I find it hard to believe that people can't differentiate between these three vowels.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I don't know how to do that, but these words have identical vowel sounds:

merry = very, cherry
Mary = fairy, wary, air, dare, care, hair
marry = carry, cat, hat, sat, mat

I find it hard to believe that people can't differentiate between these three vowels.

Do you mean "when speaking"?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by chileno

Do you mean "when speaking"?

Yes (I thought that was obvious )

[Rusty]

Your list works for British English, but not for American English. In American English, all the words you listed have a vowel that rhymes, except for cat, hat, sat and mat. The short 'a' sound in those four words (IPA symbol 'æ') differs from the short 'e' sound (IPA symbol 'e') found in the other words.

For your convenience, below I've provided the IPA pronunciation of only four of the words from your list.
The British pronunciation is on the left; the American pronunciation is on the right.

merry /ˈmɛri/, merry /ˈmeri/
Mary /ˈmɛəri/, Mary /ˈmeri/
marry /ˈmæri/, marry /ˈmeri/
mat /mæt/, mat /mæt/

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Your list works for British English, but not for American English.

Um - yes, that was the point of the post. Chileno asked for a recording of BrE, and that was the best I could do.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by chileno

Do you mean "when speaking"?

Originally Posted by Perikles

Yes (I thought that was obvious )

Correct. But people will understand whatever they want...

BTW, obvious as opposed to what? Just to clarify...

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I don't know how to do that, but these words have identical vowel sounds:

merry = very, cherry
Mary = fairy, wary, air, dare, care, hair
marry = carry, cat, hat, sat, mat

I find it hard to believe that people can't differentiate between these three vowels.

Originally Posted by chileno

Do you mean "when speaking"?

Originally Posted by chileno

BTW, obvious as opposed to what? Just to clarify...

I'll pay everybody the compliment of being able to spot the difference in spelling, so I mean "speaking" as opposed to "reading"

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I'll pay everybody the compliment of being able to spot the difference in spelling, so I mean "speaking" as opposed to "reading"

See? I would've said "listening".

I need sound files for both Am and Br English of those words.

Now, are we thinking of a particular region in the Aisles? What about America?

[Glen]

Not grammar but rather pronounciation: intregal for integral.
And one more: div-iss-ive for div-eye-sive. Even though the dictionary gives both, the verb form is divide, not divid, right?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by chileno

Now, are we thinking of a particular region in the Aisles?

I am guessing you mean British Isles . I'm no expert, but with a huge range of regional accents, I think most would still differentiate between the three vowel sounds, even if all three were shifted somehow.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I am guessing you mean British Isles . I'm no expert, but with a huge range of regional accents, I think most would still differentiate between the three vowel sounds, even if all three were shifted somehow.

Yes, the British Isles... (oops) (I guess my mind knows what it wants, but not my fingers.)

You don't have a mic in your computer? Or you don't know how to record yourself?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by chileno

You don't have a mic in your computer? Or you don't know how to record yourself?

I don't know how to record myself, and if I had the file, I don't know how to send it

[chileno]

I am going to send you PM on that.

[Sancho Panther]

Thanks but we've already got David Cameron - one Prime Minister is quite enough, thank you!

By the time you read this you might already have your own new President... or with luck you may get to keep the incumbent one! ¡Si Dios quiere!

I just don't think we're ready to have the most powerful political office in the world occupied by a man whose first name is a synonym for "Fist"!