Language Barrier?

[Mickey Richaud]

A colleague of mine, retired priest in Nashville, writes the following in one of his weekly reflections:

"I was telling a Brit friend of mine that there's a move underway in our land to make English the official language.

"'Finally,' he said. 'We thought you never would. We'd given up altogether.' He paused for a moment, then added, 'But where would you get enough trained teachers, for heaven's sake?' Then he sighed, 'Well, it is a noble idea, but don't you really think it's rather late?'"

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

And you'd need to reprint Websters dictionary too. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif

Stuart. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

 

[bugimike]

"Better late than never!" to quote an old English saying! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

 

[Eric]

Ah, jobs for Canadians! Many of us are bilingual - English and American! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Ah, jobs for Canadians! Many of us are bilingual - English and American! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

Boy - talk about conflicted! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

 

[Simon TR4a]

Mickey, we'll start now- "conflict" is a noun, it has no verb form! (Neither has "impact".)

Personally I think a company largely owned by Bill Gates has to bear a lot of responsibility for the decline in language skills over recent years; software writers may be very clever but they do not speak very good English!
For example, "execute" is a transitive verb, a program(me) cannot execute.
I am also not too keen on the work of the Simplified Spelling Society, formed about 1906 or so and funded by Andrew Carnegie, which accounts for Americans having adopted the spellings "catalog", "color" etc. in the last century.
Two nations divided by a common language as they say!
Simon.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Mickey, we'll start now- "conflict" is a noun, it has no verb form! (Neither has "impact".)

Sorry, Simon, but Webster's says otherwise: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conflicted

And my Webster's New Collegiate says this: "con-flict; vt 1. archaic to contend in warfare; 2. to show antagonism or irreconcilability"

If you don't fancy Webster, Cambridge says this: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=16125&dict=CALD

Impact's a verb, too...

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

Mickey, we'll start now- "conflict" is a noun, it has no verb form! (Neither has "impact".)

Sorry, Simon, but Webster's says otherwise: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conflicted

And my Webster's New Collegiate says this: "con-flict; vt 1. archaic to contend in warfare; 2. to show antagonism or irreconcilability"

If you don't fancy Webster, Cambridge says this: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=16125&dict=CALD

Impact's a verb, too...

I had a conflict with my hammer.The impact created conflicting sensations,and my langauge definitely conflicted with my beliefs!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

Stuart. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

 

[Simon TR4a]

Thanks, Mickey!

That's the problem with being old, the language has evolved since I was in school, but I have not!

Usage seems to define what is acceptable, this is how words like "bling" creep into dictionaries; did you know that a "computer" used to be a person who performed complex calculations for a living? (For example calculating the height above sea level of a mountain peak for mapping purposes.)
"Digital" used to mean something done with your fingers. I suppose we lose as many old words as we gain new ones, and moaning aside I do find it quite interesting. I am reading a book about this by Bill Bryson that I got for Christmas (not Xmas!)
Simon. (I used to use the Oxford English Dictionary, in abridged form it was thirteen volumes!)

 

[Mickey Richaud]

One of my pet peeves, actually, is the way the language has been hijacked. I hear stuff all the time that truly grates the nerves! For example, it's amazing to me that so many people can't make subjects and verbs agree!

When I was young, my sisters called me "Professor" because I corrected their grammar all the time. (The moniker was not a compliment!)

For anyone interested, a great read: Eats, Shoots & Leaves , by Lynne Truss. Primarily about punctuation, it's a hilarious look at common faux pas in grammar.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
Mickey

 

[tony barnhill]

Mickey, we'll start now- "conflict" is a noun, it has no verb form! (Neither has "impact".)

Sorry, Simon, but Webster's says otherwise: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conflicted

And my Webster's New Collegiate says this: "con-flict; vt 1. archaic to contend in warfare; 2. to show antagonism or irreconcilability"

If you don't fancy Webster, Cambridge says this: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=16125&dict=CALD

Impact's a verb, too...

I had a conflict with my hammer.The impact created conflicting sensations,and my langauge definitely conflicted with my beliefs!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

Stuart. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

Conflicting opinions started most conflicts during our world's conflicted past!

 

[DrEntropy]

Lynn Truss' book came to mind just yesterday. I passed a news-stand and a headline read like it was composed by a Lewis Carroll character. I see it so often none of 'em stick in my mind anymore.