Grammatical annoyances

[StrandedonEarth]

Heh, there's a local accent near here that drops h sounds from words that should have them and adds them to words that start with a vowel. "'E's moving to 'Ollywood where 'e 'opes to be a hactor.".

Yup, heard that too.

I recently had to break my son's (who was 9 at the time) habit of saying "Me want...." that he must have picked up from some stupid cartoon. "You're not 2, you're not getting what you want until you remember to use proper English!"

And English speakers are so surprised when they hear that English is one of the harder languages to learn, it's not like the nouns have gender. But if you hear someone say what sounds like "To pare" they could have some fruit, a poker hand, or be using a knife.

[lajoswinkler]

The "h" dropping is common among rednecks around here.

[Aningaaq]

Language is colorful and mutates. Annoying? To some. Not to me! Exciting!

[CaptainKipard]

I'm annoyed by people who don't understand the difference between grammar and orthography, and there are a few of those in this thread. HAHA!

On an unrelated note:

I consider initialisms a subset of acronyms. Though I guess it depends on which school of thought to which you subscribe. Wiki's take on it:

My text mode Venn diagram for this is (Abbreviation (Acronym (Initialism))).

The only way this could work is if you defined "acronym" by restricting the meaning of "abbreviation" and then reversing that restriction for "initialism"

If the distinction is made, then acronyms are clearly a subset of initialisms because they are initialisms which can be pronounced.

If the distinction is not made then the two words are synonyms and this whole argument is pointless. I make the distinction.

[Red Iron Crown]

The only way this could work is if you defined "acronym" by restricting the meaning of "abbreviation" and then reversing that restriction for "initialism"

If the distinction is made, then acronyms are clearly a subset of initialisms because they are initialisms which can be pronounced.

If the distinction is not made then the two words are synonyms and this whole argument is pointless. I make the distinction.

I consider acronyms to be any shortened form made by using the initial letters of the constituent words. Initialisms are those acronyms that are only pronouncable by saying the component letters. By this definition, all initialisms are acronyms but not all acronyms are initialisms, so initialisms are a subset of acronyms.

[WinkAllKerb'']

I tend to consider this and all form of evolutions that hapenned since could be consider exactly the same and equal from a gramatical, ortographic etc. point of view. (time location & lifespan & species & DNA & etc. related)

My own approach is that doing so help to solve lot of weird matter.

Edited September 20, 2014 by WinkAllKerb''

[cantab]

I consider acronyms to be any shortened form made by using the initial letters of the constituent words. Initialisms are those acronyms that are only pronouncable by saying the component letters. By this definition, all initialisms are acronyms but not all acronyms are initialisms, so initialisms are a subset of acronyms.

I maintain you've got that the wrong way round.

[vexx32]

Okay, so, you folks aren't gonna come to a conclusion there, I'm afraid. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym#Nomenclature

An initialism is an acronym-like construct with the following characteristics:

1. It is formed strictly from the first letters of its expansion

2. It is either impossible to pronounce as a coherent word, or it is simply usually pronounced with the individual letters (this clause allows for initialisms like URL, which can technically be pronounced, but just about nobody does it)

Acronyms, on the other hand, are not always formed from the first letters -- sometimes more than one letter is used from some of the words, or a letter other than the first is chosen from one or more of the words. They also tend to be specifically pronounceable as a word (e.g., laser, NASA, etc.).

Neither is a true subset of the other, really; they're just two sides of a coin.

[Red Iron Crown]

I maintain you've got that the wrong way round.

Possibly. A quick googling reveals conflicting sources on it, so I'm not sure either definition is totally agreed upon as correct.

At any rate, I use acronym as a blanket term for any shortened word made of initial letters and don't generally make the "initialism" distinction.

Edit for vexx's reply: I may be among the few that pronounces URL as a single syllable.

[Sun]

If most people said URL as one syllable, someone would write a book called "Exploring the URL Mountains" which would take place in the Ural Mountains between Europe and Asia.

Edited September 20, 2014 by Sun
Changed typo: wold to would

[Kryten]

The "h" dropping is common among rednecks around here.

Almost every british dialect drops 'h's. Ironically the exceptions are devon, cornwall and the north-east, all of which are predominantly rural.