Bad Grammar

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In my area, there is a word pronounced 'hayna.' It is used at the end of questions, often rhetorically, sometimes when expecting an answer. It is sometimes found in the form "Hayna or no?" It may have originated as a form of "Aint it?" Nobody really knows.

Examples:

"Cold out, hayna?"
"Dem patatuh pancakes are good, heyna?"
"Dat aspie talks funny, heyna or no?"

It drives me crazy. I have never used it.

One of the local newspapers is full of grammatical errors. I can barely stand to read the thing because of them.

For more info on interesting linguistic peculiarities of my area, go to:

http://www.coalregion.com/Speak/speakA.htm

well aint thi$ pritty by the way, how R U all$ 2day.
man ya all$ started some kinda groovy post here ya dont know..
ya know there R less people posting here then i thought there wood be.
now i dont want too be a bother and head butt with ya all or something.
besides i think it isnt nice of me to be picking on ya all.
so iz B sEeInG yous aRoUnD, PeAcE OuTT yall.

Using text language and slang in writing occasionally annoys me. Text language should be confined to use on the devices that spawned its creation. It is perfectly acceptable to use a form of shorthand in that case, as it is tedious and unnecessary to use proper grammar for that type of communication. I suppose some slang is acceptable to use in casual writing. It depends on the time, place, mood, and subject matter.

I certainly don’t hold such language use against younger people, but when I see it I always hope they will grow out of it! When I was a teenager, I was constantly using slang and swearing just like my peers.

When I write these days, I try to use proper English. However, I don’t actually know what proper English is. I did not do well in my English classes and I no longer remember any of the concepts that were taught. However, I am an avid reader and because of this, I can usually tell when improper grammar is used.

Verbal communication is a different matter. I cannot speak the way I write and will use slang. I try to keep slang to a minimum and also try to never curse around women and children.

I always insist on proper grammar, spelling and punctuation in my written stuff (well, to an extent anyway), but I speak in a very broad dialect, much of which entails deliberate misuse of grammar, so I have the same written/spoken duality...... I absolutely despise text language though...... Oh and the increasing Americanisation of youngster slang these days drives me bananas! Grrrrrrrrr!! !! !!

Text message language drives me insane. It is hard to read, contains deliberate misspellings and makes the user appear illiterate. I hate seeing it even in text messages and refuse to use it myself.

Dunc

My buddy Jason is trying to get into business, and he has me correct everything that he writes so that he doesn't look like a total dumbass to the people who he's trying to get money from.

I've noticed over the past 10 years or so a general decline in the quality of the English I see in print and on screen. Now that IMing is so prevalent, and kids in general are as badly educated as they are, I think it'll get even worse. I mentioned on another forum that we might eventually see corporate memos that look like this:

tHeIr wIlL B A mEeTiNg 2mArRo @9am iN dA cOnFrEnSe rOoM plZzZ b tHeiIr ok tHaNx bYeEeEeE!! !! !! !! !! !!

Oh my god. We have to keep this from happening. Who's with me?

definitely. we should lobby governments to pass laws to confiscate mobile phones and computing equipment from repeat offenders....

Dunc

Simpler means of enforcement - cut off their thumbs!

That would be futile. They could just set the cellular phone on the table and poke at it with their index fingers. They would just say "Tis but a scratch" or "Tis but a flesh wound". Ha ha ha ha ha!

(A scratch? Your thumb's off!)

No it isn't!

LOL!!

i agree with dunc and tafkash. what worries me is the fact that young kids think this is the correct way to spell and write. and i am like the avenging angel if any of my older students use americanisms or US spellings. learn something properly, and THEN you can start playing and experimenting with it. i am a pedant to the point of disbelief, of course. anyone says "none were", or "less people", and i shudder, uncontrollably...

the vocablulary of most people is diminishing daily, it seems. it will soon come to pass that i shall have to explain half the words i use to everyone i speak to. what a tragic situation.

I was using humor from a Monty Python movie.

I also hate the idea of children my age that smart people should be shunned in society, and that education does not matter. Face it: In school, the typical captain of a sports team gets 100x more respect from his peers than the one who became spelling bee champion, a National History day medalist, and one invited to perform at the National Archives to perform a play that they wrote, all within the scope of one school year. I sure hope people have more respect for vocabulary and intelligence during adulthood.
They sure don't during adolescence.

I'm sorry, the correct response was "Then what's that there?"

Let's play again!

"Bah weep granah weep ninny bon!"

as long i get what they sayin, i dont gotta problem wit grammar.
A

Just as well really......