this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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Linguistics Humor

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Source: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Pronounce

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Engish is easy. No conjugation - you just have to memorize 50,000 words and you're good.

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[–] Kentaree 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This reminds me of a poem called "The Chaos" which highlights how dumb English can be as a language

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's also "English is a stupid language" which focuses on word constructions instead of pronunciation

[–] mindbleach 3 points 1 year ago

That's not linguistic criticism, that's Jerry Seinfeld's rejected material.

[–] The_v -4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Which is why grammar nazi's need to be banished to hell

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Opponents, obviously.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most native english speakers have no excuse, stop being dumb.

[–] The_v 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

How many native speakers actually use proper grammar when speaking? The common spoken and written language have many differences.

Also 15-20% percent of the population has reading reading disorders. So around 1 in 5 or 6 people struggle with the archaic billshit grammar.

BTW "Proper Grammar" as a concept only exists from classism and racism mostly from the late 19th century and early 20th. It has been used to suppress undersirables from climbing the social ladder. Before then spelling and grammar was more fluid. Spelling was more random and differences were accepted.

Or I could just be dumb...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Having a reading disorder is a pretty good excuse, so it doesn't conflict with anything I said. If your education suffered due to some sort of systemic oppression, that is also a pretty good excuse. My uncle that thinks the word "our" is "are" even though he graduated from the same high school as my mom and with similar grades, is just an idiot. Thanks for trying.

[–] idiomaddict 2 points 1 year ago

But does it matter? If he’s around a lot of beginning language learners, it could hamper understanding, but otherwise it’s just not in keeping with conventions.

[–] Feathercrown 2 points 1 year ago

Pronouncing it that way is fine. Spelling it that way, on the other hand, just ain't.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yes. German has official grammar and orthography (though it’s only legally binding in school and for the government) since 1903.

Before that everybody wrote how they liked. If you look at original manuscripts of even well known authors, like Schiller for example, you’ll find the same word spelled differently on the same page.

[–] Feathercrown 1 points 1 year ago

Or both! You never know.