My Love Affair With Standard English!

[Historian]

Ever since my days as a high school student, I have been involved in a passionate love affair with the English language. Here are a few goodies that I compiled.


Accept/Except
“Accept” means to receive. “Except” means to exclude.

Affect/Effect
To “affect” is to bring about. “Effect” is the result of (consequence).

After/Following
“After” means next in time, while “following” means next in order.

Aid/Aide
The “aide” (assistant gives “aid” (help) to his/her boss. Aid can also be a verb but aide can only be a noun.

A Lot
The word “alot” does not exist! The word is either “a lot” or “allot.”

Amateur/Novice
“Amateur” is a non-professional; “novice” is a beginner.

Avenge/Revenge
“Avenge” is for another, “revenge” for self.

Averse/Adverse
To be “averse” to something is to be opposed to it; “adverse” is an adjective meaning unfavorable.

Canvas/Canvass
“Canvas” is a cloth; to “canvass” means to solicit.

Cite/Site/Sight
“Cite” means to refer to or quote. “Site” is a location. “Sight” is a view or pertains to vision.

Compliment/Complement
“Compliment” is praise; “complement” adds to something to make it complete.

Cord/Chord
“Cord” is a string or small rope, or an anatomical structure such as a spinal or vocal cord. Cord can also be a ribbed fabric (such as corduroy) or a unit of wood. “Chord” refers to musical tones.

Council/Counsel
“Council” is an assembly, usually an elective body. “Counsel” is to advise, offering assistance, like a lawyer.

Funeral Service
A funeral is a service so delete service; it’s redundant.

Gorilla/Guerrilla
“Gorilla” is an ape, while “guerilla” is a soldier or raider.

Its/It’s
Its is a possessive pronoun. It’s is a contraction for “it is.”

[Jangle]

Throw in Their/There/They're, Your/You're. I see many on the forum misusing these words but thru me nuh waan offend nobaddy and also thru me go a de bestest skool inna JamDown (the great CALABAR) me kibba me mouth more time.

[Historian]

Good Additions

Throw in Their/There/They're, Your/You're. I see many on the forum misusing these words but thru me nuh waan offend nobaddy and also thru me go a de bestest skool inna JamDown (the great CALABAR) me kibba me mouth more time.

Good input, Jangle!

“Your” and “you’re,” in particular, have been misused so much in these modern Internet days!

They’re: the contraction of they are (“They’re funny”).
Their is the possessive form of they (“Their party was great”).


Then there’s the very common “curry goat” and “steam chicken” and “boil fish” errors found even in restaurants! The correct words are “curried goat” and “steamed chicken” and “boiled fish”!

And we could go on and on.

[Karl]

Throw in Their/There/They're, Your/You're. I see many on the forum misusing these words but thru me nuh waan offend nobaddy and also thru me go a de bestest skool inna JamDown (the great CALABAR) me kibba me mouth more time.

Then there are those of us who post without re-reading/spell-checking...and or make up words we think best suited to convey impression we want to convey...and additionally were confused during our early years on what was the correct word...spelling to use...cannot type...etc...and when we see our post later 'cringe'. Oooh yes, put up quotation marks of the 'uuhh' type or "uuhh" type to aid what we hope is 'best explained'...

...and forget about the confusion that having to deal with "American English" and "the Queen's English" creates!

...but, if we had the time...or took the time to re-read some of us could correct our posts!

Guilty! Guilty in doing and of having done all of the above!

[Mosiah]

Here are some for the yanks among us - there is no such word as ASHPHALT. The word is ASPHALT. Brickie and Wayne Marshall might have a problem with the latter, but that's their problem.

Also, for my yankee friends, there is no such word as HEIGHTH. The word is HEIGHT, 2 "h's"!

[Gamma]

dem know HGH tho...

[HL]

absorb/adsorb...

[Bricktop]

The word is ASPHALT. Brickie and Wayne Marshall might have a problem with the latter, but that's their problem.

Getting your defence ready from early ehh?

[Willi]

My pet peeves are:
"irregardless" instead of irrespective or regardless
Realitor instead of REALTOR
Between you and "I" instead of me
Jooolery instead of Jewelry
roll instead of role
momento instead of memento
Principle instead of principal
etc, etc, etc.

[Exile]

Isn't context important? And societal mores and lifestyle? For example in Jamaica the 'funeral' is the whole shebang..while the 'service' means the part with the church.
So going "to the funeral' could mean the 'service', the 'graveyard', the 'afterparty' or any combination of those.

[Historian]

Yes, You Are Correct

Isn't context important? And societal mores and lifestyle? For example in Jamaica the 'funeral' is the whole shebang..while the 'service' means the part with the church.
So going "to the funeral' could mean the 'service', the 'graveyard', the 'afterparty' or any combination of those.

Exile, you are certainly correct in your view of the importance of social context in our use of language. This, in fact, is what separates, say, colloquial usage from Standard English.

The problem arises when one is writing for or speaking to an audience outside of the immediate social context, for example, a mass audience. Then issues arise. For example, “funeral service,” based on common usage in the wider western society, would be a redundancy, similar to if one should say “HIV virus” or “ATM machine.” The result is unintended humour and, in some cases, embarrassment.

[Baddaz]

i started reading this thread last night... really don't quite understand your objective here...

are you referring to posts in this or other forums... correspondences in your job... common everyday chattings mongst peeple in general... mi jussa try get a line pon yuh awgiment...

as exile seh above, nuff tings depend on de context... for me personally, nuff a dem words deh yuh mention, mi dont even si pon da board yah... anedda ting, when people a post pon de board, we all cant be too caught up in correct spelling cause nuff peeple a post under time constraints...

as yu know a simple misspelling can change de meaning of a point... still, from we follow logic, de misspelled word can and should be overlooked as long as we ovastan de point being made...

[Mosiah]

...states "Baddaz", otherwise known as Badders, or better yet, Worsaz!

[Baddaz]

it hard fi mi really mek a fuss bout some a dem words deh weh people mispronounce causen seh a de jamaican tawk and nuff people ongle hear words but neva learn dem outta book or affi write dem... suh dem wi always get a pass from me... cause a dat also mek up de patois...

de people who will seldom get a pass a de people who mi know seh should know better... especially, if dem a write a formal correspondence to a general audience...

pon de spoken pawt... mi always get a chuckle people seh VOIL-ENCE instead of VI-O-LENCE... iz not a pet peeve suh much still... mi juss get a chuckle because of an experience when i was in primary school...

mi english teacher was always correcting this youth's pronouncement of the word... at the time, i am willing to bet 98% if not all the class would pronounce the word 'voil-ence' as the youth did cause a suh we hear everybody else inna our community seh de word, but wi get weh cause de teacher neva call pon we...

[Baddaz]

mawning mosiah... as mi read dis thread mi getting a whole heap of laffs bout some a wi peeple an dem use and pronouncement of english words...

yuh eva si some people a get dem tongue tie up a seh de word 'three' with de emphasis on de 'th' and a rolling 'ree'... quite funny... mi smile and laff silently all de while...