The "Annoying Phrase" Thread

[Lamplight]

Guilty as charged! Also guilty of:
Friend: "Hey, Tom, could you look at my carburetor, my car aint running good."
Tom: "I Might Could, just lemmie get done with this here thing first."

But that's mostly talk between friends, I have a much more formal vocabulary while I'm at work.

Any of those are acceptable when you're working on a car, though.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Well that's a plus haha. I spent so much time working on cars this year, that I have a tanline from having the hood over me!

Any of those are acceptable when you're working on a car, though.

 

[Dewhurst]

These are the most common (words in bold):

"I seen him yesterday."
"I knowed him forever."
"Have you eat?"
"Yeah, I done eat."
"Ever who called XXXX, he's on the phone"
"We was gonna go, but we didn't."
"I use-to-could."

Ugh. I hear these on a regular basis as well. Very annoying. But I think it is on purpose? A certain "way" of talking perhaps? Almost like a dialect.

 

[Lamplight]

Ugh. I hear these on a regular basis as well. Very annoying. But I think it is on purpose? A certain "way" of talking perhaps? Almost like a dialect.

I'm pretty sure the people saying things know it's not correct, and only do so because they're used to it. I doubt any of them would write this way. So yes, I think it's basically just a dialect issue.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The perfective "done," as in "He done ate supper" is a longstanding feature of both Southern and African-American Vernacular English --- it's not bad usage at all within the recognized scope of those dialects. It indicates that the action has been completed -- he has finished supper, as opposed to he is eating supper now. It's actually a survival of early-Colonial-era English.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

The perfective "done," as in "He done ate supper" is a longstanding feature of both Southern and African-American Vernacular English --- it's not bad usage at all within the recognized scope of those dialects. It indicates that the action has been completed -- he has finished supper, as opposed to he is eating supper now. It's actually a survival of early-Colonial-era English.

Linguistically speaking this is absolutely correct.

There have also been studies comparing the perfective in AAVE and other dialects to perfectives that exist in the various African languages that were the first languages of the slaves and other early settlers who now use the perfective.

In most cases, they are simply adding back into English a grammatical structure that existed in their primary language, but using an English verb to do so.

It thus actually carries a subtle nuance of meaning that standard English did not have a method of expressing simply.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Yup. When people learn a foreign language, their first instinct is to directly translate from their native tongue. Since slaves arriving in North America from Africa were not formally schooled in English grammar, they did what any of us would in their situation: they translated.


.

 

[C-dot]

Exactly. I speak French fluently, but it took me a long time to adjust to the correct style of speech. The French are very concise - there are 4,000 words in French, and over 8,000 in English, so most English words simply do not have a translation. When translating directly into French, I now realize it sounded painfully detailed and long. It was hard to squish sentences down into fractions!

Africans' trying to speak a Germanic language probably scrambled their brains, so they made it easier. Dialects don't always equate improper speech: for example, the two biggest dialects of Parisian French, Québecois and the Caribbean Patois.

 

[Paisley]

Going Native

Also, living in the South, I daily hear things that make me cringe. Mind you, I'm far from being some sort of magnificent orator (VERY far!), but I often hear things that simply boggle the mind. These are the most common (words in bold):

"I seen him yesterday."
"I knowed him forever."
"Have you eat?"
"Yeah, I done eat."
"We was gonna go, but we didn't."

My parents use these cringeworthy* terms. My mother's ancestors were southern and didn't care for books or school, but my dad's father's family was never anywhere near the South or colonial America, and his mother was a college educated teacher. Go figure.

*Non-native speakers deserve some slack, of course.

 

[Lamplight]

The perfective "done," as in "He done ate supper" is a longstanding feature of both Southern and African-American Vernacular English --- it's not bad usage at all within the recognized scope of those dialects. It indicates that the action has been completed -- he has finished supper, as opposed to he is eating supper now. It's actually a survival of early-Colonial-era English.

Linguistically speaking this is absolutely correct.

There have also been studies comparing the perfective in AAVE and other dialects to perfectives that exist in the various African languages that were the first languages of the slaves and other early settlers who now use the perfective.

In most cases, they are simply adding back into English a grammatical structure that existed in their primary language, but using an English verb to do so.

It thus actually carries a subtle nuance of meaning that standard English did not have a method of expressing simply.

Yup. When people learn a foreign language, their first instinct is to directly translate from their native tongue. Since slaves arriving in North America from Africa were not formally schooled in English grammar, they did what any of us would in their situation: they translated.


.

Exactly. I speak French fluently, but it took me a long time to adjust to the correct style of speech. The French are very concise - there are 4,000 words in French, and over 8,000 in English, so most English words simply do not have a translation. When translating directly into French, I now realize it sounded painfully detailed and long. It was hard to squish sentences down into fractions!

Africans' trying to speak a Germanic language probably scrambled their brains, so they made it easier. Dialects don't always equate improper speech: for example, the two biggest dialects of Parisian French, Québecois and the Caribbean Patois.

Very interesting. I have long wondered where certain word usage could have originated, and this all makes sense to me now. But wouldn't it be simply incorrect to write, "I done eat" instead of "I've already eaten", or a variation, "I have finished eating"? Is this something that is considered acceptable in everyday speech but unacceptable in writing or public speaking?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Very interesting. I have long wondered where certain word usage could have originated, and this all makes sense to me now. But wouldn't it be simply incorrect to write, "I done eat" instead of "I've already eaten", or a variation, "I have finished eating"? Is this something that is considered acceptable in everyday speech but unacceptable in writing or public speaking?

Well, "I done ate" would be grammatical, but "I done eat" would not be. You can't "done eat," because the perfective done can only be used to describe an action that's been completed.

You're saying the same thing as "I have finished eating," but you're doing so in a more direct, less formal manner. You wouldn't use "I done ate" in formal conversation or writing, but there's nothing incorrect about its use in informal Southern speech. Its stigmatization comes more from the notion that everyone should speak exactly the same as everyone else, rather than any violation of the rules of grammar.

"I done et," is also heard, and there's nothing wrong with that either. "Et" is simply an old dialect pronunciation of "ate."

We don't have anything remotely like the perfective done in traditional New England dialect, which is a pity. It seems to be purely a southern-rooted thing.

 

[C-dot]

But wouldn't it be simply incorrect to write, "I done eat" instead of "I've already eaten", or a variation, "I have finished eating"? Is this something that is considered acceptable in everyday speech but unacceptable in writing or public speaking?

Yes. Though many publications today are written as though spoken, it is incorrect in formal English (and all Germanic and Latin languages) to write with contractions, slang, or dialect, except when using a quote or writing dialogue.

 

[Lamplight]

Well, "I done ate" would be grammatical, but "I done eat" would not be. You can't "done eat," because the perfective done can only be used to describe an action that's been completed.

You're saying the same thing as "I have finished eating," but you're doing so in a more direct, less formal manner. You wouldn't use "I done ate" in formal conversation or writing, but there's nothing incorrect about its use in informal Southern speech. Its stigmatization comes more from the notion that everyone should speak exactly the same as everyone else, rather than any violation of the rules of grammar.

"I done et," is also heard, and there's nothing wrong with that either. "Et" is simply an old dialect pronunciation of "ate."

We don't have anything remotely like the perfective done in traditional New England dialect, which is a pity. It seems to be purely a southern-rooted thing.

Ah, I see. I hear both "I done ate" and "I done eat". I readily admit I know very little concerning this subject, but I do find it interesting.

Yes. Though many publications today are written as though spoken, it is incorrect in formal English (and all Germanic and Latin languages) to write with contractions, slang, or dialect, except when using a quote or writing dialogue.

I did not know that, especially concerning contractions. Thanks.

 

[Viola]

I'm of the opinion there isn't a thing wrong with contractions in writing and that's a stance I won't abandon in the face of adversity.

 

[John in Covina]

You done good!

 

[Mirinda]

I'm from Spain, so English is not my first language (or second, for that matter), but after a few years in London I learnt to hate the expression "innit" (for "isn't it"). It sounds so awful!

 

[newspapercowboy]

Impacted

Impacted
pro-active
unacceptable.
team effort
inappropriate


All of the above are "employee handbook English"

 

[jamespowers]

Impacted
pro-active
unacceptable.
team effort
inappropriate


All of the above are "employee handbook English"

Impacted sounds like what happens to a wisdom tooth not something you find in an employee handbook. :eusa_doh:

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Impacted sounds like what happens to a wisdom tooth not something you find in an employee handbook. :eusa_doh:

I thought it was some kind of Wow! Font style.

 

[HadleyH]

It's not wrong to say it. It's perfectly okay. Very commonly used.


But it irritates me no end. I can do nothing about it.




The word is issues applied like this : I have issues. I have issues with this......I have issues with that........ (go jump into the lake.:rage: lol)