First of all, apologies for no post last week, but I had visitors and didn’t manage to find the time.
I have noticed a decline in the use of the English language for a while now. It is especially concerning in people who should have an excellent knowledge of the language. People such as Radio and TV correspondents, journalists and well-educated experts.
On Sunday there was a news item on Radio 4 about another eruption of the Icelandic volcano that’s currently active. I was on my way out of the kitchen when I heard the ‘expert’ say a word that made me turn back and ask, “Did she just say ‘vigourent’?”
My nephew, who was staying with us, said, “Yes, she did.”
Vigourent!
From an ‘expert’.
I looked it up, thinking it might be a word I don’t know, but it doesn’t appear to be.
This morning, on Sky’s scrolling news, it said, “The Princess of Wales has been seen in public for the first time after her operation at a Windsor farm shop.”
It would have been slightly better with a comma after ‘operation’, I think, but not much.
What’s wrong with, “The Princess of Wales has been seen at a Windsor farm shop for the first time since her operation”?
Syntax has gone. The latter happens all the time. Ambiguous statements.
As to making up words–yes, I know Shakespeare did it–it confuses the issue. When The Bard made up a word, it was obvious what he meant from the context. And he was William Shakespeare! An expert in the use of words.
Finally, there’s a confusion amongst some people as to when to use the past participle. (This is often amongst sports reporters). I hear , ” He has went,” or “She has ran,” and other similar things all the time.
Grrr!
How do you feel about the slack use of language? Let us know in the comments box.
Thank you for reading.
Discover more from Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author)
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Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author) 
We all make occasional mistakes. Our language has one of the most complex, contradictory set of grammar rules on the planet. But… some of us have a professional responsibility it at least try to be correct. People on the air and in print should be very careful and strive for correctness and clarity. So I agree, it’s very annoying and it’s too bad it goes on in Merry Ol’ England where the language came originated! We Yankees are notorious for sloppy English!
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Sadly, the UK is going the same way. I don’t want to go back to the days when only one accent was acceptable in broadcasting, but when I hear regular broadcasters saying, ‘He has went…’, I want to scream.
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You sound like my wife when they say “He has went”!! Hahaha. Being a teacher for all those years, I built up a tough hide when it came to terrible speaking and writing. In fact, some of my common errors when writing now are those my students used to make. Seeing all that bad writing corrupted me! Not entirely but it’s frustrating! RJ
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I think being a teacher has had the opposite effect on me. I want to correct everything.
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Honestly, I like to correct everything too, but I fight it though with newspapers and TV talking heads, it’s hard sometimes. I get satisfaction correcting my own writing now! When I swoop through and write a rough draft of anything, especially my fiction, I don’t self-correct phrasing, just spelling. Later, the agony begins as I clean up my stilted phrases and overused words! I also have an excellent critique group who pores over my sometimes tortured prose with sharp eyes. Thank God for them! RJ
PS: I’ve noticed the new protocol of your blog provider always makes me fully enter my email and name even though I continually check the box to “remember me” at the bottom. But it doesn’t remember me. Love the new technology, don’t you??!!! Oh well…
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I’ve noticed that on other blogs. RJ. I seem to be continually filling in those little forms. Great ‘improvements’, aren’t they? Have these guys never heard of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?’
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On a very old (10 yrs ago) post, I opined about this digital age, which has had a very detrimental with our ability to interact with others in the real world; most are terribly addicted to their “smartphones”. They are immersed in a virtual world, and would go through withdrawls if deprived of them for only a few days.
I made other posts on the subject of language skills, and the dumbing down of “society” (quotation marks intentional).
This is the ten yr old post; I must note that Re. Patriot Action Network, they unceremoniously dumped me when calling them out for site “improvements” which made it impossible to make a pertinent post. Other times, I received nothing but vitriolic responses from my so-called peers, for not being able to correctly use third grade possessives. https://partneringwitheagles.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/living-in-a-digital-society/
Here is another, also ten yrs old, but reposted 4 yrs ago:
https://partneringwitheagles.wordpress.com/2020/01/11/the-forrest-gumping-of-american-education/
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I read your two posts. You are right about the degradation of language. As my husband says, “People think they can put any group of words together and it has a meaning.”
Syntax has gone. The other day it was said on the BBC that “The Princess of Wales had been seen for the first time since her operation at a farm shop.” I wasn’t aware that farm shops were now doing surgery!
Apostrophes, that aren’t exactly rocket science, are wrongly used everywhere.
As for words being made up. It happens all the time. Probably because the speaker doesn’t know that there is already a perfectly good word.
Also, lie/lay, amount/number, fewer/less…I could go on indefinitely, but I won’t.
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My grammar gripe of the moment is the use of present tense in history programmes e.g. “In March 1293, Pope Dougal XII is in Rome, while his armies siege Constantinople; he takes a bath and contemplates invasion”. What’s wrong with the past tense, in English?!
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Oh, yes! I agree wholeheartedly. So irritating. I actually got confused one day when I switched on a radio programme. I thought for a few seconds they were talking about something now!
The present historic tense! I suspect they think it makes it more immediate.
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I hate seeing and hearing the English language butchered. I don’t know how things are in the U.K., but in the U.S. students are no longer taught correct grammar and syntax, and the results are painfully obvious and ubiquitous.
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Having been out of education for a long time, I don’t know about the teaching of grammar, but I suspect it’s the same here.
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I’m always learning new things about language. Part of my writing journey was me learning rules that I don’t really recall in school, especially because of my Asperger syndrome. I spoke about that journey on a podcast appearance a few months back.
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I suppose it must be difficult, but you are proof that it can be done.
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Thanks.
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I’m still groaning and laughing, although it is not really a laughing matter. Rather sad, actually. I feel the same way you do about the way English is sliding into slovenliness … like you know. I was like hahaha when I read your post and then I was like groaning. I should of just went and had a cuppa coffee but the machine had like ran out of coffee grounds. 🙄
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😂😂😂
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