tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post1776081711680866774..comments2024-03-26T10:03:51.827+13:00Comments on Karl du Fresne: New Zealand English falls prey to a linguistic pandemicKarl du Fresnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-81786785628585855812023-02-13T15:07:39.523+13:002023-02-13T15:07:39.523+13:00Also using wounded vs injured these days.
Also using wounded vs injured these days.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-64138225983624373532020-06-11T10:38:31.276+12:002020-06-11T10:38:31.276+12:00Hi Karl
I always enjoy reading your posts. While I...Hi Karl<br />I always enjoy reading your posts. While I appreciate that one of the great features of English is its adaptability, it's very sad to see us losing distinctive words which are used for specific purposes and to provide subtle differences in meaning. What's happened to good sub-editors? For interest, here is something I wrote a few years ago about usage of a few words and phrases in the legal field: https://www.lawsociety.org.nz/lawtalk/lawtalk-archives/issue-876/four-little-online-irritants <br />Geoff Adlam, Wellington.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13618791252674247655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-45159455471861986142020-06-08T18:02:10.676+12:002020-06-08T18:02:10.676+12:00And on pronunciation, how about 'bin' in p...And on pronunciation, how about 'bin' in place of 'been'? Hearing that much?Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02086765060406801599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-67438783719673709112020-06-03T20:03:40.811+12:002020-06-03T20:03:40.811+12:00Language is a fluid, constantly evolving thing and...Language is a fluid, constantly evolving thing and often there is is not right or wrong to it, just personal preference. But it's different when it comes to bureaucrat-speak and corporate-speak in NZ where it gets deliberately distorted and misused. I edited a book published in 2004 called "The New Gobbledygook" by Peter Isaacs which was both a dictionary and guidebook on how to decipher what is really being said. Some wordings are intended as euphemisms, others are deliberately ambiguous where what is being said sounds good, but really is meaningless. The thinking behind it is often "How do we save face?" or "How do we justify the position we have when really it can't be justified?" or "How do we say know what's going to happen when really we don't?" Worth a read.transpress nzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805691795141530555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-35494225712773268922020-05-31T14:43:38.557+12:002020-05-31T14:43:38.557+12:00Yes Karl, I believe it's a psychological disor...Yes Karl, I believe it's a psychological disorder that comes with working too long in journalism. :)<br />I also suffer from it after, especially, five years subbing at Rural News Group.<br />I'll spare you the details, but I was beginning to worry about my mental health by the time I retired last December. I was becoming hyper-critical about not only the copy, but the people. And it was 'inappropriate'.<br />But with an eye on George Orwell's rules of English (I think from his essay 'Shooting an Elephant'), I see creepy language abuse increasing. The words grow longer and are often intended to make the writer/speaker sound more erudite.<br />For example: 'we have established a commitment to deliver significant solutions going forward' is how bureaucrats, politicians and spin-doctors would express 'we plan to do better in future'.<br />'Invest' often replaces 'spend', etc. I could go on and on. <br />Readers keen to see this all critiqued may want to read Harold Evans's 'Do I Make Myself Clear?'<br />thanks for your good work. Neil Keating, Auckland.Neil Keatinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03505009114640921338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-47148479278154439832020-05-29T12:39:57.883+12:002020-05-29T12:39:57.883+12:00Thanks Karl, great learnings for me.
That's t...<i>Thanks Karl, great learnings for me.</i><br /><br />That's the one that annoys me most. <br /><br />Related, I was proud of my eight-year-old yesterday when she corrected herself on 'Rachel and me. Oops! Rachel and I'.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14766000926301211715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-78615769330177095822020-05-29T12:05:35.340+12:002020-05-29T12:05:35.340+12:00My hairdresser here in Stoke proudly writes on his...My hairdresser here in Stoke proudly writes on his sign outside, "Contempary Hair Dresser". He tells me it gets him customers. I have told him he is 100 years ahead of his time. Andy Espersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03760941469016543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-18242786141913617732020-05-29T11:57:14.678+12:002020-05-29T11:57:14.678+12:00That is an excellent article Karl, with your point...That is an excellent article Karl, with your points all clearly made.<br />I can fondly remember my High School (Kapiti Coll) English teacher, Toby Easterbrook-Smith, back in the mid 60's, going on about this type of dereliction of proper English. At that time the main offence was the tendency of "progressive" writers to use nouns as verbs. eg. To "verbify" their writing. We took delight in digging out all the offending passages for Toby. We also dreamed up words of our own. For example, one of our parents had a Pontiac car that we all admired, so us 6th formers of course said that the car should transition its identity. We suggested that we could "Fordify" the car.<br />I can remember Toby very clearly. The main lesson we learned from him was - always write in clear English. Don't try and be "intellectual" just for the sake of it.Doug Longmirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008729336442910333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-68838734683660538442020-05-29T11:13:55.415+12:002020-05-29T11:13:55.415+12:00Oooohhh... nothing like a good old grizzle about l...Oooohhh... nothing like a good old grizzle about language (mis)use! Joe Bennett did a column some years ago, saying 'pupils' refers to those who are compulsarily in education, as against 'students, who are there voluntarily. I imagine school pupils became students in the tide of political correctness that swept the world...it sounds like they're then in a euphemistic 'learning partnership'. I recall watching an early TV talk show called The Phil Donohue Show..probably 70s. I noted then the use of 'disrespect' as a verb, by his Afroamerican guests...as in 'somebody disrespected me'...which then morphed into 'diss', a rather handy neologism. Unlike 'learnings', mentioned above...ugh. I predicted the demise of a distinction between 'historic' & 'historical' some years ago and you can see both used interchangeably these days, sometimes in the same piece...'historic sexual abuse' being very common. Hilary Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00240590567749247083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-5764517769118174972020-05-29T09:43:34.109+12:002020-05-29T09:43:34.109+12:00Cheers Andy :-)Cheers Andy :-)Doug Longmirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008729336442910333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-13930562437013569042020-05-29T08:09:44.220+12:002020-05-29T08:09:44.220+12:00Ha, Karl - we are old. But a living language by...Ha, Karl - we are old. But a living language by definition is always young, fresh and vibrantAndy Espersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03760941469016543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-51948535103844792602020-05-28T20:11:19.750+12:002020-05-28T20:11:19.750+12:00Heh heh.Heh heh.Karl du Fresnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-81259307537675111992020-05-28T19:45:07.612+12:002020-05-28T19:45:07.612+12:00Thanks Karl, great learnings for me.
You're ri...Thanks Karl, great learnings for me.<br />You're right across it.M&Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13328327111088296396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-15221838934623938882020-05-28T18:15:51.114+12:002020-05-28T18:15:51.114+12:00Nar instead of "now"Nar instead of "now"Doug Longmirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008729336442910333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-2542210581544202542020-05-28T10:56:53.881+12:002020-05-28T10:56:53.881+12:00My pet hate is the use of myself, the reflexive pr...My pet hate is the use of myself, the reflexive pronoun, when it ought to be the subject pronoun I or object one me. Then there’s gotten instead of got and literally when it ought to be figuratively. Ele Ludemannhomepaddockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08596903968235369282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-45658578152246586262020-05-28T10:16:22.712+12:002020-05-28T10:16:22.712+12:00My favourite:- vunnlerbal instead of vulnerable.My favourite:- vunnlerbal instead of vulnerable.Doug Longmirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008729336442910333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-23630288943328140672020-05-28T08:51:21.584+12:002020-05-28T08:51:21.584+12:00At least they are speaking some variety of English...At least they are speaking some variety of English. <br />If you go around some districts in Auckland you'll find entire malls with all the shops sporting signs, products and employees using a foreign language. In some cases they do not even speak English (try ordering food, unless you know what you want!).<br /><br />Even the invoice (if you chose to request one) comes in a foreign language.<br /><br />That worries me even more.GHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07709016227363217137noreply@blogger.com