Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

shaunc

Member Since

December 26, 2008

Total number of comments

37

Total number of votes received

261

Bio

Latest Comments

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • August 9, 2010, 7:23pm

In Canada, the use of curriculum vitae seems limited to medical and university professors. Resumé is used by everyone else. We always seem to be stuck between English and American.

As for the pronunciation, I have always said "reh-zhu-may". Likewise, the morning dew is "dyew" not "do", the duke is "dyuke" not "dook", etc.

“Anglish”

  • July 28, 2010, 8:01pm

I originally asked the question about "Anglish" to garner opinions. I do not think that the promoters of Anglish are xenophobic, they merely prefer to use an Anglo-Saxon word where possible. Someone also mentioned the loss of words due to the prevalence of London English. My understanding is that West Saxon (Wessex) evolved into modern English. The people in the area that would become London probably spoke Kentish.

In the West County of England, some small portion of West Saxon survives in the West Country dialect of Somerset, Devon and Dorset. I spent the first 7 years of my life in Somerset and was surprised to find that words I had taken for granted had no currency outside of the West Country. I be, she be, gurt, grockle, (f)varmer, hark at ee, wacker, smooth the dog, etc. I never saw a non-English person until I was 7 years old at Heathrow Airport in London. Of course with modern communications this relic of West Saxon is all but vanished.

Curiously, when we emigrated to Canada, I found myself in southwestern Ontario. The names in the southwest of Ontario hark back to the West Country - Exeter, Wellington, Tavistock, Weston, etc. The accent of SW Ont is heavily rhotic like the West Country. Travelling between family in Somerset and Ontario it is easy to hear the similarities.

“Anglish”

  • July 26, 2010, 11:09pm

JJM says: “Does anybody have an opinion or thoughts on “Anglish”…”
Yes, it’s a ridiculous idea. “Samebloodedness”? Get a life."

Perhaps instead of being rude and insulting you could explain your point of view. A good English word is "prat".

Really happy or real happy

  • July 22, 2010, 8:53pm

...or to quote Ren & Stimpy, "happy, happy joy,joy"!

Team names — singular or plural

  • July 22, 2010, 8:43pm

England on the attack" vs. "England are on the attack".

I would say that "England are on the attack" refers to a team who’s players are on the attack. This is plural – hence “are”. To say "England on the attack" would infer the country of England as a whole was on the attack. England as a country is not on the attack, but a team of players representing England are on attack.

But, that is just my opinion...

Word in question: Conversate

  • July 17, 2010, 10:45am

"Conversate" is an awkward word. It sounds contrived. I think we already have this area covered with converse and conversation. Another code word by people who like to think of themselves as "cool"...

I read the following from the Online Etymology Dictionary, "by 2000, apparently a back-formation from conversation or an elaboration of converse. According to some, from black Amer.Eng."

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • July 15, 2010, 6:13pm

It is interesting reading various phonetic spellings of words. For example in US English "dew" rhymes with "do" and "duke" is "dook". I was partially raised in England and moved to Canada. I learnt "dew" as "dyew" and "duke" as "dyuke".

Americans always claim that Canadians pronounce "out" and "about" as "oot" and "aboot", personally I can't hear it. So, what do Americans hear when Canadians actually say "a boot" and "oot"?

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • July 15, 2010, 5:53pm

Hmmm...maybe avoid the entire issue and go with "CV" or "Curriculum Vitae"! When I checked several sources "Résumé" seems be preferred.

Merriam-Webster lists "Résumé" as a noun and "resume" as a verb. One is your CV and the other is to take up again where you left off.

“Anglish”

  • July 15, 2010, 5:40pm

When I read about "Anglish" I thought about the poverty of words without non-Germanic words. I don't know how pendantic these people are - they seem to be mostly in England. It could be as simple as picking the Anglo-Saxon word over another non-Anglo-Saxon word when possible. There are many English words that have fallen from common usage over the centuries. However, I can't see a return to Chaucerian English in the cards!

Twenty-ten vs Two thousand-ten

  • July 14, 2010, 6:26pm

My theory is that people will use whichever sounds smoothest to their ears. So much English usage is custom, dialectical or personal preference.

“Two thousand and nine” sounds smooth while “twenty-oh-nine is awkward. Likewise, “two thousand and ten” versus “twenty-ten” will be a matter of personal choice. I think that the chosen version will be whatever sounds better to the majority. English is logical, it is arbitrary and highly changeable!

By the way, did anyone ever create a popular name for the first decade of the 21st century?

Questions

“Anglish” July 14, 2010
Canadian pronunciation of “out and about” August 9, 2010