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

bjhagerman

Member Since

September 2, 2009

Total number of comments

25

Total number of votes received

52

Bio

Latest Comments

Fora vs Forums

  • September 23, 2009, 7:04am

Oh, yes, and if you insist on using English, then shouldn't you be using "plurel" from Middle English? No, wait, you should be using the Latin "pl?r?lis." No, that's wrong too, you should be using whatever form the word took in the language that Latin mutated from.

Fora vs Forums

  • September 23, 2009, 6:46am

hot4teacher: "... just because people say things one way, doesn’t mean that this way is correct."
Actually, that's exactly what it means. What we call the "definition" of a word is, in reality, simply the most commonly agreed upon usage.
If the majority did accept "ploorul" as the proper spelling, then so it would be. If this were not the case, the entire world would still be speaking a single language or perhaps somewhere between three to five languages in total. If you CAN'T accept this, then why are you typing in English and not (one of) the original language(s)?
As an aside, if languages were only decided by some elite subset, do you really think the WIND would be blowing outside while you WIND your clock? Be a cruel joke to play, indeed.

Loose = Lose?

  • September 23, 2009, 6:23am

You sure those are mistakes, goofy?
Generally, one would be said to be holding on to one's pain and woe. Thus, to be rid of it, it must be loosed, no?
As for the first example... I can't even guess at what it means to determine if the usage is correct. However, using Google to find it, it shows up as "loses" not "looses."
That led me to use Google for the second one, as well, and that also came up with more "lose" than "loose." (There was one "loose.")

“I’m just saying”

  • September 2, 2009, 5:30pm

The way I see it, there are two goals to ending your statement with, "I'm just saying." As stated above, it implies something, leading the listener to think a certain way. At the same time, it absolves the speaker of responsibility for whatever conclusion the listener may come to as a result.
Used in that way, it means: "I don't mean anything by it, but you're certainly welcome, and encouraged, to draw your own conclusions."
Of course, none of this actually answers the posed question of the phrase's origins.

Why have media changed our words?

  • September 2, 2009, 5:07pm

If you are so keen to preserve the English language from it's imagined decline, should you not first restore it to it's former glory? Shakespearean English is barely legible today, but that's the fault of all English speakers for allowing the language to "decline," no?