General Chat

And aggravate?

Saw a sign in Wilkinsons today by the till

"Let us all use less plastic bags"

It should be fewer plastic bags. maybe I am being pedantic but that is the way I was taught..... Fewer - number. i.e. fewer 'things'. Fewer people, fewer bags, but less noise, less mess.

I don't expect everyone to know that but if somebody is making an official printed sign I expect it to be correct.

pedantic maybe?

Ann
Glos

you sound like my hubby ann, lol
he likes things correct,
it gota be writtne in proper english

i get irritated at the way they assume we need to be told to do everything, its like dictatorship arrrrrrrrrrghhhhh
now i fallen off me soap box

Oh Ann, I do wish you would speak English proper, like wot I do.....

Mac Lol!!!!

......and of course, can't spell aggrevate.....lol....

.....oooooooops, I think I may be wrong there......and you are right.....

wel mac

if we dont not use um we must be using them then
cos thats a double negative and im fick

Oh Ann, you don't want to hear this one -- for years on the main shopping street where I live.


House of Puppy's.


I'm a fiend for fewer/less too. How are you on if/whether?

Buy two,get cheapest one free.

it is in it lmao

no airs and graces tho mac have we

Kathryne, another cause for complaint here too usually in greengrocers shops. Apple's and pear's.

In answer to your question i am not sure? i usually know if something is wrong when I see it but am trying to picture an example of whether and if. (By the way i am not perfect, reasonably good at English but it was a long time ago that I was at school.) I don't actually remember doing whether and if though.

Ann
Glos

It makes me angry to see and hear journalists use poor English.It is the tool of their trade.You wouldn't expect the plumber to use bent spoons and a bit of bent wire.(When they could of bought some proper tools and done the job proply!)

lmao
mac

i just got back from taking dog for run and thats made me laugh,
im so knackered but its made me chuckle

Ann,

It should have read-

Bring Your Own,:}!

A local fish & chip shop has no idea what a vegetarian eats.

Sign in window

Special for vegetarians
We will cook your fish and chips in vegetable oil


Everytime I see that sign I want to go in and tell them the difference between vegetarians and demi-vegs.

Maureen

Ah, if/whether. The error makes my ears hurt in oral speech, and is like a little fishhook in my eyes in the written word.

Tell me if you are going to the store.
Tell me whether you are going to the store.

Two completely different things!

In the first, I want to know THAT you are going to store, IF you are going to the store. I want you to tell me *if and only if* you are going to the store.

In the second, I want to know WHAT you're doing either way: I want to you to tell me if you're going to the store, and I want you to tell me if you're not going to the store.

If I were not going to the store, I would say nothing when you said "tell me if you are going to the store". And that would probably not be the desired result!


"Whether" is a subordinate conjunction used to create a noun clause; "whether you are going to the store" is the direct object of the verb "tell".

"If" is also a subordinate conjunction, but the clause it creates is an adverbial clause modifying the verb "tell".

It doesn't matter if you go to the store -- if you go to the store, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter whether you go to the store -- if you go to the store it doesn't matter, and if you don't go to the store it doesn't matter.


That one is honoured so much more in the breach that I doubt that anyone throughout my career who was responsible for my work (where things like that are precisely what matter) would even have noticed a breach. When I've trained people in what I do, I've beaten them over the head with it, so maybe I'll cause a revival. ;)


Here endeth today's lesson.


The bit about English speakers in the UK that always kills me is that you don't use the subjunctive.

In North America, we say:
It is important that you be on time.

In the UK, you say:
It is important that you are on time.

I just find that funny, since it's our usage that is arguably the more archaic!

Ann -- Shouldn't that be

WILKINSON'S

?


In IT. Good one.

lmao
thats funny mac,

you forget they got different way of talking avent they

mind you the welsh and the english are totally different in thier phrases,
hubby corrects me all the time,

its over here not over yer,

and its cardiff not caardifff

the gararge fixes the car,
not the garige fixes the caar

lol Mac.....

.....one of the sayings here is 'your alright' in answer to anything.....

I asked one of my son's girlfriends a few years ago if she would like a drink.......and she said 'no, you're alright'......meaning no thanks......

I felt like saying, yes......I know I am alright, but WOULD YOU LIKE A DRINK.....

I always remember my lovely Scottish Granny coming down to stay with us.......she was looking after us whilst Mum and Dad went to work......we went to the shop and Granny asked for....

.....half a stane o'tatties in her best Scottish accent......I had to translate that she wanted 7lb of potatoes, bless her.....