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One thing comes to mind.....I always correct my kids when they say....."Me and _____ are ................."!!!!
They are to the point were they laugh and say...."I know, I know" and correct themselves
As long as you understand what the other person is saying, then they are communicating effectively.
Saying, "Me and Joe are going to the store" and, "Joe and I are going to the store" both portray the same intent, but are different contextually. The difference has to do with etiquette (hence the term 'proper' English). By placing the other person first, you are indicating that you thinking of them before yourself; in essence, you are not being selfish. It is a mannerism, that is all.
soooooo"Me and Julio, down by the school yard" is wrong huh
somehow "Julio and I down by the school yard" doesn't have the same ring
Yes. That comes under the classification of 'poetic license'. Presumably, artists know good English but may use poor English for artistic effect. A person should be able to speak English well. The reason that we must be 'taught' is that, left to ourselves we might deteriorate into greater and greater regional dialects.
When I studied French my instructor said there were about 57 dialects in that small country. Some French citizens could not understand the French spoken by other French citizens.
When a person first learns proper pronunciation, the sound feels clumsy and your mouth is not accustomed to having that peculiar sound come out of it. I try to pronounce whatever word it is out load several times, until my mouth will say it in conversation easily. The body forms habits, and if you force it to do the right thing or say things the correct way, it becomes easy.
Most people object to speaking properly because it just feels unnatural.
I notice that many people choose not to pronounce certain "t's": they say 'innernet' instead of inTernet, and 'innerstate' rather than 'inTerstate'.
I have heard this by news broadcasters, media political analysts, 60Minutes, etc. It is just disgusting to hear from these people, who are paid for speaking. It should not be so hard for them.
Larry King usually properly pronounces the first R in libRary, and the R in FebRuary. Cool.
He has standards.
Hmmm. When I grew up, I was taught that the first "r" in "February" was silent, as well as other words, like "arctic", where the first "c" is silent. Ah well. I think according to dictionaries, both February and Feb(r)urary" are accepted, today.
"How are you?" "Good." That means morally good, not how one feels.
"I felt badly when..." means one can't feel well with one's fingers; it should be "I felt bad when..." if one is talking about his/her feelings.
Pronouncing the "t" in "often." Or has that changed? So many people pronounce it now!
Hmmm. When I grew up, I was taught that the first "r" in "February" was silent, as well as other words, like "arctic", where the first "c" is silent. Ah well. I think according to dictionaries, both February and Feb(r)urary" are accepted, today.
Yes. Many things are acceptable, but there is usually a preferred pronunciation, which is generally the first given:
fĕb'rū-ĕr'ē, fĕb'yū
ärk'tĭk, är'tĭk
It is a dumb thing, I will admit, but if some people do, as the commercial states, judge one by one's speech, it might be a good thing to know enough to adjust speech to meet the occasion.
I always believe that, if there is a pronunciation that actually aids in the spelling of the word, it must be a good thing. Now, with spell check, perhaps that becomes less important.
In India, there is often an 'h' that we usually take as silent, but it is considered more proper to pronounce the letter, as in 'Brahman'. Perhaps silly, but people can pigeon-hole a person into some stereotype unfairly if he is ignorant of conventions.
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