ESL (English as a Second Language)

Posted on September 28, 2008 by Talmadge

Just for fun I’ve decided to takes notes of announcers using incorrect English. Today I watched a couple of NFL football games and heard the following:

  1. They don’t get no rest…..
  2. …there is hands coming in…
  3. …beats him real quick…
  4. Him and Aaron….
  5. That defensive line, they…..
  6. I didn’t want to be nowhere near you….
  7. Me and Jim Zorn…..

Monday September 29th:

  1. NBC Today show …..the greatest and most softest…..
  2. CNN: There is lines…..
  3. Local Channel: They could be beat…..
  4. ESPN: …common denominator with he and Ed …..
  5. Two and 1/2 Men: …staying with Judith and I.

October 9th Headline

  1. Pope Benedict is supporting a pope accused of ignoring the Holocaust for sainthood……

October 10th Story in Local Newspaper

  1. Danville police arrested a fugitive Wednesday suspected of attempted murder in Pennsylvania who’d allegedly been hiding in Danville for some time. (Pennsylvania had been hiding in Danville?)

More from the NFL Today (October 12th)

  1. Somebody should have broke that route off.
  2. Arizona, they ………
  3. If I was with the Dallas Cowboys…
  4. There is fines…..

Filed under: Grammar | Tagged: ,

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6 Responses

  1. Sherry, on October 2nd, 2008 at 10:56 am Said:

    Just stopping by to let you know that I like your new blog!

    My husband always wanted to learn to fly but he only had time for one lesson before he died. That tells me to never put off til tomorrow what you can do today.

    Sherry

  2. Barb Hartsook, on October 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am Said:

    Frustrating, isn’t it? I think you and I went through school when the language arts were stressed.

    It is odd — my own granddaughter, a college sophomore and otherwise bright student who can actually think for herself, uses the subject and object backwards fairly consistently. She doesn’t use double negatives or disagree in numbers, but why does “her say him and I”? Or perhaps even more maddening, why does she pepper her sentences with “like”? Some times I think I will scream! But I don’t… :)

  3. Talmadge, on October 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 am Said:

    Hi Sherry,

    Thanks for stopping by. I decided I wasn’t getting much of the class, so i opted to change to wordpress. The lessons make a lot more sense now.

    Sorry to hear about your husband and I agree with not putting things off, especially at my age.

  4. Talmadge, on October 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 pm Said:

    Barb,

    I think the misuse of grammar goes back to the way it has been taught in school for many years. It is an embarrassment to me to hear college graduates continually using bad English. We need to get back to the basics in education.

    ps: Both my daughter and daughter in law are teachers. (g)

  5. Bean, on October 2nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm Said:

    I really appreciate your grammar review. I am sure it did not take you long to gather those examples. I used to be really picky and sensitive to proper grammar but a serious brain injury really messed up my language skills. I go to rehab every week trying to regain basic grammar. Too bad, so few others exert any effort to learn it properly in the first place!

  6. Talmadge, on October 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 pm Said:

    Bean,

    I’m so sorry to hear of your having a brain injury. Is it something you can talk about, or would you rather not?

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