What's New

What About You, My Reader

   This post is going to be a little different. I'm asking for your opinions on modern speaking and sharing my own thoughts. I'd love to know a little about the folks who are reading my blog here, so feel free to share your feelings on the below topics. Language is my thing, it's what I'm interested in. Even if how you speak and where you're from (generally, of course) are the only things I know about you, I'd feel I have connected with you, learned a little about my readers. Knowing a little about you, my readers, will help me to expand what I currently know about language and how it's spoken around the world. So you see, there's no need to be shy. I only want to learn about the words that come from your mouth. 

   Now, on to the topics of this bi-monthly post. 

"I am 23 years new."

 

   Nothing much, it seems, is new. Especially us. Once we're born, we're at least a second old. We're always old. Some people have taken a stand against this and chosen to say, when referring to someone's age, they are so-many years new. I've heard it from people I know and from a person or two on the radio and tv. It's a way to make themselves or others feel younger, newer, or less old.  

   What do you personally think about this? Let me know in the comments below whether simply knowing of this innovation in the English language has encouraged you to change your views on age, or change the way you refer to age. Do you know why people do this, and do you know many that do? Why do you think they've made this innovative choice to change our old ways?

Littler 

Resisting Change

Incorrect or Forward Thinking?

   Sometimes I can't help but think Who made up this rule? Mostly, we all simply accept the rules we've been taught and abide by them, even going as far as to belittle those who don't do the same. Like I've mentioned before, I was one who belittled to make the written world a better place and for quite a while, but now I'm one who only does it to show how things need to change.

   Below is a picture I took while I was out and at an establishment, which I will not mention the name of due to me not asking them for permission to do so. There are a few things that look wrong. We've been taught that the technical errors in the photo are wrong. Take a look and see how many you can spot. 

   I found two on this bulletin board. I want us to consider for a moment if these are really wrong. I'll keep away from "Birthday's" because I can't think of a good reason why an apostrophe would be inserted there, but "Anniversarys" is technically not wrong. We add an s to most things to make them plural, and sometimes es. Instead of changing the y to an i and adding es, why not simply add an s? It's simpler, people will have no problem understanding it, and if you think about it, it looks more natural. The sound of the y doesn't change from anniversary to anniversaries, so why should it change physically to an i when becoming plural?

   This is just one example. There are many words in which the y changes to an i in the plural or when changing the tense. Dry, fly, try, but not tray, play, tie. Not birthdays and mondays, but category and carry. There are patterns and I do recognize them, don't get me wrong, but this is one of those rules that doesn't make much sense. 

   What do you think - is this a rule that can go, or one that we need to keep? What are some grammar or spelling rules that you can't find much sense in?