[Horizon81]

One of the most annoying trends seen recently is the usage of "would of" / "should of" in place of "would have" / "should have". Its almost unbearable.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Horizon81

One of the most annoying trends seen recently is the usage of "would of" / "should of" in place of "would have" / "should have". Its almost unbearable.

Well, it would be. However, I'm yet to come across this.
Have you encountered this written, or spoken?

[Horizon81]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Well, it would be. However, I'm yet to come across this.
Have you encountered this written, or spoken?

Exclusively written. Seen it in many internet article comment sections, and recently in a couple of emails in my office

[ajitkommini]

Originally Posted by Horizon81

Exclusively written. Seen it in many internet article comment sections, and recently in a couple of emails in my office

Is it a misspelling of "would've", "could've" etc.? They sound similar so that could be the reason.

[Horizon81]

Originally Posted by ajitkommini

Is it a misspelling of "would've", "could've" etc.? They sound similar so that could be the reason.

Definitely not a typo or misspelling. "would've/could've" sounds similar to "would of"/"could of" and hence the usage, which is very wrong. And it irks the hell out of me.

Here's a link I found, discussing on this error:
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/couldof.html

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Here's why punctuation is so important (a funny example)

http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2014/3...ke-a-cannibal/

[Chetan_Rao]

Here's a sample of atrocious grammar, punctuation and sentence formation (on the editorial page, no less!) of the world's top selling English daily. I don't know why I bother buying a newspaper anymore.. Two head-on-wall smileys because I've read this paper from the days when being on the editorial page was a matter of pride, really annoying to see it reduced to such editorial shambles. Whatever happened to copy editing?

[tilt]

One thing I notice a lot in Indian English is the confusion between "since", "for" and "from" when it pertains to duration or a point in time.

"I have had this since two years" etc.

"Since" or "from"always precedes a specific point in time. Eg.: I have had this car since August 2010 (or from August 2010) or since my father retired (or from the time my father retired) or since Wednesday.

To indicate duration one uses "for". Eg.: I have had this car for four years

Cheers

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

...Whatever happened to copy editing?
....

I think I know what happened - greed took its toll.
Instead of paying proof readers the 'brass' decided to split those salaries amongst themselves.
They (the brass, not the proof readers) spend their days at clubs and golf courses, or simply jet setting around the world, but they will not pay an honest wage to a proof reader to maintain the dignity and standards of their publication!
There is, in today's world, no place for excellence. The driving force is money (greed, in other words).

[Thad E Ginathom]

"...The impact of the collision was such that the right side of the bus was completely clobbered."

Do so-called English-language journalists take special courses in 1950s schoolboy English?

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Do so-called English-language journalists take special courses in 1950s schoolboy English?

Oh yes, that usage of 'clobbered' in a newspaper made me cringe. Print edition, no less.

While growing up in the Nilgiris, the Coimbatore edition of The Hindu was a paper that we were asked to read to improve one's English. Now that I also subscribe to the Bangalore edition, I find gross spelling and grammar errors. I'm not sure if these mistakes are edition specific, or if there's been a general decline.

Ditto for the news channels - the language and pronunciation of the news anchors on many Indian news channels is atrocious and grating. Together with the quality of news they focus on, it has led me to shunning TV news altogether.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Oh yes, that usage of 'clobbered' in a newspaper made me cringe. Print edition, no less.

.

I think that's proactive use of the thesaurus. Maybe two iterations.
Something like what Joey does in friends, i don't remember which season it was.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I can't believe those people even know what a thesaurus is.

Originally Posted by arunphilip

While growing up in the Nilgiris, the Coimbatore edition of The Hindu was a paper that we were asked to read to improve one's English. Now that I also subscribe to the Bangalore edition, I find gross spelling and grammar errors. I'm not sure if these mistakes are edition specific, or if there's been a general decline.

It's general. Whilst it has not quite reached the level of gibberish that The New Indian Express sometimes publishes, it is getting there. The biggest decline has been in the last five or six years. I remember recommending it to a student before then, but I wouldn't do that now.

And this is a newspaper that has articles on English language, has a "readers' Editor," and obviously wants to be The Guardian.

Just in from elsewhere on the forum, this little gem from someone who has no right whatsoever to a job which requires English...

Hi,


Thank you for taking your time to write to us. I certainly understand your concern and I am feeling sorry that the product is still not delivered due to some courier related issues.

We at Flipkart, are very serious about our customer’s satisfaction and we work hard to get to the bottom of any customer complaints. This missed opportunity to give you an enjoyable experience with us is something that we could never abide by. To ensure that this will never happen again, we are taking special measures.

If I was at your place, I would have felt the same as you are feeling, as you might have some important purpose for placing the aforesaid order. Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you due to this.

Kindly do not worry in this regard, I’ve notified this issue to our concerned team and you have my assurance that the product is delivered to you on high priority and make sure that your issue is resolved within the next 4 business days.

Hope this helps.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

.....no right whatsoever to a job which requires English...

If we applied that just to the Indian IT workforce, we'll have to fire at least 90% of the bunch. The lack of communication skills, even at higher mgmt. levels is shocking, to put it mildly.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I find this surprising, because the English speakers that I know mostly speak very good English. Hmmm... I suppose I'm talking about older people, many of whom spent decades in America.

the Indian IT workforce

I think the need has to be taken into account. There are more than few native Brits who are very fluent in C++ but not very communicative in speech --- but they are not applying for and getting jobs as writers.

Once the rot sets in it is hard to stop. It's like ignorant management: they employ ignorant management, because they don't know any better, and because they want to feel safe in their own positions. I fear the thread is broken already. I wonder if writers in Hindi, Tamil and other languages write the same nonsense, or if they manage a higher standard?