"All of the Sudden?"
- Thread starter MeanDean
- Start date
It’s not a mistake it’s an evolution of language, it just means you’re getting old if it bothers ya.
I've seen that misused like that far longer ago than 3 years. The dumbing down of America.
I guess I don’t really see this one as a dumbing down of America since the phrase doesn’t make much sense anyway and almost makes more sense for it to be “all of the sudden”
In the 17th century, "sudden" was used as a noun. Now it is not. Modern English no longer considers "sudden" to be a noun, which is probably why you balk at "all the sudden", but historically speaking, it's quite correct.
What's more, we are more likely to use the structure "all THE" in other adverbial structures such as in "all the TIME" and "all the WHILE". "All of A" doesn't exist anywhere else.
That said, your bête noire is your bête noire.
Pretty sure I read that one day at the liberry.
Irregardless, I try to separate out what people should of said.
Personally, I take umbrage when people use "less" for count nouns. The correct usage is "fewer".
less butter, yes, and less bread, absolutely
but
fewer eggs.
BTW, did you all know that the word "uncle" was originally "nuncle"? The correct expression was "a nuncle", not "an uncle".
Living languages evolve. If you don't believe me, try reading anything in Ancient or Middle English.
Even Shakespeare is Modern English, and incomprehensible to lots of people.
Miching mallecho, as Hamlet might have said.
BTW, the word "nice" in Shakespeare's time meant "trivial". Y'all are misusing these days, I fathom.
less butter, yes, and less bread, absolutely
but
fewer eggs.
BTW, did you all know that the word "uncle" was originally "nuncle"? The correct expression was "a nuncle", not "an uncle".
Living languages evolve. If you don't believe me, try reading anything in Ancient or Middle English.
Even Shakespeare is Modern English, and incomprehensible to lots of people.
Miching mallecho, as Hamlet might have said.
BTW, the word "nice" in Shakespeare's time meant "trivial". Y'all are misusing these days, I fathom.
FWIW eastern rural Iowa has been full of people saying 'I seen' for at least the last 40 years so we were well on our way.
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When I was in Russia, we used to practice English with this old pensioner, probably more because he was lonely and bored, more than because he would ever actually need to speak English.
We’d stop by his house once a week, inhale nasty unfiltered second-hand smoke, and just shoot the breeze with him. I remember he could not get over the phrase “Once in a while”. It just made no sense to him. I think English is full of oddities that sound normal to us, but are kind of nonsensical when taken literally.
As an aside, I remember a kid coming up to us and saying “kiss my member”. Something wasn’t translated correctly, but I got the gist.
We’d stop by his house once a week, inhale nasty unfiltered second-hand smoke, and just shoot the breeze with him. I remember he could not get over the phrase “Once in a while”. It just made no sense to him. I think English is full of oddities that sound normal to us, but are kind of nonsensical when taken literally.
As an aside, I remember a kid coming up to us and saying “kiss my member”. Something wasn’t translated correctly, but I got the gist.
It's saw damn you. SAW!
FWIW eastern rural Iowa has been full of people saying 'I seen' for at least the last 40 years so we were well on our way.
