The reason for this post is a visit I made to a local supermarket today. One of these promotional tapes was playing in an effort to encourage shoppers to buy excessive amounts of food and drink to celebrate New Years. That’s not a typing error, but exactly what was said - New Years.
I’ve always wondered why American call Hogmanay and New Year’s Day ‘New Years’ because the event is singular, unless spoken of in a context of volume. This year I had a greetings card from a young friend in Cornwall and she wrote ‘Have a great New Years’. All I can hope is that it was a slip of her pen.
More irritating is the misuse of the word ‘floor' in the media. ‘He fell to the floor’ describes someone who fell to the ground is becoming very popular. Since when is a pavement or roadway a floor?
It was my intention to read the White Paper during the holiday (or at least most of it), but it’s quite a tome and will take much longer than expected. A unionist friend, rather unkindly, calls it ‘The Scottish Fairytale’. In some ways I agree with her description because much of the content is hypothetical insofar as there is not certainty that the SNP will be in power after the next election.
May I wish you all a healthy and contented New Year and may 2014 bring some quality debate to the Scottish independence question.
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20 comments:
I often wondered what the Americans did with the 's' they took off Maths .
Now I know
I am a little nervous about posting today, lest I should make some inexcusable faux pas - - - Ooops, sorry, not English! :)
May I wish you and all your contributors all the very best for the coming year.
I fear that a New Year’s resolution may have already been forced upon me, for with the ever intensifying debate surrounding “The Scottish Fairytale”, I find myself becoming ever more the crabbit, cantankerous, curmudgeonly old git.
Oh! sod it - so be it.
Happy Hogmanay to one and all!
(Hogmanay isn't an English word either. It may have its roots in French).
Even so, Slainte!
CR.
All the best to Rosie & her commenters for 2014.
On a serious note (/sarc), if Scotland becomes independent then at least English "BBC-tax" payers will no longer have to subsidise Gaelic broadcasting.
Yer wot?
Oh I lament the demise of the apostrophe.
I wish you a happy new year - although form experience I doubt it will happen...
Rosie, happy new year to you and yours. x
Happy new year, wha er ye be; kirk or chapel let it rattle.
Best wishes to all for a very happy new year - especially to Rosie for providing thought- provoking articles all year.
My pet hate in the degradation of language is the modern reply to an enquiry after someone's health - " I''m good".
I note the intrusion of additional syllables into words.
During the Olympic Games, we frequently heard about
athaletes and the addition of such rogue. syllables seems to spread wider still and wider.
I am also a member of the AAAA - Association for the Appreciation of the Aberrant Apostrophe - particularly as used by greengrocers.
I presume it's a sort of freudian slip. They actually mean New year's party or celebration - but telling people to party is non PC.
Hope you have good one!
Pavlov’s Cat, that’s another one that irritates. Where is it the s or do they only count in single figures? :D
Thank you for your good wishes JRB and no need to be nervous. :D I must apologise for not acknowledging your post earlier but life took over for a few days.
Have you read Captain Ranty’s latest rant?
Thank you CT. Slàinte to you too!!
Thank you Joe. Aye you’re right and the Scots won’t have to pay for the hot air coming out of Westminster. We’ll have enough of our own. :D
Demetrius, surely you know the question is ‘whit?’ :D
A Happy New Year to you too Dioclese. The apostrophe - don’t get me started. It seems the majority of the English speakers online don’t know how to use it, particularly Americans. Possibly my fault because I belong to a group with a majority of Americans. All lovely, kind people but they can’t do the apostrophe.
Thank you Jo and the same to you and yours. I do hope it’s a good one for you.
Crinkly, always delightful to receive your greetings. I hope you let it rattle!
Thank you Edward and I have to thank you for your thought provoking guest posts.
Oh, thankfully none of my friends uses that - yet.
Off to research the AAAA.
A reasonable explanation Woodsy but not one with which I agree as you’ll gather.
May I wish you and yours a good one too.
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