What is happening to the English language these days?
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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