What linguistic constructions do you hate that no one else seems to mind? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by TootSweet@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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It bugs me when people say "the thing is is that" (if you listen for it, you'll start hearing it... or maybe that's something that people only do in my area.) ("What the thing is is that..." is fine. But "the thing is is that..." bugs me.)

Also, "just because doesn't mean ." That sentence structure invites one to take "just because " as a noun phrase which my brain really doesn't want to do. Just doesn't seem right. But that sentence structure is very common.

And I'm not saying there's anything objectively wrong with either of these. Language is weird and complex and beautiful. It's just fascinating that some commonly-used linguistic constructions just hit some people wrong sometimes.

Edit: I thought of another one. "As best as I can." "The best I can" is fine, "as well as I can" is good, and "as best I can" is even fine. But "as best as" hurts.

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[-] qantravon@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

"an historic" works if you're not pronouncing the "h", which is common in some dialects. A vs an isn't about there being an actual vowel, it's about the sound. The same happens with honor and herb (again, depending on pronunciation).

[-] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Yes and in American English the H sound in historic is always used with “a” unless I’m missing a bunch of examples somewhere. The H sound isn’t silent

[-] _edge@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 6 months ago

dialects

French?

[-] qantravon@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

No, mostly British and some parts of New England.

[-] PatMustard@feddit.uk 2 points 6 months ago

mostly British

No, mostly not British. Only proper cockney geezer really.

this post was submitted on 05 May 2024

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