For this reason it annoys me when one of the nation's biggest supermarket chains uses a grammatically incorrect slogan. Tesco uses the following tagline in all its advertising: "Every little helps". Now I am sorry, but that is NOT a sentence! It has a verb (helps) but no clear subject or object! Every little what helps??? I know I am being anal, and the implication is that every little "bit" helps, but without stating this the sentence is nonsense. The English of all people should uphold the rules of their language! That's my little gripe for the day. Now someone is sure to pick up on something I've got wrong in this post. : )
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Proper English grammar
The English like to consider themselves protectors of the English language and custodians of good grammar. Hence one encounters many archaic expressions like "This train is for Brighton" instead of something more accessible like "This train goes to Brighton". They also use traditionally English words like bespoke (custom-made) that you would never hear in Australia.
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Here is another annoying term. The term "forward planning" came up in conversation the other day. It is used quite widely in government circles - but does it make sense? The word "forward" seems to be inferred by the word "planning". "No planning" makes sense, "backward planning" doesn't. Let's abandon the use of "forward planning" and just stick with "planning".
It's pure illiteracy I am afraid and it doesn't do any good to our language either.
Heres another example of non-sensicle BS -
'The Big Society'
What a steaming heap of poo.
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