common errors in English
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Posted by Beth Penfold on August 20, 2010
Habitual mispronunciations have long been an irritation to those of us who revere the spoken word. Mispronunciations are not colloquialisms, malapropisms, spoonerisms or any other type of ‘-ism’; they are simply words spoken wrongly.
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I hear all sorts of people mispronouncing common words; professional and public-facing people, not least my daughter’s teacher! This is not a [...]
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Posted by Beth Penfold on July 26, 2010
So, somebody please tell me when the word fine stopped being fine?
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When exchanging greetings with friends, I used to reply to any enquiry as to my health as ‘Fine, thanks’. When I still lived up North, a wry ‘Mustn’t grumble’ would usually suffice. This does not seem to be adequate any longer. People have begun [...]
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Posted by Michael Rundell on April 08, 2010
I took this photo outside my local copy shop last week. Right at the top of the sign is one of the products which the business supplies: calenders. Now these guys are in the printing business so they know about proofreading, spellchecking, and so on – yet they still couldn’t get the spelling right. But [...]
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Posted by Kati Sule on February 10, 2010
In this post, we collect your thoughts and colourful stories about English in Brazil. Have you got similar stories to tell? Come and share it with us!
Marcos writes …I am not a typical Brazilian English speaker because I learned Portuguese and English at the same time since kindergarten. I have also lived for a while [...]
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Posted by Denilso de Lima on February 09, 2010
Our Brazil English month continues with another guest post, this time by Denilso de Lima, ELT author, teacher trainer, conference speaker and member of the blogosphere. Denilso prepares us for Carnaval by introducing some creative word formation processes in Brazinglish.
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Here in Brazil, I have heard lots of common mistakes Brazilian learners make when speaking English. [...]
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Posted by Jussara Simoes on February 02, 2010
It’s gearing up for Carnaval in Brazil and as the world wishes it was there for the party, what better time to ask the question: What’s your English, Brazil? We’re dedicating February to Brazil English and here’s our first guest post from Jussara Simões, translator, interpreter and blogger.
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Nobody can deny that English has today the [...]
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Posted by Jonathan Cole on December 21, 2009
Below are links to some of our most popular posts of the year. Many of the posts still have ongoing conversations so don’t hesitate to leave a comment!
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Horrible Americanisms?
Who decides what is “good” or “correct” English when the way it is spoken differs from country to country?
Casting a spell on English.
Stephen Bullon’s series of posts [...]
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Posted by Stephen Bullon on December 09, 2009
Well, it’s over. The Plain English Campaign 2009 awards were announced yesterday, and one of the winners was Lord Mandelson. Having left the cabinet twice in less than ideal circumstances, Mandelson is back in a position of some authority, and is seen as the government’s Great Communicator. But this observation, referring to the MPs’ expenses [...]
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Posted by Stephen Bullon on December 07, 2009
“Perhaps I could say, by way of introduction, welcome to our stakeholders. We look forward to our engagement, as we roll out our dialogue on a level playing field, so that, going forward in the public domain, we have a win-win step change that is fit for purpose across the piece.”
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That was Dr Tony Wright, [...]
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Posted by Kati Sule on November 25, 2009
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