Do you know English? Part II

Friends and family members often are annoyed at me because my tendency is to offer unasked for correction when they use incorrect grammar or voice untrue “facts.” I do not consider myself the ultimate grammarian, but here are some examples of both types.

Please hold your abusive language until I’m finished.

Some people think that roosters only crow in the morning because they (the roosters) are most active and vocal around dawn, but this is a misconception. Roosters crow throughout days and nights for various reasons, including territorial invaders or other dangers or reacting to stimulus, including light. While their biological clocks often prompt an initial dawn crow, they vocalize for other reasons, but their calls are most noticeable and disruptive in the quiet morning hours, as we discovered when we raised New Hampshire Reds many years ago.

Thanks to the 1961 popular song version, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” plus misinterpretations of the term “jungle” as any wild, untamed area, some folks often mistakenly believe that lions live in jungles. This misconception is bolstered by Western media, especially movies and books, which portray the lion as the “king of the jungle.” Not. The lion’s regal image as a powerful prime predator, combined with a historical lack of specific knowledge about African habitats, has led to the widespread, incorrect association with jungles instead of their actual habitat: the African savanna. So there.

There is some thought that Benjamin Franklin chose the eagle as our national bird because the critter (the bird) was featured prominently on the Great Seal of the United States. However, the opposite is true: Franklin actually expressed his preference for the turkey as a more noble and honest symbol in a letter to his daughter, even though the eagle was ultimately chosen for the seal and became the de facto national bird. And to my mind, it might be possible that the great statesman chose the fowl because he enjoyed turkey dinners.

Please continue to pay attention to the following, as the goal here is to watch our language in more ways than one. OK, here are a few errors of pronunciation. First, the word often is mispronounced as pro-noun-see-AY-shun based on the verb pronounce, instead of the correct pro-nun-see-AY-shun.

Mischievous: Often mispronounced as mis-CHEEV-ee-us (four syllables) instead of the correct mis-chiv-us (three syllables, with stress on the first syllable). Espresso: Often mispronounced as ex-pres-so with an “x” sound, instead of the correct es-pres-so. Wednesday: Often mispronounced as Wed-nes-day with a hard “d” and distinct middle syllable, instead of the correct WENZ-day. Sherbet: Often mispronounced as sher-bert with an extra “r” in the middle, instead of the correct SHUR-bit.

Allow me to interrupt here to address those who say, “Who cares; what does it matter?” I say that it is a matter of correctness because the more our language is distorted, the worse it will become. And it would be a shame to see American English fall into ruin.

Of late, there has been a tendency for people to use “cuz” instead of because. Or “wanna” blending want and to into one quick sound. Gonna: Changing “going to” into a fast two-syllable word. Also, “lemme” combining let and me and “whatcha” squishing what and you (or are you) into a single sound.

Three more and I’ll adjourn for now. Have you noticed a growing trend for folks to avoid good grammar by using wrong tenses by saying or writing, “There is problems.” Yes, the problem is that, correctly, it is, “There are problems.” There are too many instances of that happening these days. And we have many using “tuh” instead of “to” and “fur” rather than “for.”

So in conclusion or confusion, besides the importance of facts, it’s difficult to take someone seriously who leaves a note reading, “Your ugly.” My ugly what? The idiot doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re.