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More Common Mistakes...


Darryn
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I just heard these two five minutes apart while I am bored manning the booth...

 

1. You want to go urine...

It should be....You want to go and urinate or you want to go and pass urine...

 

2. Can you fetch me to the airport...

You never fetch anybody TO anywhere. You always fetch from, you TAKE to.

 

So to be correct it should be....

Can you TAKE me to the airport (please) or can you fetch me from the airport please. Although in the latter case, a much nicer phrasing would be "Can you pick me up from the the airport please".

 

By rights, fetch should be used as ...go from here, pick something up and then bring it back here. (exactly the sequence of events as when a dog plays "fetch").

 

So you could be sitting at home, and your wife might ask..."can you please fetch my mother from the airport please?" - in which case you should always say no anyway, afterall - who wants to see their mother in law?

Edited by Darryn
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So you could be sitting at home, and your wife might ask..."can you please fetch my mother from the airport please?" - in which case you should always say no anyway, afterall - who wants to see their mother in law?

we are obliged to do favours for our beloved mother in law.For it is from them, that we get to marry her lovely daughter.

 

Btw, she always get the best seat in my car....................the Boot [lipsrsealed]

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I just heard these two five minutes apart while I am bored manning the booth...

 

1. You want to go urine...

It should be....You want to go and urinate or you want to go and pass urine...

 

2. Can you fetch me to the airport...

You never fetch anybody TO anywhere. You always fetch from, you TAKE to.

 

So to be correct it should be....

Can you TAKE me to the airport (please) or can you fetch me from the airport please. Although in the latter case, a much nicer phrasing would be "Can you pick me up from the the airport please".

 

By rights, fetch should be used as ...go from here, pick something up and then bring it back here. (exactly the sequence of events as when a dog plays "fetch").

 

So you could be sitting at home, and your wife might ask..."can you please fetch my mother from the airport please?" - in which case you should always say no anyway, afterall - who wants to see their mother in law?

If you are kidding with us, this is a little ticklish.

TAKE suggest an object rather than a person? pick suggest the lady soliciting at the airport as pick-up girls?

 

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I just heard these two five minutes apart while I am bored manning the booth...

 

1. You want to go urine...

It should be....You want to go and urinate or you want to go and pass urine...

 

2. Can you fetch me to the airport...

You never fetch anybody TO anywhere. You always fetch from, you TAKE to.

 

So to be correct it should be....

Can you TAKE me to the airport (please) or can you fetch me from the airport please. Although in the latter case, a much nicer phrasing would be "Can you pick me up from the the airport please".

 

By rights, fetch should be used as ...go from here, pick something up and then bring it back here. (exactly the sequence of events as when a dog plays "fetch").

 

So you could be sitting at home, and your wife might ask..."can you please fetch my mother from the airport please?" - in which case you should always say no anyway, afterall - who wants to see their mother in law?

 

Is that your Freelander in your avatar?

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Is that your Freelander in your avatar?

 

Nope I took it out for testdrive, this is one of the pix I snap....really loved the car. True off road ability with luxury cabin - so quiet even at [lipsrsealed] km/h...

 

Also the engine sound great - variable cam, 0-100 timing is 8.9 sec.... [inlove]

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If you are kidding with us, this is a little ticklish.

TAKE suggest an object rather than a person? pick suggest the lady soliciting at the airport as pick-up girls?

Nope to both....at least not the way we use the language...

 

I take my daughter to school all the time...if anything fetch is more impersonal than take....

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we are obliged to do favours for our beloved mother in law.For it is from them, that we get to marry her lovely daughter.

 

Btw, she always get the best seat in my car....................the Boot [lipsrsealed]

 

Normally my car got two airbag for safety...when pick up MIL also got one more additional air (wind) bag....

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Nope I took it out for testdrive, this is one of the pix I snap....really loved the car. True off road ability with luxury cabin - so quiet even at [lipsrsealed] km/h...

 

Also the engine sound great - variable cam, 0-100 timing is 8.9 sec.... [inlove]

 

I like Land Rovers. Esp the Discovery but that is abit of a overkill here. Also the price tag. [shakehead]

 

Freelander is more achievable and friendly but the sis had one some time back and it's reliability was horrid. She had the first generation ones so things might have moved on. But then, with the British, old habits die hard. Or any car manufacturer, regardless of owner. [thumbsdown]

 

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I like Land Rovers. Esp the Discovery but that is abit of a overkill here. Also the price tag. [shakehead]

 

Freelander is more achievable and friendly but the sis had one some time back and it's reliability was horrid. She had the first generation ones so things might have moved on. But then, with the British, old habits die hard. Or any car manufacturer, regardless of owner. [thumbsdown]

 

Very honestly I prefer the Rangies, but then, at the price difference I should!

 

Yeah, the Disco is great....I love that they are proper off roaders, so no pretense about them...

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we are obliged to do favours for our beloved mother in law.For it is from them, that we get to marry her lovely daughter.

 

Btw, she always get the best seat in my car....................the Boot [lipsrsealed]

[laugh][laugh]

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Nope to both....at least not the way we use the language...

 

I take my daughter to school all the time...if anything fetch is more impersonal than take....

Do you mean you accompanied your daughter to school all the time? (I am not teaching English)

Edited by Good-Carbuyer
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Do you mean you accompanied your daughter to school all the time? (I am not teaching English)

 

Nope....accompanied implies (although not always) that I stayed at school / in the class with her...

 

You could say "I dropped my daughter off at school"

or " I take my daugter to her school in the mornings" and the meaning is clear and accurate...

 

Fetch is, by rights to take from somewhere else and bring here.....

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this is singapore leh

 

(i have given up on sg english...want to know the reason..all you have to do is to read the papers..listen to the radio station..or watch tv...and you will know y...haiz)

 

 

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the problem is, i don't recall (at least in my time) a rigorous instruction in grammar during English lessons. I got to where i am not because of the much lauded (or overlauded) education system. Rather it was my primary school tuition teacher who practically put us through thousands of grammar MCQ questions.

 

1000 Grammar/1000 Vocabulary MCQs, anyone recall? lol

 

22435.jpg

 

Edited by Happily1986
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Grammar is all bunk anyway. The English language is in flux. Bad grammar today becomes acceptable usage tomorrow. Are our standards becoming ever-lower, or are we just anal-retentives who are learning to gradually unclench over time?

 

I, for one, have decided to boldly split infinitives where no man has split them before.

 

So try to not be overly prescriptive, my good Kiwi friend.

 

Or at least attempt to greatly amuse yourself by finding all my egregious split-infinitives.

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not really grammar but i do get peeved listening to these phrases day in day out...

 

"i'll revert back to you" - back is redundant

 

"let's do a bluesky thinking.." - wtf is this new office jargon?

 

and still my pet peeve...

 

"lets touch base..." - simi touch base? everytime i hear this i feel ticklish. knn anyhow want to touch touch my base

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