Learn To Say It Correctly!!

Atheos · Jul 21, 2008

Where did you find that? It makes complete sense! I have lived all of my life in the south and the two (dinner and supper) are used interchangeably! I always thought dinner meant the meal at noon and supper meant the evening meal.

It's a throwback from our European heritage. We just stopped using them correctly. If you look them up on google you will find them. I noticed when I lived in Germany that around 1ish the families I knew ate a humongous meal. They were eating dinner. The small meals we eat are lunch. When 6 or 7ish came around we would have meat/cheese/fruit lates and such. That for them would be supper. The large evening meal we eat is dinner.

Dinner can be at midday or evening. The only difference is if it is the main meal. The main meal is always dinner. Lunch and Supper are always light meals.

In America, even though we throw different names around, we can easily see which meals we eat.

Breakfast - Universal

Midday Meal - Average sized or light = Lunch Large sized or main meal of day = Dinner

Evening Meal - Large Sized or main meal = Dinner / Light sized or more of a snack = Supper

Americans usually do the Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner routine. When I lived in Germany it was Breakfast/Dinner/Supper.

azgirl · Jul 21, 2008

Orientated instead of oriented. Prostrate instead of prostate.

That one drives me nuts. I have even corrected people who tell me I'm being orientated to the floor. Telling them its oriented and get a blank look and then they continued to call it orientated the rest of the day.

Cheryl Seneca · Jul 21, 2008

It is not the occasional slip of the tongue, described by Annie09, that annoys me. It's the consistent mispronunciations by those who can't be bothered to even try to do better despite respectful suggestions, made privately, to do so.

talaxandra · Jul 21, 2008

Languages can be governed. Arabic has a formal and informal dialect. The informal evolves and changes over the years. Everyone uses it. The formal Arabic is found in the Quran and is mostly used in academic settings but most people speak and understand that too. Well the people that can read in any case.
It is possible for a language to be governed.

Except that the reason English has become the most widely used language in the world (and the reason for its existence in the first place) is precisely because of its flexibility and adaptiveness. If people a century ago had tried to regulate English like the French currently do, we wouldn't have an abundance of contemporary words.

talaxandra · Jul 21, 2008

June55Baby said:

It really grates on me when a person misuses me and myself. For example says, "Send a copy of that to Jane and myself". WHAT! It is send it to Jane and me... not myself.

I've noticed this more and more lately. Maybe people think it's more formal, or makes them sound more edumacated

talaxandra · Jul 21, 2008

Foyer is french also but the pronounciation has remained french as in "Foy-yay" not FoyER.

Not here - foy-er. And in Australia (and the UK) we pronounce the h in herbs.

talaxandra · Jul 21, 2008

My pet peeve is being told patients were admitted for something that they were actually admitted with. A patient might be admitted for cardiac monitoring but I very much doubt they came in to have an AMI. Nor were they admitted for a stroke, TB or any other preexisting or acute condition. And even if the condition was hospital acquired, I very much doubt that they were anticipating contracting MRSA, VRE or pneumonia.

marachne · Jul 21, 2008

talaxandra,

I do have to say that y'all in Oz have taken slang to amazing heights. I realize some of it is based on the old cockney rhyming slang, but the imagination involved. Thank the goddess for Macquarie

later, china

kddid · Jul 21, 2008

it dosen't bother me when people say something wrong... as long as it's given correctly

I am with you. Things like this just does not bother me. There are to many words in the human language for us to get them all correct. I find life so much easier not letting things like this get under my skin. I am guilty of saying things incorrectly sometimes, especially drug names. Sometimes I wonder if the creater of the med can say it correctly.

nightmare, RN · Jul 21, 2008

It's a throwback from our European heritage. We just stopped using them correctly. If you look them up on google you will find them. I noticed when I lived in Germany that around 1ish the families I knew ate a humongous meal. They were eating dinner. The small meals we eat are lunch. When 6 or 7ish came around we would have meat/cheese/fruit lates and such. That for them would be supper. The large evening meal we eat is dinner.
Dinner can be at midday or evening. The only difference is if it is the main meal. The main meal is always dinner. Lunch and Supper are always light meals.
In America, even though we throw different names around, we can easily see which meals we eat.
Breakfast - Universal
Midday Meal - Average sized or light = Lunch Large sized or main meal of day = Dinner
Evening Meal - Large Sized or main meal = Dinner / Light sized or more of a snack = Supper
Americans usually do the Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner routine. When I lived in Germany it was Breakfast/Dinner/Supper.

Now if you really want to be confused in Scotland you have your dinner at 12ish you then have high tea(as in something to eat) which could be quite a substantial meal at about 4.30.Later on in the evening you would have supper which is usually a snack before bed.

Cheryl Seneca · Jul 21, 2008

"I am with you. Things like this just does not bother me. There are to many words in the human language for us to get them all correct. I find life so much easier not letting things like this get under my skin. I am guilty of saying things incorrectly sometimes, especially drug names. Sometimes I wonder if the creater of the med can say it correctly."

Based on this post, I'd say you've understated your lack of concern. If it makes your life easier, so be it.

azgirl · Jul 21, 2008

When I went to school often was pronounced ofen. Now newsreaders and any tv show has offTen. It used to drive me nuts and I checked the dictionary and now that is correct.

Now I have a question. When someone comes to join me at a table in lunchroom and says "Do you mind if I join you?" and I answer "Not at all" they look as if they don't know what to do. I hear them ask that in movies and people answer "Yes" and then allow them to come in or sit down. So they are saying yes they do mind but that seems to be the answer to this now. Did this change too?