| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] > | Off topic: "Meaningless" phrases in English people use every day Thread poster: RominaZ
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LEXpert 
United States
Local time: 11:10
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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| Can't take my eyes off (of) you | Jan 23, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
More a crime of our American cousins.....
"I can't take my eyes off of you"
The "of" is totally superfluous at best, meaningless at worst.
"Get off me / Micky jumped off the ladder / I can't take my eyes off you".
Either just use "off" on its own, or substitute with "from" on the occasions where that would make more sense.
[Edited at 2012-01-23 13:49 GMT]
I was about to lay the blame for this one squarely at the feet of the insidious popular music industry , but it seems - from Frankie Valli onward - that they've gotten mostly gotten that expression right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can't_Take_My_Eyes_Off_You
[Edited to add the link]
[Edited at 2012-01-23 20:17 GMT]
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 09:10
English to German
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In memoriam | The 15-year old British exchange student :-) | Jan 23, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
Nicole Schnell wrote:
They should play Zappa to any high school kid to get their minds straight
It had never occurred to me that anyone's mind could be straightened out by Frank Zappa.
He was very, very eager to translate all Zappa lyrics to me. Blush. My English teacher never told me about such things.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 09:10
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Sorry, wrong. | Jan 23, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
here's another thing I can't stand.
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm good."
Correct form:
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm [very] well, thank you."
It depends when and where a person is asking this question, during a phone call or at a restaurant. I thought you were a native speaker of English, Tom? Hm?
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 11:10
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| Re. I'm good | Jan 23, 2012 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
here's another thing I can't stand.
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm good."
Correct form:
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm [very] well, thank you."
It depends when and where a person is asking this question, during a phone call or at a restaurant. I thought you were a native speaker of English, Tom? Hm?
Yes, it does depend. Particularly as "I'm good" (the full sentence, as opposed to the single-word response "Good.") is rarely used a response to the question "How are you (feeling)?". It's usually a polite response to an offer of an unwanted or unneeded item/service:
Q: "Am I in your way?"
A: "No, I'm good, thanks."
Q: "Can I get you another drink?"
A: "No, I'm good, thanks.
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Will Masters
Spain
Local time: 18:10
Spanish to English
+ ...
Sorry, wrong.
Tom in London wrote:
here's another thing I can't stand.
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm good."
Correct form:
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm [very] well, thank you."
It depends when and where a person is asking this question, during a phone call or at a restaurant. I thought you were a native speaker of English, Tom? Hm?
Rudolf Vedo CT wrote:
Nicole Schnell wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
here's another thing I can't stand.
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm good."
Correct form:
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm [very] well, thank you."
It depends when and where a person is asking this question, during a phone call or at a restaurant. I thought you were a native speaker of English, Tom? Hm?
Yes, it does depend. Particularly as "I'm good" (the full sentence, as opposed to the single-word response "Good.") is rarely used a response to the question "How are you (feeling)?". It's usually a polite response to an offer of an unwanted or unneeded item/service:
Q: "Am I in your way?"
A: "No, I'm good, thanks."
Q: "Can I get you another drink?"
A: "No, I'm good, thanks.
..that shows the difference then between British and American English. I may be mistaken in this, so please correct me if I am British English speakers, but I was always under the impression that in the UK, "I'm good" is grammatically incorrect and that the correct response would be as Tom suggests. If I'm right in saying that, then as far as British grammar goes then you're both wrong.
It's true that you will commonly hear "I'm good" said, especially with my age group (I say my age group as that's the age group I have most contact with, in terms of speaking at least, and wouldn't like to comment on others). That said, just because it is a popular choice in colloquial and informal speech, doesn't automatically make it correct.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
"I'm good" means "I'm well-behaved".
Which is a very strange thing for anyone to say.
Its opposite would be "I'm evil".
| | | | Ana Brause
Local time: 13:10
English to Spanish
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| Kay Denney
France
Local time: 18:10
French to English
Tom in London wrote:
here's another thing I can't stand.
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm good."
Correct form:
Person A "How are you?"
Person B "I'm [very] well, thank you."
I always answer that I'm not interested in whether they're good (well except for my children but they don't make that mistake in English, they've likely gotten so like totally traumatised, you know)
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| Using "allows to" instead of "allows one/you to"... | Jan 24, 2012 |
Please enlighten me if necessary, but this one really grates on my ears:
As in: "Using this widget allows to create many wonderful things!"
Instead of: "Using this widget allows you to create many wonderful things!"
This one is running amok in support forums and product descriptions on the Internet, and irritates me to no end...!
Am... See more Please enlighten me if necessary, but this one really grates on my ears:
As in: "Using this widget allows to create many wonderful things!"
Instead of: "Using this widget allows you to create many wonderful things!"
This one is running amok in support forums and product descriptions on the Internet, and irritates me to no end...!
Am I off-base? Or is this(not including the subject) not proper usage of the word "allow"??? ▲ Collapse
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:10
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Synonyms for 'good' | Jan 24, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
"I'm good" means "I'm well-behaved".
Which is a very strange thing for anyone to say.
Its opposite would be "I'm evil".
'bad' and 'sick'
@ Will. Yes, you're absolutely right.
[Edited at 2012-01-24 08:16 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-01-24 08:17 GMT]
| | | | | How are you vs What are you | Jan 24, 2012 |
That should be the distinction, shouldn't it? I was brought up in the UK and have spent the last 25+ years in Spain, so the "I'm good" sounds weird to me. But I have to accept it, in particular in the most specific sense of "No I don't need anything more thank you". A case of like it or lump it. But I don't have to use it myself!!
| | | | Carole Paquis
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:10
Member (2007)
English to French
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LEXpert
United States
Local time: 11:10
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| Re. re. I'm good - What about "I'm fine"? | Jan 24, 2012 |
Will Masters wrote:
That said, just because it is a popular choice in colloquial and informal speech, doesn't automatically make it correct.
True! I never meant to imply that it was standard English, and I assumed that we were discussing what the appropriate level of disgust or tolerance for the non-standard usage should be. Personally, I just find it hard to get worked up about "I'm good" in casual communication (particularly in the increasingly common meaning of "no, but thanks"), as there are far bigger linguistic abominations to go after. Don't even get me started on the American media's pathological inability to use the words "troop,", "cohort', or "decimate" correctly!
Just out of curiosity, are the anti-"I'm good" folks also opposed to "I'm fine"?
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:10
Hebrew to English
| Doesn't make sense | Jan 24, 2012 |
Michael Grant wrote:
Please enlighten me if necessary, but this one really grates on my ears:
As in: "Using this widget allows to create many wonderful things!"
Instead of: "Using this widget allows you to create many wonderful things!"
This one is running amok in support forums and product descriptions on the Internet, and irritates me to no end...!
Am I off-base? Or is this(not including the subject) not proper usage of the word "allow"???
I've never heard this before, it sounds very non-native-ish to me. The kind of thing that will snowball and gain a few Google hits and which will be trotted out as supposed "proof" of its validity.
If you really wanted to use "allow" in this manner it should really be:
"Using this widget allows for the creation of many wonderful things". (or your corrected version: Using this widget allows you to create many wonderful things)
These kind of causative constructions are usually quite hard for some non-native speakers to grasp.
It's the same with:
LET + someone + VERB + something (to allow someone to do something)
MAKE + someone + VERB + something (to force someone to do something)
HAVE + someone + VERB + something (to give someone the responsibility to do something)
GET + someone + VERB + something (to convince someone to do something)
| | | | | Good, and all that | Jan 25, 2012 |
How does "I'm good" compare to "I'm no good"?
Does "I'm no good" mean that "I'm not well" or does it mean "I'm no good"?
I mean, LOL you know, whoever, at the end of the day before breakfast, is going to say "I'm no good", and really mean it?
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