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ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011 Location: teacher
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:06 pm Post subject: Over/under (Rant) |
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This is an English teaching forum and there is one grammatical mistake that every person seems to make. Everyone uses "over/under" when talking about time. (E.g. "Over one week ago") It's starting to drive me crazy that everyone on here seems to make the same mistake.
Why do people say "over/under!!!?" |
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Lonewolf

Joined: 02 Feb 2003
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Actually it's not a mistake. it's a time expression meaning More than / Less than. Over one week. = More than one week. Under one week. = Less than one week. Time expressions depend on the country using them. Over/Under is American English. More than / Less than usually British English. Don't let it get to you. |
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ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011 Location: teacher
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm not british but my grammatical training is from journalism. It is not correct grammar. |
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ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011 Location: teacher
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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| checked out some grammar sites on the web and it looks like it's an AP thing not a grammar thing. Ugh sometimes AP training makes my life way harder when it comes to ESL. |
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Lonewolf

Joined: 02 Feb 2003
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| That's nothing compared to this quote. I really find annoying. "take some rest." Every single Asian I have met uses this. When it should be. "get some rest. There will always be something. In British English they sometimes but not always use articles. (a,an, the). The list goes on and on. Just remember spoken English and written English are never the same and most people here write like they are talking . |
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bekinseki
Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Location: Korea
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Lonewolf wrote: |
| That's nothing compared to this quote. I really find annoying. "take some rest." Every single Asian I have met uses this. When it should be. "get some rest. There will always be something. In British English they sometimes but not always use articles. (a,an, the). The list goes on and on. Just remember spoken English and written English are never the same and most people here write like they are talking . |
You obviously mean "Take a rest." |
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Lonewolf

Joined: 02 Feb 2003
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, that's right. Take a rest. |
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tatertot

Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| Lonewolf wrote: |
| Yeah, that's right. Take a rest. |
I think that's just one of those regional things. I'm from Seattle, and "take a rest" doesn't sound strange to me. |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011 Location: Geumchon
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| The biggest offence for me is when people say 'less' instead of 'fewer' and vice versa. |
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Porksta
Joined: 05 May 2011
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| ewlandon wrote: |
| I'm not british but my grammatical training is from journalism. It is not correct grammar. |
Journalistic grammar is different from English (essays and such) grammar which is different from casual usage grammar. |
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The Cosmic Hum

Joined: 09 May 2003 Location: Sonic Space
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Over/under (Rant) |
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| ewlandon wrote: |
This is an English teaching forum and there is one grammatical mistake that every person seems to make. Everyone uses "over/under" when talking about time. (E.g. "Over one week ago") It's starting to drive me crazy that everyone on here seems to make the same mistake.
Why do people say "over/under!!!?" |
Why do people say "every person/everyone"? |
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The Cosmic Hum

Joined: 09 May 2003 Location: Sonic Space
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:58 am Post subject: |
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| ewlandon wrote: |
| I'm not british but my grammatical training is from journalism. It is not correct grammar. |
Your grammar training is not correct grammar?
Certainly more than possible.  |
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Skipperoo
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:08 am Post subject: |
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| tatertot wrote: |
| Lonewolf wrote: |
| Yeah, that's right. Take a rest. |
I think that's just one of those regional things. I'm from Seattle, and "take a rest" doesn't sound strange to me. |
Likewise, though I'm British. It never occurred to me that this would be odd to anyone, I thought everyone said it. |
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Lonewolf

Joined: 02 Feb 2003
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Here is why. Take a rest. Is wrong. They are using the word rest as a countable noun. In this case take (a) referring to 1 and (rest) uncountable noun. So tell me how do you count rest? It's like saying. "Take a dirt." |
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SMOE NSET
Joined: 25 Feb 2010 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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Since when is "take a rest" wrong?
It is the same as "take a break".
Where "rest" and "break" are time frames or "events" so they are in fact nouns. |
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