The Wrong Pronouns Always Drives Me Crazy!

[baronapart]

9 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

In today's world, assuming anyone's gender is apparently wrong.  Thus the Philippine practice of NOT assigning gender in their speech is currently more correct than our old fashioned interpretation. 

It gets tricky.  I am in Canada and I shopped at a dollar store.  The clerk seemed to me to be a man trying to be a lady.  It is so easy to say "him" when "she" is presenting as female.  I dunno what to say anymore.  Good luck with teaching the locals when our own countries cannot decide what is "right"

I just call everyone ma'am here in the States. It seems to pi$$ everyone off.

[JJReyes]

16 hours ago, Lieutenant Dan said:

My wife, step-daughter, and son are constantly having problems with saying the proper pronouns.

They constantly say:

he instead of she,

she instead of he,

his instead of hers,

hers instead of his, and so on.

I realize that it's difficult for them, but it drives me nuts! I'm constantly correcting them, and I even created and printed charts that say things which include:

You are attempting to impose your language skill (Standard American English) on someone who speaks English as a 2nd or 3rd language.  Instead, celebrate the diversity.  So, which languages did you learn to speak as a child?  How many?  The United States actually has two versions, Academic English and Street English.  In addition, there are 10 dialects spoken such as Ebonics, Creole and Pidgin.  

Spoken Filipino is gender neutral.  Your issue happens when their primary language Tagalog is translated to a secondary (English).  There are other interesting quirks like, "Kill the light." instead of, "Turn off the light."

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, JJReyes said:

There are other interesting quirks like, "Kill the light." instead of, "Turn off the light."

Yes, a favorite of mine.  "Off the light"  or "On the light" are frequently used as there is no "turning" involved.  And yet English speakers consider that wrong?

[Major Tom]

5 hours ago, JJReyes said:

You are attempting to impose your language skill (Standard American English) on someone who speaks English as a 2nd or 3rd language.

At one time, I really wanted and needed to learn Filipino as a "2nd/3rd language!" I would have appreciated all of the help that I could possibly ever get. However, despite my constant requests for help from family and friends, they'd always shy away from correcting my awful Filipino. For whatever reason, attempting to learn Filipino as a "2nd/3rd language" has taught me that corrections could sometimes be given and accepted as something positive, totally void of any negatives.

 

[Major Tom]

2 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Yes, a favorite of mine.  "Off the light"  or "On the light" are frequently used as there is no "turning" involved.  And yet English speakers consider that wrong?

One of the newer ones:

Whenever a robotic receptionist gives you instructions on how you should select (from the following)

and DIAL (fill in the number),

when I don't even know whatever a DIAL is (on a phone).

 

[JJReyes]

2 hours ago, Lieutenant Dan said:

At one time, I really wanted and needed to learn Filipino as a "2nd/3rd language!" I would have appreciated all of the help that I could possibly ever get. However, despite my constant requests for help from family and friends, they'd always shy away from correcting my awful Filipino. For whatever reason, attempting to learn Filipino as a "2nd/3rd language" has taught me that corrections could sometimes be given and accepted as something positive, totally void of any negatives.

My wife already spoke English, Japanese, French and Spanish.  She wanted to learn Filipino when we arrived.  Arrangement was made through the family for a private tutor.  The first thing her teacher said, "Don't learn Filipino from your relatives.  They don't speak it."  Again, there is a difference between the academic and vernacular.  So, if you want to learn Filipino, you may want to consider hiring a professional.

Within a Filipino family, it is okay for you to correct a child's language mistake.  They will not or cannot with an adult member.  Doing so will be treated as a verbal challenge and create tension.

[Old55]

After living in the US for 23 years my wife still fails to properly assign the correct gender. Most of the time I know what she means although it can become both confusing and hilarious.   

[Major Tom]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

After living in the US for 23 years my wife still fails to properly assign the correct gender. Most of the time I know what she means although it can become both confusing and hilarious.   

Besides those gender mixups, the wife and I still have those ‘Lucy and Desi” moments where there’s a complete lack of understanding, but in a cute and funny way.

[scott h]

What gets me, there is a 50/50 chance of getting it right.........but the wife is usually about 70/30.....wrong 

[Old55]

9 minutes ago, scott h said:

What gets me, there is a 50/50 chance of getting it right.........but the wife is usually about 70/30.....wrong 

LOL, wow come to think about it same for my wife. 

Do you suppose they've been yanking our chain all along?

Edited August 17, 2022 by Old55