Bad English Quotes

“The first recorded use to date of OMG is from 1917, and reads in full “I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis—O.M.G. (Oh! My God!)—Shower it on the Admiralty!” The citation comes from a letter by one John Arbuthnot Fisher, who happens to have been the admiral in charge of the British navy (a position known as first sea lord), and was written to Winston Churchill, staunch defender of both the English people and their language.”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“TEXAN: “Where are you from?” HARVARD STUDENT: “I am from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions.” TEXAN: “OK, where are you from, jackass?” —Variation on an old joke”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“It indicates possession for plural nouns, between the end of the plural word and the s that follows, as in children’s. Except when the word ends in an s, in which case it should come at the end of the word, with no additional s added (“the books’ covers”).”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“Except when it didn’t, as in the case of names that already end in an s, such as Jones’ book (a practice that is now out of style).”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“However, there are still two places where one may find calls for adherence to this rule. The first is in Internet comments. This is unsurprising, as these frequently serve as bastions for the ill-informed and bilious of many stripes.”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“Or we reference Winston Churchill, who was famously reported to have written “This is the kind of tedious/arrant nonsense up with which I will not put,” in response to an overweening staffer having removed a preposition from some of his writing. (However, as with many quotes that are purported to have originated with the former prime minister of Great Britain, the author was someone other than Churchill).*”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“This almost never happens, outside of the realm of scientific terminology (which is obviously a domain populated by sadists with no regard for language).”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“The Verbalist, 1894”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“We all care about language, some of us more than others, but the degree to which one is willing to humiliate or upbraid others should not stand as an indication of how much one cares.”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“No one is yet using figuratively to mean literally; the confusion, such as it is, is all in one direction.”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

“Among people who might be described as having at least a passing regard for the English language, there are few instances of usage that evoke a desire to mutilate more than the perceived misuse of literally.”
― Ammon Shea, Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation