Garda Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I get it, ewes are sheep. You don't need to tell me or anybody else. Last night I was playing cards with my gf's family and her auntie found the pretentious need to correct my gf's brother on his use of the word "youse" in place of "you", the standard 2nd person plural pronoun. To my regret I didn't say anything as she told him, "ewes (pronounced just the same as youse) is a female sheep". She then continued to say that she loved the English language and felt compelled to correct him when he was misusing it. I hate people like this SO much. It is so pretentious and obnoxious. (For reasons beyond the fact that ewes are actually several female sheep. A ewe is a female sheep. Nobody who I have ever heard say the old "ewe is a sheep" phrase has ever said it properly.) None of these people actually speak English "properly" (standard English for any variant of English, ie. American English or in this case Australian English, is actually spoken by very few people, usually the society's upper class and is quite rare. (How many Americans do you hear that sound like Stewie from Family Guy or the guys from Frasier)). Ask any linguist and they will all tell you that the "proper" way of speaking is completely subjective and in regards to practicality is often less useful. Almost all people speak in a manner that deviates phonetically, and often also lexically from the standard, usually also the case for person with the sheep fetish telling you off (so feel free to point that out to them). Use of the word "youse" is actually very common and has a tremendous practical benefit. It is very old and in the case of Australia has likely become common due to Irish immigration, early in Australia's development. Being obnoxious and pretentious makes the people around you feel unpleasant as well as revealing to them the pathetic person that you are underneath, clearly several times worse than possibly revealing yourself to be just as normal as any other person by saying "youse". Ah, that feels better. </rant> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBP Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 why did you post this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Probably blowing sheep steam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garda Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Probably blowing sheep steam. exactly i think i need a blog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Stewie has an English accent, not an American one, and although spoken English generally differs somewhat from standard English, anyone who says "youse" in place of you is clearly mentally retarded. Also it depends if you ask a prescriptivist linguist or a descriptivist linguist on what answer you'll get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Mischif Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 anyone who says "youse" in place of you is clearly mentally retarded. Or Italian. But that's pretty much the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicatronTg Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Probably blowing sheep steam. exactly i think i need a blog As a recommendation, try word press http://wordpress.com/. If you feel up to it, you could also twitter it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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