Let's speak correct English!

I have become increasingly more irritated in recent years over the way many people use or rather misuse the English language. At this point I must say that I am certainly not a language scholar or a literary genius but I cringe at the way English is used by people who should either know better or who place themselves in the public domain. Of course, there are millions of people in Britain who use the language in the only way they know, the way they have been brought up, using the wrong tense and syntax in a local dialect. For such people, perfect Queen's English would be unseemly, incongruous and down right daft. The following phrase uttered between two elderly ladies talking in Peckham High Road would seem quite natural.

"We was standing at the bus-stop and he come over to us."

My beef is not with this kind of language, although "We were standing at the bus-stop and he came over to us." would sound perfectly OK in the local South London accent, so why not get it right anyway.

What I wish to share with you are some of my particular 'pet hates' when it comes to the bad use of one of the most interesting, useful, adaptable, versatile languages in the world.

It's certainly not the case that I came from a particularly well educated family but both my parents use the English language correctly and naturally their children have all developed very acceptable language skills.

My main irritations are with careless, lazy, thoughtless habits perpetuated by people who simply don't think enough about what they are saying. This includes 'trends' and 'fads' which have developed over recent years. For Example:

"How are you?"

"I'm good"

No! You are not good, you are well or fine.

If you're good, you have the desired or correct qualities or skills. If asked how you are, the questioner wants to know the state of your condition, if you are in good health or good spirits. Unfortunately this phrase is infiltrating the airwaves, being used by Celebrities, Sportsmen, Reporters and Politicians. When I hear someone using "I'm good" in this way on the TV or radio I shout "No, it's I'm fine" at the screen. It's very therapeutic, try it.