I spent the majority of my spring break in Orlando, Florida (the weather was really nice, thanks for asking! =) ), including a total of two very long days of driving with my friends.
Before we left, I prepared myself and assumed that a 17+ hour drive from Illinois to Florida would include a lot of uncomfortable sleep, countless bathroom breaks and an SUV floor scattered with snack crumbs and empty water bottles – which it did.
With nothing else to do on the long drive, my friends and I brought up very random topics to talk about, including one that – surprisingly – revolved around the misuse of certain words, which explains why I’m even talking about my spring break in the first place.
About halfway into the drive (which is about 10 hours), one of my friends asked if it was going to rain at all during the time we’d be in Florida. My other friend answered with “supposably”. It took me a few seconds to realize what he had said, but I gave him the benefit-of-the-doubt, assumed I had heard wrong and kept my mouth shut.
But, as the drive continued, that same friend kept using “supposably”. I got so irritated that I corrected him as nicely as possible – I hope – which then started a five-minute argument about whether “supposably” was even a word .
We didn’t have access to internet until we got to Florida to check who was right, so the conversation moved to other words people misused on a daily basis (such as who/whom, beside/besides, etc.).
The conversation amused me for several reasons:
Part of me couldn't believe that we were talking about grammar on our trip down to Florida, but a bigger part of me felt that we should have had that conversation sooner.
The English language is a tricky thing, and it's understandable why so many words are misused. I believe ignorance and laziness are both to blame. While some people simply don't know the difference between certain words and when to use them properly in a sentence, I feel that a lot of people are just too lazy to find out the correct uses.
While this may not seem like a problem to many, I worry that a time will come when journalists, copy editors and editors alike will also become too ignorant/lazy to use the proper form of a word in sentences.
If we all make an effort to practice proper grammar now, hopefully that won't happen.
Oh, and for anyone who was wondering, "
supposably" is not a word.
I liked your post about correcting friends grammar in conversation. It's hard for me not to correct people when they make really absurd mistakes. Supposably is a pretty hilarious mistake. Of course, I'll be the first to admit that I'm too lazy to use all the right grammar that I've been taught in classes like J420, i.e. my friend and me, instead of my friend and I, the first one just sounds more fluent, even though it's wrong. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteJust happen to come across your blog because I was also wondering about the word SUPPOSABLY. Turns out it is an actual word but people misuse it interchangeably with SUPPOSEDLY.
ReplyDeleteThis happens to me when I am with my friends ALL THE TIME, including the ride down to Florida as well. It has kind of become a running joke that I am "obsessed" with words and to be careful around me because I will call you out on it. It's kind of a funny reputation, but seeing as I am a journalism major it's very true. I constantly call my friends out on using wrong words and tenses and stuff like that. They probably get annoyed but usually I just can't help it. :)
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate. I knew this kid in grade school who would always say "monies" instead of "money." For example: "One hundred dollars! That's a lot of monies." It would drive me crazy. I don't think I ever said anything to him about it and now I regret it.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the comment from Kelly and Lorraine, I used the #1 fact-checking service used by journalists to find out if they were right: Google. Surprisingly, they were! And you were too! According to all the links that popped up on Google, you were totally right to correct your friend. But the word is correct if you use it as a synonym for "conceivably." I think...
ReplyDeleteThe example I saw online was:
"Supposable(y): Something that could be supposed.
Example: Supposably, my dog could fly to the moon.
In other words, it could be supposed that my dog can fly to the moon, but of course, that would be ridiculous."
who knows... I love/hate gramar.