Americanism or Bushism

[columb]

This process has been drug out a long time.

To my British ears this sounds all wrong. I would write 'This process has been dragged out for a long time.'

However, before having a laugh at another Bushism, maybe someone Stateside can confirm or deny whether this is US usage.

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Columb Healy

 

[p5wizard]

And, for that matter, few of us speak in public without the benefit of a team of speach writers and an autocue.

Let's hope that team also has a spelling checker...

Write 100 times:
And, for that matter, few of us speak in public without the benefit of a team of [red]speech[/red] writers and an autocue.

p5

 

[Lunatic]

Gooser

Most people choose to pursue careers that keep them out of the public eye. Bush chose to be in the public eye. He, and any that choose such a path, are open to everything they recieve.

Bush makes it too easy though with his inability to speak beyond a 2nd grade level.

In college I had this same debate with someone, and it isn't just that he mispeaks, it is the quantity of mistakes he makes, the incorrectly placed pauses in spoken sentences, and the fact he seems to think its endearing that he appears to be a bumbling buffoon when speaking publicly.

***************************************
Have a problem with my spelling or grammar? Please refer all complaints to my English teacher:
Ralphy "Me fail English? That's unpossible." Wiggum

 

[IknowMe]

drug2 /drug/ Pronunciation [druhg]
–verb Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. Nonstandard. a pt. and pp. of drag.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

I also use "drug" (the word). This does leave me to wonder how popular a words use must be before it is accepted as "proper".

IMO (which won't be popular among you folks, but I still like ya) language should be focused on efficiency/effectivness rather than structure. In a world where everything else changes/evolves why shouldn't our language?

It strikes me as odd that we would use/teach our children words and then fail them in English for being improper


Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[columb]

I'm very much with you, MrMilson, language is mutable and conventions which were once sacrosanct become outmoded anachronisms. Furthermore we can disagree about the spelling and pronunciation of aluminium/aluminum but, as long as we understand each other that's all that matters.

What does make me sad is the way in which English seems to be impoverished by an ever decreasing vocabulary. This is almost certainly because I'm an old (54) fogey and, as is common for my age, everything is going to rack and ruin, but when I find myself criticised for using the word 'commensurate' in a technical paper because my audience wouldn't understand it then I start to wonder.

What started this whole thread is a question you have just answered - drug as the past participle of drag is and Americanism, albeit a nonstandard one.

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Columb Healy

 

[NorthNone]

Greg, I didn't realize Cole had the power to enact any laws LOL!!!
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

[Dollie]

Hoo boy, here I go, making a target of myself. I'm from Texas, born and raised.

Things got drug out a lot, we were fixin to do a lotta thangs, and those nucular plants were scary things that melted. (My poor mom... "how come it's spelt that way? Where's the "u" in "nucular"?) And you know, no matter how careful I am, these words still come out.

Also, I'm terribly sorry that people want to make this a "Bushism". To me, that's like saying something that is politically correct is a "Clintonism", falling down on your face is a "Fordism" and drinking and driving is a "Kennedyism" (or "Parisism").

It's just how Texans talk. You may even catch a news anchor saying nucular instead of nuclear.

The rest of y'all all sound funny to us, anyway.

 

[Lunatic]

Dollie

Does that include Stategery?

***************************************
Have a problem with my spelling or grammar? Please refer all complaints to my English teacher:
Ralphy "Me fail English? That's unpossible." Wiggum

 

[Thadeus]

Lunatic - Bush never said stategery... Will Farrell did.

Dollie - I hear you on this specific 'Bushism'. Using the word 'drug' in this part of speech is not the same as misunderestimating.

Also, being clumsy and drunk driving could be called Bushisms as well. No need to reach back to Ford or Kennedy.

~Thadeus

 

[Gooser]

Clinton tripped and fell right into Monica Lewinsky, but nobody ever picks on him for that.

He also didn't know the meaning of the word, 'sex.' So, you've got to question his vocabulary as well.

--Gooser

 

[columb]

I thought that MrMilson had cleared up that drug as the past participle of drag is and Americanism, albeit a nonstandard one.

Please can we keep any amusement derived from President Bush's idiosyncratic (or not in this case) use of the English language away from a political debate.

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Columb Healy

 

[Dollie]

But can we make fun of his dancing to the beat of a drum?

/still giggling

 

[pinkgecko]

We all choose our careers. I chose a computer career, so I expect to be made fun of due to my nerdiness, addiction to computer games, and limited social ability. I don't care if you make fun of me for that - it's part of the stereotype, and I'll laugh at it too. If it irritates you, then maybe you shouldn't take a job with that stereotype. Career is one of the stereotypes you can choose, so I think it's one of the few you can play around with (lawyer joke, anyone?) But I'm going to make sure the skills I need for my job are up to par. You can laugh at me because of the stereotype, but my goal is to ensure that you can't laugh at me because of how I perform my work.

So I have no sympathy for actors, politicians, sports stars, or any other "celebrity" who complain about publicity and criticism. It's even in the word - a celebrity is someone who wants their life and career to be celebrated. If you want the publicity, be prepared for the intense scrutiny and ridicule over your "quirks," and try to speak, dress, and act in a way that won't increase the size of the target on your back. It's part of the job - why do you think you're paid so much? Because you can toss a ball into a hoop? It's because you're an icon of success in what most people can only consider a hobby, so those people want to know more about you.

Don't complain when bored people are rabidly investigating your love life, ridiculing your speech and mannerisms, etc. If you volunteer to put a target on your back, don't whine when it starts getting hit. If the target, however, was placed there by someone else (being put on the news, but not volunteering to be there), then I think you should have a reasonable expectation to be left alone.

PS I use drug (no 's' ). 'Dragged' is a very good way to turn an easily said single-syllable word into a consanant disaster.

[blue]Never listen to your customers. They were dumb enough to buy your product, so they have no credibility. - Dogbert[/blue]