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eccles
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10-07-2019, 01:58 PM
31

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

I'm sure you do Tiffany. However, that's not my point.
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10-07-2019, 02:15 PM
32

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Originally Posted by Meg ->
Very few of the things Corbyn has to say make any sense to me anyway G , he just mumbles a lot of nonsense into his beard ....
Corbyn himself is not a definite article. He's a garden gnome.
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10-07-2019, 02:38 PM
33

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Originally Posted by Tiffany ->
I always thank the bus driver when I get off a bus.


When I get off the bus,I used to say thank you.

But have noticed more n more people say cheers on departure.

Well,I have to follow suit,so I now say "cheers"... I have also been known to say "thanks babe"...but only if I know the regular bus driver.
Gravitas
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10-07-2019, 05:20 PM
34

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Originally Posted by eccles ->
I've never heard this language oddity in my life, maybe the OP lives in a part of the world where it's commonly used. What I do find really irritating is hearing people in the media and beyond beginning every damn sentence with "so."

Where I now live (Swindon) people getting off buses often say "thanks drive" to the driver! Now that IS peculiar. Would they say thanks police to a copper, or thanks gross to a grocer? What's that all about?
The case I have given, TODAY, was in the House of Commons by the Labour Leader.
Gravitas
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11-07-2019, 11:03 AM
35

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

People also drop the definite article "a".
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12-07-2019, 12:13 AM
36

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Originally Posted by Gravitas ->
Language does change and not always for the better.

If you don't believe me, just one example - listen to football pundits.
Did you mean to say 'Listen to THE football pundits?'
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12-07-2019, 05:48 AM
37

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Originally Posted by Tiffany ->
I always thank the bus driver when I get off a bus.
So do I - but I would never call him/her 'Drive'!
eccles
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12-07-2019, 08:05 AM
38

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

I think it's something rural folk do round here - very odd, but I don't know any of them well enough to ask why they do it.
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12-07-2019, 08:31 AM
39

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Yes, I have noticed. It’s part and parcel of the gradual trend towards less formal use of language.

Language is always changing; it wouldn’t be an effective communication tool if we didn’t allow it to change to suit our needs.
Some of the old legal documents I’ve had to read through for work highlight how much our use of language has changed.
I find the evolution of our language over the centuries quite interesting.

I remember reading an article about the declining use of the definite article. I can’t recall all the details but, in summary, a professor of linguistics had measured the change by comparing documents from the late 1700s and documents from early 2000s and concluded our usage of “the” has halved in the last 200 years.

I often drop “the” when it sounds clumsy to include it, particularly when using abbreviations like USA or UK.
JJ50
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12-07-2019, 02:28 PM
40

Re: People Are Dropping The Definite Article (the) More and More.

Originally Posted by Gravitas ->
It seems like everyone is doing it these days. But I don't suppose anyone on here has noticed? I would find it difficult to do so.

Examples of use, "More funding is needed for the NHS". Only after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour did the USA join the war.
I can't say I have noticed.
 
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