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The use of "You was" and "We was" in EastEnders
lilymclyntyre95
Posts: 247 Forum Member
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I just saw a discussion on some soap forum. People on there were discussing the use of incorrect grammar being used in EastEnders. Many posters were saying that loads of the characters,particularly Ricky and Dot,regularly use the words "you was" and "we was" instead of "You were" and "We were"
I personally don't see the problem with it and thought some of the reactions were funny(You'd have to read it to see) although it got me thinking. One of the posts on there asked if it was a London thing and did all Londoners say "You was" and "We was"
As I'm from Ireland and never being to the UK,I wouldn't know. But I was wondering,is it common in the UK to say things like "You was" and "We was" instead of "You were" and "We were"
I'm not being ignorant,I'm genuinely curious
I personally don't see the problem with it and thought some of the reactions were funny(You'd have to read it to see) although it got me thinking. One of the posts on there asked if it was a London thing and did all Londoners say "You was" and "We was"
As I'm from Ireland and never being to the UK,I wouldn't know. But I was wondering,is it common in the UK to say things like "You was" and "We was" instead of "You were" and "We were"
I'm not being ignorant,I'm genuinely curious
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Comments
...and ahe used to say arks instead of ask.
I have noticed that this is a common mistake made by black people generally! Especially in America! On Judge Judy you hear them all the time saying aks instead of ask!
And no! I am not racist, just making an honest observation!
We definitely do not :eek:
I wouldn't say it's a UK thing as such, just a bad grammar thing! Unfortunately though, a lot of the people in the UK use bad grammar
They do it in Hollyoaks do,the bad grammar thing. They don't say"You Was" or "We Was" though. I've heard Mercy say "I weren't" instead of "I wasn't" numerous times!
It's not a UK thing though. I think every place there will be people that have bad grammar. Like OP,I live in Ireland. Over where I live instead of saying "I didn't do anything" we say "I didn't do nothin" This includes me,even though I try to speak properly :P
I must admit from watching EE I rather mistakenly drop in an ocassional "You was" or "We was" in a conversation with my parents. They're not impressed and usually accuse me of having very bad grammar
"He was" is correct.
Sorry, but the pedant in me just couldn't resist.
Compare/contrast Coronation Street's occasional "I were going to...." "I were listening....." etc. Lancashire/Yorkshire dialect grammar. It's incorrect, but pinpoints a British region.
EastEnders is just reflecting the language used in the area (to a small degree).
Speaking a certain way has no bearing on anything in my honest opinion....when i first started work i used to be very self concious about it because of people looking down their noses at the "commoner" but the more i tried to speak "properly" the worse i sounded, i just sounded like someone trying to be something that they so obviously was not! hyacinth bouquet springs to mind!!!
Im not ashamed of where i come from...and people tend to like me all the more for it.
Bad grammar annoys me too, so I quite enjoyed it when Ashley tried to correct Billy's use of apostrophes during his first scene. I wish they could have had him do more stuff like that though, since many viewers don't seem to be very good at grammar or spelling.
Sometimes I watch with the subtitles on, and they once displayed Ricky saying "could of", which angered me quite a lot. People with grammar like that shouldn't get a job based around language, but that's probably a rant for a different thread.
:mad::mad::mad:
I admit, I am a total Grammar Nazi...at every instance of a grammatical mistake, I get furious...especially with 'you was'....:mad:
go t'pub - ive seen this on corrie many times!!!
Ironic when the language and it's rules evolved here.
"He was" is correct
He was
She was
I was.
John was.
It was.
You were
We were
They were
If I were
I wish I were
Which is a double negative and actually means you did do something
It's bad spelling
So you was pretty mad about the situation then?