A pet hate of mine is the pronunciation of words that end in ....er, as though they were spelt with ....ar. For example, sister becomes sistar, teacher becomes teachar and lager sounds like largar. You hear it a lot nowadays and in London particularly.

I couldn't care less about Alesha using 'was' instead of 'were'. I only wish she knew more and spoke less.

I fail to see why upbringing or an environment somehow contribute to an "excuse" for having poor basic grammar. The two aren't related. Alesha has made either a conscious or subconscious CHOICE to speak with poor grammar. She could easily speak properly.

So no, I won't "accept" that, or give her credit for speaking in that manner.

Did I ask anyone to give her credit for speech and/or grammar? No: I asked that she be given credit for her achievements to date. This is not the first time you have misconstrued my posts Ms.P. In fact on the last occasion, having put your words into my mouth you went on to call me ignorant for your highly exaggerated version of my comments.

Do you genuinely misinterpret my comments? If so I suggest you address your comprehension shortcomings.

One further point, you constantly hold yourself up as an example when the weaknesses of others are under discussion. Have you ever heard the idiom "Self praise is no recommendation?" It ill behoves any of us to assume that our way is the only way. No doubt those you deride have much to offer in fields of expertise different to your own.

I was wondering what thread was providing the steam-venting this year. Ta da!

In her defence, at least her words are indistinguishemabamenabeltej&(Wueenanalbe. Hello Bruno.

I don't recall Bruno irking folks in quite the same way, but perhaps that's because he's a "funny Italian. Ho ho" and Alesha is a young woman from a working-class background.

I am a slight grammar prig; I work on academic journals so it comes with the territory. However, this does smack somewhat of being an opportunity to put the poor girl down even more.

Marvellously, a previous poster has noted the grammatical mistake in the thread title itself...

I'm not sure that it is necessarily down to a conscious or a "subconscious" choice. It's more that people carry on speaking in a certain way out of habit. Habit can be very difficult to correct, especially if there are still some enviromental factors reinforcing those habits. I know this from personal experience. That said, I think it's no big deal.

Care to point out where in the post you quoted of mine I held myself up as an example? Or are you putting your words into my mouth? Or are you simply referring back to old posts because you want to have an argument with your fellow posters and you couldn't find enough inflammatory material in the present conversation?

Incidentally, your criticism of me is against board T&Cs Fair enough if it was relevant to the point and on topic, but it wasn't. It was, pure and simple, an attack and argument with me, and there was NOTHING on topic or useful in it.

Personally I think it is a choice. You don't even need elocution lessons to concentrate on the way you talk. It simply requires a knowledge of grammar and the ability to compare what you know is correct with what the people around you are saying. Nobody's expecting her to be perfect but she is making glaringly basic mistakes that we'd expect to stamp out of a primary school child.

Not that specific post, but how about this?
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...&postcount=213
Incidentally Ms.P I wasn't the one looking for an argument. Having posted what I believe to be a well considered post on this subject - this was your reply.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...&postcount=210

I exchanged no views with you until your post 210, when you chose to misinterpret my post and accuse me of ignorance - thus your reference to the t&c's of DS holds little water.

I will no longer respond to your posts. I enjoy a rational exchange of views and stimulating discussion but twisting my words to fit your agenda does not make good debate.

So you ARE going back pages and bringing up posts that you already replied to, just to inflame an argument. I see.

The post that you linked me to was on topic. I'm sorry that you found it offensive, but it WAS about the topic (Alesha and grammar). Your post towards me didn't have one single word about the topic, and was all about me. Therein lies the difference.

Reh, people proper arguing over Alesha's grammatical mistakes.
It must be flattering for her since you care so much.

Yes, she makes very poor mistakes that tbh a teenager should never make but it's just her and she's not going to suddenly change unless the BBC inform her or somebody does. It just shows the BBC don't see it as a problem as i am sure they are aware of this, since so many people have brought this up on so many forums/websites etc...
Get over it, otherwise just turn the channel when she speaks if it is that a problem to you. Not many people seem to like her on here anyway and some just can't wait to see the back of her.

Fleetingly I did think we could exchange rational views.

Sadly this was not to be - but you have achieved a first!

The first poster I have ever put on ignore.

Does it all really matter?

Irrespective of her vocabulary, which some snobs object to, though I know not why, Alesha is a dear young woman. She is so warm, friendly, definitely down to earth and the world would be a sad place without her for those who love and adore her.

So sad all this, especially when in the news we hear about terrorism, murders, paedophilia, fraud, etc etc. don't you think?

Furthermore, as this is an "entertainment forum" I'm thinking what Stephen Gately's family and friends must be going through for instance, as well as the sorrow of Gary Barlow and his family. Think about it, there is so much more to fret about isn' there? than whether a nice young woman made a grammatical error by using the word 'was'.

Maybe Alesha needs her own Professor Higgins to teach her how to talk proper. I always thought Alesha would be great in the stage version of My Fair Lady.

I don't mind how Alesha and James talk. I noticed Jonathan Ross saying "was" instead of "were" on his show last night.

I think it would be a boring world if we all talked the same.

I've just watched the interview with Alesha Dixon on Jonathan Ross's show that aired tonight. Good grief, the woman can't string a sentence together. Nothing to say, incapable of expressing a clear opinion, no clear grasp of the English language. No wonder so many people on here are leaping on every opportunity to write their poisonous little posts, I could barely understand her.

I fail to see what the above has to do with Alesha. This thread is about Alesha and her grammar so anything else would be off topic.

I like to hear good English spoken by a television judge, this indicates I have standards, not that I am a snob.

Oh the irony!

eta. Sorry katrina - the irony was intentional I take it.

agreed, Alesha does not pretend to be something she isn't , thats why i for one like her. I didn't realise that perfect diction was required on the BBC still, at least she has a personality unlike a lot of presenters on TV these days.

You can indeed choose to use what you have learnt, provided you have learnt it in the first place. There can be all manner of reasons why people don't learn things and/or choose not to use them. Millions of adults in this country lack functional literacy skills, let alone the level of grammar being discussed here. At the same time, I do think there are people who choose to speak in particular ways in spite of "knowing better". Without wishing to attack or insult her, I am not entirely sure which group Alesha falls into.

I merely meant that life is too short to just keep digging at a particular person for something as petty as vocabulary, when she is not responsible for teaching our children.

As for "I like to hear good English spoken by a television judge". If you want to be pedantic how about giving the same slating to Len Goodman whose English leaves a lot to be desired both in grammar and diction and then we have Bruno......... .

I completely agree - despite the regional quirk of 'you was' feeling like fingernails on a blackboard to me! There are many such variations both domestically and internationally. Where I live in Devon, people say he or she instead of it. Where is it? becomes Where's he to? In the United States, it's grammatically correct to say a couple dozen. In the UK, it's a couple of dozen.

Alesha's 'you was' is a grammatical error that has developed into a cultural local speech pattern, and they are two different things.

There's been a conscious effort to move away from alienating RP by all broadcasters over the last thirty or so years and I think this is generally a good thing - even if it does mean I have to cringe at Alesha's 'you was' for a few Saturday nights each year. Without these changes, we still wouldn't have any TV presenters with any kind of regional accent.

I have mentioned Len on another forum.

Bruno is different though as English is not his first language.

Also, I would not agree that I have slated Alesha, merely commented on a couple of occasions, which is, after all, the whole point of this forum.

All very well but when you go to school you are taught the correct way to speak. Alesha was a great dancer but when she opens her mouth she just seems stupid and thick as if she never learnt anything at school and getting paid 5 times more then the other judges . Its all one big con perpetuated by Jay Hunt , the BBC and miss Dixon when you have a first rate expert in dance like Karen Hardy who would have been a great asset as a judge.

I am going to set the cat among the pigeons now.

I would even advocate mitigating a strong regional accent (if one has one) for TV or radio. There may be many European viewers who could struggle to understand and I think it is a courtesy to make oneself intelligible. If you have something worth saying then ensure that people can understand it.

It is known as different registers. We all do this. Example: not swearing in front of parents or children so as not to shock or offend. We need to do this because communication requires flexibility and adaptability.

So a speaker of English ought to be able to modify his or her accent and dialect according to circumstance.

An expert, articulate, and a lovely personality - the BBC could have youthified (!) the judging panel without losing credibility, that's what really galls

parthena