Encyclopedia > Solecism

  Article Content

Solecism

In linguistic prescriptivism, a solecism is a grammatical or other mistake or absurdity. The word is derived from the Greek Σολοικισμος, soloikismos, from Σολοικος, Soloikos, "speaking incorrectly", from Σολοι, Soloi, an Athenian colony in Cilicia whose inhabitants spoke what Athenians regarded as a corrupted and barbarous form of Attic.

Some examples of usages often regarded as solecisms in standard English:

  • "Between you and I" for "Between you and me".
  • "I ain't going" for "I'm not going"
  • "This is me and his house" for "This is my and his house"

What is considered to be a solecism in one dialect of a language may be acceptable usage in another.

See also:

External Link

The Solecisms of George W. Bush (http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/bush.htm)



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Brazil

... received an influx of over 5 million immigrants in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, a period that also saw Brazil industrialise and further expand into its interior. ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 21.8 ms