32 replies to this topic

[Vic801]

http://www.todayszam...n?newsId=273821

Especially this part:

An English teacher shared how she always tells her students to say “I feel bad” instead of “I feel myself bad.” The two have very different meaning in English. In case you are studying English as a second language, the first sentence infers something naughty and the second is the primary meaning of the word bad, denoting unwell.

Anyone else find this weird or is it just me?

[KKW]

In what way weird ?

[Vic801]

Oh dear, that means I really have lost all my English skills.

Well, the writer says that the sentence "I feel bad" "infers something naughty". Is that the accepted standard interpreation?

Then she goes on to claim that the sentence "I feel myself bad" not only means something, whereas to me it means nothing at all, but that the meaning is the "primary meaning of the word bad, denoting unwell". When did you last say "I feel myself bad"?

[Cukurbagli]

When I read the rest of the article I thought she sounded American so her "English" is not the same as "ours". If she isn't American then yes, it is weird.

[Fil]

I think this more often comes out as 'I feel myself well', but expalining why that is not right may be too risque for the writer.

[KKW]

That's what makes me laugh about the Yanks, Aussies, Kiwis etc that claim to speak and teach English.

[aine]

Wouldn't want this one teaching me or mine. İ believe you would normally say ''İ feel bad'' meaning you have done something that makes you feel regretful or that you are indicatıng you are unwell.

The problem in Turkey is often the people teaching English have been taught by Turks who have been taught by Turks and none have any exprience of native speakers. İts a bit like chinese whispers.

As for the Americans. İ had trouble some years ago staying with friends in Pensylvania with these phrases.


What about a quick gobble. meaning lets fry anything we can lay our hands on.
Don't forget your fanny pack. meaning a small bag that sits on your hip.
Do you want it straight up. meaning no ice in your drink.

[sunny]

I agree with you Vic. To me, "I feel bad," means I don't feel well whereas the second phrase is just gibberish.
I can't say that the rest of the article was all that intelligible either.

[Vic801]

Well that reassures me! I thought I had been out of the UK for far too long.

I agree with Aine and Sunny "I feel bad" is that you are unwell or have a guilty conscience.

"I feel myself bad" - well, slightly worrying when it comes from someone giving advice and lectures to those studying English as a second language.

Loved your experience with worrying Americanisms, Aine! I once spent an evening with an American friend who kept telling me she was was pissed while I kept telling her she couldn't be since she had only been drinking orange juice.
(pissed: colloquial Brit.Eng. drunk. Am.Eng. fed up)

[Abi]

Certainly wasn't a well written piece of work. You made me laugh Aine when you mentioned 'fanny', I used to work on an American base, one day I was walking down the corridor and a guy was walking towards me, we smiled and just after we passed each other he calls down the corridor. "You really have got a nice fanny" I turned round, and said what did you say, he repeated it and smiled, I said do you know what you have just said as I know you have only just arrived from the US and when on the explain what it means in the UK. I don't know who was more embarrassed him or me. Anyway we both had a good laugh about it.

[sunny]

That always makes my toes curl too.

I used to be confused when they used the term 'broil'.

[Vic801]

Had to look that one up in the dictionnary, I didn't know it was an acceptable word in the US.

[sunny]

If we, supposedly English speakers, have problems, can you imagine the difficulties learners have?

[sunny]

I have just taken a look at the author's previous article where she says she plans to talk about the following subjects.


I believe interactive messages between people of diverse backgrounds involve having an awareness of the following:
* Language * Humor
* Culture * Ethnicity
* Religion * History

http://www.todayszam...n?newsId=273721

After seeing her language article I am waiting with bated breath for the one on humour opps sorry humor!

[Reyhan]

I love it Sunny! Don't know why Americans started making different spellings for things than from Britain. The language originated there so I think we should have kept all English words the same as how they are spelled in the UK just my feelings.

If we, supposedly English speakers, have problems, can you imagine the difficulties learners have?

I was having a Skype chat with a Turk some months back and she asked me about the difference, in English, between "have been", and "had been" and at the time I was embarrassed because I really couldn't remember

By the way, why is Fanny so bad to use over there? I had not heard of that yet. On topic, just as a native English speaker, I think the phrase "I feel myself bad" would be correct if you change "bad" and "myself" around. "I feel bad myself" But it would depend on the context that the teacher is implying to the students. And in Turkish aren't the ways to say "I feel bad(guilty)" and "I feel bad (ill)" two completely different phrases? That teacher would have to make sure she translates that context correctly.

And speaking of colloquialisms, if you think those from Pennsylvania are bad, you should hear some of the slang and dialect from the deep south, like the Carolinas, Texas, etc.

"since he was knee high to a gopher"
"Have you done what I told you to do yet?" ...No but I was 'fixin' to! "

[sunny]

Well to get the fanny bit out of the way, in the UK it refers to the intimate part of a woman.

I feel bad myself would be used in the following way. Jill says, "I'm not feeling well." Then I'd say,"I feel bad myself."
Or,if you are referring to guilt, "I feel bad about it too."
'I feel myself bad' is the incorrect word order at least.

Have been and had been. There's no need to embarrassed about not knowing the grammar differences - most people don't. It's only when you start teaching English grammar that you get to know the different parts of grammar.
Have been is Present Perfect tense which is usually used for giving information (news) about what has been happening.Something that has happened in the past but has links to the present. I have been to Bodrum 5 times. That is the situation at the moment. I went 5 times in the past but that could change if I go again in the future.
'Had been' is Past Perfect and is a completed thing that you are telling someone else about. "Jane had been driving home when the storm struck."
In the US you don't use the present perfect as much as we do in the UK.
For example in the US you would say, "Did your father come yet?" Whereas in the UK we'd say, " Has your father come (arrived) yet?"
I heard that example a few days ago.

Here endeth the lesson!

In the UK, not having any gophers, we say "Knee high to a grasshopper."

[Fil]

Fagot means bassoon in many European languages, which causes some amusement to visiting Americans. In Hungary I saw a poster advertising entertainment provided by the Budapest fagot trio. One of my colleagues thought that was really coming out in style.

And then, of course, in British English when someone says 'I'm desperate for a fag'...

[sunny]

Ah yes, I smiled when I first heard that, just like most English speakers smile when they hear the name Fatih!
Also we have to be careful when speaking about peaches and I had a class rolling about laughing when I told them someone was sick!
The sound of the first word being 'bastard' and the second being what we euphemistically call the 'F' word in Turkish.

[Cukurbagli]

Faggot also means a small meatball made from offal often obtainable from fish and chip shops in UK and eaten with peas. Also a small bundle of sticks tied together and used to light a fire.

David Niven upset a young American actress in Hollywood when they had made a date to go somewhere early the next morning by saying "I'll come and knock you up". The English use meaning to knock on the door to make sure you are out of bed.

Some of the words thought of as American English were old English English taken to America by emigrants. For example "gotten", often called an Americanism, can be seen in 17th century English writing.

[Aston]

My grandmother made her own faggots, very tasty! Vic you haven't lost your English skills, I thought the article was nonsensical, whoever says " I am feeling myself bad " ?

Some years ago I was one of a handful of Brits working for a large American corporation and a group of us entered a raft race. At our practice we saw the raft needed a lot more work, So the night before the raft race we worked through the night to fix the problems and the raft sailed well on race day. I was later asked to write an article for the company magazine and without any thought for language differences I naively wrote that to get the raft ready "we were banging and screwing all night" . I had loads of telephone calls pointing out what I had written and I later received a copy from the Regional Vice President with that sentence circled in red and his comment was "Count me in for the next all nighter" !
I was sooooo embarrassed