John: Yeah, I done it.
Me: You did it.
John: Yeah.
Me: No, you did it.
John: Um.
Me: Did. Did not done.
John: Sorry?
Me: 'I done it' isn't the correct way of saying it. I did it.
John: No. I don't think so.
Me: [incredulous] You're the one who's supposed to be bloody English. You named the language after your country. Or the country after your language. Or. Um.
John: I'm good at English.
Me: I'm not talking to you anymore.
John: I DONE IT!!!
Ok. Vote time*.
(*Though keep in mind that this is my blog, and should always show me to be in the right and terribly, terribly clever, and admitting that I am wrong would lead to utter humiliation and I CAN BAN YOU, you know.)
I done it.
I did it.
The words don't make sense any more.
Me: You did it.
John: Yeah.
Me: No, you did it.
John: Um.
Me: Did. Did not done.
John: Sorry?
Me: 'I done it' isn't the correct way of saying it. I did it.
John: No. I don't think so.
Me: [incredulous] You're the one who's supposed to be bloody English. You named the language after your country. Or the country after your language. Or. Um.
John: I'm good at English.
Me: I'm not talking to you anymore.
John: I DONE IT!!!
Ok. Vote time*.
(*Though keep in mind that this is my blog, and should always show me to be in the right and terribly, terribly clever, and admitting that I am wrong would lead to utter humiliation and I CAN BAN YOU, you know.)
I done it.
I did it.
The words don't make sense any more.
posted by GBE at 6:38 pm
12 Comments:
I've done it OR I did it.
I reckon.
Yep, he's on crack.
I did or I've done or I have done.
We still love him because he's pretty though.
I did it. Actually, I didn't but he should've. What did he do?
I done it is only acceptable if you can claim it is the fault of dialect or if you happen to be from, just as an example, Macquarie Fields and your parents were, possibly, related.
I'm with you all the way on this one Yublocka, it's either "I've done it" or "I did it".
It's always good to see I'm not the only person who gets all podantic-like about the correct usage of the English language, even though I'm often at fault myself! Another thing that pisses me right off it is "how much" instead of "how many" and while we're on the subject and I'm having a merry old rant... if it's spelt with a TH don't change it to an F and if it ends in ING don't drop the G, got it?!?! What are you trying to achieve, honestly you're not economising, you just look like a dufus!
Okay well thanks for the soap-box. I'll, um, let you good people get back to it then, shall I?
Let me guess - your boyfriend is the male equivalent of Vicky Pollard? Does he get around in a tracksuit, chain smoke and spend his afternoons shoplifting? You really know how to pick 'em.
GBE an old boyfriend of mine was American and he drove me crazy all the time with his incorrect English. He too said 'I done it' and even more infuriatingly, 'I seen it'. When I tried to explain the past perfect versus the past tense, he got confused. Drove me BATSHIT CRAZY.
Yublocka, I reckon you're right.
Lucy, yeah, he's still alright even if he does talk funny.
Nails, I have no idea what he did, to be honest. The conversation occurred a couple of weeks ago and I only remembered it last night. In John's case, it's definitely dialect. I guess my Aussie accent probably does the same sort of thing to some of my words. (I'm being all magnanimous and shit after discovering that I am, in fact, right.)
Kezza, I understand where you're coming from. The TH's becoming F's thing seems to be a matter of upbringing, I think. People pick up what they're used to. I sometimes drop my G's, when I feel a bit boganish, though. Do you hate the confusion between 'fewer' and 'less'? Because that one gets my goat.
Mark, I don't think he's quite up to Vicky's standards - it's just a dialect issue and completely normal in the area he's from. He's very clever, fortunately. (I love tracksuits.)
Audrey, you could have set up some sort of minor electrocution device and pushed the button every time he said it. Then he didn't need to be confused about past and past perfect tenses - he would learn via mild electrocution. Yes, I have been giving this some thought.
Abso-fucking-lutely - the confusuion between "fewer" and "less" is another peev of mine. I'm constantly confronted by low income, low moral, low education fuckwits at work, so I just bite my tongue and ignore them.
I'm sure there are real problems out in the world somewhere - but it's just more fun to sweat the little stuff!
You're correct there. Smack him in the face until he get some sense, or is brain damaged enough to not talk again.
Kezza's right
What did he done?
Kezza, absolutely. Famines, wars, and tragedies - I don't care. Just learn the bloody difference between 'less' and 'fewer', people.
Phishez, I do punch him quite frequently, so I figure he should be learning his lesson any day now.
KH, I think so too.
Marcheline, I really have no idea. It was a while ago and I have a memory like a sieve. The done-ing stuck with me more than what he done.
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