On 16/10/2013 16:41, Another John wrote:
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

£10,000 [of money] were stolen.

I think you will find both forms in common usage in the UK ...

Incredible. No you wouldn't, because it's purely and simply wrong! In
common usage, any British born-and-bred person when faced with the words
"ten thousand pounds" would think instantly in terms of the abstract
noun of "money", not in terms the concrete noun, "notes".


Your point...
Although in certain Lancashire dialects
"were" is used when "was" would be grammatically correct.

That's not "grammatically correct": that's dialect. (Also common in
Yorkshire, where I come from.) And it's not the word "were" as in the
plural form of "was", but "wer'" as in the dialect way of saying "was"
(more often heard as "wo'" in the West Riding, and "wer'" elsewhere in
this belt of the country.

The language is going to hell, thanks to generations of young
illiterates who are now actually working, and (e.g.) writing newspaper
articles, having been brought up with an education of dubious values,
and receiving a "further" education in Facebook, Twitter, and the
internet in general, from their fellow illiterates.

If ever you want to know "the" answer to a question about English
Grammar, refer to "Modern English Usage" by H.W. Fowler, revised by Sir
Ernest Gowers in 1965 [sic]. It's worth its weight in gold (it weighs a
modest 705g, or 1lb 9oz if you prefer).

Yes, the English language evolves as the decades go by, but not as fast
as some people (the illiterate masses) would have you believe. Not even
as fast as the Big Dictionaries would have you believe either: people
like Collins and the OED now make regular press releases about "new
words" not because these have "entered the language" (because they'll
have gone again in a few years) but because they want to sell more
dictionaries (or subscriptions to their effing websites).

Thank you David, for giving me that opportunity! Nah then: wheer did ah
put me pipe? It wer' round ere some wheer....

J.




I hate the all-too-common aspiration of "h" when spoken during
spelling. It stems from this nonsensical phonetic teaching of the
alphabet, where young speakers are obliged to 'huff' when reciting the
alphabet or, indeed, when spelling out a word.

The letter 'h' can actually be spelled: aitch. It does not begin with
an 'h'. It should not be pronounced with one.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay