Hey, Americans ...

[blamebrampton]

Do you ever use forms of cliché other than plain old cliché? Such as clichéd or clichés? I see it used in a manner that I would consider wrong so often that I am wondering if it is one of those wacky idioms that English develops up all around the world. Or it could just be young people today with their emo music and Twittering ...

Comments

[old-enough.livejournal.com]

I'm almost 60 and spent the first 40 years in the US and the next 20 in various places in Europe. To my ear it is perfectly OK to say clichéd and clichés, but I have developed a severe allergy to the US "gotten".

That said, there appear to be lots and lots of what I learned as irregular past tense verb forms that are changing to be more regular in their conjugations. I am willing to be flexible on that issue, but have threatened to make several people "gender neutral" if I ever hear them say "drugged" instead of "dragged" again. :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yes, d and s endings would be my natural choice. And gotten is ugly, but I can live with its use given that it follows a straightforward construction that has its roots in Old English. But I do think that it should be considered idiosyncratic usage, as should acclimated. Alas, both are so widespread they are considered US standard.

I strongly agree with you that there are changes afoot in the language, but do feel that some should be stomped on. Drugged should be first set fire to, then the ashes stomped on ;-)

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

I strongly agree with you that there are changes afoot in the language, but do feel that some should be stomped on.

*snort*

Good luck with that. ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I accept that fighting for fulsome is a lost cause, but I feel that I still have a chance with keeping utilise in its manual-speak and Public Service ghetto!

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

What's happened to fulsome?

[drgaellon]

Drugged should be first set fire to, then the ashes stomped on ;-)

No, no, there are times when "drugged" is perfectly correct. For instance, the past simple of "to drug." To wit: "I took a codeine pill, and now I feel drugged."

"Clichéd" and "clichés" both seem correct, though I want to stick a second 'e' into the first one. I gather that in French, "cliché" is an adjective, not an adverb (in the first case) or a noun (in the second)?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's fine, but we were specifically talking about as an irregular for for the past tense of drag.

And yes, the word did have a different usage in French to English, which is why errors by French writers writing in English don't bother me, I am as forgiving as the French and Italians have always been over my erratic verb placement in their languages ;-)