Beza 1598: /* See also */

2016-03-11T13:09:53Z

Nick: Protected "Solecism" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

2011-02-23T09:55:52Z

Protected "Solecism" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

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Nick: New page: In traditional prescriptive grammar, a '''solecism''' is something perceived as a grammatical mistake or absurdity, or even a simply non-standard usage. The word was originally used by...

2011-02-23T09:51:39Z

New page: In traditional prescriptive grammar, a '''solecism''' is something perceived as a grammatical mistake or absurdity, or even a simply non-standard usage. The word was originally used by...

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In traditional [[prescriptive grammar]], a '''solecism''' is something perceived as a grammatical mistake or absurdity, or even a simply non-standard usage. The word was originally used by the Greeks for what they perceived as mistakes in their language. Ancient [[Ancient Athens|Athenians]] considered the dialect of the inhabitants of their colony [[Soli, Cilicia|Soli]] in Cilicia to be a [[Corruption (grammar)|corrupted]] form of their own pure [[Attic Greek|Attic]] dialect, full of "solecisms" ([[Greek language|Greek]]: σολοικισμοί, ''soloikismoí''; Sing.: σολοικισμός, ''soloikismós'').

Here are some examples of usages often regarded as solecisms in standard English:

* "This is just between you and '''I'''" for "This is just between you and '''me'''" ([[hypercorrection]] to avoid the common "you and me" form in the predicate of [[Copula (linguistics)|copulative]] sentences, despite the fact that "me" is the standard pronoun for the object of a preposition)
* "He '''ain't''' going '''no'''where" for "He '''isn't''' [or "''he's not''" going anywhere" or "''he is'' going ''nowhere''"] going '''any'''where" ([[dialect]]al usage; see "[[ain't]]") and [[double negative]]
* "''Whom'' shall I say is calling?" for "''Who'' shall I say is calling?" (hypercorrection resulting from the perception that "[[who (pronoun)|whom]]" is a formal version of "who" or that the pronoun is functioning as an object when, in fact, it is a subject [One would say, "Shall I say ''he'' is calling?])
* ''[[Irregardless]]'' for ''regardless'' (nonstandard usage from analogy with constructions like "irreverent," "irrespective," and "irrevocable," where the negative prefix "in-" changes to "ir-" but redundant due to "-less")
* "The '''woman, she''' is here" for "The ''woman'' is here" (nonstandard usage with the double subject "she")
* "She '''can't hardly''' sleep" for "She '''can hardly''' sleep" (a [[double negative]], as both "can't" and "hardly" have a negative meaning)
* "The issue '''is, is''' his attitude" for "The issue '''is''' his attitude" (see [[double copula]])
* "Substituting '''''A''' for '''B'''''" when the intended meaning is "substituting '''''B''' for '''A'''''" or "replacing ''A '''with''' B''", i.e. "removing ''A'' and putting ''B'' in its place."
* "I could care less" for "I could '''not''' care less" or "I ''couldn't'' care less"
* "The reason ''being''..." for "The reason ''is''..."
* "[''People''] have been evacuated" for "[''Place''] has been evacuated" (''The thing'' {town} evacuated is that from which ''other things'' {people} depart. If people are ''the thing'', the ''other things'' are generally considered to be feces or bodily fluids. Hence, nobody has left, but they have vomited or soiled themselves.)

What is considered a solecism in one register of a language might be acceptable usage in another. For example, "The world keeps turning for you and I" ([[10cc]]) may be more acceptable in a song (''see [[Artistic license]]'') than in prose.

Note that a ''solecism'' is a perceived error of [[syntax]], while a ''[[barbarism (grammar)|barbarism]]'' is a perceived error of [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]].

== See also ==
* [[Catachresis]]
* [[Disputed English grammar]]
* [[Fowler's Modern English Usage]]
* [[Malapropism]]
* [[Prescription and description]]

[[Category:Grammar]]

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Solecism - Revision history

Beza 1598: /* See also */

Nick: Protected "Solecism" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

Nick: New page: In traditional prescriptive grammar, a '''solecism''' is something perceived as a grammatical mistake or absurdity, or even a simply non-standard usage. The word was originally used by...