Can we stop our language being mangled?

TOM UTLEY is not alone in despairing that verbal vandals are mangling the English language (Mail). Words such as learnt and burnt have been replaced by learned and burned. Pronunciation changes are more noticeable: adver-tisement is ad-ver-tisement, con-trov-ersy is con-troversy and priv-acy is pri-vacy. Out of respect for Ukraine, the pronunciation of Kiev has changed. Shouldn’t the BBC say Hi-ro-shi-ma instead of Hirosh-ima? Momentarily is used instead of in a moment and less instead of fewer. When I was young, kids had goats for mothers.

ADRIAN WALTON, Oundle, Northants.

WHAT’S happened to the word whom? Who now appears to be both subject and object. The answer to the question ‘How are you?’ is not ‘good’. It’s ‘fine’ or ‘well’ — and not forgetting ‘thank you’.

ALAN VICKERMAN, Louth, Lincs. OUR beautiful language is being gnarled by ugly fads. Football commentators refer to a player falling over as going to ground, which means to hide. ‘Defenders need to stay concentrated’ does not mean they are focused. Newscasters should be told years rhymes with ears, not hers.

So, I’ll park this low-hanging fruit going forward. End of.

STEVE USHER, Farnham, Surrey.

MY HACKLES rise on hearing the letter ‘H’ pronounced in the word haitch, even on BBC Radio 4. And don’t get me started on schedule pronounced as ‘skhedule’ and the saying ‘to be fair’.

SHIRLEY ARCHIBALD, Panfield, Essex. THE phrase ‘it is what it is’ can be used comfortably at any time in a statement of love or ordering a new toilet seat. It always means the same . . . nothing!

CLIVE GLADSTONE, Cullercoats, Tyne & Wear. PLEASE tell Sky Sports’ presenters that it’s regularly, not ‘reguly’, and particularly, not ‘particuly’.

It drives me mad!