The Solecism reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Solecism

In linguistic prescriptivism, a solecism is a grammatical or other mistake or absurdity. The word is derived from the Greek Σολοικισμος, soloikismos, from Σολοικος, Soloikos, "speaking incorrectly", from Σολοι, Soloi, an Athenian colony in Cilicia whose inhabitants spoke what Athenians regarded as a corrupted and barbarous form of Attic.

Some examples of usages often regarded as solecisms in standard English:

• "Between you and I" for "Between you and me".
• "I ain't going" for "I'm not going" (however, see Ain't)
• "This is me and his house" for "This is my and his house"

What is considered to be a solecism in one dialect of a language may be acceptable usage in another.

See also

• Fowler's Modern English Usage

External link

• The Solecisms of George W. Bush

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