Clearly. My point flew right over your head. Let's be clear. Americans seem to make this mistake more often because you see many Americans writing casually and maybe because you have a preconceived desire to see Americans in a worse light.
I have posted on predominantly uk forums before now and it never ever happened. It is quite clear to me that it is only americans that have this issue, or maybe it is a PF thing and the type of ppl who post/troll here. Have you never noticed this?
Auto spell confuses the two words. If more Brits used smartphones, then they'd have the same problem. Seems picky. Surely there are more important issues then this ROFLMAO
They do it for the same reason that most English speaking people don't seem to know when or how to properly use "Thee" or "Thou", or know the proper genders of all of their nouns (or why Brits don't seem to know the proper spelling of words like color or fiber.) Languages shift over time. Eventually both "than" and "then" will merge and only one word will be used. I expect the same of "effect" and "affect" - that is another pair of homonyms that many people have trouble with. English used to be much more complicated. Over time it has simplified. That process will continue, and these examples are exactly how that process happens. After all, when was the last time you said, "It is five and twenty of six o'clock."?
It is definitely not a sign of intelligence. The vast majority of Australians dont pronounce the name of their capitol city correctly. Go to any English speaking country and these idioms will abound. Your clock example is perfect. An Australian will say quarter to six - An American will have a blank stare on their face because they are just not used to such phrases to indicate the time
You'll probably actually find that any American over about 30 would have no problem with your reference to dial time. Younger people just tend to understand and use digital time. Dial time makes sense when you use a dial clock. With a dial clock it is difficult to distinguish between 3:15 and 3:16, so generalizations are used - usually rounding to the nearest five minute increment. With digital clocks you can know the exact time, so why not say it? Why translate it to a phrasing that really only applies when using a dial clock? Dial time is a great example of an archaic part of language that is rapidly fading - and will be all but gone in a few more decades. I'm not sure I'd call it a lack of intelligence any more than a failure to understand things like older English numbering systems (four and twenty) or the use of the familiar tense in English (thee and thou) represent a lack of intelligence. It is simply a choice not to bother to learn an unnecessary piece of information or skill.
Well the main reason I do it is age - It is a habit to say time like that, nothing more. I have the same argument with people all the time about reading analogue clock faces. I point out that I was not taught how to fletch an arrow, yet my life has not been that disaffected Education does need to be relevant - Other than curiosity value learning to tell time old school is really not that big an issue.
Yep, like the typewriter, books, 45s and such things. As for than and then, perhaps its sticks out more in an informal setting such as ours for the simple reason that our members feel rather comfortable with each other. Of course one takes more care to compose proper in a more formal setting, or one would hope so, although I have just heard that some folks even check their text messages during job interviews.
