Home » “Rather than”, prince of blunders. 300 “grammatical toxins” in a book

“Rather than”, prince of blunders. 300 “grammatical toxins” in a book

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The language spoken today is full of “grammatical toxins”, idioms or expressions that have entered the common lexicon, but which clash with correctness and linguistic sensitivity. And in the first place of a hypothetical ranking of errors, or “at least on the upper floors”, assure Valeria Della Valle and Giuseppe Patota, refined linguists, already authors of the lucky Cherries or cherries, there would be just that Rather than which has now become the title of their latest book (Sperling & Kupfer). A manual that, in addition to a section dedicated to the “toxin” most used by Italians, with its analysis of the expression symbolic of linguistic degeneration, includes a breviary of 300 “things not to say and errors not to do”. And if it is established that the famous subjunctive, rule before syntax, appears now very rarely in newspapers, blogs and chats, and if politicians and public figures ignore it in radio or television interviews, this time Della Valle and Patota concentrate the their attention on an endless list of communicative slips. From that do us instead of face, made famous by the accountant Ugo Fantozzi in one of his films from 1975, with his famous one do it yourself…, to the failure to use the accent on the third person of the verb to give, while on the second person of the imperative that would like the apostrophe (listen to me) the accent is mistakenly placed. Grouped in alphabetical order, the most common errors are followed by the correct way of saying and by quotations of what is written or said by the characters caught in the act. Because, the authors warn, while it is neither lawful nor appropriate to rage on those who, by humble extraction, are unfamiliar with the Italian language, it is right to peel those who live and use communication.

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Among three hundred blunders, the palm goes to Rather than … Correct and incorrect use of one of the most common idioms.
“In clear and correct Italian, rather than it can only have two uses, two functions and two meanings, one comparative and one adversative. In comparative function, rather than means more than: it is better to take the plane rather than the train. In an aversive function, it is equivalent to instead of: rather than waste time, start studying. Starting from the 1980s, a third use of rather than, which gives this expression the same value as the word The. It is a fashion from northern Italy. The first to greedily intercept this unfortunate lexical novelty were the television presenters and journalists. From their mouths the rather than instead of The it passed to those of others, linguistically contaminating a bit of everyone. I will eat meat rather than fish: since Italian is Italian, a sentence of this kind indicated a choice; a The disguised as rather than indicates the exact opposite of a choice, namely the possibility of an alternative. This is not good.

Why so many mistakes in the way of writing and speaking of politicians, journalists, students … who should know the use of the Italian language?
“In our book we have listed 300 mistakes that should not be made either by writing or speaking. We have given, as examples, the real mistakes made by politicians, journalists, TV presenters, celebrities. Of course, all mistakes do not bother us in the same way. , and we would never rage against people who do not have an education. Instead, it seemed useful (and fun for the reader) to peel at those who live and thrive in communication. People who by role or social background should not allow themselves to treat The Italian language is bad. Why do they do it? Out of sloppiness, out of excessive self-confidence, out of lack of respect for the strongest identity bond that holds Italians together: the language. We recommend greater caution to the authors of the blunders we have documented: a subjunctive either a plural or a wrong accent in the mouth of a minister or a minister of education makes the victim end up on the front pages of the newspapers, as well as in our books “.

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How to avoid being part of the sappers army?
“It happens to everyone to have a doubt, not to know how a word should be pronounced or written, how a verb should be declined or a concordance made. The” spoilers “transgress with arrogance and brazenness the rules and tradition of our language: who instead he loves and respects it, he makes an extra effort and when he has a doubt he looks for the right solution in a good grammar, in a good dictionary, or in our easy and informative manuals. this army: a little attention, more respect, and every now and then a quick self-evaluation test to make sure you stay away from fads and catchphrases, starting with the wrong use of the terrible rather than instead of The.

Valeria Della Valle, Giuseppe Patota
Rather than
Sparrow & copper
pp. 184, € 15.90

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