Oliver asks for 'more'

Many people I know, mostly Indians, have a strange habit of using the word "more" inappropriately. I have heard people making statements like "I like this route to town more better because it is more straighter, more simpler and more shorter". Of course, they might not use so many "more"s but what I'm trying to convey here is that the word "more" is used incorrectly in such statements. Those who use more incorrectly do not realize that adding a "more" does not make the comparison any better but is in fact a wrong usage. Miracle, my friend, does this at times but feels very bad about it because he knows that it is wrong. What I like about him is that he does not mind when I point out the mistake and tries very hard not to repeat it.

But such wrong usage is common not just among people raised in India. I have heard my nephew and his friends, who go to school in the United States, and other kids of his age on TV say "mostest" on occasions and a commercial for a TV series says that the episodes this season are "badder" than before. I understand that languages evolve with time but going in the wrong direction does not seem to be in the best interest of people who care about languages.

This blog seems to be turning in to an English tutorial. However, that is not my intention. When I grew up in India, my parents subscribed to the "The Hindu", one of the popular news papers, which on Tuesdays carried a column called "Know your English". I liked reading it. They pointed out some wrong usages and some right ones that people use every day.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I'm not the world's best English speaker but I make an effort to speak good English. I love the language.