There is also a form of the feminine possessive её - ейный, but that has apparently not re-entered common usage to the same extent. The grammatical “mistakes” that have Russian speakers stamping their feet in protest are the ancient/folk forms of их (their) - ихний and его (his) - евоный.
But there are homegrown annoyances, grammatical “mistakes” that are becoming commonplace, and a few calques from English thrown in, too. Of course, many of the words and expressions are foreign words (mostly English), like асап (ASAP) or the truly dreadful я на колле (I’m on a call). Russian speakers are also bothered by their changing language. It is not a synonym for “I’m writing you today…” Delete immediately.Īnd yet…and yet… it’s just the language changing.
I personally cannot stand emails that begin “I’m reaching out to you today…” For me, “to reach out to someone” is to make a concerted effort to communicate with someone in order to help them or involve them in an endeavor. And certainly when we see a Shakespeare play and chuckle over every “forsooth.” And definitely when we pick up Chaucer and put it down again because we can’t understand a thing.Īnd yet… and yet when language is changing around us, we are uncomfortable, annoyed or outraged. We are reminded of it every time we pick up a Jane Austen novel and marvel at the quaint phrases.