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Originally Posted by Andrew Whitehead  As a native speaker living and working in Asia, I tend to dislike the 'usage makes it right' view. "I no like..." definitely gets plenty of usage around here, undoubtedly measured in millions, but I don't believe that makes it right. |
I can appreciate this. I certainly would never say "I no like..." (although I might slip into the habit if "I don't like..." makes me stand out as a "snob", who knows?). At best, I'd treat it as a local (and perhaps informal) variation.
And I'd like to point out that I'm not in favour of "usage makes it right", either; there
are common mistakes (my favourite example being "their/there/they're" confusion). The difference is in the attitude of the users towards the usage.
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'The sign reads...' is not right. You read the sign, but the sign doesn't read anything.
The other two are okay, as 'says' carries the idea of information going from the sign to you.
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Thanks for the reply. Given your position, this makes perfect sense.
