How to know/decide if it is wrong English or slang or colloquial?

[Olympian]

Hello,

I read the following sentence in the news story about a disabled Carnical ship drifting due to an engine fire.

Passengers also are getting sick and throwing up, he said, adding that his wife told him: "The whole boat stinks extremely bad."

It is quite common in AmE to use expressions such as the above, or saying "smells real bad" instead of "smells really bad".

How to know if a particular expression/sentence is just wrong, or if it is acceptable?

Thank you

 

[SoothingDave]

What do you think is wrong with saying something "stinks extremely bad?"

 

[emsr2d2]

For info, in BrE, it would be correct to say either "It smells really bad" or "It stinks really badly" but not a combination of the two. The same might not be true for AmE.

However, in the example you gave, the report was repeating exactly what the person actually said. When quoting people's words, it should be done so verbatim, regardless of whether the writer of the report believes that what the person said was grammatical or not.

 

[SoothingDave]

You don't hear "badly" a lot in AmE. Whether it's "correct" or not, people usually use "bad" in these types of sentences.

 

[Olympian]

What do you think is wrong with saying something "stinks extremely bad?"

SoothingDave, sorry, I don't know. I am just confused.

Perhaps, I chose a wrong expression (which, it turns out, may be correct) for my question. There are several words and expressions commonly used in English in India, and which some books point out to be 'wrong', whereas, some people seem to think they are acceptable because they are now a part of Indian English. The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and some American dictionaries seem to add new words periodically. But, as far as I know, there is no dictionary of Indian English. Yet, people use words found in English dictionaries (Br/AmE) to mean things that those dictionaries don't list. (For example, the word 'crib' is used to mean 'to complain'. A common sentence would be - 'Why are you cribbing?'). Everyone seems to understand this. Typically, books point out that 'prepone' is not the opposite of 'postpone', but people continue to use it ('prepone') regularly. Or 'to take a class' means 'to teach a class' (or in some cases, it also means - to scold/lecture at length; example sentence - When he found out what I did, he took my class), not 'to be a student of/in a class'. So, I am trying to understand how (by what process)/when is it considered wrong English, and when it is just slang/colloquial?

Thank you

 

[Olympian]

For info, in BrE, it would be correct to say either "It smells really bad" or "It stinks really badly" but not a combination of the two. The same might not be true for AmE.

However, in the example you gave, the report was repeating exactly what the person actually said. When quoting people's words, it should be done so verbatim, regardless of whether the writer of the report believes that what the person said was grammatical or not.

@emsr2d2, thank you for the examples. Did you mean to say "It smells really bad" or "It stinks"? Since 'stinks' = 'smell really bad(ly)'. I am a bit confused, sorry.

I understand what you wrote about the report having to quote a person verbatim. My difficulty is that either I don't understand what people say (for example, my post about 'Inbox me') or I have a doubt about whether what they are saying (or what is written) is correct or not. So, I ask my questions here. I am thankful for this forum and for the kindness of the native speakers and senior members who clarify things for people like me.

 

[SoothingDave]

SoothingDave, sorry, I don't know. I am just confused.

Perhaps, I chose a wrong expression (which, it turns out, may be correct) for my question. There are several words and expressions commonly used in English in India, and which some books point out to be 'wrong', whereas, some people seem to think they are acceptable because they are now a part of Indian English. The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and some American dictionaries seem to add new words periodically. But, as far as I know, there is no dictionary of Indian English. Yet, people use words found in English dictionaries (Br/AmE) to mean things that those dictionaries don't list. (For example, the word 'crib' is used to mean 'to complain'. A common sentence would be - 'Why are you cribbing?'). Everyone seems to understand this. Typically, books point out that 'prepone' is not the opposite of 'postpone', but people continue to use it ('prepone') regularly. Or 'to take a class' means 'to teach a class' (or in some cases, it also means - to scold/lecture at length; example sentence - When he found out what I did, he took my class), not 'to be a student of/in a class'. So, I am trying to understand how (by what process)/when is it considered wrong English, and when it is just slang/colloquial?

Thank you

I don't think there is anything Indian about saying something stinks bad.

It's perfectly acceptable American English.

 

[emsr2d2]

@emsr2d2, thank you for the examples. Did you mean to say "It smells really bad" or "It stinks"? Since 'stinks' = 'smell really bad(ly)'. I am a bit confused, sorry.

I meant exactly what I said. In BrE, we would say "It smells really bad" or "It stinks really badly". We would not say "It stinks really bad". However, in preference to "It stinks really badly" we would probably just say "It stinks" because that makes it clear that it is a a very unpleasant smell, worse than just "it smells bad".

 

[BobK]

.... But, as far as I know, there is no dictionary of Indian English. Yet, people use words found in English dictionaries (Br/AmE) to mean things that those dictionaries don't list. ...

:-?

• Indigo Dictionary of Indian English
  
• An Anglo-Indian Dictionary: A Glossary of Indian Terms Used in English, and of Such English or Other Non-Indian Terms as Have Obtained Special Meaning
• ...

Plenty of such books have been produced since Hobson-Jobson.... in 1888. It is still in print in several editions.

b

 

[Tdol]

With stink, I would be more likely to modify with an adverb- it really stinks. It stinks bad sounds OK to me, but it stinks extremely bad less so, though people may well use it when faced with such conditions. (BrE speaker)

 

[BobK]

I prefer 'It stinks'; a stink is already bad, so I don't like 'It stinks bad'. But, given that a stink is already bad, it strikes me as OK to specify the degree of badness - so, in the right context, I'd find 'It stinks - real bad' quite acceotable.

b

 

[Tdol]

Certainly better than extremely bad IMO.

 

[probus]

I don't think there is anything Indian about saying something stinks bad.

Agreed. But when it comes to stinking bad, India is a perennial superbowl contender. Nevertheless I love the place ;-)

 

[Tdol]

There are some Olympian streets in my area (Metro Manila). ;-)

 

[Olympian]

@BobK, thank you. I did not know that. :up:

 

[Olympian]

Agreed. But when it comes to stinking bad, India is a perennial superbowl contender. Nevertheless I love the place ;-)

You are "bad!". ;-) (I mean it in the American sense, of course!)

 

[probus]

Best praise I've ever received on this site :-D Thank you Olympian!

 

[Raymott]

Also note that "How to know if a particular expression/sentence is just wrong, or if it is acceptable?" is not a valid sentence.
There are no proper English sentences that go "How to read?", "When to eat lunch?", "Where to go to school?" etc.