Ladybianca: wow, nice piece. i love this....it is indeed an eye opener....(i hope i'm not wrong?)

chiketee: Ok. Nice, but I disagree with some of the points. A celebrity maybe well known but not popular. Being popular has to do with approval and favour by the general public. That's why you have words like 'infamous' for celebrities who lack approval by the public. Hitler was a celebrity but he wasn't popular around the world. My point is popular doesn't mean well known, although for something to be popular it has to be well known. Therefore you can use the phrase popular celebrity for a well known person who has the approval and favour of the people. Not all celebs are popular . The one about three thirty , I also don't get how it's a grammatical error. It's just an alternative way of saying half past three. It's just like someone saying six thirty one in place of six hundred and thirty one.

JMOI: Yes, you are right, but this is not usually the case. Often, when people say popular celebrity they are not referring to the celebrity's level of acceptance by the public rather they are trying to emphasize how well-known they are. For example, I've heard people refer to Nicki Minaj and Justin Beiber as popular celebrities and if you know who they are you'll agree with me that they are not among the most loved celebrities in America.

Coming to the second point you raised, certain things we say on a day-to-day basis in English language are not acceptable in formal settings like in interviews, speeches or examinations. In such situations there are protocols that must be observed. Three-thirty is not a grammatical error per se, but there are laid down rules in English language which must be followed. And one of such rules and formalities is that whenever the clock is at 3:30 or 7:30 etc you should say something like half-past 3 or half-past 7. The same goes for 3:45 etc, we all know that it is three-forty-five, but formality demands that you say quarter to 4. I don't know if this is clear enough.

Willgates: wait let me read d post first... am coming back to comment

JMOI: English is not all about speaking it, but getting everything about it right.

Below are some of the most
common and most annoying
mistakes people make on a daily basis when using English to communicate.


“Popular Celebrity”

One has to wonder what makes one a celebrity in the first place. Can a person be said to be a celebrity
without being at least remotely famous? Using this description is similar to using other tautological phrases such as “a young child” (who
is a child?) and “the cheapest
price” (what is a price?).


“I’m vs Am”

The frequency at which this is used will make one believe that it is actually correct. It is presently the most common grammatical error in the English language; being used by people everywhere and every time.

“Am” cannot be used in place of “I’m because they are not the same. What people write as “am” is actually “I’m” which is a contraction for “I
am”. The confusion here arises, because they sound alike. Well, they don’t really sound alike if you listen carefully. Now, let’s try this
pronunciation exercise. “Am” is pronounced “arrrgh-m”, while “I’m” is pronounced “arrrgh-im”.

Understood? I hope so. “Am” is solely dependent on “I” and cannot stand on its own. It either comes before or after the pronoun “I”. So, the next
time you send a message to
someone on Facebook or compose a tweet, don’t embarrass yourself, use
“I’m” instead of “am”.

Credits:
http://observerreports.com/2013/09/most-annoying-common-grammatical-errors-in-english/

JMOI:

Other time-related and date-
related errors that are in constant use are:

3:30 (when spoken, it is “half-past 3″, not “three-thirty”)

7:15, 10:45 (when spoken, it should be “quarter past 7″ and “quarter to 11″)

/

Willgates: wait let me read d post first... am coming back to comment

JMOI: Well, that's it. You can add yours or ask questions if you need clarifications.