>>>>SET RANT ON
>>>>
>>>>How come, practically overnight, all "de Yoot" have started using the present continuous fore the verb "to love"? To my mind there's no need to ever use this tense and it shouldn't BE used. For example:
>>>>
>>>>Radio DJs: - "I'm lovin' the new single by ..."
>>>>TV hosts: - "I'm lovin't the way he paints that wall"
>>>>
>>>>It's all I can do to stop myself smashing the offending medium.
>>>>
>>>>Can anyone cite an example where "I'm loving ..." is apposite?
>>>>
>>>>I blame that blight of my surname, McDonalds, and their "der-der der der der ... I'm lovin' it" adverts. It was fine before that.
>>>>
>>>>SET RANT OFF
>>>
>>>
>>>I'm hearin' ya!
>>>
>>>There is little question in my mind that email, and moreso its evil twin Instant Messaging, have exerted a downward push on the King's English. But I am ambivalent about this.
>>
>>Yeah, people spend so much time typing and texting a little abbrev. is forgivable.
>>
>>>It's not that I can't be a grammar maven on occasion, but it's true that English and every other language have continuously changed since their inception. (Except maybe Pig Latin -- master it once, know it for life!) It isn't required that I like or approve of every mutation. Heck, if I were the Fiery Old Testament God of Language and Music (FOTGLM) there would be no rap or hip-hop at all. Then again, there might not be any jazz, either. It broke all the rules, too, and offended many classical music purists.
>>
>>Yeah. Some innovations I'm all in favour of, e.g. "And I was like ... what!?" - far more succinct than "So I reacted in the most incredulous manner and demanded if what I was seeing was for real".
>>
>>Friends introduced the "so" usage: "Girl, you're SO wearing that dress!"
>>
>>I love colourful use of the language like that (AND the "Grumpy Old Women" of the TV show do too). e.g and old expression her for "Here, eat that up", besides "Get that down your neck", is "Here, get outside of this" :-)
>>
>>"Wicked!" is what kids here say for something they really enjoy.
>
>The word "like": a word that is used to fill dead air in a otherwords normal conversation.

That's been goingh for years and years, since you were young even! :-)

I once read it defined as "a useful but meaningless interjection"