Daily Mail article on Americanisms ruining the English language

Joey debated with himself as to whether or not 'supposably' was really a word: "Supposably. Supposably. Did they go to the zoo? Supposably."

I'm glad I keep up with this thread, I've now taken on board "supposable" and "supposably" .. sounds much better than the supposedly which I've used up till now.

(BTW, MY pet peeve is folks who render TILL, used as in my previous sentence, as 'TIL..)

I'd never ever heard supposable & supposably, but the OED has a long entry on the two, with many instances of supposable, going back to 1643.

For supposably, they have this;

Hence supposably adv. (chiefly U.S.), as may be supposed; presumably.
a1866 J. GROTE Exam. Util. Philos. (1870) vi. 107 The happiness of any supposably actual being. 1881 RUSKIN Love's Meinie I. iii. 134 This aesthetic water~hen..lived at Cheadle,..in the rectory moat,..‘always how~ever leaving it in the spring,’ (for Scotland, supposably?). 1883 Science I. 94 Conditions affecting two celestial objects which are supposably near enough to be influenced alike. 1893  ‘MARK TWAIN’ Pudd'nhead Wilson ii, Sitting on a wheelbarrow..at work, supposably, whereas he was in fact only..taking an hour's rest.

My previous was cross-posted with Trémula's examples of "supposably".. certainly seems to be mostly US instances, but two of the OED's are British, Ruskin & Grote. 

As we can see, it is rather old fashioned and all the dictionaries I have looked in (online and paper) state that it is an exclusively US English word.

Over in the vacant lots was Jasper, young, coal black, and of magnificent build, sitting on a wheelbarrow in the pelting sun -- at work, supposably, whereas he was in fact only preparing for it by taking an hour's rest before beginning. " —The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (Mark Twain, 1894)

The spider and the fly was nothing to the arrangements they had made to receive their supposably unsuspicious guests. " —Frontier Boys on the Coast or in the Pirates Power (Wyn Roosevelt, 1909)

Charges exorbitant, -- the same as in Havana, where rents are an ounce a week, and upwards; _volantes_ difficult, -- Mrs.L. having made an agreement with the one livery-stable that they shall always be furnished at most unreasonable prices, of which she, supposably, pockets half.  —The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 22, August, 1859

Behind the bolt that it controlled lay not only the home of Creed's childhood, but supposably the home of his children. " —Judith of the Cumberlands (Alice McGowan, 1908)

See, this sounds wrong to me.  Mrs L doesn't pocket half in the manner of something that can be supposed.  We suppose that she pockets half.  It's like "hopefully," as in "Hopefully, I will see the Queen."  You won't see in a hopeful manner, you hope you will see.  It's a misuse of the adverbial form, IMO. 

There are some people who seem to have missed the news that there is "standard English" and also variant forms which have equal validity.

"Try and" is arguably a variant form common in British English, whereas I agree that "could of" is just plain ignorant.

Yes I'm with you on this.  Don't want to make folks peevish, but I think I've always said "try and.." more frequently than I say "try to.."

And I'm sure all those folks who use supposably are simply using it because they like using obsolete words!

What is supposably? I've never heard that. Thought you wrote a typo.

And I'm sure all those folks who use supposably are simply using it because they like using obsolete words!

Me, I love obsolete words.

For instance, now that I live in the United States, I often use the archaic Anglo-Norman words PITCHER and PAIL instead of the modern English words JUG and BUCKET.

Two more archaic words I learnt in America; GOWND described in the OED as "vulgar," an old pronunciation of gown.  And STOOP, a porch or platform before the entrance of a house, from the Dutch stoep.

What is supposably? I've never heard that. Thought you wrote a typo.

Maybe you should read back a couple of pages...

Me, I love obsolete words.

For instance, now that I live in the United States, I often use the archaic Anglo-Norman words PITCHER and PAIL instead of the modern English words JUG and BUCKET.

Two more archaic words I learnt in America; GOWND described in the OED as "vulgar," an old pronunciation of gown.  And STOOP, a porch or platform before the entrance of a house, from the Dutch stoep.

Well, technically, those are just old words, not obsolete, if they are still in use! We say "stoop" for porch around here in the south. Granted, it does conjure up an image of a grandma on a porch in a rocking chair in summer...

Well, technically, those are just old words, not obsolete, if they are still in use! We say "stoop" for porch around here in the south. Granted, it does conjure up an image of a grandma on a porch in a rocking chair in summer...

I'm pretty sure I've often heard all of those words used: stoop, pitcher, pail, etc. They may be old-fashioned, but they aren't really obsolete.

As for supposably, it may have been in use at some point, but it still makes me giggle! 

I'm pretty sure I've often heard all of those words used: stoop, pitcher, pail, etc. They may be old-fashioned, but they aren't really obsolete.

As for supposably, it may have been in use at some point, but it still makes me giggle! 

Supposably will be in use more in the future than formerly, because I plan to use it from now on!

Supposably just sounds like an ignorant word...whether it's used in the correct context (which is extremely rare because most people just incorrectly use it as a synonym for 'supposedly') or not.

I've also heard/used all those ancient words (pitcher, pail, stoop) quite often...maybe it's a Southern thing?  Also say icebox instead of fridge...and many other ancient words.

I've also heard/used all those ancient words (pitcher, pail, stoop) quite often...maybe it's a Southern thing?  Also say icebox instead of fridge...and many other ancient words.

Southerners think everything is a Southern thing   I grew up using those words as well.  In Wisconsin.  I think NightDragon's point was that these are words that Americans held onto even though the British adopted different ones. 

irregardless is a pet hate of mine

irregardless is a pet hate of mine

Mine too.

Supposably just sounds like an ignorant word...whether it's used in the correct context (which is extremely rare because most people just incorrectly use it as a synonym for 'supposedly') or not.

I agree. NightDragon, if you don't mind getting some funny looks, you should use supposably as often as possible! Otherwise ...