Re: Told today

From: Peter T. Daniels (grammatim_at_worldnet.att.net)
Date: 08/27/04 

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 12:14:12 GMT

Nigel Greenwood wrote:
>
> Non-native speakers of English quite often find it difficult to
> distinguish correctly between "said" & "told". The BBC may be doing
> its bit to add to the confusion.
>
> On several occasions I've heard a BBC Radio 4 announcer say something
> like "The Prime Minister told today that ..." -- & it takes some
> background knowledge to realize that the sentence is really "The Prime
> Minister told 'Today' that ...", referring to the "Today" programme,
> which is broadcast every morning from 6:00 to 9:00.

I've only observed "told" for "said" from Russian-speakers. Do you hear
it in others as well? 

-- 
Peter T. Daniels                       grammatim@att.net

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