A high-school English teacher asks which is correct: It happened on accident, or It happened by accident? A survey by linguist Leslie Barratt at Indiana State University indicates that most people born after 1990 use on accident, and weren’t even aware that by accident was proper, while those born before 1970 almost always say by accident. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “”On Accident” or “By Accident””
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi.
Hi, who’s this?
This is Miles Turner from Manteno, Illinois, in the land of Lincoln.
Very good. What can we help you with, Miles?
Well, I have been an English teacher here in Illinois for the last 32 years, and in the last 10 years, I’ve noticed a trend that has really continued to grow, and it’s a problem with some pesky prepositions.
The children in my class are saying they did something on accident instead of by accident. And I correct them. And I don’t know, of all the aints and all the other words that are out there that English teachers are supposed to hate, that is the one on accident that just seems to drive me crazy.
And I was wondering, is that a trend? Is it, I don’t consider it acceptable, and I correct them, but should I just not fight the fight anymore and let it go?
Boy, good question. And are you, what level do you teach?
Well, I teach everyone’s favorite subject, freshman English. Everyone remembers their freshman English teacher. It’s the one who had to nail grammar into their head. You sound pretty memorable. So ninth grade then?
Ninth grade, and then I also teach seniors.
Okay. And what do the students say when you correct them?
They look at me like I’ve grown two heads, which is, of course, a very common look they give me most of the time. But nonetheless, they look at me like, what’s wrong with that?
And do they admit to even knowing that by accident is the form that other people use?
No, there’s this puzzled, disconcerting expression that flits across their face like I’m from another planet that I think they’re hearing it at home. And that’s what I’m saying.
In the last five years, it’s really gotten bad. But I started noticing it about 10 years ago.
About 10 years.
That was my next question.
Oh, very interesting stuff. Well, you’re definitely not the only person noticing it.
Oh, really?
Yes, you asked if it were a trend, and I’m being really careful about my English now.
Oh, stop it.
I thought I should use the subjunctive there.
Oh, please, please.
I’m just wondering if on accident is one of those evolutions in the language, for example, like who and whom.
Whom is virtually disappearing?
Yeah, we can talk about that one. Who is becoming both the nominative and the objective? And then, of course, let’s not even get into I and me.
No, let’s not. Let’s stick with on and by accident.
When I hear that, it just grates so badly in my ear that I cannot help but correct them. And again, they look at me like I’m crazy.
This is fascinating, isn’t it, Grant?
It is, yeah. And do you mind if we ask how old you are?
Oh, well, I’m fast approaching the threshold of age.
Almost 40, then.
I have one more year to go and I retire. I’m 58.
Okay, very good. 58.
Okay, wow, good. Lots to chew on here, but we can get to the bottom of this.
Yeah, definitely. There’s a linguist in Indiana named Leslie Barrett who’s done a study of this, and she surveyed children from all over the country, in Georgia, in California, in Michigan.
Pretty wide geographic sample, sufficiently wide to give us some confidence in her results.
Yeah.
Oh, and some reliability then.
And so what she found was that if you were born after 1990, you are far more likely to say on accident than you are to say by accident. It was really interesting.
If you were born in 1970, the year I was born, you’d probably say both. And if you were born prior to 1970, you’d probably only say by accident.
Okay, well, I guess, you know, I have one more year to teach, and I’m going to continue to fight the good fight for appropriate use of that pesky preposition.
I should share that one of the things, the reason I asked this question earlier about whether or not your students knew the by accident form, one of the things that this researcher pointed out is that many of the research subjects who were younger didn’t even know that by accident was a way that anyone else actually said it.
Yeah, they had no idea. That accounts for the look of stupefaction on their face.
But you could consider yourself a field worker as we say on the show. You are in the forefront. You are witnessing language change. You have some removed because you are educated and older, but you can witness the language in the mouths of these young people that will one day become standard. And this is one of those things.
Well, perhaps it’s a teachable moment. I mean, maybe you could just stop things down and say, did you know that?
Oh, I do.
Oh, you do? Every time. And have a conversation about language changing.
Well, we do that as well. It’s amazing. Technology has interjected so many new words that they use on a daily basis that weren’t around 15 years ago.
And how with the changes in society, certain words that used to be taboo have become far more acceptable and widespread.
Of course, I wail those changes as well, but that’s an offshoot of my decrepit age.
Well, Miles, we’re really grateful to you for calling and sharing these thoughts with us. And we wish you a great retirement. And good luck with this.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
I listen to you guys all the time. You’re awesome. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, buddy. Really appreciate it, too.
All righty then.
Bye-bye.
What have you been noticing?
