Is "since 50 years ago" acceptable?

[MrPedantic]

Thank you, Amy! Sitifan's links are also interesting.

I think "since...ago" tolerance tends to vary from BrE to BrE, and possibly from example to example: for some reason, it seems more comfortable at the beginning of a sentence, and less so at the end.

(I notice that one of the BrE natives in that thread was particularly dogmatic about the ungrammaticality of the structure. )

MrP

[Yankee]

[Sitifan]

The versions with "since" are understandable but completely unidiomatic.
You should use "for".

I haven't played tennis for five months.
I haven't been playing tennis for five months.

In this pair, the second is unusual. There is no need to be specific about the continuous aspect of a negative action, that is, the absence of an action.

http://www.englishforums.com/English/MonthsSinceMonths/cwvrh/Post.htm
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Thank you very much for your reply.

[Sitifan]

My English Japanese dictionary says :

"Since X years ago" is a vulgar (non-standard) usage. It should be "for X years" in formal English, but many people use it errorneously.

http://www.englishforums.com/English/SinceAndAgo/bdvqz/Post.htm
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Thank you very much for your reply.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Sitifan,

I'm not sure it's as straightforward as the dictionary suggests – my impression from discussions on various ESL forums is that speakers who would usually pick up on non-standard usage don't necessarily object to "since X years ago".

My impression is also that AmE speakers tend to find the structure more comfortable than BrE speakers; though it does vary from speaker to speaker, and even from example to example.

For instance, as the EF threads show, the AmE poster CalifJim finds the structure unidiomatic, but CanE Clive doesn't mind it. Meanwhile, the BrE poster Milky objects strenuously in one of the threads, but appears to accept it in another. (I may well have done the same.)

Alan's comment exemplifies the synaptic discomfort that some speakers feel:

[Sitifan]

[Ralf]

Hi sitifan,

It means as much as 'continue' or 'take it from there'.

I'd like to pick up on what you said about bee keeping yesterdy. It opened a completely new dimension for me, and I would like to know where I should persue this peculiar hobby in order to get the best results for producing acacia honey.
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[MrPedantic]

(I think I may have meant "pick up on" in a slightly different sense: "notice and comment on".)