Where has the word "well" disappeared to..and other adverbs?

It makes it very difficult to teach English to foreigners! Spend quite a bit of time explaining the difference, between, as above, good and well - and then they get that stupid American style reply 'I'm good'. Arrrghhh!

What about an 'historic' event? What happened to 'historical'?

You can have both historic and historical events, granjura. An historical event is one that happened in history - may or may not be memorable or important. An historic event is one that is history-making - ie earning its place in the history books. An historic event is obviously historical but an historical event is not necessarily historic.

Know what you mean whata. When people answer with : " I am good " you might think : good at what?

I think it has come from America . They have basterdised the Dutch language.
In Dutch when people ask after you , you would say :" With me the going is good."
And again in sports e.g. , you would say : His/her play was good.
To be well or fine has no equivalent in that respect in the Dutch language.

Strictly speaking, 'I am good' is grammatically correct, but it makes me wince too.

Surely it can't be a correct answer to 'How are you?' though?

I don't think I'd heard 'I'm good' until I went to NZ 12 years ago. It has spread quickly. Strictly speaking, 'Very well thank you' is the reply to 'How do you do?' which would be grammatically correct as it demands an adverbial answer. If someone says, 'How are you?' grammatically it demands an adjectival answer, so people used to say, 'Fine, thank you', whereas now many, especially the young, would say, 'I'm good' which, as Greatnan says, is grammatically correct, but tends to make me think the speaker is aiming for sainthood.

'Well' - I agree annodomin" blame NZ! My sister-in-law, who is a Kiwi uses it and has for many a year. It's common in Australia too. My thought is that it spread by way of 'Neighbours' and 'Home & Away, infecting children!

My OH is American and he aways says 'great' in response to a 'how are you, how you doing etc.'

I have been extra careful with my punctuation being in Pedants' Corner

The word 'well' hasn't disappeared. It's now masquerading as 'very' as in, 'well good', 'well nice' and 'well tasty'

Why is everyone devastated nowadays-never grieved, saddened,distraught or even mildly upset?

My standard answer to 'How are you?' is 'Nae sae bad'. I blame this on my Aberdeen Gran. I have a friend whose response to the same enquiry involves a half hour monologue on the state of her health. My Mother was the same - so embarrasing when all that is expcted is a 'fine, thanks'.

It's not just devastated Stansgran, watch any news report and hear the cliches come pouring out. Christians are always devout, victims are always fighting back tears etc.

Families are always 'hard working' and communities are always 'close knit'.
This week, I have had to wince at seeing 'The ferret sunk its teeth into her leg' and 'She had to lay down to stop herself falling'.
There are a few very common errors on most forums - 'definitely' is often spelt wrongly, and people 'tow the line' rather than 'toe the line'. They are quite understandable mistakes, but I can't see why people confuse 'lose' and 'loose' as they sound so unalike.
Why don't people use spellcheck, I wonder.

Answer, 'I'm good.'
The question has to be 'Are you good or bad?' Or 'Are you good or naughty?'
Surely?

The difference between may and can drives me wild.

I gave up constantly saying 'May I.. ' to my grandchildren and decided it didn't really matter.

Yes it does! You'll be asking can I post about politics next!

The problem with spell check is that it won't realise that the word you've chosen isn't actually the word you meant. Phased frequently turns up when the writer obviously meant Fazed but it gets through because it is spelled right. The thing that drives me mad is people saying may have instead of might have. It's reached a point now where may seems to used in preference to might but it grates every time I read it.

jeni - I decided it doesn't matter to me - if anybody else wants to get their knickers in a twist that is up to them!
Yes, I know I am perfectly capable of writing about politics and I certainly don't intend to ask anybody's permission.
The distinction between 'may' and 'might' is discussed at length on google - which may or may not be significant. On the other hand, it might not mean anything at all.

My bugbear at present is "of" instead of "have", as in "he should of known better" I have even come across it in novels on 2 occasions recently. You would think that the proof reader would have picked it up.

There is no shortage of "well" where I work. It just pops up in odd places. One favourite is "well-functioning".