What misuses of the English language bother you the most?

[bbernardini]

Being a teacher (albeit a music teacher), I hear the language mangled all the time (most of the time, by myself). Here's some that bother me. What are yours?

1. Misuse of the apostrophe. Your, you're, there, their, they're, and this whole possessive thing. Drives me nuts.

2. Use of the word "verse" instead of "versus". Are you really so lazy that you can't say that one extra syllable? It makes no sense when spoken, either.

3. Using the word "times" instead of "multiply". As in "then I timesed the two numbers" and variations thereof.

4. Using the word "itch" instead of "scratch".

[HEyHEY]

1. People who think ignorant means rude

[mitchtv]

2. besides Nucular, the worst offense

there is the misuse of Realty- mostly pronounced 'reelity'. I guess they are confusing it with reality.

[trof]

33. Bugs me too.

I have a friend who is a realtor and refers to herself as a "ree-luh-tor". There are just 2 syllables there. real-tor. period.
BTW, I believe a realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors and is trademarked or copywrited. Every other real property salesperson is a real estate agent.

[hussar]

3. The misuse of the English language

by Amerkans

[Maple]

4. 'Off of'

Minor...but I find it irritating.

[mindfulNJ]

5. "whole nother"

as in "that's a whole nother can of worms"...what the hell is a "nother"?

Oh...and "looser" instead of "loser". A freeper favorite!

[Guaranteed]

YES!

That's the one. I HATE that.

[Castilleja]

91. Loose, and looser seems to be spreading...

Along with "could of", "liberry", and spelling. Not just misspelling, but atrocious spelling that says "I am a hairs breadth from being illiterate, and I don't care".

[Nikia]

6. borrow, lend

Here in Wisconsin, many people seem to have trouble with this distinction as in "Could you borrow me $10?" instead of "Could you lend me $10?" They basically don't use the word "lend". Since so many people around me use it incorrectly, including my best friend, I really hope that I don't start using it incorrectly. It has started to sound more normal. In Ohio, we had a fair amount of people us double negatives. "I don't have no money or gas, could you lend me $10?" In Wisconsin, I haven't heard anyone use double negatives, at least not habitually. Also from my childhood, talking about a conversation, "goes" instead of "says".

[Karenina]

55. Let me give you a clue about that one

ESPECIALLY if you are in an area that was settled by Germans. The verb "leihen" serves both purposes. It is one of the top 10 of mistakes native German speakers make in English. Kinda like "make" and "do." Both are served by "machen" and getting folks to recognize the difference is quite a task!

[rbnyc]

56. Isn't it...

...could you loan me $10?

EDIT: I may be wrong, but now nothing sounds right to me.

[curse10]

7. its, it's

come on! It isn't very difficult. It's is only used if you are contracting it and is!!!!

[Faygo Kid]

41. It's a good post; its truth is undeniable

Never fails to whack me out. Former copy chief of my college paper; can't avoid editing everything I read since then (29 years ago - where did the time go?)

[jono]

8. "Themself"

Unless describing a singular person of unknown gender, the word is "themselves."

Also, using "was" instead of "were" to describe the conditional tense drives me nuts.

[Sufi Marmot]

9. "Begging the question"

"Begging the question" is so misused these days that grammarians should probably just redefine it. It used to mean the logical fallacy of assuming the thing that one is trying to prove. Now "that begs the question" is almost exclusively used synonymously with "that raises the question", as an inference of additional questions from extant facts or statements.

-SM

[formactv]

12. something every day!

Thanks for clearing that up.

[formactv]

10. Sooner rather than later.

Essentially bothers me too. I count how many essentiallies are spoken in NPR interviews. As it is used it means nothing. That is essentially, as it is used, in essence, it ,means essentially nothing. Better?

[LizW]

11. "Lay" instead of "lie"

"I'm going to lay down for a while." :cringe:

[mitchum]

38. That's the one that drives me nuts

[Lydia Leftcoast]

57. I'm almost ready to concede "lay/lie" as a lost cause

Up through the 1960s, everyone seemed to be able to use these two words correctly, even uneducated people.

I blame popular music: "Lay, Lady, Lay," "Lay Down, Lay Down," and "Won't You Lay with Me in a Field of Stone?"

Now I'd say that the majority of people can't distinguish these words.

Just for review:

Lie= recline, be in a horizontal position

"I'm going to go lie down."

Past tense: lay

"I went and lay down."

Past participle: lain

"Have you ever lain on your back and looked up at the stars?"

Lay= put down on a flat surface

"I'm going to go lay the baby down for a nap."

Past tense: laid

"I laid the baby down for a nap."

Past participle: laid

"I have laid down the law."

[caledesi]

13. You forgot the ubiquitous misuing "loose" for "lose"....ARRGH!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

25. That's mine too.

It's getting so common I'm afraid it will start to be accepted...

[ant]

14. I as object

Between you and I...would you like to come to the movies with Paul and I...etc.

Ugh. I know it *sounds* fancy, but it's WRONG.

[Abe Linkman]

21. You mean it should be "Paul and me"?

explain, please.

Thank you.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

58. It's "Paul and me" IF

the phrase is the object of a verb or preposition.

If the phrase is the subject, it's "Paul and I."

"Paul and I beat up the freepers."

BUT

"The freepers beat up Paul and me (or "me and Paul")."

Here are examples of the phrase as the object of a preposition:

"Do you want to come along with Paul and me (or "me and Paul")?"

"Just between you and me, this is ridiculous."
BUT
"You and I both know that this is ridiculous."

Usages like "between you and I" are technically known as "hyperurbanisms} or over "over-corrections."

In other words, people who were scolded for saying things like

"Me and Paul beat up the freepers" over-generalized and decided (mistakenly) that saying "me and Paul" was always wrong.

[ironflange]

61. Here's a simple rule of thumb

Imagine that Paul is not present; then decide if you need to say "I" or "me." Then stick Paul back into the sentence.

To use the examples:

I beat up the freepers.
becomes
Paul and I beat up the freepers.


The freepers didn't stand a chance against me.
---->
The freepers didn't stand a chance against Paul and me.

[grannylib]

72. Excellent example!

[Character Assassin]

73. The problem is that it is now universally accepted in common speech.

How often does, for example, your friend Sam come over to your house, knock on the door and, after you ask "Who is it?", reply with "It is I, Sam."

Sure it's correct, but to modern ears it sounds like something out of antiquated literature.

[formactv]

15. Coming to a head...

is a comparison to a pimple- the phrase is inappropriate on news programs.

[dreissig]

93. Falling Between The Cracks

Things don't fall between the cracks, because that's where the boards are. Things fall through the cracks, not between them.

[Nevernose]

16. Like, between you and I...

One of the many, many things that drive me nuts is "between you and I" rather than "between you and me." This is especially grating when people are trying to sound sophisticated, rather than making a simple mistake.

And, like, the word "like" is, like, totally, like, you know, like, stupid and stuff, like.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. What bothers me most

is when one points out a misspelling (using the apostrophe for a plural) and being told "We know it and we won't change it". This happened to me in a shop here in Arkansas. The comment was said with a smirk, as if the shop owners who had this sign were proud of it. My thought was that it showed the world they were careless at best and ignorant at worst.

[dreissig]

82. Ignorant and Proud

People refuse to take your word for it when you correct them. The reason is that so many people say it wrong, it becomes right, right?

[NJCher]

18. reason why

Use "reason" or "why" but both is redundant.


Cher

[scarlet_owl]

19. Alot. That drives me nuts!

"A" and "lot" are two different words. My husband does this sometimes and it makes me absolutely crazy!

[flama]

65. Amen!

I used to leave anonymous notes on the desks of co-workers who used alot in their emails. It said, "Alot is not a word - and you use it a lot!"

None of them ever mended their ways. Think somebody saw me and that's the reason I was fired? ;-)

[VOX]

66. YES YES YES YES!!!!

This one makes me NUTS! A lot!

[johnnie]

20. I and me......

That drives me crazy. It always floors me when I see the newscasters say something like..."Join Tonya and I at 11 on zippity, doppler, all knowing action news" or something like that. I thought that being a news person, you have to learn the english language?
It's not that hard people!

[scottcsmith]

22. Here's my list

1. People who refer to themselves in the third person.
2. People who say "Irregardless."
3. People who use "effect" when it should be "affect." Okay, I lied, that doesn't bother me.
4. The use of regional-specific slang outside that region.
5. Anything W. says extemporaneously.
6. People that mispronounce "Oregon."
7. Someone that uses big words but doesn't know what the word actually means.

[Zero Division]

31. Effect/Affect - definitely bothers me

I sometimes feel like I'm one of the only people left who realizes that "affect", rather than "effect", means "to influence".

*On a side note, I just looked up "effect" to see whether it did have a usage as a verb. Maybe I shouldn't be one to talk, since I had no idea that "effect" could be used as a verb, meaning "to bring about or execute".

[ironflange]

62. No. 6: "Orragun," right?

I love Oregon; it's my favorite state by far.

[A HERETIC I AM]

23. "Irregardless"

I hate it when that happens. Demonstrates ones ability to use invented words that have no meaning. Like "Nucular" GOD DAMMIT, MR PRESIDENT, PRONOUNCE IT CORRECTLY!!!!!! say it with me --
"New-cle-ar" I knew you could! Irregardless, you're still a moron.

[tishaLA]

24. When people write..

"what misuses of the English language" instead of "which misuses of the English language"

but seriously...

The "its" "it's" distinction makes me nuts. When people say/write "should of" instead of "should have." When people say "impact" instead of "effect"--teeth are impacted, policies have effects.

For full disclosure, I'm completing my dissertation in English literature, and, although I was not a born grammar fascist, I have become one because of the utter inability of college level students to express themselves well!

[chaska]

26. You have done strucked a nerve.

What about the ubiquitous 'your' instead of 'you're'?

'Very unique' is wrong. Unique means one of a kind. In order for very unique to be correct there would have to be more than one. It's unique, not very unique.

'Different than' is almost always wrong (okay, incorrect). It's 'different from'.

'Try and' is wrong. It's 'try to'.

On Edit: I just noticed my sig line. Had to laugh. Okay, well at least I didn't scrupulously root out all my incorrect puncuation.

[Endangered Specie]

29. like...like...like...like

That truly drives me nuts when people fill their speech with "um, like, you know"

Also use of non-existant numbers (like gajillion bazillion etc...) I hate those, use real numbers!

I know a number of people who can't stand it when people mis-pronouce "zoology" mostly zoologists.

Lastly... things like ''70 cent'' without the 's' are irritating.

[chaska]

32. Ouch!

70 cent vs. 70 cents. That's one I'm trying to unlearn. What can I say, I was raised by wolves.

It should be pointed out though that there is a big difference between the spoken and written word. I greatly enjoy playing with speech. I generally know the rules, but often prefer to ignore them when speaking.

[library_max]

44. Oh, and I also hate pointless agglomerations

Usage or utilization instead of use (as a noun), mobilize instead of move, etc.

[dreissig]

80. Methodology

Methodology is the study of methods. It's not a fancy method.

[KCDem]

27. after I drink my expresso, I'll tell you.

:eyes:

Mispronunciation of certain words drives me up a wall, but my biggest pet peeve is the over-nominization of pronouns. AKA--"Underpants gave the book to GOPisEvil and I." AURGH, I want to pull my hair out every time I hear something like that. And it's done often by otherwise-intelligent beings. It's like they're afraid of the word "me". :shrug:

[chaska]

30. I've heard people on tv...

say expresso instead of the espresso. Reasonably smart people too, talkiing head types, people you'd think would know better. I know the diff and I don't even drink coffee.

...Hmm, I guess that's what happens when you hire bubble-headed models to read the news, etc.

...Hmm, on balance, it's worth it. Go bubble-headed models!

[Endangered Specie]

35. now that I think about it... some more...

Alot of popular media personalities mis-pronounce "Qatar". They say "Cutter". They also mispronounce "Niger", and "Pianist", for obvious reasons. That drives me up a wall.

There is also an obesssion with the use of the rarely used letters (X,Z,K). instead of 'extreme' 'exciting' -> 'xtreme' xciting'. Intentional mis-spelling like that is irritating.

Listening to northerners say Y'all and reckon is pretty funny.

[Skittles]

28. tell me about it

a coworker, paraphasing a user's dial-in problem, wrote "when he try's to log on . . . . ". AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

[no_hypocrisy]

34. Consecutive prepositions or a preposition at the end of a phrase.

First runner-up: who vs. whom

[library_max]

43. My best recollection of a Willard Espy "Words at Play" poem

I dropped my preposition,
It rolled beneath my chair,
I told that preposition to come
Up from out of in under there.

I write in proper English,
Bad grammar I deplore,
And yet I wondered, "What should it come
Up from out of in under for?"

[Kat45]

36. When people say "I could care less"

Well in that case, I guess the person cares about it somewhat since he's capable of caring less! It should be "I couldn't care less."

Also, as was already mentioned, loose for lose. That drives me crazy! And I never saw that one until a few years ago when I went online.

[rbnyc]

51. That one bothers me a lot! (nt)

[woofless]

37. Some people obviously think license is plural.

Plural for what, I don't know. "My license are expired. I have to renew them."

[Endangered Specie]

39. kick

[Padraig18]

40. Tense that don't agree and double negatives.

"We seen..." and "We ain't got no..." literally cause me to cringe.

[library_max]

42. The notion that "a lot" is one word. nt.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

45. Should OF instead of Should've.

God, that pisses me off. Then there's that whole scratch your itch, don't itch your scratch. And there, their, they're. The possessive stuff. Also, Ain't, and just general bad grammar.
Duckie

[rbnyc]

52. Yup. (nt)

[Kellanved]

46. My own

Each time I read some of my posts, I have reason to think: " I didn't make that stupid mistake, did I ?"
:shrug:

[mlawson]

47. The word, "WATERS"!!!

The 'waters' of this river. Sailing in these 'waters' (in the middle of the ocean.

No, there is only ONE water in the ocean. It's not plural. There is either one mass of water, or there is an infinite number of water atoms, but that is not what these speakers are saying.

It's as silly as saying, "Oh look! There is a plane up in the AIRS!!!"

[BonjourUSA]

50. In French we can plane in the airS

Don't ask me why...

[DrWeird]

48. Grammar nazis.

Those people who think their own little dialect of english is better than others and get made at other peoples english, despite it being obvious what the person meant, which is the whole point of language.

Nothing personal.

[rbnyc]

53. You mean...

...mad at other people's English.

;-)

[BonjourUSA]

49. Thank you for your very useful english lesson

;)

Vous pouvez continuer !

[rbnyc]

54. The mistakes that really bother me the most...

...are the ones I tend to make.

I think language is very important. I do believe that it’s organic and changeable, and value that contemporary conversation affects language. I’m not a snob, I swear. But I do worry about the quality of contemporary conversation. I think that there is not enough temperance in the way language is evolving, or devolving. I think that something is being lost.

I’m losing it myself. My usage has degenerated since I was in my twenties. The reasons are simple. I read less now than I did in my twenties. Also, I spend more time engaging the general public than I did in my twenties.

I, do write conversationally on message boards, and allow myself to be pretty lax. But these things still really bother me about my writing style:

I overuse and misuse commas.

I overuse the word really.

I begin too many sentences with but.

I’ve forgotten the difference between lay and lie.

I will exchange your for you’re and its for it’s when I’m typing fast, and I don’t always catch it in preview.

I forget how to spell simple words.

;-)

[RobinA]

59. Verbification of Nouns

"Are we going to gift the support staff this Christmas?"

"Now let's go to Jim, stationed on the Outer Banks right in the path of a landfalling hurricane."

[freeforall]

70. Here's more that I detest...

"We plan to grow our business this year."

(What happened to "expand our business" or "increase our business?" It's not a plant!)


"The house renovations disappeared our savings."

(How about: "We spent our savings on house renovations"?)


Edit - added text

[dreissig]

84. Adjectivization of Acronyms

Police aren't allowed to conclude that a person is drunk; only a medical test can determine that. But they can say that a person had been drinking, and offer observations to that effect.

"The subject was HBD. He had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, his eyes were bloodshot, he slurred his words, and he was unsteady on his feet."

[BuckeFushe]

60. Anything coming out of the mouth of a Republican

propanganda and lies.

[ironflange]

63. "Alright" and "Everyday"

Alright isn't even a word. It's "all right."

I hate it when people use "everyday" when they mean "every day."

Everyday = something plain, normal, humdrum

Every day = daily

THESE ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE!!!!!!

[UrbScotty]

64. I itch my head over you're post...

...and then I timesed it by six.

[VOX]

67. All the extraneous "likes" -- "I'm like you know, and he's like..."

This is more of a speaking offense, but it makes me crazy.

"It's like, I mean, you know, c'mon."

:grr:

[SOteric]

68. Its most zealous self-appointed guardians.

[SmileyBoy]

69. 'Your such a looser."

That's one I HATE!!!

[grannylib]

71. "axe" a question, "expecially" and "supposably" YIKES!!!

[NoPasaran]

74. "First Annual"

It isn't "annual" until it happens again a year later.

[Ellen Forradalom]

75. "Is comprised of"

It's "composed of" or "comprises" but NOT "is comprised of"!! AAAUUUUUGH! :nuke:

[KamaAina]

76. 'Misunderestimated', 'Hispanically', 'the Grecians'

and all the other ones that emanate from the addled brain of the supposed leader of the free world. :puke:

[solinvictus]

77. Where do I start???

1) Using the word "formally" for "formerly"
2) Nuke-yooo-lur
3) Any time someone places quotation marks around something in the midst of a sentence and the given piece IS NOT BEING QUOTED!

[Catherine Vincent]

78. A lot of my peoples say "axe" instead of ask.

Including me. I don't know why we do that. I do try to correct myself though or I just rephrase my statement to avoid saying it.

[dreissig]

79. Literally

Literally means well, literally. People say they "literally" died laughing when all they mean is that they laughed very hard.

[Shanty Oilish]

81. Feb-you-wary

I'm pretty tolerant of the rest, but please, there are only 12 months and you're supposed to know them by first grade.
Teachers and tv news anchors say Feb-you-wary all the time, and presumably they've been to college.

[kixot]

85. Some parts of the country teach that the first r is silent.

Thus, Feb-yoo-ary instead of Feb-roo-rary.

[Shanty Oilish]

87. What parts? When did this happen?

Outrageous! :grr:

[dreissig]

83. Foreign Collective Nouns

Hors d'oeuvre is the term describing little appetizers served at a party. It is singular, not plural.

Kudos is singular. There's no such thing as a single kudo.

[Socialist Christian]

86. "We need to return to NORMALCY" thats so american <nt>

[theorist]

88. Acronym with last word tacked on.

Examples:
ATM Machine
PIN Number

[mykpart]

89. People who don't know the difference

between "loan" and "lend." Loan is a verb, lend is a noun.

People who use the words "infer" and "imply" interchangeably, as though they were synonyms.

People who say "myself" instead of simply "me." As in, "He was speaking only to John and myself."

[dreissig]

90. Tuna Fish Sandwich

A tuna is a fish, not a bird or a mammal. There's no need to say tuna fish.

[mykpart]

92. Just as an aside,

I have a friend who says tuna is the stuff in the can, tuna fish is tuna salad! Go figure!

[mykpart]

94. How about, you know,

people who punctuate their, you know, conversations with, you know, one particular, you know, expression over and, you know, over.

[Castilleja]

95. Has anyone else heard the word "sangwich"?

I hear that one where I live. It's very funky. I have no idea how that one came about...

[CSI Willows]

96. Ugh

When my English teacher uses good instead of well....erg

Using the word "times" instead of "multiply". As in "then I timesed the two numbers" and variations thereof.
<----that one too. happens a lot in my geometry class.