Biggest grammar or spelling pet peeve? It does not have to be something written. It can be an expression you hate which people use. Oh, and while you are at it, how do you pronounce aunt? I know you will all want to make fun of my grammar and spelling, but I blame it all on greasy fingers from too much bacon.
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274 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 274 of 274Oh, and "impactful" should go die in a fire. And take "impacted" when used as a synonym for affected along with it.
Could of
Would if
should of
That pisses me off to no end.
Could HAVE
Would HAVE
Should HAVE!!!
Also when people start a sentence with "gotta love..."
Texting and autocorrect will be the death of the English language.
this is very interesting, i now understand ( i think lol )when to use "I" instead of"me". not exactly the same as in french. thanks to the people who took the time to explain, i learn a lot when I read the comments.
Not really a grammar thing but I hate it when I'm getting sexed up by a foreigner and they talk to me - Aussies are the worst. I just focus too much on the accent and trying to understand what they say/being distracted by how pretty it sounds and POOF next thing you know my boners gone. It's just one of those little quirks of mine.
@WUWT? - There were some run-on sentences and incorrect punctuation, as well. Heck, I might have been guilty myself. I didn't want to correct anyone and be offensive, but it's funny that you also caught it. ;-)
"Also when people start a sentence with "gotta love..."
W-e-l-l, sometimes people use that for emphasis, fully knowing the correct form would, of course, be "You've got to love..." Isn't it said that if you KNOW the rules, you can flout them a bit for creative emphasis?
Loose instead of lose
OK also example - I don't know if you guys knows gay british porn star Paddy O'Brien he's a total stud but just hearing him talk is like.....stop.
Lol, it's not the "gotta" that bothers me.
Examples: "Gotta love it when your power goes out while cooking dinner!"
"Gotta love it when a toddler jumps on you and breaks your nose!"
No, you don't love it.
I read a book by a grammarian once, it was wry and amusing. Woe is I? maybe, it was something similar to that one. He went on about people saying, 'it smells beautiful or it smells pretty' as impossible. Pretty funny.
I don't mind the to or too misplacements because I've realized that a lot of those times it's not actually because someone doesn't know, it's just because they're in a hurry and writing in a casual format, e.g. email, text, blog and just don't proofread or they have an iphone! I know I do this and I know the difference. I'm not hung up on spelling in those kinds of formats and I don't worry about my own. No one knows me here, I'm not making a meaningful impression on an anonymous mostly-friendly blog. In business or education, proofreading all the way.
@Jamie thanks for telling me what he said. That's what I thought but could not tell for sure.
I also hate orientate. Why go the long way around when I can orient or give you an orientation right here? I also CAN NOT STAND conversate. Its so pretentious and ignorant sounding at the same time.
@AKM, run-on sentences in as blog don't bother me, because it's how people talk. Informal punctuation is more acceptable than incorrect punctuation as well, if you can make a distinction. Spelling errors of the sort that happened when a person types too fast, I understand. I find them surprisingly often when I reread my own comments. But I don't get worked up on those when it's an informal setting. I was just amused in this case because in a discussion about irritating grammar/spelling errors, there's another one! There's another one! Just funny to me.
I hate those fads! And who is with me on this one: No one can use 'assume' anymore because of ass out if you and me. I say presume now. I know what happens when you assume. Some carbon dated asshole jumps up and presents a cliche to you as if it is ckever and fresh and he or she is the first one to expose it to the light.
of not if--TYPO!!!
clever, not ckever. :( look at the iphone touch screen. I stole my own thunder. :(
There, their, they're
Where, we're.
I hate it when people get angry at someone correcting their spelling. Especially someone I went to school with because we had the same education so why the heck can't they at least use Primary (Elementary) level spelling and grammar?
Aunt = ant (Florida native)
Others have covered most of my pet peeves, except for "impactful". THIS IS NOT A WORD, no matter how authoritatively one says or writes it in a business setting!
"Phratographer" for photographer
"RealAtor" for realtor
"Aks" for ask
"Loose" for lose
I have a visceral reaction to the word PANTIES
I also cannot stand LOL, but will annoyingly type "ha ha" in a lot of my correspondence. Not sure which is the worse offender
A common mistake made on here is with the word site, which is a place, sight as seen with the eyes and cite as in let's recite the anthem now.
Congratulations spelled as Congradulations.
aunt= ant
loose/lose
your/you're
its/it's
and it is pronounced idea not idear and ask not aks
oh and their's instead of there's
*Sigh* I see someone *did* cover "impactful" before I got to it. I'm always late to the party ;).
For me, the word is "Ant". Unless I'm talking about/to my father's sister-in-law Anne. Then, it's Ann-Anne.
(I know someone who says "aint". She's very country, I'm okay with that.)
Things that annoy me: "I don't mean to be hateful, but..." and then the speaker proceeds to be as hateful as she/he can be. I shut down over that one. (If you want help from customer service, don't use that one).
Abbreviations. U for you. B4 for before.
As an English major and grammar teacher, I loved this post. I didn't read through all 221 comments, but my grammar and spelling pet peeves are:
loser/looser
congrads instead of congrats
to/too/two
your/you're
their/there
improper comma usage
run on sentences
aks instead of ask
improper apostrophe usage
I/me
would of/would've
pronouncing epitome eh-p-tomb
Ahnt is Aunt (NOT ANT)
I worked with a guy who said the word "tooken". aaarrggghhh!
I say "ant". When I lived in CA, everyone pronounced it 'ant'. Now that I live in MA, everyone says 'awnt'. Must be an east cost/west coast thing.
oh yeah - kew-pon or que-pon????
I'm an awnt girl myself.
Can't stand when people have no clue when to use the article an and a. To see someone write something like "an horse" makes me cringe and think someone incredibly stupid wants to sound rather smart.
And just because someone found irregardless in an online urban dictionary, doesn't make it an actual word. I ask people what does regardless mean and please explain how the prefix of "ir" suddenly adds depth and dimension to that definition!
And I don't know if it has stopped, but in the hood, people would use "scary" when they obviously meant "scared". Everytime I heard someone use it incorrectly I would wonder how they managed to get out of grade school when they obviously repeatedly failed the first grade!
I used to work with someone who said the word 'tooken'. aaaarrrggghhh!
I'm from CA and always say 'ant'. Now that I live in MA, everyone around me says 'awhnt'. Maybe it's a east coast/west coast thing?
Also...kew-pon or coo-pon?
I say 'aah-nt'.
Correct me if I am wrong here.
I am Indian and the English we were taught was 'British English'. So I pronounce it all my A's as 'AAH'...'Aah-f-ternoon', 'Aah-fter',
What I have noticed ever since I came to the United States is that 'a' is pronounced as 'ae'.(almost like 'eh')..
Biggest Pet Peeve - Definitely the overuse of the word 'LIKE'
Hah, love the ones ahead.
My personal peeves:
Saying "I'm so jealous" when you mean "I'm so envious". Jealous means I've got something I want to protect. Envious means you've got something I want.
Utilize instead of Use. Why take perfectly good words (some mentioned above) and add a couple of syllables to make yourself sound smart?
Finally, thanks for the tip on "Inuit, First Nations/People" I've always hated Indian, but had never seen an alternative. I've said original Americans, but no one seems to get it. First Nations is great! Both original people and original countries.
alot - I've corrected my stepmothers' spelling in an email - rude I know, but come on peeps, its 2012 - we communicate by keyboard.
alot - I've corrected my stepmothers' spelling in an email - rude I know, but come on peeps, its 2012 - we communicate by keyboard.
I worked with a woman whose children became "asterical, completely asterical" upon hearing bad news.
Unhappily, i hv spent some time in the last few years in hospitals and ers. I was, and am, astounded at the doctors and nurses who ask " Do u have to pee?" pls! Use "urinate"!!!! We know what it means!
Also surprised that when i asked nurse for emisis basin, she had no idea i was asking for a small vomit basin. Arent these medical terms?? Shouldnt they know that? And i do mean doctors and nurses, not aides.
I'm a writer by trade. I've been writing (and getting paid for it) for half my life. Pet peeves off the top of my head:
- accept /except
- enquire /inquire
- affect / effect
I am a true believer that there is conversational writing and proper grammatical writing and you should know when to use each one. I'm not a grammar police. I hate that job. It is perfectly okay (in my book) to use words like ain't in conversation. My pet peeve is people who over correct for such things with little regard to place or context.
Irregardless
@WUWT....maybe they meant the Kelsey Grammer police?
;-)
@AlexT: you must be from Minnesota. That took me forever to get used to. Bag/Beg.
Spoken: My biggest peeve is the use of "borrow" instead of "lend." Grrrr! *nails upon chalkboard* Of course I married someone who says that all the time. I wasted my breath correcting him a few hundred times and then decided it wasn't worth looking like a needling bitch over one word. (Now I let others do it for me when they hear him saying it.)
Written: I hate all the usuals, like "Grammer", "calender", "loose," etc. But it really grates on me when peeple spel big words or forin frases foneticaly. If you want to use the word "euphemism," don't just type "eufamism" and call it a day. Similarly, it's "per se," not "per say," and "Voila!" not "Wallah!" For God's sake, take a whole 2 seconds to google it if you have no clue! Or, alternatively, read a damn book once and expand your vocabulary. You don't look more articulate if you have no idea how to spell the sophisticated word you're trying to use. It looks like K-fed tried to crash Masterpiece Theater.
I have to admit though, that in my weaker moments even I have occasionally caught myself typing so fast that I accidentally use the wrong homophone. Then of course I quickly correct it and hope that no one saw what I did. The shame! I blame all the sloppy users of the world for tainting my brain.
Aunt: Awnt. I live in the Midwest, but my family originated on the East Coast. Then again, we pronounce "bag" and "beg" to both rhyme with "egg" here, which confuses the hell out of people from other states who need a bag for their eggs, not to beg for their eggs. Hee hee.
Also, we use "Native American" for folks fka Indians-not-from-India.
Overused sayings: "Out of the box." I'm in marketing, and if I have to hear someone say "out of the box" one more time, I'm going to put them "in the box."
"It would be nice if..." is a classic Minnesota-Nice passive-aggressive corporate comment made by middle managers everywhere. "It would be nice if we could get this project at the end of the day." Really, it would be nice, like it should be included with flowers and a thoughtful Hallmark card to cheer up the boss? Or do you actually mean "We need this done by the end of the day so hurry the hell up"? It would be nice if I won the lottery so I didn't have to interpret these namby-pamby comments because people are adverse to direct communication.
Ah-nt, Ah-ntie or Tia!
My biggest peeves are these misuses 1)"lay" when one means "lie"
2)"jealousy" when one means "envy"
3)using an apostrophe for plurals.
Happy Wednesday!
Sorry FlirtyChick, I deleted my first comment because this thread is making me paranoid about my writing. But yes, I'm from Minnesota!
Home of RAMPANT APOSTROPHE ABUSE, where every plural has become a possessive. I can't believe I didn't recall that until Yxtabay listed it, but that is so incredibly annoying!
Oops! I forgot!
I HATE when people mix up the nominate and objective cases just because they added someone.
For example,
"I went to the store" should be "She and I went to the store" when you're adding someone.
It doesn't all the sudden become "Me and her went to the store," or even "Her and I went to the store" just because you add another person to your sentence.
For me and all of Australia we pronounce aunt as ahnt. We also say can't like that.
@AlexT: LOL! Totally forgot about the "it would be nice if" statement. I laugh at that every time. When I first moved to Minnesota (Minneapolis) and heard people talking, I was struck by how passive/aggressive the language was. I grew up in the south and was used to more direct language. It took me a while to decipher what people really meant when they talked. Yes, I too wish people would be more direct. I sometimes miss out on the subtleties.
It also makes me nuts when people say they will "give 110%"
Ooh, yes, I agree! You can't give more than 100%, or be more than 100% with someone on something. You can mark an item for sale up 110%, but when you get away from actual real live numbers, 100% is your limit.
I like the term grammar police so much better than the other. I wish more people would use it!
No matter how educated a person is on matters of grammar, everyone makes mistakes, whether it's just a one-time slip or a persistent mistake that their brain can't see. Some of the smartest people I know are terrible, TERRIBLE spellers. That doesn't mean they're stupid. For some reason, that corner of their brain just isn't set up for business. So while some of us have our pet peeves, mistakes that draw our eye to them immediately, we still have blind spots for other mistakes. Because we aren't perfect, and language is a tricky business, English more than most (way more than most, actually.)
Its def. coopon. Quepins and quepons kill me.
You must be in the South...
Ha! I love this, especially because that had never occurred to me before - very true!
I agree with all the comments.
Homage - French pronunciation versus English pronunciation . Native English speakers who use the French pronunciation sound like pretentious twits, IMO..
Good, instead of well."How are you today?" "Well, thank you." People who respond with "good"... grrrrrr.
Thank you as one word, instead of two words.
Antique versus vintage. For something to be an antique, it must be a minimum of 100 years old; less than 100 years old is vintage.
@ Texshan
grow your business. I agree with you on this, but it is so entrenched as business jargon...
Salon deWinchester
Across the pond... sorry, I love this phrase.
The pronounciation of extraordinary as extra-ordinary.
Drives me nuts.
It drives me NUTS when people say they feel badly. I appreciate their attempt to use an adverb but it's incorrect.
Though I sometimes do some of the stuff mentioned in this thread just to annoy people. Irregardless is a personal favorite because I know it's ridiculous.
Unthaw.
As in "I am going to go unthaw some chicken."
Um.... no. You're either going to freeze it or thaw it.
If I had to pick just one, it would be the improper use of apostrophes.
this is really funny! i've always noticed how anglophones get all worked up on blogs and the internet (!!!) for grammar/spelling mistakes.
"Very interesting post but I couldn't get past the spelling mistakes, proof reading Enty!"
:P :P
and its funny how this is one of the most commented 'your turn' posts :P
{observation from a non native english speaker}
I used to work with a guy whose (NOT who's) general rule was, "Never use a word you can't spell." Every now and then he would hear me say a longish word and demand that I spell it on the spot, which I could. I have consistent trouble with the common words "license" and "maintenance"(I always want maintenance to have the word "maintain" in it), but most words I use in speech I can spell. (I have family members who are very smart but very bad spellers; if they stuck to my former co-worker's rule, they'd be quiet a lot.)
Later I had a manager who couldn't spell ANYTHING, much less form coherently written sentences. His memos to the office were hilarious, unintentionally. "We will no longer except checks." Does he realize that means we will take them now? (He meant "We will no longer accept checks.") He was the first person I had come across to misuse shudder/shutter ("It makes me shutter").
Two previous managers could NEVER NEVER NEVER figure out the borrow/lend distinction and it made it seem like their education stopped in second grade. "I borrowed the property next door some paper. It's ok because last week they borrowed us some envelopes." What is so hard about borrowing (from) and lending (to)?
Oh, and yes, I've noticed my typo in a comment above: as was supposed to be a. Sorry; clumsy fingers typing quickly.
Msybe off-topic: I had a high school teacher that used to say the phrase "I used to would have" (pronounced "I usta woulda"), and it intrigued me. That has to be non-standard if not incorrect English, right? I can think of examples in which that sentence structure would be handy (describing that you previously followed a routine that you have since changed), but it still seems like it must be wrong.
My husband hates when people say ATM machine, PIN number, or LCD display. (I'm aware of it when I hear it, but I find it humorous; he HATES it.)
I also find it funny when people say something is "brown in color" (for example, any color works). Yes, brown in color, as opposed to being brown in sound? Of COURSE it's COLOR! Just say it's brown! Haha. (Hey, Sunny, I also write haha a lot, but never lol.)
Another pet peeve I just thought of is when people say "an historic." Perhaps this requires someone with a more extensive background in linguistics, but when I try to follow pesky rules of English, "an" follows a soft "h" as in "hour" and "a" follows a hard "h" as in "hair." So why would anyone say "an historic?" For those of you still reading new threads, please enlighten me. I'm not being facetious, I'd really like to know if there's an explanation.
The use of "me" as a noun
Me and my friend are...
HORRIBLE!
I used to tell my English students that "I can do anything; 'me' cannot."
These ones and those ones. It's these and those, the ones are superfluous.
@ Wendi
An historic is correct. It is an exception to the rule regarding a hard or a soft H. I hate it too, and think it sounds stupid.
I hate it when folk make up words when other words already exist. One example is.......a person will say “unreputable’ when the word ‘disreputable’ already exists. A friend from my workplace does it all the time. She makes up a word at least once a week. I get really pissed because she helps me with formatting documents and also helps to create protocols, departmental aims and objectives and data collection. The people who read these docs start using the ‘new’ words and then their docs are littered with these bon mots! I can’t be snarky because she is a rock in the workplace and I’m a pedantic old fart!
I'm a librarian and I hear liberry and liberrian allllllllll day long. And when did patron become some rare, exotic, unknown word?? Now people say pahTRONE (like the tequila) and it's all I can do not to shout PAY-TRON! It's pronounced PAY-TRON!
Other pet peeves:
fill for feel
fillings for feelings
stimilis for stimulus (in fact ANY of the words I've heard in lieu of "stimulus" such as stipilate, stumpulate, etc.
Where you at? Where you be? Whatchoo want?
He be all...
sale-phone for cellphone
Axe for ask
you got this...? for do you have...?
Misuse of homonyms and homophones. How do you mix up pair, pare and pear? Heroine and heroin? Morning and mourning?
Meander, my mom just sent me an email that she had donated/consigned "several old pears of [my] jeans." She misused the word several times in the course of the letter. What is these thinking?! My dad over the weekend thought to hail a cab was spelled somehow differently than the hail that comes in storms. Both are smart people, so I have to imagine it's a temporary mental block, like when I accidently said something didn't even "phase" someone, when clearly I meant "faze" (I have seen I'm not the only one to get that wrong).
*SHE, not *these. Goodness.
Misuse of the word tortured.
billybob, I had a manager who wanted "intrusionary" to be a word. He first insisted that it WAS a word, but when I correctly pointed out he was combining the structure of the word illusionary with the meaning intrusive, he then thought that intrusionary SHOULD be a word, and it would be the "best word ever." But why? We already have intrusive, and it already means what he wants the new word to mean. "Because we say that something was an intrusion on our schedule. That MAKES it intrusionary!" As if creating a meaning justifies the word.
I hate when people say 110%.
I'm sorry but anyone who pronounces Aunt "ant" has NO right commenting on any grammar, period.
Taunt=Taunt
Aunt=Aunt.
I may not be ably to type or spell but I sure can do Math so suck it!
;-)
AKM - I say "moo point" all the time! That was one of my favorite Joey-isms. :)
I say ANT.
"dash hound" for dachshund, "rock weiler" for Rottweiler.
"I done it"
I also once heard someone say "It ort to ortnit?" instead of the word ought.
Love this:
Application to post on the internet:
http://i.imgur.com/RL9Eh.jpg
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