Your Turn
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.
Aunt= "ant"
ReplyDeleteThe obvious:
There/Their/They're
and "loosing" instead of losing.
On yesterday (or today or tomorrow), I...
ReplyDeleteDebit or credick?
Any verbal pauses
Kind of OT, but I really, really can't stand loud people
And I pronounce aunt "ant"
Aunt as in ANT. But really its more like a run on AuntJess AuntJess AuntJess. I gonna change my name I swear. Grammar wise I'm not bad. But I can't stand when people say "It is what it is" That's not an explanation to me.
ReplyDelete"I seen" *shudder*.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when people don't know the difference between "your" and "you're", I get a heart murmur. Or "their", "they're" and "there".
I get annoyed when people constantly add "like" to their sentences.
ReplyDeleteLike trying to watch the Kardashian's is like, the most annoying thing because like, they add the word LIKE every 4th word it seems.
If they took out all the likes the episodes would only be like 10 minutes so like they have to like add words. Like. Hahaha.
Delete@story - You NEED to watch the clip of Will.I.Am with Miriam Margoleyes (sp?) on Graham Norton. She schooled him on the improper use of like. It was the most amazing thing I've seen on TV. Frankly that whole episode.
DeleteWhen people mess up to and too. Their, there, they're. Your, you're. Those basics KILL me when they mix them up. Kills me dead.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see all of these posts. I'm sure I'll remember a ton more!
I pronounce aunt like "ant."
ReplyDeleteI hate when people say "supposably" instead of "supposedly."
And I hate all the the things that my mom mispronounces like "warsh" for "wash." This also applies to "Warshington DC."
I HATE it when people say, "I could agree with you more."
ReplyDeleteSo you can agree with me more? Really?
The correct statement is, "I couldn't agree with you more."
"I seen it," is a good one, too.
ReplyDelete"I seen it," is a good one, too.
ReplyDeleteAunt=ant
ReplyDeleteI shudder at "I seen" too, Maja
Also: I really dislike when people say "axed" instead of ask.
When the kids at school ask "can you borrow me a pen" or when they say " can you learn me ... "
ReplyDeleteknow i'm sayin'
ReplyDelete-Your for you're
ReplyDelete-Using the third person conjugation instead of the second person conjugation (e.g. "You is")
-aks for ask
-there, their, they're confusion
-it's for its
-blonde to refer to a man; "blonde" is feminine, "blond" is masculine
-"fiddy/fitty" for fifty (I'm guilty of this)
-could/should/would "of". While it sounds like "of," it is actually "'ve" or "have"
-not knowing how to use the subjunctive mood, let alone when to use it
-any phrase/sentence containing the word "liberal" or "lib"
-white shirt with khakis
-improper or missing punctuation. A well-placed dash, comma, semicolon, or hyphen can make things so much clearer... or obtuse if misused (this is Enty's biggest problem, IMO)
-"aunt" is pronounced "ant" or "ahnt"; both are correct. I say "ant", however I cannot abide "antie" or "ahntie"
know i mean
ReplyDeleteIrregardless! Ugh. Makes me absolutely insane!
ReplyDeleteto/too
ReplyDeletetheir/they're
your/you're
And we pronoune it "ant"
Irregardless
ReplyDelete"Between you and I"- should be "Between you and me"
ReplyDelete"Where are you at?" No need for "at"
"One" instead of "Won" (elbow, elbow, wink, wink!)
Pronounce it "ANT". I was made fun of by a friend's family for saying "ANT" instead of "AWNT" when I was a little kid. Not cool.
Oh, and "PIN number"
ReplyDeleteThe "N" in PIN stands for "number" BLAAAHHHH!
All of the above, plus "should of" for "should have."
ReplyDeleteI don't give anyone grief on pronunciation, though. I'm always alarmed when I type a word into howjsay.com and learn how it's really pronounced.
(Btw, I use the first version of "aunt" on that website.)
would of instead of would have. ugh!
ReplyDeleteYou're
ReplyDeleteYour
(auntie)
"All's" I'm saying is...
ReplyDeleteUsing apostrophes in plurals (the dog's took a walk). I see it everywhere now.
ReplyDelete"should of" instead of "should have". if people would think about it for a second they would realize that it makes no sense!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is technically wrong but I hate it when people use the verb "text" when referring to something in the past (e.g, "He text me last night after dinner"). Some of my close friends do this and it drives me crazy. I say "he texted me."
ReplyDeleteWhen people use 'went' instead of 'gone' as the past participle for 'go.' For example, 'I had went to the store.'
ReplyDeleteWhen people write 'caddy' instead of 'catty' when they're talking about catty behavior. That drives me nuts--don't they make the connection between the word 'catty' and the meow sound that people make when they're talking about someone being catty. (Sorry, I've seen this one a lot lately.)
When people write 'shutter' instead of 'shudder,' as in 'His grammar is so bad I shuttered.'
When people write 'reign in' instead of 'rein in' with regard to controlling someone's behavior. Grrr. I have a similar issue with 'tow the line' vs 'toe the line.' The expression makes so much more sense when you consider what the idiom means.
Constantly seeing 'definitely' misspelled. It's easy to spell if you remember that it contains the word 'finite.'
It really irks me when people mix up "your" and "you're" and I read a blog where they always write "there" when they mean "their" and it annoys me. People look so stupid when they do that. Can't people even spell?
ReplyDeleteYour/You're
ReplyDeleteMisuse of the phrase "Me" vs. "I". Me and my friends went to the store = WRONG! My friends and I went to the store - RIGHT!
Their/They're/There
Saying "Like" too much
Too many "Ums, Uhs" while talking
I am a bit of a grammar nazi. But I keep the rage to myself.
Errors in grammar - depends who's talking. If it's in a professional or business capacity, I expect English to be spoken well. With family, friends, not so much.
ReplyDeleteI'm down on most spelling errors - the nuns taught me well! I can accept them on comment areas like this, when you're typing in a hurry (I know I've made spelling errors here) but in a business or professional capacity, it's the kiss of death to me. Just makes me wonder how poorly educated that person is in other areas as well.
Aunt = ant. Awnt always sounds a little pretentious to me.
"Meteoric Rise."
ReplyDeleteMeteors don't rise. Ever. A meteor is a falling rock, usually one that's being burned away to nothing by friction.
There is absolutely no such thing as a "Meteoric Rise."
Lol. Why do (presumably) literate adults use this? I don't mind an emoticon, but for some reason a grown adult using "lol" in writing (or, even worse, when they say it out loud) just makes me shudder.
ReplyDeleteGenerally I don't get my knickers in a twist about much, but people actually saying textspeak out loud instead of using the words is just really, really annoying to me. Or using the word "literally" do describe something that isn't literal, in any way. "OMG, I literally passed out when I seen that picture! lol!"
There, their and they're are my biggest pet peeves. And its aunt like 'ant' OT- I'm going to be an aunt in a matter of days!!!!
ReplyDeleteBesides the usual grammar pet peeves the one that sends me truly over the edge:
ReplyDeleteThe word is HEIGHT, but some pronounce it as if it's spelled Heigth.
ARGHHHH!
There is no 'TH' on the end!
Grates on me to no end when people pronounce the word "height" with a 'th' at the end.
My 16 year old brother doesn't know the difference between hole and whole. And spells worry *worrie*
ReplyDelete"Are you going with...?"
ReplyDeleteWith what? "With us?" "With that outfit on?" "Without coffee??" etc.
Aargh.
As above, plus the one that comes immediately to mind:
ReplyDelete"For all intensive purposes": for the love of all that's holy, it's "for all intents and purposes."
lol! Agreed.
DeleteHands down: I seen........
ReplyDeleteI hate simple spelling mistakes. I try my hardest not to correct people.
ReplyDelete(Also: It's "ant" to me.)
ReplyDeleteAnt
ReplyDeleteGood lord, bad apostrophe usage! Just because something is plural doesn't mean it requires an apostrophe.
Nothing makes me cringe/wince more when an otherwise educated person misuses pronouns. Examples: "Him and me went to the store." "Her and I like the same things." Like nails on a chalkboard.
Also:
ReplyDeleteThere is no such word as "Definately." It is "Definitely." The root word is "Definite." There's no "A" in it.
using "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" If you say you could care less, then you care!! drives me nuts!!!
ReplyDeleteA stupid one-it is Victoria's Secret, not Victoria's Secrets-don't know why that bothers me, I don't shop there.
Aunt=ahnt
Congrat Carebear. Auntie is the best title! Next to Mommy, of course ;-) we get to spoil them and then give them back.
ReplyDeleteI could care less! That makes me nuts.
ReplyDeleteEasy one. Misuse of the subjective pronoun "I" when the objective "me" is called for.
ReplyDeleteExample: Bob and Sue rode in the cab with Betty and I.
THIS IS INCORRECT PEOPLE!!!!!
It should be: Bob and Sue rode in the cab with Betty and me.
You don't change the pronoun just because you add an extra person. No one would ever say: Bob and Sue rode in the cab with I.
And it seems that EVERYONE on TV does this thinking it sounds intelligent, including supposedly educated professional journalists. I've heard Oprah do it, Barbara Walters, Anderson Cooper, and pretty much every celebrity that has ever done an interview.
Why is it so damn hard for people to figure out when to use I and me?
"I" is the subjective case, so it would be used as the subject of a phrase: I bought a coat.
"Me" is the objective case, so it would be used as the OBJECT of a preposition: She bought a coat FOR ME.
You don't CHANGE CASE just because you add more people to the sentence!!!!!!
Ha - all of the above! I thought I was the last grammar cop left in existence - so glad to have found some of my breathren at CDAN. Might I recommend the excellent (and very funny) book, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" for those of you feeling like a "Funk & Wagnall's" in Twitterville?
ReplyDeleteOh, and it's "Ant" - "Awhnt" is so flippin' pretentious!
Lol guys! Like your to strict. Um, their are like fiddy more things too worry about, all's I'm saying is you're grammar should not like matter. RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI seen people say aunt as 'ant' but I say Awnt...
DeleteI must also recommend "The Elements of F*cking Style" by Chris Baker & Jacob Hansen. Is a bit vulgar but is funny and makes the subject a bit more memorable.
ReplyDelete@DueDiligence: YES OMG YES.
How could we forget the fake word: supposably.
ReplyDeleteWhen people say 'supposably' instead of the actual word, which is 'supposedly.'
These are all annoying! But I used to teach composition to university students, so I can no longer even care about errors. I will, however, delete any post of my own if I see a misspelled word or error.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one that says "Ahhnt?" Granted, I'm a Auntie, but "ant" is an insect, where I'm from (NH).
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand it when people misuse apostrophes. Just beacuse a word is plural doesn't mean it's possessive! I also hate your/you're, their/there/they're, too/to, and people that say "That turned out good," instead of "That turned out well."
I work at a newspaper so my list of peeves is extremely long. I wouldn't even know where to begin.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the Midwest, where aunt is typically pronounced "ant."
Everyone seems to say this on competitive reality shows: "Myself" when they really should just say "me" or even "I."
ReplyDeleteExample (and forgive me for using Big Brother as an example)
"Now that Janelle has won POV, I know that Boogie and myself are safe." NO NO NO. "Boogie and I are safe"
or
"Now that Shane has won veto, he's coming after myself." NO NO NO. "He's coming after me"
Some fantastic examples here! I'd also like to submit the phrase, 'at the end of the day.'
ReplyDeleteWhen people pronounce "fiscal" like "physical."
ReplyDeleteI prefer "Ahnt" and I say "E- rahn" instead of "I-ran"
ReplyDeleteI don't like the nasally sounding non-pretentious versions. Sorry. And I drink my tea with my pinky up too.
* ;-) *
When people say "i could care less" Idiots its "i couldn't care less" no one ever says it right and it drives me NUTS!!!
ReplyDeleteNUK-Q-LEAR for nuclear
ReplyDeleteJEW-LE-RY for jewelry
both drive me nuts.
I just realized that I always say "ant" out loud but hear it as "awnt" in my head when I read it... the influence of the spelling, I guess?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you guys would enjoy Language Log's collection of 'eggcorns' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn)
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=49
aunt=ant.
ReplyDeletewitch/which, along with all previous grammer peeves that have been listed. figure it out. it really isnt that hard.
oh and when i receive a text message and see 2, l8r, and shit like that.
@camembert -- how did you copy the list from my head?! I, like, totally agree (heehee)
ReplyDeleteI say "awnt" sometimes and "ant" others -- possibly indicative of beer consumption.
Pronounciation peeves:
ReplyDeletepronounce the l in salmon
pronounce cement "see-ment"
pronounce ambulance "am-buoo-laance"
pronounce gyro "gear-ro"
I have more I can't think of right now.
@Jamie, thanks for howjsay! I love it! I am not particular about ant, it just sounds a littke more affected to say it correctly. I misspelled it above but can't fix it right now because my iphone is hating on this page.
ReplyDeleteCould someone listen to what the man says about 'forte' right off the bat? He says fort, in a certain circumstance, but I can't understand what he is saying.
The aunt I don't like to her is 'unt' or 'unty'.
Loose/lose is my pet annoyance, followed by irregardless (you cant get ore regardless than regardless) and reticent for reluctant to act instead of just speak.
Aunt=ahnt. An ant is a bug.
ReplyDeleteI really dislike when people put spaces around slashes, such as "and / or" which should be "and/or". This is RAMPANT in my office. Also, using the ampersand (&) when you should use the word and. Laziness.
lose vs loose
ReplyDeletemute vs moot
Improper use of she/her and he/him.
Capitalization of random pronouns in sentences. That really gets me.
Pretty much the same as everyone else here. The obligatory:
ReplyDeleteYou're, your
They're, There, Their
Two, To, Too
"I seen" really bugs me as well as, "I had went..."
My sister-in-law is an ESL teacher and she seen (jk!) some doozies especially in regards to punctuation, etc.. From yesterday's gems:
From a teacher -- short and to the point:
In the world of hi-tech gadgetry, I've noticed that more and more people who send text messages and emails have long forgotten the art of capitalization. For those of you who fall into this category, please take note of the following statement.
"Capitalization is the difference between 'helping your Uncle Jack off a horse' and 'helping your uncle jack off a horse.'"
Is everybody clear on that?
And Ant is how I have always said it. I am surprised how many others use it too.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I'm a rabid "liker"... But I only do it vocally when I'm nervous, lol.
ReplyDelete"I concur with all these ones!"
ReplyDeleteI learned to pronounce it "Awnt" when I moved to New England after somebody asked me if my "Ant" had six legs the first time I pronounced it that way. It's a New England thing.
@violet, co-sign. if you could care less, then do you care a little, when the whole point of what you are trying to say is you don't care at all--so obviously it should be COULDN'T care less!! my (extremely overeducated) friends make this mistake all the time and it sets my teeth on edge, i don't know why it irritates me more than other mistakes!
ReplyDeleteOf course, your you're/there their they're/loosing losing/too and to.
ReplyDeleteAnd the apostrophe on EVERY s, it drives me crazy. "My parent's are strict, but my dad let's me do more than my mom. Well, it depend's." I HATE that. apostrophe s is not for plurals, or for just any word that ends with an s, plural or not, it is only for possessive (and contractions). The exception is its/it's. The possessive is its. A tree sheds its leaves. It's is IT IS, a contraction. I want to teach the world this one simple fact.
Then I would move on to then/than. Then is a sequence, than is a comparison. I really do not understand why this is hard for people. "I would rather do this then that" means you are going to do both, and have a preference on which one you do first. "I would rather do this than that" means one action is preferable to you in comparison to the other. THAN is what most people mean in that tyoe of sentence, whether they use it or not.
Then I would teach people the difference between subject and object in a sentence. "Her and I went to the movie." No. SHE and I. "Her and her husband really bother me." No. SHE and her husband really bother me. Otherwise educated people say this and I wonder how they got to or through college without ever having this drilled into their heads.
And then I would rest.
I say Aunt, as it's spelled (it's = it is). So, as ahhnt. But I do not consider one way right and other wrong; it's just regional (it's = it is). I will need to remind myself that AuntJess above is AntJess when I read her name, and I'll need to find out if auntliddy is ant or aunt, so I can pronounce her name correctly too.
Two pet peeves: boughten (reallyi? who says that?) and the misuse of I and me, he and him, etc. I hate "him and me went to the store." Whoa. My son now talks this way from his peers--he was taught the correct, grammatical way, too!
ReplyDeleteAunt = ant. Grew up in SoCal. It would be interesting to see the regional breakdown.
ReplyDeletePet peeves:
- Aks for Ask
- *Anyone* using the N word. I don't care if you're black, it's still a racist pejorative
- Who vs. Whom
- Your vs You're
- "Warshington"
- "Atlan-Ta" and "The A-T-L" (it's pronounced "Atlan-a", very very soft second T
My boss has a special knack for grammatical assaults. My favorite: "When I send an email, you all get offensive".
ReplyDeleteHuh? We may have been offended, or defensive, but I'm fairly sure entire staff did not start telling off-color jokes and develop B.O. simultaneously.
I also hate when people say 'statue' when referring to law. It's statuTe.
Here's mine:
ReplyDeleteUsing the word irregardless
Past history (what other kind of history is there?)
New beginnings (aren't all beginnings new?)
I could care less. Then you do care.
ReplyDeleteLiterally (I don't think that word means what you think it means....)
Also, the who/whom thing drives me crazy. Actually all the subjective vs objective case is a huge per peeve of mine.
Finally, and this is probably just me, but I hate split infinitives in written documents.
I'm a book editor, so reading Facebook is the most annoying task of my day because it is riddled with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
ReplyDeleteThe absolute WORST and the one I see the most is using an apostrophe to make something plural. WHEN DID THAT BECOME A THING?? People do it all the time. Smart people. Hell, newspapers do it. It is painful.
"I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" and any version of that is probably second.
"Should of/Could of" as opposed to "Should have/Could have" is also a tough one. I just don't get how people don't know these things. And I'm truly shocked when I see it in e-mails and other important things besides just FB and blog comments (some people don't think and are careless with those things). I mean, don't you write e-mails at work to your colleagues and bosses and clients? DO YOU ACTUALLY WRITE "YOUR" INSTEAD OF "YOU'RE" TO THOSE PEOPLE?? I just...can't.
The English language is becoming a lost art.
Should/could/would/must of...drives me fucking nuts! It's a CONTRACTION people with the ass end being have, making it should've/could've/would've/must've. For the love of dog and all that is grammatically correct...it's not rocket surgery.
ReplyDelete*maniacal rant over* deep breaths
Ahnt. Usually when I'm referring to one of mine, I say "Tante", though.
ReplyDeleteWhen texting or commenting I don't pay much attention to proper English, depending on the people I'm talking to or the text recipient.
You guys have already mentioned the ones that make me crazy. The misuse of "literally" is a big one for me, "they're, their, there", too. I follow a grammar tumblr and it has shown me some mistakes I make. I copy them down and see them every day to help remind myself.
BTW, Enty: It's not that we all WANT to make fun of your grammar and spelling, we DO :)
I don't know why, but I say 'awnt'.
ReplyDeleteWhen people write like if they're texting. My facebook is full of people who don't know what an apostrophe is and don't know when to use a period.
And it's not really a grammar pet peeve, more like a pet peeve in general... when people say 'brah' instead of bro.
In blog comments, I have no pet peeves. I write much too quickly to edit. Write in fragments too.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly editing college students papers and see it all. Nothing surprises me. Although I hate plagiarism.
I go back and forth on the pronunciation of Aunt.
Lots o' errors in this comment, but I'll leave em.
Here's that tumblr if anyone's interested:
ReplyDeletehttp://theyuniversity.tumblr.com/
People saying, "laying," when they mean, "lying." "He was just laying there." He was just laying WHAT there? Bricks? Tile? Argh, it drives me up the wall.
ReplyDeleteMy mother says "pacific-ly" like the f*cking OCEAN for "specifically".
ReplyDelete"hair-ess-ment" for harassment.
"man-dare-ee-an" oranges. Grr.
Many of the other commenters covered many of the ones I might have added myself.
ReplyDeleteThe one that really drives me nuts is "can't help but..." e.g., "I can't help but feel that he could have done the job better this way." It should be "can't help feeling...".
A fun book on grammar is Woe Is I, which was published about ten or fifteen years ago.
You guys already covered everything that annoys me. Except for one: "FUStrated" It's FRUStrated. Kills me.
ReplyDeleteI love that you guys are grammer police, too!!
I'm Canadian and around here it's pronounced 'ant'
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve of the moment is when people on talk shows answer every question with "Absolutely!"
You guys already covered everything that annoys me. Except for one: "FUStrated" It's FRUStrated. Kills me.
ReplyDeleteI love that you guys are grammer police, too!!
Definitely "irregardless"
ReplyDeleteOoh, for the love of Xenu, my teeth hurt just typing the word.
Aunt=ahnt
Philly girl here
"Should of" instead of "should have." Ditto for "would have."
ReplyDeleteI had an online friend who use to always say, "Up and Adam," instead of "Up and at 'em." That always irked me but she was very touchy so I never corrected her for fear of starting WW3.
'Aks" instead of "ask." I hear that a lot in metro NY.
Anytime people can't pronounce "st" in the beginning of a word like straw and they say "shtraw." Hishtory, shtrawberry, shtreet, STOP!
Supposably is not a word, supposedly is.
I've got a lot of these peeves. LOL
I know they can't help it but when kids say 'her did' or 'him did' in any instance when she and he should be used instead. No use going off on me fir this one, we like/can't take what we do, kids or not.
ReplyDeleteAlot/a lot/allot.
ReplyDeleteAlot is NOT a word. It's alot.
Allot means to give out, to divide, etc.
It drives me nuts!
One that I correct often at work is:
ReplyDeleteEnsure - to make sure
Insure - Geico
I know my spelling and grammar has gone to hell over the years. We are trying very hard to stop using the word "like" so much. It's like, um, I mean it's similar to "you know" and I don't even realize I'm saying it until it's pointed out to me.
My mental block has always been effect/affect and I have to stop and think about it and say it outloud to myself.
Aunt = Ant. Ahnt bothers me. My family mostly uses the Spanish term Tia anyway.
I agree with so many of the above peeves. I have a couple phrases that drive me batty:
ReplyDeleteeasy peasy
it is what it is
Oh, Ms Cool, I love you. I send my sister a periodic List of My Current Hated Words and Phrases.
DeleteEasy Peasy is on it
vay cay or stay cay or any trendy cay
mani pedi
7 Easy Pieces or any fashion article with # easy pieces
frock
tresses
rocks a look (People mag cliches)
I'll stop for now
Hahaha, 'for' not 'fir'...who hates it when you tap on a letter on your iphone and it misperceives it? Autocorrect is worse. (or worst if you want to be on this list. How about a whole nother story? Or it's broke instead of broken?)
ReplyDeleteWritten is probably to/too/two. I can forginve a your/you're or a they're/there/their once in a while because when you're typing a mile a minute, sometimes those things slip... But to/too/two is just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteSpoken, I really what when people go "Really, Enty? REALLY?!" Ughhh so annoying.
And I pronounce it "ant."
people who don't know the difference of imply vs. infer. They do not mean the same thing.
ReplyDeleteIt grates on my nerves when people use 'Eskimo' instead of 'Inuit'. Also, when people use the word 'Indian' instead of 'First Nations' or 'First Peoples'
ReplyDelete@misspoppypants: "forte" is the stronger part of a sword blade. So he's saying, "forte," as in a sword blade...
ReplyDeleteI hate the word "preggers" & if someone says "morning" to me, I always say hello because I hate the word morning.
ReplyDeleteOrientated instead or oriented. It may be accepted but I hate it.
ReplyDeleteCould care less - Agree
Irregardless - Agree
Y'all - Makes me wince
Forgot one more peeve - I understand abbreviating words when texting or on Twitter (Ur for your, etc.) but in a freaking e-mail SPELL THE WHOLE WORD OUT!!!!!! Do you have ANY concept of what kind of impression you leave on others -- you're too damn lazy to type out two extra letters? Or you just don't know how to spell the word!?!?! I'm getting more and more that When I was meeting men on-line - they'd send me e-mails introducing themselves using abbreviations like that. I finally put in my profile "Must be able to spell". I'm so tired of stupid, lazy people.
ReplyDeleteI'm originally from Pittsburgh, grew up in NC, always say ant, not awnt.
I just noticed there are two Jamies here. Hello, twin!
ReplyDelete@rhinovodka - I also HATE saying "morning" or "good morning". I have absolute no intelligent reason for it, I just do.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's pet peeve is the difference in less or fewer. When he went into Publix and saw the "10 items or fewer" sign he was thrilled.
I thought it was only the English who say 'should of'! I've seen kids write it as well.
ReplyDeleteMy cringe: a lawyer writing 'pled'. The past tense of 'to plead' is pleaded.
'I'll try and do that'. No, you will try to do that, or you will do that. Try and do are two seperate actions.
Last one: normalcy is a concept in chemistry, not related to 'normal'. Normality is the word you need.
Aahh that's better! Oh, the pronunciation of aunt depends on your accent - ant in the North of England, where vowels are short, awnt in the South, where they elongate them. No right or wrong.
"Per se" used incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteAnd I realize my rant on word abbreviation came out disoriented - sorry. I've got to stop reading this thread. My hands are starting to shake.
ReplyDeleteI love you guys.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this thread has left me feeling somewhat twitchy.
ANT (I'm from Illinois)
ReplyDelete"cloths" for "clothes"
My mom pronounces "celery" as "salary"
I'm going to throw mine out here before I read all comments above.
ReplyDeleteMy father was a newspaperman, and I graduated from an accredited journalism program at a university, so my list of pet peeves is long. I'll just list the most egregious ones.
The growing and pervasive misuse of 's to create a plural. I'm seeing this happen in advertising copy and on websites that should have editors catching this. It raises the hair on the back of my neck.
The phrase "I could care less" when the speaker means to say "I couldn't care less." All you have to do to correct this is think of the meaning. "I could care less" means you actually DO care, for crissake!
I also blow my stack when people don't conjugate verbs correctly. If you are more than 6 years old, you should know it's "he doesn't," not "he don't."
@DueDiligence above notes the epic "I versus me" battle with my thanks.
Some of these problems with pronouns and verb conjugation can be traced back to when we (in the US, at least) stopped teaching phonics in schools in exchange for the dreaded "whole language" concept in elementary schools. The disastrous result has been an entire generation unable to speak or write.
I am a notorious grammar nazi (I'm a writer/editor), so I have way too many pet peeves for me to list here. I put together an editorial guide for my workplace, and it is 10 pages long ... and that just hits the highlights!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I absolutely cannot tolerate is when someone says "grow your business" or something similar. People cannot grow anything inorganic. You can grow hair and nails. You cannot grow a business.
Everyone has listed great examples of things that absolutely drive me bonkers when I hear or see them. I weep for the future of language.
I say "ant," because I'm not fancy. Or British. I also say "vase," not "vahze."
@Betsy - you got it, an ant is a bug. Here in Boston we say "ahnt".
ReplyDeleteThese are all great ones, I totally agree.
Aunt = ahn't
ReplyDeleteyour/you're
their/there/they're
losing/loosing
and all the others you all have mentioned - aks/ask, fustrated/frustrated
grrr, poor grammar makes me twitchy
My 11th grade English teacher was a grammar Nazi (oh God, can I still use that word?).
ReplyDeleteShe drilled this into my head:
Dr. Klepner thinks,
passive voice stinks.
The pronunciation of aunt is my pet peeve! After living in 4 different states (3 diff regions of the U.S.), it seems to be a NE thing. Being born and raised in the Granite state, I was raised to say Ahnt, and corrected when I pronounced it ant.
ReplyDeleteAs for grammar, I try not to judge. My mom was convinced I was dyslexic because I could never remember how to set the table correctly. It was my worst subject in school. I had to be tutored over the summers 1-3 grade.
However, I would abolish "Meh" if I could.
Pretty much all spelling and grammatical errors annoy me.
ReplyDeleteI hate when people say "liberry" instead of "library".
OK, I am a bit of a grammar nazi and had to scroll down to the end to put this one in, so I apologize if someone got to it before me.
ReplyDelete"(Name) and I's house" -- or whatever -- instead of "(Name's) and my house." This is rampant where I live and DRIVES ME INSANE!!!!
Now I am going back to read the rest of the comments :-)
The one thing that bothers me (being french) is when english people use "non?" all the time. "This is the cutest dress, non?" Lainey gossip is the worst for this and I abhor it!
ReplyDeleteUse it once in while and it's cute, use it in every damn article and I want to punch my computer monitor.
Also, the word schedule, I don't care if it's proper to pronounce it "sheddule" it should be pronounced "skedule" in my opinion.
Ok! " on tomorrow"
ReplyDeleteAtm machine- the m stands for machine
" ret lobster" and "betroom". Use your d's people!
" beating up on"- wtf? U r hitting someone!!!
"went missing" - we arent english, and it makes no sense anyway. How can you " go" missing? Missing is not a destination!
"I aint did nothing". I cant even get into it.
Forgot my all time unfavorite!!!!! " she goes.." "so i go...". "and then he goes...". Drives me batty!!!! I used to say to my teenagers, where is everyone going??? Its " he said"!! Really makes me crazy!!!!!!! You will never hear my kids say that, lol
DeleteBtw, on board with"ant".
DeletePeople who talk on their cell phone on the bus. I want to KILL them.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many and most of them have been listed above. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThe word definitely is always a sacrificial lamb.
ReplyDeleteI say Aunt with an awesome Boston accent.... hehehee
ReplyDeleteThe worst of the worst for me is " I could care less". Come on, people! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen people say "ec cetera" instead of et cetera -it makes me lose my mind!!!
ReplyDeleteI recall Ronnie from Jersey Shore saying that he'd "dranken" way more than he drank the night before when someone complained about it.
ReplyDeleteThe Gorgas had a bar in the "liberry" during their Christmas party--there you go.
My dad used to "warsh" everything in the "warshing" machine, even in "Warshington," D.C.!
Does anybody pronounce "joint" as "jernt," or is that just something out of old movies?
I was just reading the Daily Mail and someone used "whose" where he should have used "who's."
ReplyDelete@AuntLicky - the ATM Machine thing drives me nuts, too! It's Automated Teller Machine, not Automated Teller Machine Machine. ARGH.
ReplyDeleteAnt for me and mine.
ReplyDeleteAh, I'm so happy to see most of my pet peeves already mentioned here. Another thing that I see frequently online these days? The use of the word women when the subject is one womAn!! She is a lovely women. I think there is help for that.
I think the most common error I see lately online is the apostrophe for plural nouns. People are lucky that my menopausal ass is not within slapping distance.
I understand the misspelled word here and there. We're busy and sometimes it is a typo.
* Now back to cleaning my desk off and lurking. *
"Ant" or "Antie".
ReplyDeleteI don't have any grammar or spelling pet peeves, but hate when I screw up, which is all the time.
Mine is more of a language thing than a grammar thing, but I HATE when people use the word Amazing to describe everything as if there are no other adjectives in the English language. I hear or read that to describe anything or anyone beautiful, kind, generous, loving, loyal, fun to be with, caring, delicious, tasty, or anything positive. I'm sorry, but if you are amazed by your lunch or a sale at the mall, I have no use for you.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's ant.
Expresso.
ReplyDeleteExetera.
@ yodelay - have you heard Eddie Izzard's bit about "amazing"?
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand it when people say, "It don't, or I ain't." Like would it kill you to read a book once in a while???
ReplyDeleteBut you'd all hate me, I don't say aunt. I say ant. ;)
bacon grease fingers or not, you should know the difference between "then" and "than" by now.
ReplyDeletePeople who use "could of" or "should of" instead of "could Have' and "should have". Usually Yahoo trolls proving their ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI really wish people would stop using "anyways"! So annoying to me.
ReplyDeleteWhen supposedly is pronounced "supposably". That has to be my number one peeve.
ReplyDeleteI hate "prolly" used instead of probably....Not sure why I hate it so much..but I do.
ReplyDeleteAnd the u is in "ahhnt" for a purpose...
ReplyDeleteI'm with @violet
ReplyDelete"I could care less" is WRONG.
Unless you could actually care less.
Otherwise, it is "I couldn't care less."
I could go on here for days. I grew up in the midwest, so it's "ant" to me. All of the above, plus:
ReplyDelete"myself" - one lawyer I worked for constantly would dictate letters in which she referred to "meeting with the judge and myself" or would mention going out to dinner without the kids, just "Dave and myself." Ugh!
Another lawyer would always dictate the possessive form of "it" as "it's". He wouldn't spell a six syllable name for you, but would consistently say "its, I T apostrophe S". I would consistently type it right, but others who did his work would type what he said, and I'd cringe when I saw letters that had gone out spelling it that way.
Same guy - the term for measuring the size of a jewel was "carrot" to him, and once I giggled all day when he insisted on spelling the word for the construction meant to hold back a body of water as a "dyke". This guy was a CPA as well as a lawyer. Lots of book larnin' but no smarts. And certainly no grammar.
Another irritant: "It never phased her." Idiots. It's "faze".
"Alright" instead of "all right".
OK, I'm stopping. Thank you for this, Enty. I've gotten so tired of being abused when I correct someone, I've started holding back. Feels good to let some of it out.
I share many of the peeves previously expressed but my current number one irritant is "excited for" instead of "excited about". I blame the Kardashians. It may not be their fault but I blame them none the less.
ReplyDelete@maja, no, but I'll look it up tonight. Thanks!
ReplyDelete@camembert Thank you for pointing out the intrepid misuse of "myself." It's another one that drives me to drink!
ReplyDeleteThis lady I work with ends every sentence with ...right?" as if she is forcing you to agree with her. Unfortunately, she is above me on the corporate ladder so I can never tell her how wrong she actually is. It's beyond annoying to me.
ReplyDeleteAlsothe shortening of words.....drives me NUTS. That's "cray-cray", that's "perf", oh so "ridic". Makes me want to scream - can they really not just finish prounouncing the entire word??
*Full disclosure: I reread my post 2 different times, edited it, fixed my spelling mistakes and took out the word "like".
See people these rants are working. Not that i could care less ;) (last one was inserted for sarcarm- and also is my top pet peeve)
Irregardless drives me bananas! It's funny because it's listed as a word at dictionary.com, but the definition is basically saying that it's not really a word. I also have a co-worker that writes 'your welcome.'. I SO want to correct her, but have no idea how to do it without sounding snarky. I want to say it's only because she's incorrect, but really it's mostly because she's super annoying.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the above!
ReplyDeleteWhat also drives me batty is when people drop "to be" or "-ing" from a verb. Example: "The car needs fixed." I believe it is a regional thing, originating in West Virginia, and insidiously creeping northward into Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania.
It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to my ears.
Irregardless drives me bananas! It's funny because it's listed as a word at dictionary.com, but the definition is basically saying that it's not really a word. I also have a co-worker that writes 'your welcome.'. I SO want to correct her, but have no idea how to do it without sounding snarky. I want to say it's only because she's incorrect, but really it's mostly because she's super annoying.
ReplyDeleteThe obvious ones are:
ReplyDeleteToo - To
Your - You're
Their, There and They're
However... I know when I am in a hurry, I can be careless and write you're as your. I hate when I do that!
My other pet peeve is "past" and "passed". I can't tell you how many times I have seen people write "My grandmother past away this weekend".
Oh and also... I work in advertising and can I tell you how many people refer to an "ad" as "add"!! Drives me bonkers!
People who use "Susie and I" in the predicate of a sentence. They think they sound smart, but they're not.
ReplyDeleteSusie and I went to the store.
Freddie went to the store with Susie and me.
The way to perfectly remember this one is to take out the other person's name.
I went to the store.
Freddie went to the store with me.
You wouldn't say Freddie went to the store with I. So why would you say Freddie went to the store with Susie and I???
Also, ending sentences with a preposition! I don't know what anyone would want to do that for!!!
(LOL!)
Irregardless - it's regardless dumbasses
ReplyDeleteAlls I Know - b/c the word 'all' doesn't encompass quite enough for some stupid people
Anyways - It's either anyway or always. Why the confusion folks?
Supposably - it's actually supposedly, not sure how it got mangled like this
Loosing - I can't with this one. Really people? Really? It's LOSE! Why would you add an 'o' every single time?!
Alot - its two words, a lot, as in there's a lot of people who either never received an education or are visibly regressing, and don't blame the iPhone b/c I had to stop it to get a lot of these words through.
Aunt - As in not an ant but a person
aunt = ant
ReplyDeletethere/their/they're
to/too
it's/its
your/you're
People who say 'axed' instead of 'asked'.
People who say 'wit chew' instead of 'with you'.
Orientate. NOT a word. It's orient. You go to orientation to get oriented.
ReplyDeleteMy ex used to say something was a mute point instead of moot point. Used to drive me nuts!
I find Ont as annoying as the ont-sayers find Ant. So there. It's a free country.
ReplyDeleteMy other giant peeves are "across the pond" referencing things trans-atlantic, "at the end of the day", and most of all "proactive". Which doesn't mean anything different than "active". Fortunately, that one seems to be nearly dead.
Conversate vs Converse
ReplyDeletePeak vs Piqued
"My ex used to say something was a mute point instead of moot point. Used to drive me nuts!"
ReplyDeleteNo, it's a MOO point. You know, it's pointless...like the point a cow would make...so it's "a moo point."
It's spelled "per se" not "per say". That makes me crazy.
ReplyDeleteHow about the French word "voila!" written as "walla!"
And when people text "K" in lieu of "ok". Really? That extra letter would slow you down?
No! Wont slow me down! Just want to be kewl, thats all! Lol
DeleteAunt = Ant
ReplyDeleteWhere I'm at, where you at, where you're at, etc. drives me NUTS!!
Why the need for "at"? WHY?
Oh, and I pronounce it "ant," unless I'm talking to my brother's dog, in which case I'm "Auhntie." I...don't know why.
ReplyDeleteI am in agreement with pretty much everything listed above. One that really stands out to me lately, though, is using an apostrophe on a plural word. If a business does that in advertising, it especially irks me and makes me not want to support them.
"Conversate" instead of "Converse".
ReplyDeleteI absolutely cringe when I hear "You's" instead of "you guys" or "you all".
Sorry I say it like "Ant".
"SupposeBly"
"I COULD care less"? No.
"Your" instead of "you're".
Another popular bastardization of our language that hurts my ears is the substitution of the word "totally" with "totes."
ReplyDeleteUgh, "per say" and "walla." Definitely. I always feel like I'm being a snob when I judge people for that, but if one doesn't know how to spell it, one probably just shouldn't use it.
ReplyDelete"Aunt" like the bug.
ReplyDelete"Begs the question" used incorrectly, as it almost always is. It doesn't mean "raises" the question, dangit. It gets used on tv shows a lot, to make characters sound smart, when it makes me think the writers are actually idiots. It's particularly annoying when the mistake is coming out of a lawyer's mouth, since a lawyer should be more likely than most to understand what it really means. (It's a logic/rhetoric thing.)
Also, as already mentioned, all right is NOT one word. And, yes, very often it's supposed to be "and me" not "and I." Has anyone mentioned the trick of taking out the other person's name to see if "I" or "me" would make more sense on its own? It's the best technique I know of to judge.
"Mom called my brother and me after she landed in London."
"Mom called me after she landed in London."
"I" wouldn't sound terrible in the first sentence (largely because we're so used to hearing it misused like that, but "I" in the second one sounds stupid and most people can hear that if they test pronouns thusly.
@alicia, I decided to break up with a boyfriend after he said Conversate. Of course, there were other contributing factors, but conversate was the deal breaker.
ReplyDelete"Spoken, I really what when people go 'Really, Enty? REALLY?!' Ughhh so annoying."
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that the people who use that are trying to be funny and reference Seth and Amy? When I do it, that's what I'm doing. *shrug*
The phrase that drives me nuts - "par for the course". I have a family member who says it all the time, and I bite my tongue.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about amazing! The birth of a baby is amazing. Man landing on the moon is amazing. The aurora borealis is amazing. The fact that your child passed his spelling test does not make him amazing. It may mean he's intelligent or he studied hard, but he's not amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a spelling fanatic, my uncle is an English teacher so I think that is part of where it comes from. Poor grammar peeves me too but spelling causes tics. ;)
ReplyDeleteAunt--I'm a native New Englander so it's ahhnt
Oh, did anyone mention "cease and assist" instead of the correct "cease and desist"? Granted, if said quickly, "cease and assist" MIGHT sound the same. I hate seeing it written as such, though.
ReplyDeleteOh, also, "supposedly" means something that is supposed, i.e. "allegedly"; whereas "supposably" means something that COULD be supposed, i.e. "possibly". But both are valid adverb constructs, contrasting the actual with the potential. I'm sure a fellow grammar geek will dispute this in a soon-to-follow posting. But "supposable" has been in use in English since 1627... :)
ReplyDeleteOh wait!!! My ultimate worst pet peeve, is when people (more so 18 and above) say, "ME and my sister went to, or "ME and my friends like to," etc."
ReplyDeleteNow I am FAR from an English major, but, what has happened to basic education in America folks?
AKM, I hope you are joking about the "moot point" bit. Because the word actually is "moot."
ReplyDeleteOne thing I thought of that I haven't seen listed yet -- people using the word "unique" incorrectly. It drives me nuts! If something is unique, it is not rare or unusual. It is one of a kind. So no, that arched doorway isn't "unique." Nor is it "really" or "very" unique. Argh!
"Ant"
ReplyDeleteheroin/heroine. One is a drug. The other is a female protagonist. NOT he same thing!!!!
It also makes me nuts when people say they will "give 110%" or "on a scale of 1-10, I give it an 11".
I cannot stand when people say "a whole nother." "Nother" is not a word, it's either "another" or "whole other." I find myself tensing when I hear the phrase about to be uttered and breathing a sigh of relief if the proper wording is used. I've also audibly thanked the screenwriters when watching shows where it's used correctly :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm on the aunt=ant train.
I pronounce Aunt as ant as well. I think pronouncing it the other way is more of an east coast thing, although I rarely hear it used.
ReplyDeleteDefnitely 'I seen'. I say aunt as ONT.
ReplyDeleteI can't belieber people get all worked up about aunt!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's like people saying lahn as opposed to lawn
or paul, as pawl. Who cares, we all pronounce things different.
Getting the basic's of American English wrong (like when to use, I in place of me, etc) should get all of your panties in a knot.
Ok....I'm done.
(and I do pronounce lawn as lahn...so what now? You wanna meet out back ;))
@mother campfire....touch'
ReplyDeleteThat was my mom's pet peeve too. Hearing people say, "I seen it."
Ok..I'm really done. fatty's hitting the treadmill.
Just a few of the expressions that drive me crazy:
ReplyDelete"I don't disagree." (Aaargh! You agree or you disagree -- which is it?)
"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little." (Just gross.)
"Are you still picking?" or "Are you still working on that?" (As often said by restaurant wait-staff. I am dining, not picking or working.)
"He's in a world of hurt." (Just silly.)
"Torching" calories (Please, please, health magazines, think of a different alternative to "burning" calories.)
"Pull the door to." (What's wrong with "close the door"?)
and I meant touche'
ReplyDeletetypos...I'm sure there's typo peeve party. who proofreads comments. Lordy
Two that I hate: 1) When people say "old timer's disease" for "Alzheimer's disease." So ignorant. It is especially NAILS-ON-CHALKBOARD annoying when they have to say it more than once in a conversation. Yuck! 2) The stupid fad (trend?) of saying, "Seriously" or "Really" to show feigned disbelief just for dramatic effect. Stupid.
ReplyDelete@AKM the moo point threw me for abit of a loop. SO I looked it up....funny, very funny :)
ReplyDeleteGotta love and "Friends" reference. I especailly on the heels of yesterdays reference "im in an ATM vetibule with Jill Goodacre". Good one
Sorry for all my spacing and spelling errors. Now I feel shameful :(
ReplyDeleteTwo that I hate: 1) When people say "old timer's disease" for "Alzheimer's disease." So ignorant. It is especially NAILS-ON-CHALKBOARD annoying when they have to say it more than once in a conversation. Yuck! 2) The stupid fad (trend?) of saying, "Seriously" or "Really" to show feigned disbelief just for dramatic effect. Stupid.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@violet - Thank GOD somebody got it. ;-)
ReplyDelete"your" "you're","their", "they're" and "there"
ReplyDeletea animal when it should be AN animal...that drives e NUTS!
ant=aunt
"It also makes me nuts when people say they will 'give 110%' or 'on a scale of 1-10, I give it an 11.'"
ReplyDeleteThe "11" is a THIS IS SPINAL TAP reference.
I find it funny that in this thread people go on rants and then spell grammar as "grammer" (someone praised that we were all the "the grammer police"--but evidently not the spelling the police), and "seperate" instead of separate. I know I might have typing errors that result in spelling errors, but those two in particular indicate not knowing the difference. And on this thread in particular, that is amusing to me.
ReplyDelete