The Use Of Words...Some Pet Peeves Of Mine, What Are Yours?

[flowers]

Words that are used these days that are a pet peeve of mine.

Homeland Security. I hate that word "homeland" for me it sounds so Hiltler like.
Democracy. They always say we are a democracy when we are not.
Level the playing field.
Social Justice.

What are some of yours you don't care for or are a pet peeve of yours?

[GourmetDan]

'begs the question' for 'raises the question'.

Begging the question is a logical fallacy that has nothing to do with prompting a question. 



'anxious' for 'eager'.

Anxious means 'filled with anxiety', not eagerly anticipating something.

[DCPatriot]

"irregardless"..........UGH!


"should have WENT with us".......you'd be surprised how many people use it there.


and incorrect usage of "to...and too"

[Oceander]

Fair

[alicewonders]

Let me be clear....

 

[mountaineer]

Hopefully, as in, "Hopefully, the rain will hold off," when one means, "I hope the rain holds off."

Using "alumni" when only one person is referenced, e.g., "He's an alumni of our high school."

[massadvj]

Mixing singular and plural.  For example: "The consumer wants good value for their money."  I encounter it all the time in my students' writing and it drives me nuts.  I can't get them to stop it.  Another one is the overuse of the word "you" instead of maintaining a first or third person narrative.  They just love to slip into the comfortable, non-threatening second person.

It's like when you go to a discussion forum, you know, and you post a reply... (instead of just saying I went to a discussion forum and posted a reply).

[massadvj]

Hopefully, as in, "Hopefully, the rain will hold off," when one means, "I hope the rain holds off."

Using "alumni" when only one person is referenced, e.g., "He's an alumni of our high school."

I hate when they use "media" as singular instead of plural. 

[mountaineer]

I hate when they use "media" as singular instead of plural.

I quite agree. Too bad so many "media types," including conservative talk radio hosts, don't understand the correct use of the word.

[andy58-in-nh]

I hate when they use "media" as singular instead of plural.

The Media are asses.

[mountaineer]

My local TV newscast is a daily adventure in bad grammar. Continuing on ...

[240B]

The word "saw" is all but gone. From newscasters to reporters to editors and people everywhere, the common usage is, "I seen it!". No one says, "I saw it!" anymore.

[EC]

People who complain about the word ain't. It's a valid word.

Massadvj - you'd go nuts on my writing. I mangle singular and plural (and tenses) all the time. It's deliberate though.

[DCPatriot]

I mangle singular and plural (and tenses) all the time. It's deliberate though.

And why is that?  Care to expound?

[EC]

And why is that?  Care to expound?

Singular and plural is usually an accident due to not paying attention. Sometimes though it is deliberate - I use it to show the multiple facets of an individual. There are multiple you's. That sometimes needs be acknowledged to make things more real.

Tenses - well, I use a change of tense to show a flashback or flash forward, instead of making a scene break. Or sometimes I screw up. 

My poor editor goes nuts over it - she is very OCD about grammar.

[evadR]

I mangle singular and plural (and tenses) all the time. It's deliberate though.

And why is that?  Care to expound?

Ditto.
You'ns and youses are two of my favorites.

[massadvj]

People who complain about the word ain't. It's a valid word.

Massadvj - you'd go nuts on my writing. I mangle singular and plural (and tenses) all the time. It's deliberate though.

I am paid to prepare college students for professional writing.  There are certain things that identify a writer as an amateur when they show up in a business report.  The two I identified are big red flags that tell the reader "I am an amateur." 

In script writing or fiction, it would be a far different story.  Ditto in a discussion forum.

Still, it doesn't hurt to show some writing discipline in discussion fora. 

[katzenjammer]

"At the end of the day" has been overused to the point of annoyance for me.

I also see a lot of "there, they're, and their" confusion that is annoyingly distracting.

[NavyCanDo]

"My Bad"    Where the H%## did that horrible phrase come from?  Destroys the redemptive power and the  meaning of the words "I'm Sorry" changing it to a say and forget now lets move on bad grammar quip.   

[NavyCanDo]

And call ne stupid if you want, but I just don't get "Stupid is as Stupid Does".    If someone is being a dumb ass, then say so, instead of relying on a metrosexual phrase popularized by Forest Gump.

[mountaineer]

Memo to America: one does not make a noun plural by adding an apostrophe and an "s," e.g., "I have two dog's."
Two dog's what? Two dog's leashes, collars, squeaky toys? (Or is that "toy's"?)

[EC]

Still, it doesn't hurt to show some writing discipline in discussion fora.

Totally agree. It is a good habit to get in to, to use reasonably correct English on the forums. Don't hassle me for my over use of commas though!

[Cincinnatus]

I have always been highly annoyed by the sentence: Barack Obama is President of the United States of America.

[flowers]

I have always been highly annoyed by the sentence: Barack Obama is President of the United States of America.

[flowers]

Memo to America: one does not make a noun plural by adding an apostrophe and an "s," e.g., "I have two dog's."
Two dog's what? Two dog's leashes, collars, squeaky toys? (Or is that "toy's"?)

My gramar is terrible. Please feel free to correct me at any time that goes for you or anyone else here.

[EC]

My gramar is terrible. Please feel free to correct me at any time that goes for you or anyone else here.

Now I have the giggles.

[flowers]

Now I have the giggles.

[Allegra]

Memo to America: one does not make a noun plural by adding an apostrophe and an "s," e.g., "I have two dog's."
Two dog's what? Two dog's leashes, collars, squeaky toys? (Or is that "toy's"?)

That's also a huge pet peeve of mine.  I've even erased errant apostrophes off of restaurant blackboards.  ("Margarita's" "Enchilada's," etc. Sets my teeth on edge.)

I also hate the phrase "It is what it is." How profound.

[evadR]

its and it's

[happyg]

Ebonics and blacks who don't bother to pronounce words. For instance, wif = with, and using me instead of I. Using words, such as using her or she, him or his is common, too.  I don't get bothered by the wrong usage, but do notice.

[mountaineer]

Ah yes, the old improper pronoun.
 "Me and him are going out."
"Will you join Mary and I for dinner?"

Please feel free to correct me at any time that goes for you or anyone else here.

I wouldn't think of it.

[happyg]

Please feel free to correct me at any time that goes for you or anyone else here.

Ah yes, the old improper pronoun.
 "Me and him are going out."
"Will you join Mary and I for dinner?"
I wouldn't think of it.

I'm with you. It is not up to me to correct the grammar or spelling of anyone, unless it's impossible to read. The mistakes on posts are mostly typos,  and/or being in a hurry.

[alicewonders]

I'm with you. It is not up to me to correct the grammar or spelling of anyone, unless it's impossible to read. The mistakes on posts are mostly typos,  and/or being in a hurry.

Most of the errors I make are when I'm posting from my phone.

[famousdayandyear]

I see this all the time. Misuse of words that sound alike, but are very different.

Their, There, They're are very different usages. While "sounding" the same, they mean very different things.

Their misuse is either from bad education, laziness, or ignorance.  It is our language.  Please do not abuse it.  Thank you. 

[EC]

One of my huge blind spots is ie/ei words. Like kryptonite to me.

[DCPatriot]

My pet peeve is when somebody pretends they are a mountain hillbilly....constructing his own language and formats....rendering his posts basically crap.   

[Lando Lincoln]

Loose and lose misuse drives me bonkers.

[Lando Lincoln]

My pet peeve is when somebody pretends they are a mountain hillbilly....constructing his own language and formats....rendering his posts basically crap.   

Um... yes, that would do it.

[EC]

My pet peeve is when somebody pretends they are a mountain hillbilly....constructing his own language and formats....rendering his posts basically crap.   

Ista say not talk my daylect? No good, DC. Is earn stripe for spek liek this.

[famousdayandyear]

Yall jes ignant.

[DCPatriot]

Ista say not talk my daylect? No good, DC. Is earn stripe for spek liek this.

You started this thread....not me!        ....or is that "I"?     

[EC]

Tell you true, writing dialect is murder. 

[famousdayandyear]

You all ever read William Faulkner?  or Mark Twain?

[EC]

You all ever read William Faulkner?  or Mark Twain?

Read em - envy the shit out of them. Good story, effortless prose in the words of their characters.

[famousdayandyear]

Read em - envy the shit out of them. Good story, effortless prose in the words of their characters.

Happy one of our posters has read them.  Wolves to you EC  new gadsen8888

(PS.  The wolf has been banished.  So here's a rattlesnake.  In praise--to be clear)

[alicewonders]

My pet peeve is when somebody pretends they are a mountain hillbilly....constructing his own language and formats....rendering his posts basically crap.   

You mean like this?

"I tell you young'un - my Aint Essie May, you know - the one that lives up yunder on Beefhide Holler?  She tole me, the uther night - that she saw a haint!  She did!  She said dat haint spolt her milk - turned it blinket!  Aint Essie got up outta bed and shot at it with her shotgun - she said that haint just disapeered outta plain site!  Said the dawg never even woke up!

'Course, Pappaw always said Aint Essie was tetched."

[famousdayandyear]

You mean like this?

"I tell you young'un - my Aint Essie May, you know - the one that lives up yunder on Beefhide Holler?  She tole me, the uther night - that she saw a haint!  She did!  She said dat haint spolt her milk - turned it blinket!  Aint Essie got up outta bed and shot at it with her shotgun - she said that haint just disapeered outta plain site!  Said the dawg never even woke up!

'Course, Pappaw always said Aint Essie was tetched."

Dat der deserves three wolves.  But de wolf done be kilt off!  Yee-haw, Alice

[happyg]

You mean like this?

"I tell you young'un - my Aint Essie May, you know - the one that lives up yunder on Beefhide Holler?  She tole me, the uther night - that she saw a haint!  She did!  She said dat haint spolt her milk - turned it blinket!  Aint Essie got up outta bed and shot at it with her shotgun - she said that haint just disapeered outta plain site!  Said the dawg never even woke up!

'Course, Pappaw always said Aint Essie was tetched."

LOL! I do know a couple who used to speak similar to that when they came to Ohio to work at a local plant back in the fifties.  It took a long time to be able to understand them. This was back in the fifties. One family was from NC and the other from Hazard, Ky. We are still friends.

[GourmetDan]

LOL! I do know a couple who used to speak similar to that when they came to Ohio to work at a local plant back in the fifties.  It took a long time to be able to understand them. This was back in the fifties. One family was from NC and the other from Hazard, Ky. We are still friends.

Grew up in SE Okla.  A family from NJ moved to town and we could hardly understand each other...

(My 1,000th post and so little progress on being understood.)   

[happyg]

Grew up in SE Okla.  A family from NJ moved to town and we could hardly understand each other...

They were very interesting back then. The girls stayed with us for a while, until the family got on their feet. One brother ended up building a house, mostly by himself. Sometimes, my dad would help him.  The guy retired from his construction company, a millionaire. One of the girls and her daughters own a large cleaning service. They came here with nothing, received no government help, and the entire family is middle income to wealthy. They all still have a southern accent, and they speak very clearly. For a while back then, I started to pick up on their accent. LOL!