Something that grinds my gears

[Dembadon]

I think about things like this often, and would generally agree with those who prefer to correct others. However, it can get annoying if done excessively in a casual setting.

As long as we're making lists...

Some rhetorical tautologies that bug me (not that I haven't used some of them myself on occasion ):

"the reason why" or "the reason is because" -- "reason" is already, by definition, a description of why something happens.
"free gift" -- "gift" is, by definition, something given without charge.
"cheapest price" -- "cheapest" means "lowest priced", thus "cheapest price" is actually "lowest priced price". Also it is almost a non-sense, as a price is not to be bought.
"first introduced" -- "introduced" generally implies that it is the first time that someone or something has been presented.
"new innovation" -- "innovation" is defined as something new.
"forward planning" or "planning ahead" -- "planning" is always done in advance.
"faster speed" -- "Faster" means "greater speed", so "faster speed" is actually "greater speed speed".
"over-exaggerate" -- "exaggerate" means "overstate", thus "over-exaggerate" means "over overstate".
"short summary" -- a "summary" is a "shortened" version of a text

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_%28rhetoric%29"

 

[Gokul43201]

That there 'off of' is heathen speech.

I use either version depending on my mood.

I'm not at all irked by that usage. But Danger's comment was the first time I'd heard anyone say that 'off of' was the correct usage and 'off' was wrong.

The one that really gets me is 'is is'.

 

[Evo]

The one that really gets me is 'is is'.

As in "What it is is this"?

 

[lisab]

As in "What it is is this"?

What that is is, is an overuse of is.

 

[Dembadon]

As in "What it is is this"?

A co-worker of mine uses "is is" a lot. He says, "The deal is, is that..."

 

[Proton Soup]

meh. language evolves too fast to overly concerned with these things.

 

[Gokul43201]

As in "What it is is this"?

No, that's perfectly fine.

Some examples of what isn't okay:

So my hope is, is that we can find a sensible way to deal with it that doesn’t squelch economic growth...

And so what I’ve been clear about is, is that I’ve got a set of preferences...

And so my hope and expectation is, is that we get this law passed.

Edit: Lisa and Dembadon got the one that I was talking about. So I guess I'm not the only one that's noticed this behavior.

 

[Danger]

But Danger's comment was the first time I'd heard anyone say that 'off of' was the correct usage and 'off' was wrong.

You remind me of one of my favourite pins (I collect them). The message on it is "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."

 

[Gokul43201]

Hey, that's a paraprosdokian! (only recently learned that word, right here --> https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2937610#post2937610 )

 

[ThomasT]

Have you ever applied the knowledge you've learned through education to a real-life situation to come up with a solution? (hopefully yes) Then while doing this you are met with the response "this isn't physics/math/chemistry/biology/government/whatever class!"

No. Any time that I actually came up with a solution to a real-life situation based on something that I'd learned in school people would say stuff like "awesome" or "cool" or whatever. Perhaps you should shift to a different circle of friends.

 

[Evo]

Edit: Lisa and Dembadon got the one that I was talking about. So I guess I'm not the only one that's noticed this behavior.

for gokul



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHp0LxJixvw

 

[lisab]

Isn't there a word for that? It's like a mental stutter. Now I'm going to go nuts trying to remember.

You mean when people say "uuuuuuh" two or three times per sentence, to fill pauses as they think of what word to use? I think that's called "being a human dial tone".

 

[Evo]

You mean when people say "uuuuuuh" two or three times per sentence, to fill pauses as they think of what word to use? I think that's called "being a human dial tone".

LOL, yes, that's it. I changed my post to the video.

 

[lisab]

LOL, yes, that's it. I changed my post to the video.

That's a great video!

 

[Galteeth]

English is a constantly evolving language. IMO, it's a bit silly to get annoyed at different uses of language where the meaning remains clear. Especially on the internet, there is an entire "dialect" that you probably wouldn't recognize if you didn't frequent certain types of websites.

 

[Brin]

Begging the Question!

Get it right! Everyone keeps misusing this!

http://begthequestion.info/

It doesn't mean to "raise the question," its a logical fallacy akin to "circular reason." So when you say "it begs the question," it normally doesn't, and what you mean is: "It raises the question."

Have a good day.

 

[Grep]

As long as someone doesn't mix up "your" and "you're", I can probably live with it. Well... Ok, I'll admit that I really hate it when people spell "a lot" as one word (i.e. alot). Bugs the heck out of me. Good thing I can't hear people pronounce it incorrectly.

Also, pronouncing the 't' in often. Really annoying. But not as annoying as some of the phrases you hear in business circles these days. Don't get me started on those...

Some of the worst sins in writing, to me, are things like the infamous "wall of text". Paragraphs are wonderful things!

Can't help but noticing there's disagreement between the two sites you posted, Evo. The mispronounced words list says it's "spit and image" not "spitting image", while the non-errors one says it's not an error. Just goes to show.

 

[Proton Soup]

As long as someone doesn't mix up "your" and "you're"

i catch myself doing this unintentionally all the time. i'll be typing, and maybe in a hurry, and it just comes out as some phonetic equivalent. usually, i'll catch it and correct before moving on. there's also some little trick my brain plays where i can even proof something after typing, and perhaps never even see an omitted word. must be fairly common, because i even see it from professional journalists who should really know better (and you know they do, because it's not a consistent error).

i also used to do this odd contraction thing when taking notes(handwriting). whenever the words "with" and "the" came together, i'd accidentally write it as "withe".

 

[jambaugh]

Another one that I've been seeing more and more lately is "to" instead of "too" as in "there's to many for us sheriff!" I see it a lot on text messages which is forgivable given the keyboard issues but in major blog articles it is too damned sloppy!.

 

[mugaliens]

i catch myself doing this unintentionally all the time.

Same. I try not to, but both my parents and I have noticed the older we get, the more often this happens.

 

[Cod]

I get frustrated when people start comments with "Personally, I..." or "I personally...". If you say "I", you're implying personally. Also, double-negatives drive me up the wall. Most days at work I hear someone state, "I cannot go around not doing that."

 

[Evo]

Can't help but noticing there's disagreement between the two sites you posted, Evo. The mispronounced words list says it's "spit and image" not "spitting image", while the non-errors one says it's not an error. Just goes to show.

In the case of conflicting information, my decision will be the correct one. I'll let you know when I make one.:tongue:

 

[Gokul43201]

for gokul



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHp0LxJixvw

Late reading this post (too little time, too many posts). Thanks for the video.

 

[Danger]

I tend to not to correct people in conversation, even though some of their gaffs drive me up the wall. My intolerance tends toward written (or typed, or whatever) forms.
Another one that irritates me is the constant misplacement of "really" in a sentence. For example, in a current Fountain Tire commercial, Jon (the actor) says "I should really be steering." There are several other examples similar to that. How hard is it to put the words in the proper sequence?

In going back through this thread for the sake of freshening my memory, I noticed a typo in my own post which is too old to be edited. (Strangely, nobody nailed me for it.) There are too many (two) "to's" in my first sentence. It's embarrassing, but somewhat amusing (almost ironic) given the context.
Gokul, thanks for that link to paraprosdokian quotes. I've always recognized Groucho as a comedic genius, but was unaware that he was the origin of the phrase on my pin.

 

[PhDorBust]

Who cares. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a little mind.