Lingusitics Language fails that make you angry

[KingNothing]

These are the misuses of our language that REALLY bug me:

- Misusing "literally". People say things like "I literally have a million things to do."
--- No, you do not.
--- To deal with these people, I usually say things like "I hear you, I figuratively have a project due Wednesday", or "I figuratively have to go to the bathroom."

- Borrow vs Lend.
- Pronouncing 'etc.' "Eck-Cetera". I absolutely despise this and all who do this. I have noticed that 100% of the human resources staff at my place of work does this.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

- Pronouncing 'etc.' "Eck-Cetera". I absolutely despise this and all who do this.

You're a little high strung, aren't you.

 

[micromass]

Reminds me of this:

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Using "fail" in the sense used in this thread title is a major one.

The correct word is "failure".

 

[fourier jr]

expresso instead of espresso

 

[Averagesupernova]

This thread has flustrated me.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

You're a little high strung, aren't you.

A "little" high strung?

 

[enigma]

less vs. fewer drives me up the wall.

It's "More movie, _FEWER_ commercials", TNT.

 

[jtbell]

"I could care less" which really means "I couldn't care less."

"Like" instead of "say", as in "He was like, 'I got to go to class next period.'"

 

[256bits]

The post could also be "Langauge fails that make you mad" as in crazy?

 

[zoobyshoe]

"Like" instead of "say", as in "He was like, 'I got to go to class next period.'"

Yeah, how do you explain that to a foreigner trying to learn English?

 

[FtlIsAwesome]

Reminds me of this:

Bwuhahaha! Oh yeah!

- Pronouncing 'etc.' "Eck-Cetera". I absolutely despise this and all who do this. I have noticed that 100% of the human resources staff at my place of work does this.

What is the correct way to say it? "Et-setera"?

 

[Galteeth]

Using "fail" in the sense used in this thread title is a major one.

The correct word is "failure".

Actually, this raises an interesting point. In linguistics, there is an ongoing debate beteen descriptivists and prescrpitivsts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_linguistics

Langauge constantly evolves. For example, there is little doubt that the english of Shakespeare's time is very different from modern english. Of course there was never a point at which group of people to decided to "update" the language. This occurred via small and gradual changes.
As words take on new meanings or uses, more and more people understand what is meant by the new usage or word. At what point does that new usage become an "official" part of the language?

I would argue that "fail" and "literally" are different cases. "Fail" is a specific extension of the word, making "fail" usable as a noun with specific syntax. The new meaning flows from the previous meaning. In the case of "literally" someone is using the implied literal meaning of the word as a form of hyperbole, while actually using the word to mean its opposite. This is different, because it's not a particularly coherent use of language. In other words, unlike "fail" the meaning is not clear, and it reduces rather then enhances the range of possible lingual expression.

 

[Adyssa]

For all intensive purposes.

lolspeak in general. omg wtf ur lmao derp etc >.>

 

[Pengwuino]

Actually, this raises an interesting point. In linguistics, there is an ongoing debate beteen descriptivists and prescrpitivsts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_linguistics

It is my understanding that the ongoing debate is whether or not English is actually a language.

 

[lisab]

For all intensive purposes.

lolspeak in general. omg wtf ur lmao derp etc >.>

"all intensive purposes" is a great one!

I once heard a mom say about her son's bad behavior, "I'm going to nip that in the butt before it gets out of hand!"

 

[PatrickPowers]

These are the misuses of our language that REALLY bug me:

- Misusing "literally". People say things like "I literally have a million things to do."
--- No, you do not.
--- To deal with these people, I usually say things like "I hear you, I figuratively have a project due Wednesday", or "I figuratively have to go to the bathroom."

- Borrow vs Lend.
- Pronouncing 'etc.' "Eck-Cetera". I absolutely despise this and all who do this. I have noticed that 100% of the human resources staff at my place of work does this.

"they were loosing the battle." I literally read that in a book ("The Hinge Factor").

 

[DaveC426913]

"I seen him at the pool." :grit teeth:

In a myriad of ways. : vision fading:

 

[vela]

When people hyper-correct and use I instead of me.

"The dog followed Sandra and I around the house."

lie vs. lay - almost no one seems to get this one right, so I think it's a lost cause.

 

[Jimmy]

When people hyper-correct and use I instead of me.

"The dog followed Sandra and I around the house."

That one bothers me as well. Who would say, "The dog followed I around the house?"

Where are you at? *cringe*

One should never end a sentence with the word at. :P

 

[Hurkyl]

One should never end a sentence with the word at. :P

...

 

[zoobyshoe]

In a myriad of ways. : vision fading:

In English, the term "myriad" is most commonly used to refer to a large number of an unspecified size. In this way "myriad" can be used as either a noun or an adjective.[1] Thus both "there are myriad people outside" and "there is a myriad of people outside" are correct.[2]

Merriam-Webster notes, "Recent criticism of the use of myriad as a noun, both in the plural form myriads and in the phrase a myriad of, seems to reflect a mistaken belief that the word was originally and is still properly only an adjective... however, the noun is in fact the older form, dating to the 16th century. The noun myriad has appeared in the works of such writers as Milton (plural myriads) and Thoreau (a myriad of), and it continues to occur frequently in reputable English."[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriad

 

[DaveC426913]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriad

Huh. Learn something new every day.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Here are some common mistakes people make in conversation.

reed - read. You read a newpaper, not reed it. That would be like rolling it up to look like a clarinet and playing on it.

red - read. You read a newspaper, not red it. That would be like taking red paint and covering what should be black and white all over. Except the Sunday funnies.

red - wreadte. You paint a newspaper red, not wreadte. That's not even a word.

write - right. You write a letter, not right a letter. Unless the letter was tilted.

wrote - rote. You wrote a letter, not rote it. That doesn't make any sense at all.

Please be more careful in your speech in the future in order to avoid these misunderstandings.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

That one bothers me as well. Who would say, "The dog followed I around the house?"

Where are you at? *cringe*

One should never end a sentence with the word at. :P

...

:)

Haven't enjoyed this, then?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KpmBI9AY2g&feature=related :)

 

[D4V1D]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up:
You're vs. Your
Their vs. There vs. They're

Also, I hate it when people put an 'a' in the word 'definitely'.
To quote a comic from theoatmeal.com, "If you put an 'a' in 'definitely', you are definitely an a-hole".

 

[Ben Niehoff]

How about when "definitely" turns into "defiantly"? This one always reveals who is relying on spell- and grammar-check, as neither one will catch this mistake.

 

[daveb]

How about when "definitely" turns into "defiantly"? This one always reveals who is relying on spell- and grammar-check, as neither one will catch this mistake.

I can forgive that slight mistake if it is due to a long string of text and a person merely overlooks it. I cringe more when it is spelled definately

 

[fourier jr]

m-w has a couple good lists of this sort of thing
http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-commonly-confused-words-vol-1/flaunt-flout.html
http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-commonly-confused-words-vol-2/flush-out-flesh-out.html

 

[vela]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up:
You're vs. Your
Their vs. There vs. They're

The one that really used to bug me is its vs. it's. Now I've become numb to it.

Misspellings don't really bother me, but some do mystify me, like taunt instead of taut. I guess it's not really a misspelling. Some people think taunt means taut.

 

[256bits]

English, she be a evolving , and them there fails will be part of a properly spoken language in the years to come..

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Here are some more:

advise vs. advice: "advise" is a verb; "advice" is a noun.

everyday vs. every day: "everyday" is an adjective meaning "commonplace". "every day" is an adverbial phrase meaning "daily".

Also a whole slew of words ending in -ant vs. -ent, e.g. "relevant", "independent"...these are often mixed up.

i.e. vs. e.g.: "i.e." stands for "id est", meaning "that is"; it should be followed by a paraphrase or something explanatory. "e.g." stands for "exempli gratia", meaning "for the sake of example", and should be followed by a list of examples.

I think the word with the most variety is "definitely". In addition to what's already been posted, let's not forget "definantly".

Edited to add "heighth" and "weighth". Should I start saying "breadt" and "widt" to such people?

 

[hotvette]

- the point is mute (instead of moot)

- I'm glad the word 'solution' has ceased being treated as a verb. For a few years (at least in business), people of been 'solutioning' problems.

 

[DaveC426913]

- the point is mute (instead of moot)

+1

"The point is moo -
- a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo."
Joey Tribbianni

 

[dacruick]

This might not exactly fit in with the others, but my pet peeve is when people say over-exaggerate. I've lost many arguments related to this before, as it has shown up in a dictionary or two. The redundancy kills me. It just gets me over-overwhelmed...

 

[DaveC426913]

This might not exactly fit in with the others, but my pet peeve is when people say over-exaggerate. I've lost many arguments related to this before, as it has shown up in a dictionary or two. The redundancy kills me. It just gets me over-overwhelmed...

You should redouble your efforts to remain calm.

 

[DaveC426913]

If I've told you once I've told you a million times - don't hyperbolize!

(OK, not a real one.)

 

[dacruick]

You should redouble your efforts to remain calm.

How do you know I doubled them already? I think the only option for me is to play it by year.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Huh. Learn something new every day.

I didn't know this either. I was just checking to see if the "misuse" had finally become acceptable, as often happens. Turns out it actually preceded the "proper" use in acceptability.

 

[jtbell]

- I'm glad the word 'solution' has ceased being treated as a verb. For a few years (at least in business), people of been 'solutioning' problems.

I wish we could get rid of a few more noun-to-verb conversions, such as "to gift."

 

[zoobyshoe]

The one that really used to bug me is its vs. it's.

I write "it's" for both more often than any other living English speaker. The idea that a possessive must have an apostrophe + s seems to over ride all other considerations.

 

[dacruick]

I write "it's" for both more often than any other living English speaker. The idea that a possessive must have an apostrophe + s seems to over ride all other considerations.

Same here! Although, microsoft word has been training me over the past few years to remember so now I'm pretty good I think.

The one that I hate to mess up is their vs they're. It makes you look ultra stupid when you screw it up.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Same here! Although, microsoft word has been training me over the past few years to remember so now I'm pretty good I think.

The one that I hate to mess up is their vs they're. It makes you look ultra stupid when you screw it up.

I have their, there, and they're pretty well separated in my mind. "It's" is the one that I have to keep conscious track of. "It's" would be right for the possessive were it not for the existence of the contraction, which has to be kept separate. "Its" requires you to break a perfectly good rule in order to accommodate another situation.

 

[hotvette]

My current #1 annoyance is the repeated use of 'like'. It's almost as bad as 'you know'. Interesting that it's a verbal thing only, not written.

 

[vela]

"Its" requires you to break a perfectly good rule in order to accommodate another situation.

Not really. You don't say I's, you's, he's, she's, we's, or they's either. Possessive for pronouns never followed the apostrophe-s rule.

 

[Jimmy]

:)

Haven't enjoyed this, then?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KpmBI9AY2g&feature=related :)

I don't have a problem with that. I think most would agree that song lyrics are an exception to all them rules.

 

[FtlIsAwesome]

It is my understanding that the ongoing debate is whether or not English is actually a language.

Yep, it's actually a dialect of European.

 

[epenguin]

The post could also be "Langauge fails that make you mad" as in crazy?

How much is this site US, how much UK and how much other?

Many of these complaints must surely be particular to one side or another.

Because of the seeming US majority I found myself using in my very last post the expression "loused up" thinking to be better understood. On reflection I hope it's not too rude. I picked that up long long ago from Dean Martin's "Who loused up the house?" in the film "Some Came Running". In context that came across very funny to English.

A word that irritated me when first here was 'awesome!' Vivid and witty first time, then becomes a tiresome cliché that devalues a word. However I think it has worn off now and seems not to be heard so often.

 

[AlephZero]

Not really. You don't say I's, you's, he's, she's, we's, or they's either. Possessive for pronouns never followed the apostrophe-s rule.

Oh yes you do, in some parts of the UK, as abbreviations for "I am" "You are" etc. Not to menton future tenses like "I be'll going to London tomorrow" (I will be...)

The apostrophe s was originally an abbreviation for "his", i.e "John his book" (or more likely "John hys boke") became "John's book". But I don't think a book was ever described by saying "it his cover is red".

 

[AlephZero]

My biggest peeve is spelling not grammar. Specifically, US computer programmers writing spell checkers, who think British English words end in -ise not -ize. They should check the Oxford English Dictionary some time. The "-ize" spelling goes back hundreds of years in the UK, apart from a few exceptions.