01-02-2004, 08:08 PM | #81 (permalink) |
Crazy
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I hate the whole comma after the last item in a list thing, too. But I was under the impression that it was "correct" to do it that way. I've always yelled at those who don't. Is ommitting the last comma actually correct? THE PAIN!
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If life gives you lemons...throw them at someone. |
01-04-2004, 11:42 PM | #82 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: Nowhere
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The last comma in a list is a stylistic difference. The comma is usually left out by journalists, but put in by more formal writers. Personally, I prefer leaving it in for the sake of sense.
As for 'forte' and 'cheque'...they're French words that have been Americanized. Language is ever-changing. There are cases where it's good to resist, but others where it is not. As for "Where are you from?"...I suppose you could rearrange it thusly: "From whence are you?" or "From where do you come?" However, those are quite awkward and a good example of why the "never end with a preposition" rule is crap. |
01-05-2004, 02:09 PM | #83 (permalink) |
Tone.
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I think my pet peeve is the misuse of the word "an" when used in front of words starting with "h." Example: "an historic occasion."
It's not an historic occasion, it's a historic occasion. H is not a vowel. If the H is pronounced, it's a, not an. You don't say "an harp" or "an horse" do you? It's my pet peeve because when I say "a historic" I almost ALWAYS get some doof adopting a (not an) holier-than-thou attitude trying to smugly correct my grammar. |
01-05-2004, 04:05 PM | #85 (permalink) |
Tone.
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well that site kinda supports me All it says is that if you use "an" wrong, it probably won't get you in trouble.
grammar is grammar, no matter what your accent. I've never heard anyone from Brooklyn say "an 'arp" or "an 'orse," and I've heard many Brooklynites refer to "a yooman bean" (a human being) without using "an." |
01-05-2004, 08:31 PM | #86 (permalink) |
The Best thing that never happened to you
Location: Silverdale, WA
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My pet peeve would have to be people that send me emails that I have to unscramble. I mean, if you've got enough time to sit and write me an email, at least spell check it. I've always been one for spelling anyway, so I don't even read the email for content first. Now I read for spelling and grammar first. I've even been such an asshole as to correct the errors and send the message back to them without even reading it first. Kinda funny now that I think of it, I never got that message back. Hope it wasn't too terribly important!
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I'm so in love with a girl... she is my everything |
01-08-2004, 03:02 PM | #88 (permalink) | |
Banned
Location: Near NYC
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Quote:
Engineering student asking direction from Liberal Art student: Engineer: "Hey, where is the student center at?" Liberal Art: "At the College of Inane Studies, we do not end our sentences in prepositions!" Engineer: "O.K., where is the student center at, asshole." |
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01-10-2004, 02:03 PM | #89 (permalink) |
Drifting
Administrator
Location: Windy City
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My number one peeve is people who write like they talk, especially when their language is very loose. Trying to read a paper where there's a like, um, you know? at the beginning or ending of every sentence is enough to make me nauseous.
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Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna |
01-11-2004, 09:21 AM | #91 (permalink) |
Deliberately unfocused
Location: Amazon.com and CDBaby
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The substitution of "esoteric" for "aesthetic" riles me, and I'm amazed at how often I hear it.
My boss abbreviates "information" as "infro" rather than "info," and my wife, when faced with a connundrum, is in a "Catch 20-20." I feel it best for my personal well-being to not correct either one.
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"Regret can be a harder pill to swallow than failure .With failure you at least know you gave it a chance..." David Howard |
01-25-2004, 03:25 PM | #92 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Milwaukee
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FIRST ANNUAL
Aaarrrgh! Nothing sends me into fits of rage so easily as this one does. NOTHING is first annual, EVER! You may call it "first ever" and then, after you have the second one a year later, then, THEN you may attach the word annual to it. The world may explode tomorrow, and then, when it does, the resulting lack of existance would pretty much ensure that you won't be around to have your second annual whatever-the-fuck you had, thus rendering your Goddamned First annual thingamagig not very annual, now wouldn't it? **Unclenches teeth** As for my other pet peeves... eXpecially v. especially waRsh v. wash affect v. effect and finally, the switching of lend and borrow. For Fucks sake people, lend = to give, borrow = to take. So no, I cannot borrow you five bucks, and don't even think about borrowing your best friend that DVD they wanted to watch.
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Don't blame me... *I* voted for Kodos! Last edited by scansinboy; 01-25-2004 at 03:31 PM.. |
01-25-2004, 06:04 PM | #93 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Denver, CO
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This was forwarded to me a few months back. It's not all grammar, but it seems to apply:
Actual Analogies and Metaphors Found in High School Essays. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a Guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the danger of looking at a solar eclipse without one those boxes with a pinhole in it. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
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"We must have waffles. We must all have waffles, forthwith. Oh, we must think. We must all have waffles and think, each and every one of us to the very best of his ability." -- Professor Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D. Last edited by FleaCircus; 01-25-2004 at 06:07 PM.. |
01-26-2004, 09:12 AM | #95 (permalink) | |
plays well with others
Location: Canada
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I love how many posters in this thread have expressed their grammatical and idiomatic dislikes of the english language without verifying the accuracy of their pet-peeves. Yes, I'm sure someone will find an error in what I'm posting as well, but consider these points:
1) irregardless is not an accepted word. The supposed origin is that it's a hybridization of "regardless" and "irrespective", and though it has appeared in speech and some edited works, it will continue to be mocked as long as it is used. It is not the same as flammable/inflammable, and most dictionaries I surveyed suggested the word "regardless" instead of "irregardless." 2) the use of "an" before words that begin with "h" is dependent on the sound of the "h" in the following word. If the letter is prounounced as "huh" (like Howard, huckster, and hilarous), the "an" is not necessary; "a" will do. from: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html Quote:
3) The use of the phrase "begs the question". Truthfully, this phrase will soon mean nothing more than "so...", as in a logical statement/question, or "raises the question". e.g. current usage: "Many children die in school bus crashes every year. Which begs the question, Why do so many children continue to ride the bus?" this is wrong, wrong, wrong.... "Begging the question" is the answering of a problem using the question as basis for solution, or reverting to circular reasoning. We know God exists because we can see the perfect order of His Creation, an order which demonstrates supernatural intelligence in its design. This answer "begs the question". Listen to your newscaster on the radio/television, and count how many times it is used and misused. I would guess that 99% of the time, it's being used to mean "raises the question." /end Last edited by kulrblind; 01-26-2004 at 09:14 AM.. |
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02-08-2004, 01:49 AM | #97 (permalink) | |
Crazy
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Quote:
__________________
Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty. |
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02-08-2004, 05:31 PM | #99 (permalink) | |
Insane
Location: Denver, CO
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Quote:
__________________
"We must have waffles. We must all have waffles, forthwith. Oh, we must think. We must all have waffles and think, each and every one of us to the very best of his ability." -- Professor Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D. |
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02-08-2004, 10:45 PM | #100 (permalink) |
I run E.
Location: New York
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Is there another word for "anal retentive" that doesn't sound like you're holding your shit in? If there is, the word would describe my hypercritical reading. That's not to say that I don't make frequent errors.
Also, spellcheck has ruined my once flawless spelling. Alas, I am still one to call the kettle black with great frequency. I am particularly bothered by menu misspellings which I notice nearly every time I eat out, ever in restaurants that have $25 entrees. ***edit*** People who say ecksetera instead of etcetera drive me fucking crazy! Also, lie-Barry in leiu of library.
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I hold with those that favor fire. Last edited by eyeronic; 02-09-2004 at 12:11 AM.. |
02-09-2004, 01:20 AM | #101 (permalink) |
Cracking the Whip
Location: Sexymama's arms...
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I have training in choral singing, so not surprisingly, most of my grammatical pet peaves stem from my experience there...
Lute: It is pronounced "L'yute", not LOOT!!! Our: Like hour, it has two syllibals!! Not ARE!! Anything two words where the first ends in "t" and the second word is "you". This is usually butchered, as in "I wantchu" or "I see thatchu". ARRRGH! *edit: oops, thought of another, From the two books of the same titles: There is no "cow" in Moscow (long O sound at the end) and There is no zoo in Zoology (the zoo part is more like "oh" when in the longer word)
__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate! Last edited by Lebell; 02-09-2004 at 01:23 AM.. |
02-09-2004, 03:29 PM | #103 (permalink) | |
I'm not about getting creamed, I'm about winning!
Location: K-Town, TN
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Quote:
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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." --Aristotle |
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02-10-2004, 11:31 PM | #104 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: Somewhere, Insignificant
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I friggin' hate marketspeak. Like people saying i have "T" instead of I am tired. Why make up ridiculously stupid phrases instead of using perfectly good and real english?
Also the 110% thing bugs me because by default 110% will revert to 100% by default. |
02-13-2004, 02:46 PM | #105 (permalink) |
Psycho
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Two words: "should of"
Maybe that's a spelling issue. I don't know... EDIT: Someone had that one. How about this: "very original"
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A little silliness now and then is cherished by the wisest men. -- Willy Wonka Last edited by balderdash111; 02-13-2004 at 03:20 PM.. |
02-16-2004, 11:07 PM | #108 (permalink) |
Location: Canada
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Too lazy to read ALL of the posts... but
Their vs They're vs There and you're vs your drive me nuts if people screw it up while trying to correct someone else. I must restrain myself from trying to beat down people who respond with "your all stupid" Ack - it hurts to even type it. (Oh yes, ditto on the whole I'm not perfect thing either - but c'mon people!) heh heh
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-=[ Merlocke ]=- |
02-17-2004, 06:08 AM | #109 (permalink) | |
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
Location: Everywhere work sends me
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Quote:
I cringe the most when I hear "yous" as in "yous guys" and yes, I do hear it.. My mother was a teacher, two of my aunts were teachers, and both grandmothers were teachers..
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?" -- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death |
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02-18-2004, 06:58 AM | #112 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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My pet grammar peave would be bloody Wendy's. I'm not sure if you know it but in australia its a sort of icecream, milkshake, smoothy take away shop. I understand the shop is named Wendy's and the 's is appropriate because it says that the shop belongs to wendy. What gets me however is when advertising Wendy's products such as the smoothies, ice chillers etc. all the advertising material uses an 's i.e. smoothy's or chilla's - i would like to ask just what exactly belongs to wendy's smoothies and chillers - I was not aware food and drink could own anything??
i understand this may be some marketing genius at work but it shits me. |
02-19-2004, 11:17 PM | #113 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: i live in the state of denial
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my peeve would have to be subject-verb agreement. I HATE it when people say things like "those trucks is driving really fast" and "wow, that bird are flying high". these are both things i heard fairly recently. also "ain't" and "ya'll". i guess not being from the south and living in the south caused this, but damn!! "i ain't got no money"? ain't got no friggin common sense, either
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02-24-2004, 01:55 PM | #115 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: ...We have a problem.
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Provably instead of probably - similar to the supposably vs. supposedly that was listed earlier.
Using "on" before a date instead of just beginning with the month. "Ya know" before every sentence and "like" interspersed within. The improper use of ellipsis... Towards instead of toward. Young child - all children are young!!! Ooh do I hate that one... Anytime anyone says "any hoo" or "I'll talk at you" instead of "let's speak/I'll call later". Another one that makes my skin crawl.
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Cruel words erode self-esteem like the ocean eats away the shore. |
02-26-2004, 12:04 AM | #116 (permalink) |
Omnipotent Ruler Of The Tiny Universe In My Mind
Location: Oreegawn
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i hate it when people say 'supposed to', 'post to.'
the hicks in my town pronounce 'both', 'bolth.' 'you's guys.' Lastly. and this one drives like a nail into my skull. NUCLEAR NU-CLEAR. How anyone can manage to be so stupid as to fuck this up is beyond me. (I know i should be a bit more understanding, but my hatred of 'nuculear' goes beyond any logical explanation.)
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Words of Wisdom: If you could really get to know someone and know that they weren't lying to you, then you would know the world was real. Because you could agree on things, you could compare notes. That must be why people get married or make Art. So they'll be able to really know something and not go insane. |
03-04-2004, 07:48 PM | #117 (permalink) | |
Upright
Location: USA
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This has been mentioned but, the misuse of homonyms absolutely infuriates me!!! The most common error seems to be with: There, Their, They're
I also hate problems with agreement: Quote:
"I'm not afraid of nothing". Should be: "I am not afraid of anything". "She literally died when I told her". Really? So, when is the funeral? |
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03-05-2004, 11:40 AM | #118 (permalink) | ||
Location: Waterloo, Ontario
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Quote:
It's not even necessarily their fault. A common English protocol is to ignore the negative, like in the question "Don't you like it?" If they do like it, their answer is typically "yes," even though the question asked the opposite. So, if the question was "Do you like it?" and the answer is "Yes," then the answer to "Don't you like it?" should really be "No." This problem seems to be specific to English, too. For instance, the Japanese, have no problems with their inversions or their double negatives. Quote:
Although one might be generous and just call these misuses "exaggerations" but I honestly think they're born out of ignorance. If you don't realize you're "exaggerating," can you really be exaggerating? It doesn't mean this literally by definition but "close" to it? I don't mean literally literally but close to it? |
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03-05-2004, 09:07 PM | #119 (permalink) |
Naughty Just Right
Location: Euphoria
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I struggle with the preposition at the end of a sentence.
"where are you going at?" NO! NO! Simply ...Where are you going? And when people don't know when to use I or me.
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In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus |
Tags |
grammatical, peeves, pet |
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