Language Peeves
 

Are there things some people say - misued words, stupid things, overused cliches, that drive you nuts?

Here are some of mine:

Using the word "literally" with a metaphore
Um, unless you're using the technology from the movie "Scanners" - no, they won't.

Misusing "exponentially"

This word means "the constant e raised to the power equal to a given expression, as e3x, which is the exponential of 3x." For example, if your income was $1000 last January and you increased your income exponentially each month by the power of two, here's what you would have made in later months:

Jan $1000
Feb $2000
Mar $4000
Apr $8000
May $16,000
June $32,000
July $64,000
Aug $128,000
Sep $254,000
Oct $508,000
Nov $1,016,000
Dec $2,032,000

Keep it up and by next summer you'll be richer than Bill Gates.

So if this were true:
The oceans would be literally boiling by now!

DejaVu all over again: Redundant.

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas: Fun advertising slogan, but wayyyy over used at this point.


For computer database nerds: Null Value"Null" means NO Value, so a null value is like a full emply space, or a dry wetness.

Any others?

yeah, I have a couple:
People who misuse the word exponentially:
It doesn't have to be e. It can be 10^(0.00000001*t).

Nucular

Gender instead of Sex. We have a sex, words have a gender.

Caucasian. It doesn't mean what we use it for.

Next friday to mean the friday following the next one. We say next week to mean the week immediately following, but next friday always seems to mean the friday after the friday that is immediately following.

"Turn right here!" when a left turn is indicated.

It's a MOOT point - not a MUTE point...

I wish Muteness on the next person who says it...

I'll quote a mute point for you...

I hate when people say ATM machine (duh doesnt the M in ATM stand for machine) and PIN number.....same reason

The use of cliches seems to be literally increasing exponentially. Staying silent on this matter is a mute point.

hot water heater (water heater)
irregardless (regardless)
stupidest (Accepted in conversation, but was considered poor English as far back as the 80's. I was told to use most stupid, more stupid, dumbest... not sure if that's really correct.)
"to tell the truth"
"bottom line"
"let's get this puppy done"
"to be honest"
"big time"
"what ever"
references to someone being a "dog"
overuse of "extreme", "radical", "alternative"
I'm sure there's many more.

"I hate people who..."

"I hate..."

"I hate..."

"I hate..."

my peeve is EBONICS and the rest of that hip hop slang.

MY PEEPS

MUH DAWGS, SUP BITCHES!

GUNNA GET MY CRUNK ON!

spelling or pronouncing "that" as "dat" and "this" as "dis"


you sound like an illiterate dog and just enforce the racial stereotype that you're a fucking moron in baggy pants. black people I like, cuba gooding, black people I dont like, pretty much every rapper.

not because of thier race, but because of the culture that they adopt taking liberties with the English language to the point of rape. (and then we can digress into British English vs American English in another topic...)

"Very truly I tell you..."

Jesus said that like... A ZILLION TIMES... in Ye Olde Goode Book.

Couldn't he have changed it up to, "Check this out, bro" or "Fo'shizzle" ?

...

(drum crash)

Crompsin, I'd read that Bible. Fo. Shizzle.

It bugs me when people here (in the South, y'all!) say "carry". As in "Leslie's stopping by and she's gonna carry me to lunch." Leslie weighs 100 pounds soaking wet. She's not carrying you anywhere.

any expression that would allow me to win at bullshit bingo I emailed the rules in today's marathon meeting - some people didn't find the humor in it... :D

How come "think outside the box" isn't on that?? Too easy?

Growing up, my folks always said "Close the light." I never knew this was not acceptable until I moved 30 miles north...and just two weeks ago, I heard someone else say it!!!! Sounded weird...

"Oh snap."

"Shank" in place of other words, e.g. "Shank you very much."

Ya'll instead of y'all. It's a contraction.

The phrase "on tomorrow". WTF is that? You can't call someone "on tomorrow," ya dumbshite, you call them TOMORROW.

Overuse of "specifically" (or misuse of "pacifically"), "seriously" "like" and "um." Like our medical director who said "um" or "uh" a whopping grand total of 48 times in a two-minute voicemail. The record is 87 in the same length of time by our Chaplain. "I'm seriously, like, um, going to kick some ass in the meeting tomorrow if they don't talk right, specifically regarding the nurses. Seriously."

The one that really gets me for some stupid reason is a friend that constantly used "whenever" instead of "when". For example, she'd tell a story and it was "whenever I was going to the grocery store the other day..." No. It should be "When I was going to the..." She drives me crazy. The dang oompaloompa.

My grandparents and that side of the family used to say "Good Niiiight!" when something surprised them or was unexpected. Instead of taking the lord's name in vain. It took me forever to figure that out as a kid, I always thought the were celebrating. :lol:

That was an Archie Bunkerism - He always said Good Night Nurse... or something along that lines -it was his way of cussing in prime time :D

Actually is one that I'm guilty of often, and I try to stop myself from saying it because I know how annoying it is when people start every sentence with Actually...

George Carlin would be proud

I'm going to rewrite the first chapter of the Hebrew Bible using words pulled from this thread.

/math
That's true it doesn't but any exponential(or number for that matter) can be represented in terms of e. Your example is e^(0.00000001*t*ln(10)). However, the initial point is somewhat incorrect, an exponential can be slow, take for example an exponential divided by a factorial. So it's technically not true that it has to be a big increase, i.e. it is possible that the the change in temperature of the polar ice caps can be approximated by an exponential. For small values of x, and a correctly chosen constant k, (e^x)/k! and the change around those values can be quite small. In fact (e^x)/(x!) is bounded and approaches 0 as x goes to infinity.
/end math

^^^ Thanks for the math explanation of exponentials...I was debating whether or not it was worth my time.

Ebonics is a good peeve...Its disgusting to me that there are people here at the university who are so obsessed with rapper culture that they wont use english.

when people use "stress" and "strain" interchangeably

"AR-15 assault rifle"

when people use "re-iterate" when they haven't iterated it in the first damned place.

I don't have very many normal language peeves just online ones.

One big one is wut.
I just don't understand it. It's only shortening the word by one letter, messing up another letter, and just makes you feel dumber by reading it.

I can't stand it when people say "supposably" instead of "supposedly". My husband and boss both do it, so I hear it on a regular basis.

It used to drive me crazy when I worked at a grocery store and people would use "sale" instead of "sell", and vice versa. For example, the meat department was always overstocking stuff and would put up a sign that said "Priced to sale!". I don't know how many times I fixed the sign...and it would be incorrect again next week.

This drives me nuts. Also, simular instead of similar. Misused tenses also drive me crazy, but I'm not as picky as some when it comes to split infinitives.

Same here, but it's because I'm a star trek fan. It's my duty to boldly split infinitives wherever I can.

'Anyways' isn't a word. It's 'anyway'.

Drives me nuts.

I do believe you mean 'verily'. Just so you know. Not that it's important or anything...

there is no "f" in the word "bathroom"

you ask a question, not axe

you drink iced tea, not ice tea

they are asians not orientals

you orient yourself, not orientate

What the hell is a "split infinitive??" I asst taught english for 3 years, got A's at least in it and never heard of it.

A split infinitive is when you use an infinitive such as "to go" and put an adverb between to and go. The most notable is, of course, "to boldly go". Rules regarding the use of split infinitives have become quite relaxed.

My peeve is the misuse of the phrase "i could care less" instead of I couldn't care less. People just don't understand the difference

In Jena, LA, Al Sharpton said in his speach "Two wrongs don't make a civil right." I have no idea WTF that's supposed to mean.

Not to rag on African American speech, but why is it that an idea seems more credible if you can express it in a rhyme?

One of my language peeves is the phrase "stop back."

I've also heard one person use the term to ride 'on the car' instead of 'in the car'. Where oh where did that come from?

I have a couple. I work with a guy for whom English is a second language. His one funny is saying "Today morning", rather than 'this morning'. It is probably not incorrect - it just sounds funny to me.

The other is the use of "off of" - this seems an American usage (e.g. "he jumped off of the box"). I really can't see what the "of" is in there for ("he jumped off the box"). Just seems like a wasted word to me...

edit: off topic - I just saw how similar Grancey's cat and my cat look. :)

Oh, you're a sexy beast.

pronouncing "ask" as "arks". The bloody "s" is before the "k" people, not after.

It drives me crazy that I say "ast" intead of "asked"... it's a holdover from where I grew up, I suppose.

"Rediculous" instead of "ridiculous"... ACK! Why do people *do* that??
Any bastardized form of internet chat... "u", "yu", "r", etc. We are not texting, there is no reason to be this lazy.

Are you still annoying if you use some of these phrases etc. in jest? :D

I think jest is ok.

IM IN UR TFP, REEDIN UR POSTZ

LIEK SO.


or, like so. :)

AOLspeak drives me nuts, especially here.

Otherwise, I hereby crown Grancey the Queen Grammar Nazi of the Day. It shall be a good day.

I go with I just don't give a rats ass - is that OK? I know i said it a few times yesterday and it made more than a few people roll their eyes :D

On that same line... when I hear females say they are ON their period :) you have it... or you're praying... not sure how you can be on it... :D On the rag yes.. but on a period... not so much :D

Isn't that quote a null value?

By the way, "null value" is exactly what the phrase intends: the value of something in a certain set is "null" or "0."

100% agreed. I could care a lot less than I do regarding this one. :)

Well, it says "Very truly I tell you" in mine. Damn Lutheran-issue golden tomes.

Alas, we're only debating word choices used in the most duplicated and popular book ever written.

NOTHING IN THE BIBLE IS EVER WRONG! (drum crash)

...

How's this for a language peeve:

Crompsin's kid: "Dad, can I get a dollar or two?"

Crompsin: "Yes, I noticed you still have opposable thumbs."

The whole "can I get a" reminds me of shouting Baptists.

My graduate school advisor once corrected my proper use of "militate" ever since then the "mitigate" versus "militate" issue has been a peeve of mine.
I'm not fond of people using "mitigate against" instead of "militate against".
I'm also not fond of people using "myriad of" rather than "myriad". (As in “I have myriad tasks to complete at work” versus "I have a myriad of tasks."). In the case of myriad, I think both usages are acceptable, but I prefer the usage minus "of".

Both issues are just peeves. I'm not up at night worrying about how other people use language.

Speaking of AOL speak like 4 and u, abbreviating words with numbers drives me crazy: 4get, 2gether or gr8.


I see on dictionary.com that null can refer to zero, but in the world of database programing, null means no value, while 0 and spaces - " " - are values. If you're working with SQL databases, confusion on that point gets you into trouble. That's why it sounds wrong to me when computer people refer to a "null value."

i find grammar and vocabulary "peeves" to be irritating.
i dont see the point of collecting them.

to my mind, an emphasis on correctness is fundamentally an emphasis on deference.
deference is not interesting.

When stupid people use big words to sound smart.

Also, people who say "not necessarily" more than once per conversation is really over doing it.

So says the man who took a chisel to his "shift" key.

Ahem. :)

It does remind me a little of L'Académie française attempting to control the content of the French language on a smaller scale (to which I contribute above).

Collecting "peeves" may not be that interesting, but I do think that it is interesting to think about why people find "violations" of grammar annoying. To that end, my militate/mitigate issue may be more about someone attempting to control my language usage than anything else. Why do people have language "peeves"? I'm sure there are a myriad reasons.

Why isn't deference interesting?

I would get wacked badly by the grammar Nazi in grade 13 English if I used a split infinitive. And I tried to get away with it because, as onesnoweyowl pointed out, I am a Trek too.


But my pet peeve is the use of the word "Absolutley" everyhere, all the time to indicate agreement. This absolutely has to stop!

this one actually makes sense to me. It shows a different pronunciation. We usually say "what," but when someone does something especially bizarre or stupid, we tend to say "whuut?" "Wut" reflects the latter.

I'm not irritated by common poor grammar like double negatives, but I do tend to judge people who use them as less intelligent - even though they may not be.

The point where I do get annoyed is the TRIPLE negative, when people tink that the more negatives they add to their sentence the more nagative it is. If someone says "Nobody didn't say nothing!" (an actual quote I read a a newspaper) I have no idea what they mean.

I hear someone say what -and it's a pavlov's dog reaction - I flinch and expect to be smacked in the head and say - Say, Excuse me, Insert first name and middle name here :)

Around here.. people use quite instead of quiet.

"Would you be quite?" Quite what?

"No one said anything."

Is it really that hard to understand?

I'm sure the nuns would be pleased to hear this.

Didn't say nothing ≠ said anything.

pronouncing "you" as "choo" and "your" as "yer"

saying lie-berry instead of library

the phrase "where you at?" or anything along those lines, such as the recent Doritos commercial with Missy Elliott where she says "It need something" and "I know what it need." The proper word is needs. It needs something more.

i know it has been said before, but "dis" and "dat"

Ahhh thanks Squeeeb, I hate being lumped in with a rug that is only called that because it is an artifact of western imperialism.

I can't stand doofy scenester/emo hipstersuck internet speak:
"rawwr" "kiiid" "baaby" "bro"

Ok, basically anytime that people get too lazy to use language effectively & words get flaccid.

I love me some hip hop though - some of it is really witty and sharp. I can't think of any other way of expressing those experiences. Can you?

EDIT: if you check out ANY hip hop at all, check out Dead Prez (the first album). Check out their lyrics, even.

It's tenterhooks, not tenderhooks.


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

The actual original Greek says either "Truly" or "Very truly" depending on how truly the statement is being said unto you. If we knew what He meant when He designated some pronouncements as true and others as very true, we would come a lot closer to understanding the damn thing.

These are the phrases that make me insane. When we lose the meaning of a normal word or phrase and use something that sounds similar in its place, such as "beck and call" as opposed to "beckon call".

The other that I often correct people on is nauseous versus nauseated. If something "makes you nauseous" you are causing nausea in those around you.

A few others...

Saying "as it were" or "notwithstanding." These sound pretentious.

Pronouncing "issue" or "tissue" with no "sh" sound.

Pronouncing the "h" in vehicle - vee-hic-il

Well, it wouldn't sound as good as, "AT-Machine"...
Actually, that would work quite well.
Does ANYONE say, "I'm going to use the Automated Teller Machine later to withdraw my hard-earnt money."?

Spelling ticks me off.
Honour has a "u".
Colour has a "u".
Chips are cooked in oil and eaten hots.
Crisps come in bags and the main producer is Walkers, (Lays).
This list could go on forever.

People who talk about what they don't understand, and then try to pass on their non-understanding onto others, which in due cause, cause ME problems.
The amount of times THAT'S happened to me is unbelievable.

You need to allow for regional language differences.

The Brits can keep their u's in color and honor.

In America, chips come in bags, are crispy and are no more than one or two milimeters thick (and anything thicker than 2 cm or so is described in inches, not mm or cm). Thickly sliced potatos cooked in oil are French fries, except when served with fish. Then they are chips.

Buscuits are served with gravey, and don't generally come in bags or have sugar sprinkled on top.

A bonnet is a frilly thing for covering women's heads, not your car's motor.

And if a woman is wearing a snug-fitting pants or skirt, you can see from behind if she has a nice fanny.

Jesus: "Foshizzle, my Chrizzlets!"

At the moment I'm annoyed with sentences starting "I believe.... that".

Whenever I hear it, I think of a teenage beauty pageant or something.

"I believe (pause)... that the environment should be protected".
"I believe (pause, thinking)... that we are all special".
"I believe (thinking).... that ___________

But...that's how it's said...VEE-hickle. There's another way?

Most of this stuff doesn't bother me at all. The pet peeve I have is my stuttering. My inability to use language the way I'd like to do so. Worst yet, there are times when I have trouble saying someone's name, and I have to resort to, "Hey you."

Sorry to hear that. It puts this all in perspective.

vee-icle

Keep the h silent please. No "hick" in the vehicle, OK?

The vapidity of our rhetoric in general is appalling.



Though the most influential factor that I have come to notice is the unpardonable increase in 'leet-speak'(?); this can come to include, yet is not limited to: unspecified jargon unrelated to any topic, uncalled for abuse of unheard of or made-up acronyms, unauthorized use of obscure slang and/or cultural references, et al. This is mostly due to the ever-increasing exposure to mainstream pop culture by means of syndicated television programs and stale music genres.


This is only a broad intrepretation on my part, though. (I had to write a thirty-page thesis on the topic, so I have experience in the matter.)


What more can I say?
Restrict the following perturbable parts of dignified speech and writing:

• Abandon the uses of "um, like, okay, and...uh, you see, what?, huh?, yeah, unh-huh", which either seek to give the person appropriating them a failing chance to think while speaking or to allow an uncomfortable break in narration that lends itself most likely to end up in the speaker trailing off (it doesn't work in any regard, one or the other; it only illustrates a foolish attempt at coherent speech, and perhaps creating a false representation of an underlying speech impediment that no one wants to correct)
• Ellipses(...) is not meant to be substituted for every other correct punctutation in a sentence or thought.
• Have little patience for sarcasm and those who use it often.
• When others correct you, solely recognize faults in your pronunciation, not faults in yourself.
• Tone is key.
• It is most difficult to discern your intentions when you run-on without pause.
• Enunciation is important, yet do not let yourself become anal-retentive about subtle and minute nuaces in others' speech and elocution.

I find it difficult to think in exactingly, instead I resort to broad generalizations. I'll try to amend this.
:surprised: