Words people say wrong that drive you nuts

[forrestcupp]

Flustrated
fermiliar
communerty
warsh
torlet
Hoe instead of hole

There is a nearby city named Shelbyville that a lot of people pronounce Chevyville.


And for the grammar enthusiasts and critics:

wrong
–adverb
11.
in a wrong manner; not rightly; awry; amiss: You did it wrong again.

Look it up in the dictionary. "Wrong" really is an adverb, too. :P

[Simian Man]

I have lived in the south most of my life, and have family from Philly and Boston and my wife's family is from New York. There is not much in the accent department that can really bother me now :).

[youbuntu]

Gone.

[wojox]

glossy
white
:P

[mikewhatever]

How do you guys know it's them and not you?;)

[youbuntu]

glossy
white
:P

Flattered to be included, as a subject for your attention

):P

[RiceMonster]

Some of them are hard to put into writing. The biggest one, though, is "shedule" instead of "skedule" for schedule. I don't know about you, but I didn't go to shool.

[NightwishFan]

I live in Pennsylvania. I would suppose Warsh is the most annoying one, but we have some of our own made up words as well. :)

[youbuntu]

Open source :lol:

[KiwiNZ]

agreeance :evil:

and those who say yes/no together in a sentence eg when asked ...was it a good race for you? , reply...yes/no I had a good race.

[NightwishFan]

glossy
white
:P

:-s .... :D!!

[youbuntu]

:-s .... :D!!

Aww, you all love me SO much.

Here is a phrase which I hate "...ENJOY!" from waiters etc

Another? When British (possibly American too?) teenagers seem to feel the need to inject the word "like" inbetween every other word in a conversation!

Another? "Often times" - WTF?

Another? "Awesome" - it would seem very few people would know "awe", were they struck by it

I could go on... and on... but won't :lol:

[uRock]

People saying "loi-yer" instead of "law-yer".

"Freedom," Nothing is free.

"IOS," Are you talking about Internet Operating System, which Cisco was using the acronym long before Apple created its iOS.

[NightwishFan]

Aww, you all love me SO much.

I have nothing against you. I just didn't get it at first so it was funny.

[uRock]

Another? "Awesome" - it would seem very few people would know "awe", were they struck by it

How can you say people haven't been awe stricken at some point in their lives? Mostly everyone I know of has had at least one experience in their lives where they fit one of the following definitions;
Awe Awe
1. Dread; great fear mingled with respect. [Obs. or
Obsolescent]
[1913 Webster]
2. The emotion inspired by something dreadful and sublime; an
undefined sense of the dreadful and the sublime;
reverential fear, or solemn wonder; profound reverence.
[1913 Webster]
Awe Awe, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Awed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Awing.]
To strike with fear and reverence; to inspire with awe; to
control by inspiring dread.
[1913 Webster]

[pi3.1415926535...]

Having an accent different from most in my area, I am sometimes "corrected" on my pronunciation. Most of the time people are positive about my accent saying it is "cool", this does get annoying, though not that bad. The worst is when people tell me to "Stop using that annoying voice.", which I find quite offensive. It is also offensive when people mimic me. Luckily no one can criticize my pronunciation on a post.

[Telengard C64]

Nu-kyu-lur instead of new-clee-ar for nuclear (http://www.answers.com/nuclear)

Far too many people make this stupid mistake, including (astonishingly enough) some US presidents!
:evil:

[youbuntu]

Most of the people in my county are afraid of anyTHING or anyONE not relevant to their limited mind scope. It really is amusing, dear little bumpkins that they are.


How can you say people haven't been awe stricken at some point in their lives? Mostly everyone I know of has had at least one experience in their lives where they fit one of the following definitions;

I think you're analysing it a little TOO much.

[pi3.1415926535...]

glossywhite
Re: Words people say wrong that drive you nuts
Most of the people in my county are afraid of anyTHING or anyONE not relevant to their limited mind scope. It really is amusing, dear little bumpkins that they are.
Sorry, I am having difficulty understanding you.

Thank you

[youbuntu]

Sorry, I am having difficulty understanding you.

Thank you

Doesn't matter.

[3Miro]

"Axe" instead of "Ask"

It also bugs me when people use improper grammar on simple things like "does had", "has went" ...

[uRock]

Most of the people in my county are afraid of anyTHING or anyONE not relevant to their limited mind scope. It really is amusing, dear little bumpkins that they are.



I think you're analysing it a little TOO much.

Not over analyzing it at all. You said, "it would seem very few people would know "awe", were they struck by it", and I pointed out that everyone I know of has had a moment of awe in their lives, so I find your statement to be false.

[K_Boomer]

I've noticed many people using the phrase "when worst comes to worst," when they mean "when bad comes to worst." Yeah, it's pretty anal, but I am a grammar Nazi.

Also, I sometimes say "hut" instead of "hot."

[racie]

I've noticed many people using the phrase "when worst comes to worst," when they mean "when bad comes to worst." Yeah, it's pretty anal, but I am a grammar Nazi.

It's an idiom. Grammatically correct or not, it's supposed to be said that way.

On another note, I had never heard this until a few years ago. Some of my teachers like/d to say "ray-sho" instead of ratio. I find it extremely annoying for some reason.

[jerenept]

It's an idiom. Grammatically correct or not, it's supposed to be said that way.

On another note, I had never heard this until a few years ago. Some of my teachers like/d to say "ray-sho" instead of ratio. I find it extremely annoying for some reason.

That's how I say it....

[racie]

That's how I say it....

:mad:

[Telengard C64]

"ray-sho"

Do they also listen to the "ray-do"?

[FreeAsInMe]

Bo shung wi

[racie]

Do they also listen to the "ray-do"?

I don't think so. Strange how they can't pronounce a word that's one letter different :/

[NightwishFan]

I am guessing FreeAsInMe is glossywhite... :-k Well never mind with that.

I thought I would add some made up PA words, such as youins. (however it would be spelled). Another one is red-up as in "To red-up (clean) the room". None of it really drives me nuts, I suppose I am fairly tolerant. :p

What does drive me up a wall is the absurd spelling some folks use (especially on facebook). Sometimes they go out of their way (taking longer) to spell words incorrectly. :/

[jfreak_]

Some of them are hard to put into writing. The biggest one, though, is "shedule" instead of "skedule" for schedule. I don't know about you, but I didn't go to shool.

Ah Americans..... It IS shedule in the british world, we also laugh at check for cheque, among many other oddities.

[Telengard C64]

It IS shedule in the british world, we also laugh at check for cheque, among many other oddities.

Which brings to mind two things which annoy me to no end as a native English speaker.

1. Why on earth is there a letter c in the word schedule? It isn't pronounced at all, and has no effect on the pronunciation of the rest of the letters. What is it even doing there? (Answer == NOTHING!)

2. Why can't English speaking countries of the world get their heads together and come up with standard spellings? Seriously!

I don't mind if British folks want to say chips instead of fries. I don't even mind when people from certain parts of the US correct me for saying pop instead of soda. But can't we all just agree to use one spelling for the word color (preferably the one without unnecessary silent letters) and just be happy with that?

[KiwiNZ]

I don't mind if British folks want to say chips instead of fries. I don't even mind when people from certain parts of the US correct me for saying pop instead of soda. But can't we all just agree to use one spelling for the word color (preferably the one without unnecessary silent letters) and just be happy with that?

Because it would silly calling oven baked Chips fries when they are not Fried they Baked in an oven.

We do have correct spelling for Colour.

Here Pop is a male grand parent
Soda is either a baking additive or one type of drink, we do have Aerated drinks or Fizzy Drinks

[NightwishFan]

Pop here usually means soda.

[LowSky]

I think it funny when this type of thread comes along. it always starts out funny, then somehow turns into how American's butchered the monarchy's spoken language. Which is hilarious because half of that royal lineage learned it as a secondary language to appease the common folk.

[johntaylor1887]

Irregardless. Whole "nother".

[Telengard C64]

Because it would silly calling oven baked Chips fries when they are not Fried they Baked in an oven.

Don't care.


We do have correct spelling for Colour.

Really? I know you also have odour, and valour. It is just silly having to type all those extra u's when they don't mean add anything to the word itself.

[NightwishFan]

A lot of the English language is that way. We also have words that mean more than one thing and words spelled the same that sound different. I am not much bothered over a few misplaced letters. :)

[pi3.1415926535...]

I have a strange Anglo-American dialect all to myself. I have decide that my spell-checker will be set to English (UK), this is because the default did not recognize some word. Though I do spell most words without ou, and rather o. This means I probably have to press "ignore" more times, but that spell-check dictionary angered me, so I will not use it.

[Untitled_No4]

Do they also listen to the "ray-do"?

In English languages, pronunciation of one one word is completely irrelevant from the pronunciation of other, similarly spelt words.

My personal example is of German friend who excited her English boyfriend when she told him about the forest in Bavaria, and how there are many beers there. Well, shouldn't bear rhyme with near or fear?

For more information http://cristal.inria.fr/~xleroy/stuff/english-pronunciation.html

Anyway, the way some Germans pronounce some English words always make me smile. For instance vegetable and comfortable (it has something to do with a table) and also wine and vomit (vine and womit).

No schadenfreude intended.

[Muffinabus]

Itching an itch. You ********* scratch it, people.

(sorry, wasn't trying to bypass the filter)

[uRock]

Itching an itch. You scratch it, people.

+1 That is a good one that grinds my gears when I hear it.

[forrestcupp]

I live in Pennsylvania. I would suppose Warsh is the most annoying one, but we have some of our own made up words as well. :)I had a professor from PA who said warsh for wash and washup for worship. :)



and those who say yes/no together in a sentence eg when asked ...was it a good race for you? , reply...yes/no I had a good race.I never did get it when people answered "yes and no." I also hate it when people say "yeah, no."



It also bugs me when people use improper grammar on simple things like "does had", "has went" ...How about this one?
Ike: "When are you going to lunch?"
Mike: "Done been." :)


Do they also listen to the "ray-do"?That's not even a good comparison. "Ti" is known to make a "sh" type sound, such as in "station." "Di" never makes any other such sound.


Because it would silly calling oven baked Chips fries when they are not Fried they Baked in an oven.In US restaurants, they're almost always deep fried. So it's ok for us to call them fries, right?


+1 That is a good one that grinds my gears when I hear it.Agreed. And thanks for the edit. Evidently everything gets censored except possibly the most offensive word.

[3Miro]

How about this one?
Ike: "When are you going to lunch?"
Mike: "Done been." :)


Haven't hear this one. Is someone using it on regular basis or someone is trying to say "Done that already" and "Been there already" in the same sentence?

[Tristam Green]

People that number lists starting with 0. I understand that in a computing sense, addressing begins with 0. In normal numerical numbering, 0 is absense of anything. Lists begin with 1. If it bothers you that much, use bullet points instead of numerical lists, jeez.

[nothingspecial]

Fries are those matchstick like things that are formed from a reconstituted powder, usualy available in fast food esthicktablishments.

Chips are what happens when you take a potato and cut it into long thick pieces then deep fry them in fat.

Pronuciation doesn't really bother me. You only have to go 10 miles up the road and everybody talks differently.

Dropping Hs can be a problem. I once drove all the way to London once after someone told me to go south on the M1 the come off at Inkley. I drove past Hinkley because I was looking for somewhere beginning with I.

Did the same another time when I was looking for somewhere called Bister and drove past Bicester.

[RiceMonster]

Ah Americans..... It IS shedule in the british world, we also laugh at check for cheque, among many other oddities.

I am not american.

Sorry, but until you start saying "shool" I flat out refuse to say "shedule".

[forrestcupp]

Haven't hear this one. Is someone using it on regular basis or someone is trying to say "Done that already" and "Been there already" in the same sentence?

No, this is a common grammatical mistake people around here make. They are saying "I have already been." Another example like it is:

Ike: "When are you going to do your homework?"
Mike: "Done did."

[3Miro]

Dropping Hs can be a problem. I once drove all the way to London once after someone told me to go south on the M1 the come off at Inkley. I drove past Hinkley because I was looking for somewhere beginning with I.

Did the same another time when I was looking for somewhere called Bister and drove past Bicester.

I had a similar problem once with a white Honda/Hyundai.

[3Miro]

Ike: "When are you going to do your homework?"
Mike: "Done did."

Argh, this would drive me nuts.

[RiceMonster]

Argh, this would drive me nuts.

Yeah, me too. Big time.

There's also that "y'all" thing you here in the southern US. Usually doesn't bug me, but sometimes I find it strange. For example:
*walks into a store*
Employee: Can I help y'all out with anything?
*looks around*
Me: Did I come in with anyone else?

[nothingspecial]

I am not american.

Sorry, but until you start saying "shool" I flat out refuse to say "shedule".

That's because schedule derives from schedula and school derives from scōla.

[3Miro]

Yeah, me too. Big time.

There's also that "y'all" thing you here in the southern US. Usually doesn't bug me, but sometimes I find it strange. For example:
*walks into a store*
Employee: Can I help y'all out with anything?
*looks around*
Me: Did I come in with anyone else?

During my first week in the USA I found myself on a College campus in West Virginia. There was a bunch of us International students from Eastern Europe, Africa, South-Central Asia ... One afternoon the housing advisor was trying to explain to us that we should stop with this English that we have learned abroad and start talking in the "real" way. He was teaching us to say "y'all". I don't mind it, I even find myself using it quite often, but since I moved even further south, I don't think anyone notices.

[Swagman]

Hearing people say "Stay-tus" when they mean "Stat-us"

[Fire_Chief]

+1 for nukular vs nuclear
+1 for irregardless

Another favorite of mine is worcestershire.
Know several people who insist on saying wor-shest-er-sh-ire instead of worsh-teh-shir :)

[Xantheil]

This thread is driving me nuts!

I always used to pronounce it as stat-us. But I used to get "corrected". And so I learned to pronounce it as stay-tus. I checked it and got both pronunciations. They usually pronounce it as Stat-us in television, though.

Schedule is even more confusing. I used to pronounce it as She-dule till I got to 5th grade. Then I learned to pronounce it as Sce-Dule. But then I realized She-Dule sounded better and started to pronounce it that way. But it's hard to get rid of it. I end up pronouncing it both the ways, as happens to me with most other words.

What's worst is I spell colour as color and valor as valour!

Whenever someone tries to "correct" me, I call it "my accent". (Helps being of mixed ethnicity :P)

Or I call them racist! :D

[Hakunka-Matata]

huh?

That's what an old Mac Spit out after we asked it a question via Help it didn't have an answer for. I think it's a great word!

[jfreak_]

I am not american.



For the sake of argument, isn't Canada in America (as in the continent)?

[uRock]

For the sake of argument, isn't Canada in America (as in the continent)?

"American" comes from our country's name "United States of America" not the name of the continent.

[jfreak_]

"American" comes from our country's name "United States of America" not the name of the continent.

Offtopic I know, but can't resist.

Chinese:Asian
German:European
Zimbabwean:African
Canadian: ?

Answer please....

[RiceMonster]

Offtopic I know, but can't resist.

Chinese:Asian
German:European
Zimbabwean:African
Canadian: ?

Answer please....

The term is "North American".

[Simian Man]

"American" comes from our country's name "United States of America" not the name of the continent.

Go to Latin America and try explaining to the people there that you are an American and that they aren't. They will say that everyone in the western hemisphere is American and that you are also "un Estadounidense".

People in the United States usually say "America" as shortand for our countries name, but that isn't really correct.

[uRock]

Offtopic I know, but can't resist.

Chinese:Asian
German:European
Zimbabwean:African
Canadian: ?

Answer please....

I don't call Chinese asian, nor Germans European. I call Canadians Canadians and I have never met or had any reason to speak of the people from Zimbabwe, but you have them pegged already as Zimbabweans.
Go to Latin America and try explaining to the people there that you are an American and that they aren't. They will say that everyone in the western hemisphere is American and that you are also "un Estadounidense".

People in the United States usually say "America" as shortand for our countries name, but that isn't really correct.

Why is it called Latin America when nobody there speaks Latin?

[pricetech]

Let's face it. We're all a little weird when it comes right down to it.

[Tristam Green]

Yeah, me too. Big time.

There's also that "y'all" thing you here in the southern US. Usually doesn't bug me, but sometimes I find it strange. For example:
*walks into a store*
Employee: Can I help y'all out with anything?
*looks around*
Me: Did I come in with anyone else?

That person is using it incorrectly. Y'all is supposed to be a plural word, implying that it is "you", plus others.


I don't call Chinese asian, nor Germans European. I call Canadians Canadians and I have never met or had any reason to speak of the people from Zimbabwe, but you have them pegged already as Zimbabweans.

Why is it called Latin America when nobody there speaks Latin?

I don't know, possibly because every nation there speaks a Latin-based Romance language? Latin-derived Languages America doesn't flow well off the tongue.

[uRock]

I don't know, possibly because every nation there speaks a Latin-based Romance language? Latin-derived Languages America doesn't flow well off the tongue.

Everyone I knew from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama all spoke Spanish, which is why many from those lands call themselves Hispanic.

[RiceMonster]

I refer to Latin America as South America.

[KiwiNZ]

I

Why is it called Latin America when nobody there speaks Latin?

The idea was thought up by a French writer to separate possible alliances with Germanic, British and Slavic groups. It was first formally used by the South American Nations at a Conference and proposed by Chile I think.

[uRock]

The idea was thought up by a French writer to separate possible alliances with Germanic, British and Slavic groups. It was first formally used by the South American Nations at a Conference and proposed by Chile I think.

Didn't know that, though it does still seem kind of odd. I have been becoming more and more inclined to study Central and Southern America's history. Though I have come to the understanding that too many text books cover the events that their authors find important and leave out the good stuff.

Another word that gets misused, is law. "If you don't stop walking through my yard, then I am gonna call the law on you." I was about ten when I heard this and I replied with, "the law is the written rules of our government, so if you don't like talking to paper you may want to call the police." It didn't make a lot of sense, but it was enough to make the lady slam her door shut and leave me alone.

[Lucradia]

I don't mind words that are slanged; but I do mind grammatical mistakes in speech. In an english text, you cannot use phrases such as "So anyway," as So and anyway are the same thing at the beginning of a sentence. My grandmother abuses this highly, and almost every other sentence, when she talks to a friend of hers, begins with such.

[Telengard C64]

You're in America now, speak American!

I think of anyone who lives in North, South, or Central America as Americans. Sadly I can't speak of them that way because everyone else in the world seems to think that American means resident of the USA. Stupid world! Get your heads straight!
:evil:

[uRock]

I guess this is why things made in Mexico say "Hecho en Mexico" and things made in the USA often say "Made in America". http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=made+in+america

[rich52x]

My family pronounce Ubuntu as 'Unbuntune' and always seem to spit in my face while saying it.
¬_¬

[forrestcupp]

How about "I'm gonna learn you a lesson"?


Hearing people say "Stay-tus" when they mean "Stat-us"Good one. I hate that too.



Another favorite of mine is worcestershire.
Know several people who insist on saying wor-shest-er-sh-ire instead of worsh-teh-shir :)When it comes to the sauce, I heard it got it's name because some old man said "What's this here sauce?" :)


The term is "North American".
Or Norteamericano. :)

[Tristam Green]

Didn't know that, though it does still seem kind of odd. I have been becoming more and more inclined to study Central and Southern America's history. Though I have come to the understanding that too many text books cover the events that their authors find important and leave out the good stuff.

Another word that gets misused, is law. "If you don't stop walking through my yard, then I am gonna call the law on you." I was about ten when I heard this and I replied with, "the law is the written rules of our government, so if you don't like talking to paper you may want to call the police." It didn't make a lot of sense, but it was enough to make the lady slam her door shut and leave me alone.

But that's a colloquialism, not really an incorrect usage of the word. I mean, goodness that goes back to the Old West and beyond.


I guess this is why things made in Mexico say "Hecho en Mexico" and things made in the USA often say "Made in America". http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=made+in+america

I've heard of "Made in USA" far more often than "Made in America".

That is unless you're talking about a crappy movie starring Whoopi Goldberg and a cowboy-hat-wearing Ted Danson.

[sydbat]

In an english text, you cannot use phrases such as "So anyway," as So and anyway are the same thing at the beginning of a sentence.So anyway...

Re-la-ter. It's REALTOR!

[Pogeymanz]

Why is 'jewelry' pronounced 'jew-ler-ee'?

Most people I talk to pronounce 'both' as though it's spelled 'bolth.'

I know a few people that say 'suposably' when they mean 'supposedly.'

Those are the only two I can think of, but I'm sure I'll find more.

[coffeecat]

Here Pop is a male grand parent


Pop here usually means soda.

Over here in Blighty, 'pop' is a noise that weasels make.

But I don't know what they mean by it. :-s

[forrestcupp]

I know a few people that say 'suposably' when they mean 'supposedly.'

That's a good one. I can't believe I didn't think of that one.

[beefncheese]

Pronunciations don't really bother me, but eggcorns (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Eggcorn) are really awkward.

[Throne777]

'Refute'. 99% of the time people mean 'retort'.
'Logical' is another one, as in 'it's logical'. Everytime I've heard people say this they mean 'It makes some kind of sense' or 'It's reasonable'.

[weasel fierce]

I suppose "lieutenant" being pronounced not as "leftenant" in american english doesn't qualify huh ? :)

[uRock]

I suppose "lieutenant" being pronounced not as "leftenant" in american english doesn't qualify huh ? :)

Calling the colonel a kernel.

[NightwishFan]

Calling the colonel a kernel.

Commander Berkeley S. D. reporting for duty sir.

[Cracklepop]

''I could care less'' should be ''I couldn't care less'', for crying out loud!

'dreamed' instead of 'dreamt' (and many others like it. Soon people will be saying 'leaved' instead of 'left'...:( )

[Jose Catre-Vandis]

lacksadaisical

instead of the correct word


lackadaisical


Sayings:


You can have your cake and eat it

instead of the correct version:


You can't eat your cake and have it

[lisati]

Pop here usually means soda.
Does that mean that when someone over here is following a recipe, they should try to track down some lemonade when some baking soda is called for, or should they go hunting for a stray grandfather? :D

[KAISER91]

Here's one that drives me up the wall: similarly.

Not really the spelling but the pronunciation.

[Paqman]

People who talk about the coffee "expresso". It's espresso, as in "pressed".

[t0p]

Aluminium. Not "aluminum".

What's with that anyway? Why drop a syllable? Laziness or craziness?

(apologies to any lazy or crazy folk who may feel offended)

[TeoBigusGeekus]

I cant not beleeve piple are doing these sealy mistakes. Your got to be kiding myself.
Much interesting thread.

PS: Borat reporting :P

[Fire_Chief]

Aluminium. Not "aluminum".

What's with that anyway? Why drop a syllable? Laziness or craziness?

(apologies to any lazy or crazy folk who may feel offended)

As usual, the US likes to do things different (disclaimer, I live in the US).
Aluminum is the accepted spelling and saying of the element as taught by US schools (not going there). However, as you pointed out, it is not the same as the British name Aluminium. This spelling also happens to be the one officially recognized by the IUPAC organization http://www.iupac.org/ (ironically based in the US).

If I start saying aluminium here instead of aluminum, everyone would start thinking I'm a foreigner who doesn't know how to say the word correctly. Crazy eh?

Cheers!

[Sean Moran]

As usual, the US likes to do things different (disclaimer, I live in the US).
Aluminum is the accepted spelling and saying of the element as taught by US schools (not going there). However, as you pointed out, it is not the same as the British name Aluminium. This spelling also happens to be the one officially recognized by the IUPAC organization http://www.iupac.org/ (ironically based in the US).

If I start saying aluminium here instead of aluminum, everyone would start thinking I'm a foreigner who doesn't know how to say the word correctly. Crazy eh?

Cheers!
Just think of the pronunciaton as "AH-loo-MIN-yum" and the syllables are the same. If anyone complains about your spelling, just remind them where the English language came from. It's all there in the name.

[coffeecat]

If I start saying aluminium here instead of aluminum, everyone would start thinking I'm a foreigner who doesn't know how to say the word correctly. Crazy eh?

No. Speaking as a Brit, I'd think of you as a foreigner who does know how to say aluminium correctly. :wink:

[Paqman]

That's a weird one. Out of all the -iums in the periodic table, why change just that one? You don't talk about titanum, uranum or chromum, do you?

[forrestcupp]

Aluminium. Not "aluminum".

What's with that anyway? Why drop a syllable? Laziness or craziness?

(apologies to any lazy or crazy folk who may feel offended)

It could have something to do with the fact that Sir Humphry Davy actually named it Aluminum before he later changed the name to Aluminium.

Anyway, according to Webster's dictionary, aluminum is correct, so we're pronouncing it in an accepted way and it's not a mistake. It's kind of like how congradulations is an accepted way of spelling congratulations.

[uRock]

It could have something to do with the fact that Sir Humphry Davy actually named it Aluminum before he later changed the name to Aluminium.

+1 I don't argue with Webster.

[Paqman]

It's kind of like how congradulations is an accepted way of spelling congratulations.

Eh?

[Sean Moran]

It could have something to do with the fact that Sir Humphry Davy actually named it Aluminum before he later changed the name to Aluminium.

Anyway, according to Webster's dictionary, aluminum is correct, so we're pronouncing it in an accepted way and it's not a mistake. It's kind of like how congradulations is an accepted way of spelling congratulations.
The main concern is to communicate a message, and as long as the message is understood, the efforts of the grammar police become somewhat pedantic. If you write 'aluminum' as in "a-LOO-min-um" then educated people will still recognise that you mean 'aluminium' as in "AH-loo-MIN-yum" and the message conveys 100%, although at the end of the day, it does make people look a little less than intelligent if English is their first language and they somehow left high school without managing to grasp the fundamentals of it.

It tends to beg some rather less than honourable questions depending on the context of the message ...

---o0o---
Quoting Webster is another sign of cognitive dissonance.

[KiwiNZ]

The main concern is to communicate a message, and as long as the message is understood, the efforts of the grammar police become somewhat pedantic. If you write 'aluminum' as in "a-LOO-min-um" then educated people will still recognise that you mean 'aluminium' as in "AH-loo-MIN-yum" and the message conveys 100%, although at the end of the day, it does make people look a little less than intelligent if English is their first language and they somehow left high school without managing to grasp the fundamentals of it.

It tends to beg some rather less than honourable questions depending on the context of the message ...

---o0o---
Quoting Webster is another sign of cognitive dissonance.

Some very intelligent individuals with English as their first and only language have a great deal of difficulty with it. Ever heard of Dyslexia ? and other Learning disabilities many of which have no correlation to intelligence.

The grammar police have issues that our Code of Conduct prevents me from describing.

[Paddy Landau]

probably -- "probally"

specific -- "pacific" (This once caused a serious misunderstanding at work when an accountant was telling his programmer to use the "Pacific" time, when he meant the "specific" time.)

When it comes to British English vs. American English, we just have to accept that we English-speaking people have to learn two versions of the same language, especially those living in Britain or ex-British countries. On top of that, we also need to learn the colloquialisms unique to our specific areas.

A (British) friend of mine once remarked, "American English is more user-friendly." :)

I suspect that, in time, American English will become the norm in the world. Already, many British people speak partly with American accents, e.g. "kant" for can't (which, in British English, is pronounced "karnt").

[dh04000]

(Correct) Coupons (Cew-pons)

(Wrong) Coupons (Qu-pins)

[3Miro]

Some very intelligent individuals with English as their first and only language have a great deal of difficulty with it. Ever heard of Dyslexia ? and other Learning disabilities many of which have no correlation to intelligence.

The grammar police have issues that our Code of Conduct prevents me from describing.

Mispronunciation is irritating, however, I see no point in grammar police until the mispronunciation/bad grammar leads to misunderstanding. Dyslexic or otherwise, people should be mindful if the other person can understand Ixxx or Hxxx.

English is no my first language and I am mindful of my strong accent. When I tech Calculus for example, I purposefully avoid the word "local" as people often don't understand me when I say it. I use "relative", which in the context, means the same thing.

I had a Chinese teacher in the University, who had very strong accent. However, he would literally write his lectures on the board and while this was a lot of work for him, I have never seen so clear lectures anywhere else.

If one if pronounce the name of a town with "I" instead of "H", then they should spell it to other people looking for directions.

[samalex]

I'm sure someone has said this already (not about to read through all 11 pages of threads), but people saying "It runs better on Windows" or "you should be running Windows" have always gotten under my skin.

As for words per say, the marketing fluff words or tactics are what tick me off. $59.99 -- just say $60 and same some ink. Also terms like Agile, Cloud, and the like are blah.

[sydbat]

I'm sure someone has said this already (not about to read through all 11 pages of threads), but people saying "It runs better on Windows" or "you should be running Windows" have always gotten under my skin.http://picardfacepalm.com/picard-facepalm-hotlink.jpg

Another one that really bugs me, and has been mentioned in other threads of a similar nature (maybe even by me) - virii. There is no such word. It does not exist. It is not Latin, nor does it have anything to do with a Latin origin. It is a made up word by those who think it is cooler to say than the proper 'viruses'. Please stop it. You look pretentiously stupid when saying / writing it.

[KiwiNZ]

http://picardfacepalm.com/picard-facepalm-hotlink.jpg

Another one that really bugs me, and has been mentioned in other threads of a similar nature (maybe even by me) - virii. There is no such word. It does not exist. It is not Latin, nor does it have anything to do with a Latin origin. It is a made up word by those who think it is cooler to say than the proper 'viruses'. Please stop it. You look pretentiously stupid when saying / writing it.

Agreed , it's Viruses. The Latin Virus mean venom as in insect or scorpion and the plural Vira is more accurate depending on context.

[jerenept]

It could have something to do with the fact that Sir Humphry Davy actually named it Aluminum before he later changed the name to Aluminium.

Anyway, according to Webster's dictionary, aluminum is correct, so we're pronouncing it in an accepted way and it's not a mistake. It's kind of like how congradulations is an accepted way of spelling congratulations.

Webster's Dictionary is based on U.S. English. Try Oxford. :P

[coffeecat]

Anyway, according to Webster's dictionary, aluminum is correct, so we're pronouncing it in an accepted way and it's not a mistake. It's kind of like how congradulations is an accepted way of spelling congratulations.


Webster's Dictionary is based on U.S. English. Try Oxford. :P

+1

I've just looked in my "The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary". It might call itself shorter, but it comes as two hefty hernia-inducing volumes. Anyway, on page 61:


aluminum n. see ALUMINIUM:p

[reyfer]

When someone types "sauce" instead of "source"....and when they use "to" instead of "too"

[jcolyn]

warsh

Hey now!! What's wrong with warsh?? :P :P

Don't you warsh your hands? What about warshing your clothes?? :P :P :P

I even sometimes warsh the dishes... :P

[hhh]

...likes to do things different...Oh, poor adverb, you shall be sorely missed, but by only a few.

In an international forum whose Code of Conduct is to treat others with kindness, gentleness and respect, I'd think tiny differences in communication styles (not to mention levels of education and comprehension) wouldn't be thread fodder. But please, continue your pontificating.

[Paddy Landau]

... treat others with kindness, gentleness and respect
+1

We need to realise that we all come from different backgrounds, and not everyone has had the same fortune to have a good education, nor do we share the same culture and ethics.

When someone speaks badly because English is not their first language, I remind myself that I cannot speak theirs at all.

I believe it's important to learn more than one language at school; it teaches us a more tolerant and understanding mindset. I learned no fewer than five extra languages, sadly none of them well. How sad it is that while most non-native English speakers can speak two or more languages, most native English speakers speak only one.

Well, that's what I think anyway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_and_Hugo#Catchphrases)!

[CraigPaleo]

How about "I'm gonna learn you a lesson"?



Or, "I borrowed her my car."


Pronunciations don't really bother me, but eggcorns (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Eggcorn) are really awkward.

Ha ha ha! I thought that's what an acorn was when I was about 4. Another: Youth in Asia.

[MooPi]

probably -- "probally"


Even worse is "proly". Just type the damn word out please !
Here in the Midwest(USA) there is a tendency to say "Where you at"
instead of "Where are you". That one really bugs me for some reason.

[MooPi]

Hey now!! What's wrong with warsh?? :P :P

Don't you warsh your hands? What about warshing your clothes?? :P :P :P

I even sometimes warsh the dishes... :P
That is funny because my grandmother , god rest her soul abused the English language in exemplary style. Her rendition of "washing the dishes" went something like this "worshing the deeshes". South East Ohio Appalachia hillbilly briar :-).

[NightwishFan]

Here in the Midwest(USA) there is a tendency to say "Where you at"
instead of "Where are you". That one really bugs me for some reason.

I can agree. That one does mildly get on my nerves.

[CraigPaleo]

That is funny because my grandmother , god rest her soul abused the English language in exemplary style. Her rendition of "washing the dishes" went something like this "worshing the deeshes". South East Ohio Appalachia hillbilly briar :-).

I know someone from Ohio, probably that area. The word "were" isn't' in her vocabulary.

Her conjugation of "to be" past tense would be:

I was
you was
he/she/it was

We was
you was
they was. Edit: I think she actually says "them was" in some cases.

[forrestcupp]

If you write 'aluminum' as in "a-LOO-min-um" then educated people will still recognise that you mean 'aluminium' as in "AH-loo-MIN-yum" and the message conveys 100%, although at the end of the day, it does make people look a little less than intelligent if English is their first language and they somehow left high school without managing to grasp the fundamentals of it.What? In high school, I was a chemistry major at the top of my class with a lot of other intelligent people and instructors. We all said and say "aluminum" because that is the accepted way of saying it in the United States. Don't try to say that we are less intelligent and educated just because our nation uses a standard that is different than yours.


(Correct) Coupons (Cew-pons)

(Wrong) Coupons (Qu-pins)But do you pronounce it "cyoo-pons" or "coo-pons"?



When someone speaks badly because English is not their first language, I remind myself that I cannot speak theirs at all.
I don't have any problem at all with people who have another native language making mistakes. I don't really even have a problem with native English speaking people making grammar mistakes.

The main thing that gets on my nerves is when people are trying to speak proper grammar, but they mess it up. Here is a good example of what I'm talking about:

"Would you like to go to the park with John and I?"

[Paddy Landau]

"eksetra"

"etc." is short for "et cetera", which is Latin for "and the others", and is pronounced "ett settera" (no 'k' sound).

[MasterNetra]

People saying "loi-yer" instead of "law-yer".

"Freedom," Nothing is free.

"IOS," Are you talking about Internet Operating System, which Cisco was using the acronym long before Apple created its iOS.

Financially yes there is, free as in no energy or effort to acquired, no. We are too wrapped into currency, seriously we need a new system to replace it.

[forrestcupp]

We are too wrapped into currency, seriously we need a new system to replace it.

Bartering?

[brasini]

... Look ...

[lisati]

Living in a multi-cultural area, I hear some strange things from time to time. Phrases like "without any further adieu" and "How are use?" seem to crop up from timne to time.

That person is using it incorrectly. Y'all is supposed to be a plural word, implying that it is "you", plus others.

There was a time when "you" was a plural, with thee/thou/.... being the corresponging singular. These days the about the only time I hear the various forms of "thee"..... (Wait: religion. Elaboration on this comment might have to be placed elsewhere.)

Pronunciations don't really bother me, but eggcorns (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Eggcorn) are really awkward.
Here's one which sometimes bugs me: pronounciation.....

I suppose "lieutenant" being pronounced not as "leftenant" in american english doesn't qualify huh ? :)
Where the (censored) did left tenant come from?

probably -- "probally"

<snip>
I suspect that, in time, American English will become the norm in the world. Already, many British people speak partly with American accents, e.g. "kant" for can't (which, in British English, is pronounced "karnt").

+1 for "prolly" being annoying.
My ears sometimes get confused by "kant" instead of "karnt". I have sometimes misheard and thought that the person was saying "can"......

[Tristam Green]

Where the (censored) did left tenant come from?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant#Pronunciation

[KiwiNZ]

I was a Left tenant ;-)

Before moving up that is

[CraigPaleo]

"Karn't" I know it's supposed to be pronounced,"kahn't" in non-rhotic accents and I do get it but it takes me a second or two with my rhotic accent. I always want to pronounce the "r" in "karn't."

It's much the same as "larf" as opposed to "lahf." It doesn't drive me nuts. It just makes me have to think a bit more. Why not just use an "h" instead of an "r"? )

[zer010]

After reading through all of these posts, I didn't come across this little gem:
"cain't", as in the reply, "I cain't know..."

[doas777]

I've noticed many people using the phrase "when worst comes to worst," when they mean "when bad comes to worst." Yeah, it's pretty anal, but I am a grammar Nazi.

Also, I sometimes say "hut" instead of "hot."

I'm afraid "Worse comes to Worst" is idiomatic, so the meaning of the invocation is primary to the literal meaning of the string of words.

oh, and Godwinned; I win.

hut vs hot? what part of the world do you live in?

@lisati: prolly is the the best condensing of a word since 'thru'.

[madmax75]

People using "finnish" (a language) instead of "finish" (to stop doing something).

This is particularly widespread in Yahoo Answers... Everytime I try to search for questions related to my native language, all I get is "I have to finnish this" and "I have to finnish that". Frustrating? Yes!

Also, "dessert" (something sweet you eat after a meal) and "desert" (something that is full of sand).

[forrestcupp]

How about when people "duel boot"? Does that mean that Linux and Windows are fighting each other? :D

It's "dual boot."

[Jaecyn42]

"Toot sweet"

That one makes me rage hard.

[ewaynec]

Ubuntu.

[Shibblet]

Supposedly - Supposebly
Capacitor - Capacitator

This one is a phrase, but I hate it when people say this wrong...
"No rest for the wicked."

Really? Wicked? Are you kidding? The phrase is "No rest for the weary." Who gives a rip if the wicked are tired? They're wicked. Now, the weary, are already tired, and need rest... get it right!

[kk0sse54]

=
This one is a phrase, but I hate it when people say this wrong...
"No rest for the wicked."

Really? Wicked? Are you kidding? The phrase is "No rest for the weary." Who gives a rip if the wicked are tired? They're wicked. Now, the weary, are already tired, and need rest... get it right!

Actually, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_rest_for_the_wicked

[uRock]

Windsday instead of Wednesday.

[wojox]

Dunno - I don't know.

[Rasa1111]

I absolutely cannot stand when people use "should of" instead of "should have" . Or "would of" for would have, "couldnt of" for couldn't have.

Or when people say "then" when they should say "than".

Like "sunny days are better then rainy days"
Rather than "sunny days are better than rainy days"

God it drives me nuts. O_o lol
and I see it constantly!

[chrinabuntu]

This one is a phrase, but I hate it when people say this wrong...
"No rest for the wicked."

Really? Wicked? Are you kidding? The phrase is "No rest for the weary." Who gives a rip if the wicked are tired? They're wicked. Now, the weary, are already tired, and need rest... get it right!



Lol!!!

[coolbrook]

"Toot sweet"

That one makes me rage hard.

Why what's wrong with that? On this same note, lingerie is not LON-JURR-AY. You're better off saying l-injury. lin-sure-ee

[chrinabuntu]

...When it comes to the sauce, I heard it got it's name because some old man said "What's this here sauce?"...
What bugs me more than anything is the constant misuse of the apostrophe. It is my main pet peeve!! (sorry to single you out, but your example was right there!) I so often see people putting an apostrophe on every 'S' they see. It drives me insane!

But that's to my eye.
To my ear, I agree with these:


...Re-la-ter. It's REALTOR!AARRGGHH!!!


Why is 'jewelry' pronounced 'jew-ler-ee'?...and 'suposably' when they mean 'supposedly.'...YESSSSS to both of these!!


...when people are trying to speak proper grammar, but they mess it up. Here is a good example of what I'm talking about:

"Would you like to go to the park with John and I?" I HATE that!


..."should of" instead of "should have" . Or "would of" for would have, "couldnt of" for couldn't have. Also very common.


...It's kind of like how congradulations is an accepted way of spelling congratulations.Accepted?? Really?? I think not. Not that I know of.
I HATE it! And it's so common!


Oh, poor adverb, you shall be sorely missed, but by only a few.Lolly lolly lolly get your adverbs here...

[CraigPaleo]

Windsday instead of Wednesday.

Mondee, Teusdee, Windsdee... is even worse. :D

Yes, I have relatives from there.

[Paddy Landau]

Phrases like "without any further adieu"
That's actually meant to be, "without any further ado."


"Toot sweet"
And that should be the French "tout de suite", which in English is (incorrectly) pronounced "toot sweet".


On this same note, lingerie is not LON-JURR-AY. You're better off saying l-injury. lin-sure-ee
Actually... lingerie (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lingerie).

This has been a great thread.
+1 for the use of "of" instead of "have". It strikes me that a number of English teachers themselves don't seem to know English. Hmm.

Another one: The use of plural for singular, as, "The team are winning." No, there is only one team: "The team is winning."

[forrestcupp]

Windsday instead of Wednesday.Do you actually pronounce it "wed-nes-day"? I don't think I've ever heard anyone obviously say it like that. How do you pronounce February?


I absolutely cannot stand when people use "should of" instead of "should have" . Or "would of" for would have, "couldnt of" for couldn't have.

Or when people say "then" when they should say "than".Yeah, I hate that, too.


[I]What bugs me more than anything is the constant misuse of the apostrophe. It is my main pet peeve!! (sorry to single you out, but your example was right there!) I so often see people putting an apostrophe on every 'S' they see. It drives me insane!
Yeah, that drive's me crazy, too. :-\"

You've embarrassed me. I hate that, too, and I can't believe I made that mistake. :)

[handy]

Struth, you guys are full of carp.

[Paddy Landau]

How do you pronounce February?
As it's spelled: Feb-ru-ary. According to the dictionary, February (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/february) has two valid pronunciations, as does Wednesday (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wednesday).


Struth, you guys are full of carp.
You haven't been drinking enough... ;)

[Pogeymanz]

'Refute'. 99% of the time people mean 'retort'.
'Logical' is another one, as in 'it's logical'. Everytime I've heard people say this they mean 'It makes some kind of sense' or 'It's reasonable'.

I also hate that nobody knows what logic actually is.

[matt_symes]

The confusion between fewer and less irritates me.

But then again.... ;)

[Paddy Landau]

99% of the time people mean 'retort'.
The use of fake statistics ;)

Or, worse, more than 100% where it's not possible: "I agree 110%." What does that even mean?

The use of "slash" where the writer or speaker is too lazy to say whether he means "and", "or" or something else: "I am going to the cinema/restaurant."

[matt_symes]

Or, worse, more than 100% where it's not possible: "I agree 110%." What does that even mean?

You can have a 110% increase on/over ( ;) ) something. Maybe that's where that silliness comes from ?

[Paddy Landau]

You can have a 110% increase on/over ( ;) ) something. Maybe that's where that silliness comes from ?
So when someone says, "I agree with you 110%," perhaps he means, "I agree with you 110% compared with how much I agreed with you before." :lol:

"Opportunity" instead of "problem". A problem and an opportunity are not the same thing and frequently require different approaches.

[uRock]

A problem can be an opportunity to prove your skills.

[Tristam Green]

This thread is on the rapid rail from the land of legitimate gripes into the territory of nitpickery.


...and that's what we call research.

[Jose Catre-Vandis]

Wrong:

gonna

Right:

going to

An "americanism" making its way to often into my kids vocabulary (just irks me, not saying its right or wrong:


gotten

instead of


got

[doas777]

An "americanism" making its way to often into my kids vocabulary (just irks me, not saying its right or wrong:


well, gotten is the perfect form of "to Get".
has gotten/have gotten/will have gotten

here is a full conjugation chart for "Get"
http://www.verb2verbe.com/conjugation/english-verb/get.aspx

[Shibblet]

Windsday instead of Wednesday.

http://www.portlandmercury.com/imager/winnie-the-pooh-happy-winds-day-piglet-piglet-being-blown-away-well-it-isnt-very-happy-f-for-me/b/original/2541330/8d6b/1274339746-0126win18.jpg

Happy Wind-sday Piglet!

[Shibblet]

Actually, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_rest_for_the_wicked

Okay. If we go back to the bible, then we get the terminology, there is no PEACE for the wicked. Rest usually implies peace.

[sanderella]

It annoys me that some people use adjectives where they should have used adverbs. Should be: "Words that people say wrongly that drive you nuts." :shock:

[KiwiNZ]

It is far better that we communicate badly than not communicate at all.

The stores must have sold out of high horses ;-)

I have sent mine back.

[forrestcupp]

It annoys me that some people use adjectives where they should have used adverbs. Should be: "Words that people say wrongly that drive you nuts." :shock:

Good point. ;)

How about "Wrong words people say that drive you nuts"?

[sydbat]

It is far better that we communicate badly than not communicate at all.

The stores must have sold out of high horses ;-)

I have sent mine back.So...um...I guess that means you no longer...um...own a...um...never mind...

[trivialpackets]

Flustrated
fermiliar
communerty
warsh
torlet
Hoe instead of hole

There is a nearby city named Shelbyville that a lot of people pronounce Chevyville.

irregardless

[coffeecat]

An "americanism" making its way to often into my kids vocabulary (just irks me, not saying its right or wrong:


gotten

instead of


got

"Gotten" an Americanism? Actually, no. Gotten is perfectly good English; it's just that we Brits - or rather our British ancestors - got lazy and left the "ten" syllable off. We still have forgotten and misbegotten, and Shakespeare used the word gotten regularly:



He was gotten in drink.

Is it that time already? :p

[m3t3ors]

words that annoy me are
******* is great
linux is hard

[chrinabuntu]

A friend's number one pet peeve is the use of unnecessary quotation marks. There's even a website for it with some really hilarious stuff on it.

http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

Most entertaining for me is the comments on some of the examples. Keeps me entertained for many hours!

[Rasa1111]

A friend's number one pet peeve is the use of unnecessary quotation marks. There's even a website for it with some really hilarious stuff on it.

http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

Most entertaining for me is the comments on some of the examples. Keeps me entertained for many hours!

lol, I can't stand that either.

this isn't really related..
in a way i guess it is.. lol
but some of this stuff cracks me up... :lol:
http://engrish.com/

[bruce89]

An awful lot of the things here are accent issues.


I suspect that, in time, American English will become the norm in the world.

If that ever happens (I try my best to stop it), the world will be a very boring place. If there was one language, there would be one culture. With only one culture, what's the point in travel?

Incidentally, "I could care less" gets on my nerves.


Hearing people say "Stay-tus" when they mean "Stat-us"

Interestingly, I at least pronounce it that way.

Contrary to what people may think, the differences between en_US and en_GB are pretty large. Daphne on Frasier gets on my nerves for using American words/phrases. For those that don't know the programme, she's supposed to be English.

[chrinabuntu]

lol, I can't stand that either.

this isn't really related..
in a way i guess it is.. lol
but some of this stuff cracks me up... :lol:
http://engrish.com/

I almost posted that too...another of my favorites. Those two sites, along with http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/ keep me well entertained. ;O)

[chrinabuntu]

...Incidentally, "I could care less" gets on my nerves.
Me too! totally!

[Khakilang]

When I was in sales, I train myself to ignore those badly spoken words and concentrate on doing my job. So I am immune to them.

[coffeecat]

Daphne on Frasier gets on my nerves for using American words/phrases. For those that don't know the programme, she's supposed to be English.

Not only English, but Mancunian and a source of hilarity and/or irritation to the whole of Manchester. She sounds like a Southerner putting on a generic "Eh oop! Trouble at t'mill" type accent because the actress playing her is a Southerner putting on a generic "Eh oop! Trouble at t'mill" type accent. :)

[Sean Moran]

Well goodness, this little thread has definately come along way in the past couple of days. That's one of the little ones that used to get on my nerves when I'd read a letter from someone who had apparently graduated from university, but I'm gradually building up the immunity to it. If they claim to have studied maths or physics though, and should know how to spell finite and infinite, then it still makes me wonder...

I must apologise to Forrest too. Could have said it nicer. Nothing wrong with US. Eng. in USA, and by the same token, nothing wrong with English Eng. anywhere on the planet. Must be the simplest road to multilinguality that there is, on the positive side.

(please wait a minute while I proof-read this very carefully to make sure there are no typos. brb 9-)
(Okay, Fly!)

[forrestcupp]

I must apologise to Forrest too. Could have said it nicer. Nothing wrong with US. Eng. in USA, and by the same token, nothing wrong with English Eng. anywhere on the planet. Must be the simplest road to multilinguality that there is, on the positive side.
No problems here. I guess this is a good thread to help us learn acceptance of accents and cultures. ;)

I'm starting to rethink my hatred of things like warsh for wash and hoe for hole. They're saying the right thing; it's just an accent. But flustrated instead of frustrated will always annoy me.

[CraigPaleo]

Redundant post. :)

[Tristam Green]

no problems here. I guess this is a good thread to help us learn acceptance of accents and cultures. ;)

i'm starting to rethink my hatred of things like warsh for wash and hoe for hole. They're saying the right thing; it's just an accent. But flustrated instead of frustrated will always annoy me.

<3

[mips]

"Check please."

I only see this in US movies. A cheque is something you pay with but in the US it seems the restaurants pay people to eat there. :lolflag:


And the common things like there/their/they're, borrow/lend, pore/pour, anyone/any one, its/it's and the list goes on...

[CraigPaleo]

"Check please."

I only see this in US movies. A cheque is something you pay with but in the US it seems the restaurants pay people to eat there. :lolflag:


Check: a slip or ticket showing the amount owed, especially a bill for food or beverages consumed. :P

[RiceMonster]

Check: a slip or ticket showing the amount owed, especially a bill for food or beverages consumed. :P

So what's the name for the thing mips described?

[forrestcupp]

I only see this in US movies. A cheque is something you pay with but in the US it seems the restaurants pay people to eat there. :lolflag:

I wish that were the case, especially at some restaurants. :)

[CraigPaleo]

So what's the name for the thing mips described?
The same. Most words have more than one definition. The context should tell you which definition is meant. If anyone wants to misunderstand me though, and write me a check or a bank draft, you're more than welcome. :)

[uRock]

Saying check is kinda like saying one will itch an itch, but whatever, I am guilty of it as well. It should be, "bill please".

[Lucradia]

"bill please".

And if the manager's name is bill? :P

[CraigPaleo]

And if the manager's name is bill? :P

Yeah, it's like itching an itch. It should be "check please." :P

[uRock]

And if the manager's name is bill? :P
I'll tell him to send his employees to learn English.
Bill Bill, n. [OE. bill, bille, fr. LL. billa (or OF. bille),
for L. bulla anything rounded, LL., seal, stamp, letter,
edict, roll; cf. F. bille a ball, prob. fr. Ger.; cf. MHG.
bickel, D. bikkel, dice. Cf. Bull papal edict, Billet a
paper.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Law) A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong
the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a
fault committed by some person against a law.
[1913 Webster]

2. A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain
sum at a future day or on demand, with or without
interest, as may be stated in the document. [Eng.]
[1913 Webster]

Note: In the United States, it is usually called a note, a
note of hand, or a promissory note.
[1913 Webster]

3. A form or draft of a law, presented to a legislature for
enactment; a proposed or projected law.
[1913 Webster]

4. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away,
to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale
of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill.
[1913 Webster]

She put up the bill in her parlor window. --Dickens.
[1913 Webster]

5. An account of goods sold, services rendered, or work done,
with the price or charge; a statement of a creditor's
claim, in gross or by items; as, a grocer's bill.
[1913 Webster]

6. Any paper, containing a statement of particulars; as, a
bill of charges or expenditures; a weekly bill of
mortality; a bill of fare, etc.
[1913 Webster]

[CraigPaleo]

"Tab" can also be a synonym of "check" and "bill." So, if we request our tab, someone could bring us one of those artificially sweetened colas or a small flap. :)

[mips]

The same. Most words have more than one definition. The context should tell you which definition is meant. If anyone wants to misunderstand me though, and write me a check or a bank draft, you're more than welcome. :)

The usage of the word check is unique to North America by the looks of things. It appears in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as you described it. The Oxford dictionary makes mention of it being of North American usage for a bill.

[mips]

"Tab" can also be a synonym of "check" and "bill." So, if we request our tab, someone could bring us one of those artificially sweetened colas or a small flap. :)

Tab is almost exclusively used in pubs/bars over here. You "run a tab" and when you are about to leave you settle it.

[nothingspecial]

Tab means cigarette here.

Check means tick also doesn't it as in tick all the boxes?

And period, well I'm not going into that......

[KiwiNZ]

Accounts .... what the Restaurant presents for payment.
American Express... what one pays it with.

Cheque ...How quaint ,haven't used one of those historical documents in years.

[nothingspecial]

Cheque ...How quaint ,haven't used one of those historical documents in years.

Wrote two today. :P

[forrestcupp]

The usage of the word check is unique to North America by the looks of things. It appears in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as you described it. The Oxford dictionary makes mention of it being of North American usage for a bill.

See, that's the difference. We're not talking about a cheque; we're talking about a check. ;)

[CraigPaleo]

They are becoming obsolete, aren't they? Nothingspecial is a historical kind of guy :) but I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote a check. My regular bills are automatically deducted from my checking account and I use my check card for the rest.

[AndyCinDallas]

"Should of" or "could of" instead of "should have" or "could have".

"Bullets" instead of "cartridges".

Corporate buzzwords or phrases - and I mean *any* of them!

[doas777]

"Should of" or "could of" instead of "should have" or "could have".

"Bullets" instead of "cartridges".

Corporate buzzwords or phrases - and I mean *any* of them!

yeah, I see what you mean. most likely the person is saying "should've" since several accents make 'h' almost silent (for instance how is 'herbs' pronounced where you are?), so it's more of an illegal contraction rather than a gramatical issue. at least at first. i'm sure many people have misheard it over the years and turned "'ve" into "of".

in my world, there are many kinds of cartridges (toner, nintendo games, battery packs, etc) but only one kind of thing takes "bullets".
I would have no idea what you are saying if you refereed to cartridges without context, but bullets would be clear as day; I understand that the "bullet" is only the lead part at the top, but still, the point of words is communication, and "cartridges" is just plain ambiguous.

[doas777]

The usage of the word check is unique to North America by the looks of things. It appears in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as you described it. The Oxford dictionary makes mention of it being of North American usage for a bill.
yep, its colloquial/idiomatic, not formal.

[uRock]

"Should of" or "could of" instead of "should have" or "could have".Those aren't wrong though. If they are, then so is can't, don't, aren't(ain't), I'd and we've.

[mips]

See, that's the difference. We're not talking about a cheque; we're talking about a check. ;)

Check in the US is the same thing as a cheque elsewhere but it also has other meanings such as check which is unique to you guys. Now to me it sounds as if the guy is asking for a cheque as the word 'check' in that context is totally foreign to me.

But this is not nearly as annoying as the Imperial system which has US & English measures :confused: Fortunately the rest of us have moved on :P

[CraigPaleo]

yep, its colloquial/idiomatic, not formal.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's colloquial. We have the term "checkout" when our purchases are tallied and paid for in stores. It's also used when we pay at the end of a hotel stay. I'm sure "checkout" was most likely derived from "check" at some point in the past.

[forrestcupp]

yeah, I see what you mean. most likely the person is saying "should've" since several accents make 'h' almost silent (for instance how is 'herbs' pronounced where you are?), so it's more of an illegal contraction rather than a gramatical issue. at least at first. i'm sure many people have misheard it over the years and turned "'ve" into "of".

The annoying thing is not when people pronounce it "should of," but when they actually spell it "should of" because they really think that's what it is.

[coolbrook]

And that should be the French "tout de suite", which in English is (incorrectly) pronounced "toot sweet".


Actually... lingerie (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lingerie).




No one says 'tout de suite.' "Toot Swit."...'Toot sweet' is much closer. I can't think of french words where IN is pronouced as ON. I'm from Quebec.

[lisati]

That's actually meant to be, "without any further ado."

Exactly.


And that should be the French "tout de suite", which in English is (incorrectly) pronounced "toot sweet".
"Toot Sweet", which reminds me of a song in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803/), is about the best approximation I've encountered of the pronunciation of I was taught at school. (And yes, I'm old enough to remember that movie being in the pictures.)

[spoons]

When people call our flag the "Union Jack". No, it is in fact the Union Flag and is only the Union Jack when hoisted on the back of a naval vessel.

[forrestcupp]

(And yes, I'm old enough to remember that movie being in the pictures.)

Just the fact that you said in the "pictures" tells us that you're old enough to remember. :)

p.s. I remember it, too. ;)

[slooksterpsv]

Mountain - making it sounds like mountn (think of it mumbled).
Linux - people make it sound like (LI nuks) and not (li nuks).
Creek - It's creek not crick.

I can't think of any other words

[Paddy Landau]

No one says 'tout de suite.' "Toot Swit."...'Toot sweet' is much closer. I can't think of french words where IN is pronouced as ON. I'm from Quebec.
I was taught "in" being pronounced (usually) as on. I wonder if regional accents come into it?


"Toot Sweet", which reminds me of a song in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803/)...
I'm not quite that old, but "they" just don't make movies like that any more, do they? These days, hits seem to entail guns and drugs.


Linux - people make it sound like (LI nuks) and not (li nuks).
I had always wondered about the pronunciation of Linux.



According to Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/linux), the word doesn't exist. :confused:



According to dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/linux), it's pronounced one of lin-uhx, lin-oox, lie-nuhx. Quote: "Many, including Torvalds, insist on the short I pronunciation /li'nuks/ because "Linus" has an /ee/ sound in Swedish (Linus's family is part of Finland's 6% ethnic-Swedish minority) and Linus considers English short /i/ to be closer to /ee/ than English long /i:/ dipthong. This is consistent with the short I in words like "linen". This doesn't stop others demanding a long I /li:'nuks/ following the english pronunciation of "Linus" and "minus". Others say /li'niks/ following Minix (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Minix), which Torvalds was working on before Linux."



The Oxford English Dictionary (http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/251510) explicitly separates British and US pronunciations. British: lin-ux or lie-nux. US: lin-ux or lie-nux. Quote: "Etymology: < the name of Linus Benedict Torvalds (b. 1969), Finnish software engineer, who wrote the first version of the system + -x (in Unix n. (http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/242386#eid12590290))."


On balance, I think I'll go with Torvalds's recommendation.

[Sean Moran]

Sometimes the words that people get wrojng can be quite heart-warming, when you live in a foreign country that speaks a very different language to English, but does their best with what they know to speak it.

The restaurant cheque, or bill, or check, here in Thailand is known as the "chek-bin" because words in Thai that end in an L consonant (Lor-Ling, the monkey) are spoken with the ending as an N (nor-noo, the mouse). That's one of the little quirks here that always make me smile on the inside, but wait! There's more..

I had a girlriend a year ago, and we only ever spoke Thai to each other, but she knew well that I was stuck in the kindergarten phase, and her best line in English that I still remember was that I "eat bia maak maak" and I should "eat water". The beauty of such an attempt to put things into English I'll always remember.

Now I have been with a new girlfriend for just under a year, and her best one to me is her prefix to the location "here". To her, it's "at here" because here is where we are at. Another ripper is when she says we should "come back" she means we should "go back" - go back home. I got a chance to politely mention how the difference between come and go are just like the difference between maa and pai in pasa Thai yesterday when we were on our way back from town, but to tell the truth, I like it when she says "at here" or "come back home" meaning "go home" or if someone advises me to "eat water".

It's not correct in the head, but it's a foreign language in this country, which makes it right in the heart.

[sydbat]

Just the fact that you said in the "pictures" tells us that you're old enough to remember. :)

p.s. I remember it, too. ;)p.p.s. Me too. Dammit we're old...

[mips]

Golfer Retief Goosen's surname is always pronounced (outside of SA) goose-en as in the bird. The G is supposed to have a guttural sound as used in dutch or arabic while the "oo" is pronounced like moor. Should sound like Goo-sin.

[doas777]

Golfer Retief Goosen's surname is always pronounced (outside of SA) goose-en as in the bird. The G is supposed to have a guttural sound as used in dutch or arabic while the "oo" is pronounced like moor. Should sound like Goo-sin.

so wait, his name is spelled 'luxury yacht' but is pronounced 'throatwobbler mangrave' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyQvjKqXA0Y)? well, I guess he should be more mellow about people mispronouncing his name.

[ratcheer]

anyways
munce (instead of months)
rillaty (instead of realty)
jewlery (instear of jewelry)

Too many to think of, really....

Tim

[forrestcupp]

jewlery (instear of jewelry)


That's a little bit better than jury.

[mkendall]

libary (library)
scrawberry (strawberry)
mischeeveeous (mischievous)

[Cracklepop]

Those aren't wrong though. If they are, then so is can't, don't, aren't(ain't), I'd and we've.

''should've'' is correct, ''should of'' is not...

[mips]

so wait, his name is spelled 'luxury yacht' but is pronounced 'throatwobbler mangrave' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyQvjKqXA0Y)? well, I guess he should be more mellow about people mispronouncing his name.

He's not complaining, I am.

[Paddy Landau]

Here in the UK, many people don't know how to make the "th" sound. So, "throat" and "then" would be pronounced "froat" and "ven" respectively.

Once, at work, we were talking about the need to train ourselves, and someone mentioned free courses at a prestigious (and expensive) company. The manager nearly fell off his chair in excitement, but the speaker clarified, "No, not 'free.' I meant 'free,' as in one, two, free." :lol:

[Paqman]

Here in the UK, many people don't know how to make the "th" sound.

See also: folks who can't pronounce their R's (eg: Jonathon Woss, how did he get on TV with a speech impediment?!?) and people who drop all their h's when they talk (admittedly a bit of a London thing) but when they pronounce the letter h they go totally overboard and pronounce it "haitch". Mindboggling.

[Paddy Landau]

Mindboggling.
The most mindboggling thing of all is that people whose native tongue is not English often speak English better than do many of the English. As Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady) says, "Why can't the English (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAYUuspQ6BY) learn to speak?" What a strange world we live in. :rolleyes: I wonder if other countries have a similar problem -- Germans can't speak German, say?

[mips]

The most mindboggling thing of all is that people whose native tongue is not English often speak English better than do many of the English.

The Scandinavians are pretty good at that.

[Sean Moran]

The Scandinavians are pretty good at that.
In my inbox this morning was news from Thailand that the Education Ministry or some part of it is looking to employ another 300 foreign native-English teachers at around 900% the salary of the average first-year Thai English teacher. Countries included were: Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Philippines, and USA among others that I might have fortgotten.

True that there are large populations of Filipino and Indian expats here in Thailand, but they speak such perfect English from what I have heard, so I guess that's good reason why these two nations are included among the native-English speaking set.

[Barrucadu]

"th" confuses me, it's not a particularly difficult syllable, and nor is it foreign to our culture. I can understand people having difficulties pronouncing foreign words, as the use of syllables is often different, but people are exposed to "th" from birth.

[forrestcupp]

but when they pronounce the letter h they go totally overboard and pronounce it "haitch". Mindboggling.

So they never pronounce their h's unless they're pronouncing the letter h? That's pretty funny.

My grandma is about as American as you can get, yet she says "umble" instead of "humble" because she thinks it makes her sound like a more intelligent person. She's trying to make herself seem higher while she's talking about being humble. :)

[rg4w]

The sadly increasing use of "less" where the right choice would have been "fewer".

[Kirboosy]

Like really drives me nuts. Like when they like keep using like in the same sentence because it like sounds cool I guess. Basically also drives me nuts because people basically overuse it too much. ;)


~Caboose

[Sean Moran]

The sadly increasing use of "less" where the right choice would have been "fewer".
Thanks mate. That's the second one I can remember. My GrandMother always said, "Worst comes to worst" and I never questioned it until someone pointed out that it's actually "Worse comes to worst" and that makes much more sense to me.

I also tend to use 'less' 99.9% of the time, and never get my 'fewer' in the right context. It's the same as "much" or "many" isn't it? There is much more to write, but not many more ways to write it, because it's getting late and I have less time and fewer adjectives to scribble on the keyboard any much more than the many words I've already written over the afternoon when there were fewer beers and much less comfortable than the many different aspects that I now see before my eyes.

I thought I knew everything but this thread is doing me wonders for the sake of better English.

[matt_symes]

The sadly increasing use of "less" where the right choice would have been "fewer".

I have said that no fewer or less than five times ;)

[sydbat]

And not just individual words...

sentences that end and others that just begin then there is the lack of capitalization the other thing that bothers me as well is the lack of any kind of punctuation it makes it difficult to read when people do this and then want help if they wanted help i believe they should understand the basics of writing which would mean they know when to punctuate and when to create new paragraphs and when to capitalize spelling is also a good idea

[kostageas]

I wonder if other countries have a similar problem -- Germans can't speak German, say?

Correct. I am currently learning High German in school (2nd year) and I can understand the language perfectly when it's pronounced correctly. But when I watch German movies, I almost always need to use subtitles simply because I can't understand their pronunciation. I can understand the various accents, but there is so much slang that it's nearly impossible!

[ratcheer]

Yes, I once met a man from Switzerland who said that the Swiss can speak German, but the Germans cannot.

Tim

[Ron Jones]

It's probably been mentioned already, but:

#1 - 'Newcular' instead of the correct: Nuclear

#2 - I don't know if it is technically correct, but I've long been bothered by the use of 'myself' in the following context: "Points of contact are myself, and Bob Smith." As opposed to the [much cleaner sounding] "contact me, or Bob Smith if you have any questions."

#3 - The long, and growing, list of changes that have been wrought on the spoken English language with the introduction of Short Message Service (SMS... a.k.a. 'text messaging'). The aforementioned "prolly" being one of the most annoying. I have no doubt that some of today's Second Graders will actually say "kewl" upon receiving their acceptance letter to Harvard University.

Maybe I'm just getting middle aged :wink:

[renzokuken]

expresso instead of espresso

[gopherofdoom]

Not going to weigh in to the US/UK/Can/Aus/NZ/SA/Zim/Other English comparisons, or comments on dialectal words other than to say, well, I'm not going to criticise someone from the US for using US English, or someone from the Northeast for saying "youse", or someone Swiss for speaking Schwyzerdütsch.

What gets me pissed off is unthinking mispronunciation (like the "nookular" thing [edit: oh yes, and "eXpresso", yuck]) and illogical mixing-up of idioms.

Biggest annoyance is when people say "I could care less"! What? Therefore you care to some extent? This comes of somehow forgetting the n't on the end -- I don't know how -- because what you're trying to say is that if you cared less, it would be off the bottom of the scale. You are at point zero on the scale of caring. It's "I couldn't care less", dammit!

Gah, anger!

Time for deep calming breaths...

[jerenept]

Not going to weigh in to the US/UK/Can/Aus/NZ/SA/Zim/Other English comparisons, or comments on dialectal words other than to say, well, I'm not going to criticise someone from the US for using US English, or someone from the Northeast for saying "youse", or someone Swiss for speaking Schwyzerdütsch.

What gets me pissed off is unthinking mispronunciation (like the "nookular" thing [edit: oh yes, and "eXpresso", yuck]) and illogical mixing-up of idioms.

Biggest annoyance is when people say "I could care less"! What? Therefore you care to some extent? This comes of somehow forgetting the n't on the end -- I don't know how -- because what you're trying to say is that if you cared less, it would be off the bottom of the scale. You are at point zero on the scale of caring. It's "I couldn't care less", dammit!

Gah, anger!

Time for deep calming breaths...

I suppose I could care less.

But I can't.

[Paqman]

(like the "nookular" thing [edit: oh yes, and "eXpresso", yuck])

Got to admit, both of these fill me with irrational rage out of all proportion with the crime. I also ran into someone yesterday who could not say "binoculars". There is no such word as "binoclears"!

[coffeecat]

Biggest annoyance is when people say "I could care less"! What? Therefore you care to some extent? This comes of somehow forgetting the n't on the end -- I don't know how -- because what you're trying to say is that if you cared less, it would be off the bottom of the scale. You are at point zero on the scale of caring. It's "I couldn't care less", dammit!

I believe "I could care less." meaning "I couldn't care less." is an American English idiom. It's not logical, but neither are many idioms. It jars on my British ears but then I realise that if meant sarcastically "I could care less." makes perfect sense and that "I couldn't care less." is boringly logical. This seems to be an occasion when our American cousins have out-ironied us. Celebrate!


Time for deep calming breaths...

Indeed. Or a time for not caring less, however you express the sentiment, when you hear someone say, "I could care less." :wink:

[gopherofdoom]

Indeed. Or a time for not caring less, however you express the sentiment, when you hear someone say, "I could care less." :wink:

Surely you mean a time for actually caring less, or not being able to care less, rather than "not caring less". Should I care more? :P Sorry.

Didn't know it was a specifically American English thing. I suppose it could make some sense if meant sarcastically, although it doesn't actually convey any information about how much you do care (you could also care more). A full use of sarcasm would be, "I couldn't care more strongly!" Meh.

And apologies to anyone allergic to "meh". :)

[renzokuken]

haha, awesome. been watching David Mitchell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

[CraigPaleo]

I'm American and "I could care less" grates on me too.

Anyway, has "conversate" been mentioned? "Disorientated" use to bother me but since I've learned it's an actual word used mainly across the pond, I've become more tolerant of it. :) Now it just sounds strange.

[renzokuken]

I'm American and "I could care less" grates on me too.

Anyway, has "conversate" been mentioned? "Disorientated" use to bother me but since I've learned it's an actual word used mainly across the pond, I've become more tolerant of it. :) Now it just sounds strange.

i have a similar problem with the word physicality. it really grates on me, and gets overused in rugby commentary. i used to shout at the TV when they used it.....but then found out its legit, i just hate it.

[gopherofdoom]

haha, awesome. been watching David Mitchell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

That just made me so happy.

[Paddy Landau]

haha, awesome. Been watching david mitchell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7o0mfkmpw
+1

[MisterGaribaldi]

The willful ignorance of the population is to me the single most worrying thing.

Everything else is mere window dressing.

[jerenept]

Using adjectives as adverbs, e.g.: "Words people say wrong that drive you nuts" should be "Words people say wrongly that drive you nuts"

[coffeecat]

Using adjectives as adverbs, e.g.: "Words people say wrong that drive you nuts" should be "Words people say wrongly that drive you nuts"

I know. Using the adjective "wrong" when one should be using the adverb "wrongly". These young people. Tch! You need to go back to the writers of an earlier and more grammatically correct time to see how adverbs should be used.

Oh, but wait...


The first two dances, however, brought a return of distress; they were dances of mortification. Mr. Collins, awkward and solemn, apologising instead of attending, and often moving wrong without being aware of it, gave her all the shame and misery which a disagreeable partner for a couple of dances can give. The moment of her release from him was ecstasy.Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, publ 1813.

:wink:

[CraigPaleo]

wrong
–adverb
11.
in a wrong manner; not rightly; awry; amiss: You did it wrong again.

[jerenept]

I know. Using the adjective "wrong" when one should be using the adverb "wrongly". These young people. Tch! You need to go back to the writers of an earlier and more grammatically correct time to see how adverbs should be used.

Oh, but wait...

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, publ 1813.

:wink:

lalalaLALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!! BLASPHEMY!

[Paddy Landau]

lalalaLALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!! BLASPHEMY!
ROFL

"Quick" is another of those adverbs, although "quickly" has become an acceptable alternative.

[forrestcupp]

Not going to weigh in to the US/UK/Can/Aus/NZ/SA/Zim/Other English comparisons, or comments on dialectal words other than to say, well, I'm not going to criticise someone from the US for using US English, or someone from the Northeast for saying "youse", or someone Swiss for speaking Schwyzerdütsch.

What gets me pissed off is unthinking mispronunciation (like the "nookular" thingBut what if "nookular" is just a dialectal word or a pronunciation of a certain accent? ;)


Using adjectives as adverbs, e.g.: "Words people say wrong that drive you nuts" should be "Words people say wrongly that drive you nuts"Already been addressed. :)


wrong
–adverb
11.
in a wrong manner; not rightly; awry; amiss: You did it wrong again.Thank you. End of line.

[Paddy Landau]

And on a lighter note, a look at what to do with people who say things wrong:
www.gocomics.com/reynoldsunwrapped/2011/04/20/ (http://www.gocomics.com/reynoldsunwrapped/2011/04/20/)

I don't like it when people say something has "no chemicals" to imply that it is somehow better. "There are no chemicals in this hair product." "These vitamin supplements don't have any chemicals."

Eh? If it didn't have any chemicals, it would be empty space!

[FlameReaper]

And on a lighter note, a look at what to do with people who say things wrong:
www.gocomics.com/reynoldsunwrapped/2011/04/20/ (http://www.gocomics.com/reynoldsunwrapped/2011/04/20/)

I don't like it when people say something has "no chemicals" to imply that it is somehow better. "There are no chemicals in this hair product." "These vitamin supplements don't have any chemicals."

Eh? If it didn't have any chemicals, it would be empty space!

Air is also composed of chemical substances, you see ;)

[dwhite]

Nu-kyu-lur instead of new-clee-ar for nuclear (http://www.answers.com/nuclear)

Far too many people make this stupid mistake, including (astonishingly enough) some US presidents!
:evil:


my choice too :)

[Derxst]

For me it is the use of the word "anxious" when one really means "excited."

For example, former President Bush was "anxious" to meet Vladimir Putin.