Feb 23, 2010

Things people say ... vol. 2

The last time I wrote some of these down, it elicited more of a response than I expected. My closest friends were completely appalled at my rudeness and superior tone when I published the post, but apparently you are all a bunch of closet grammar freaks and I feel compelled to bring you a sequel. (Holla! I LOVE fellow grammar freaks!)

Plus, I want to mention that I hold you all in high regard and DO NOT JUDGE much, so there's no need to feel like I'm attacking anyone in particular except where noted. Here we go ...


- There are myriad grammatical mistakes that I could choose to harp on today. Not "a myriad of," just "MYRIAD."

- You will not find SHERBERT in any ice cream shop or grocery store no matter how hard you look. You WILL, however, be able to find SHERBET.

- I have a friend (who hopefully does not read my blog) who says "in where that" all the time. As in, "That's a situation in where that he committed us to something we can't do." I cannot abide by that phrase. At all.

- SRIMP: What can I say other than that the "H" is NOT silent? You must be confusing it with the silent "l" in salmon (ANOTHER BIGGIE.)

- This one is really just a pronunciation peeve, but I get jittery when people pronounce "ed" -- as in the past tense of a verb -- "it." For example: "My bumper is dent-it" or "I am exhaust-it." Somewhere in the world, a bunch of Ds are huddled around a campfire lamenting their uselessness.

- This one is also punctuation, not grammar, but I have to mention it since Twitterers and Facebookers around the world do it all the time. If you are really excited about something and simply MUST use mixed punctuation marks to get the point across, put the appropriate one first!!??!! Get my drift??!!?? Or not!?!

- And Zeta commented on my previous post on this subject with one I'd left off my first list because I didn't think as many people would relate to it, but she nailed it: "Preventive vs. Preventative. You can prevent something. You cannot preventat something." (Preventative IS listed as a derivative of Preventive in the dictionary, but why use a secondary, less-viable word when a better one will do?)

- Lastly, I can't help but share this example of a sign some poor soul made for what looks like a UFC or WWF event that was featured on national TV. Internet, PLEASE, if you're making a sign that will be seen in public, ask someone to double-check your spelling. That is all.



NOW, fill up the Comments with examples of your own! That was my very favorite part last time. Erin S., I'm talking to you!

Go ahead, UNLEASH THE FURRY!

14 comments:

Amy said...

Oh how I love to read your posts! You make me LAUGH OUT LOUD! :)
OK, I have a couple. Axe for ask. "Can I axe you a question?" (you do know where I grew up, right?) Forgetting to put the "s" on cent. "That will be fifty cent." I also know someone who says Optober instead of OCTober and chafferone instead of chaperone.

Sarah said...

Know anyone who says they are "fusterated"? So incredibly frustrating.

And I hope you recently enjoyed Valentine's Day, instead of Valentime's Day. That kills me.

Anonymous said...

"i could care less" - AURGH!! let's see....if you COULD care less, then that means you still care a little bit at least...because there is room to care less. but if you COULDN'T care less, well, that means you don't care at all in the least bit...

Amy said...

I can't put this in proper English grammar terms (because I don't know them), but it drives me crazy when my People magazine messes up phrases such as "the couple love their dogs" instead of "the couple loves their dogs". You know--putting the plural verb (love) on the singular noun (couple). Yes, even though a couple is comprised of two people, it is still ONE couple. I guess I shouldn't expect too much from such a fine literary magazine as People, anyway :)

Sewconsult said...

Alzheimer's vs Altimers or Oldtimer's, A newscaster was guilty of this one last week.

Using GOOD instead of WELL. "You did good" NO! you did well.

Birfday instead of birthday.

Pronouncing the L in Salmon, sends chills down my spine.

I just use the word JUST too often & just working to correct it!
Beckie

Patrice said...

Playing off Sarah's, "flustrated" is the worst. "I don't know which word I want, so I'll just shove them together to create a pretend word."

Maybe I should get off the computer and feed my child.

Tracey said...

How about when people say Chuesday for Tuesday. Really people I don't see a "ch" in the word anywhere. The other thing that drives me crazy is when someone mispronounces supposedly and supposively. Look at the spelling. Great topic!

Tracey said...

I meant to say when they mispronounce supposedly and use the pronunciation "supposively".

Tracey said...

Testes instead of tests. Do I need to say anything about that?

Erin said...

Bwahahahaha! Good ones!

I will tell you that last night I drove 20 minutes out of my way to avoid going into a tile store named "Tile Trendz" ... I mean, seriously. Think I'm going to trust you to give my bathtub a makeover when you can't even spell your business name correctly?

Oh, and every time I see our mail carrier, he tells me he's brought my mails. I can't tell you the number of times I've been disappointed that the Chippendale dancers weren't lining up in my driveway for a little shimmy-shake.

Laura said...

In Greenville, NC, there is a store sign that says:

"Urban Apparel for Mens, Women's, and Children's"

Seriously? You either a) need to get your money back from the sign company, or b) learn basic grammar... or maybe both.

Great post - I love your blog!

CCB said...

LOVE THIS POST!!! And I detest the phrase "on tomorrow"--- I don't know that it is incorrect, but it BUGS!!! And another, "Say-ruh" for Sarah. Ugh. Oh, and "taste of this" instead of simply, "taste this." Thanks for a guffaw ;)

Dad said...

Sportscasters and sports celebrities are the worst! None has a clue about "I" and "me," as in "He's a lot like me" instead of "He's a lot like I [am]." And "Joe went to the game with Bob and I" instead of "...Bob and me."
Seriously, did any ex-athlete (not ath-ah-lete) ever take an English course?

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

I've enjoyed all of these additions so much! "TASTE OF THIS." HA!

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