The Kings English - verbal pet peeves

Lothlorien

Active Member
I can't stand "yous guys"

It bugs me when someone pronounced idea as ideer. Living in this area, it's unfortunately all to common for someone to put an r sound at the end of a word that ends in a vowel. My husband does it sometimes.

Another thing we do in this area is leave off the end of words....like Nothin instead of Nothing. I do that a lot. My family lives in Florida and they tease me about it a lot.
 

everywoman

Well-Known Member
My pet peeves:
"hisself"----not proper in speech or writing
or "what had happened was'
or "the reason is because"
or the whole who/whom thing
only use whom only as an object after a preposition like to whom, for whom, with whom---who is appropriate whenever it replaces a subject!!!

Try teaching kids in the south how to write properly---OMG, U woodn't bleve wat i dl with- dayly~~:) especially since text messaging became the main form of communication
 

susiequte

New Member
In writing, it bugs me when I read that someone would rather do this "then" that. They mean "than". Also the whole your/you're thing bugs me!!! My husband says "ironical" rather than "ironic". Both are correct, but ironical sounds stupid to me.
Glad to know I'm not the only one with quirks, peeves, and obsessions!!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
In the Hills were I live a favorite is "I ain't got no" or "Ya ain't got no".

The word ain't is bad enough, but it doesn't bother me as much as the over use of double negatives around here. OMG And I admit, I'm a language snob. I'll correct someone's English. I can't help it, it drives me crazy.

Email, chatting online, and text messesaging has made it worse. Among young people at the college their conversations are littered with abbreviations as much as poor grammar. And watching them in an English class can be entertaining if you have plenty of patience, which I don't.

I can speak perfect English. And I did until I went to kindergarden. (school currupted me) I can talk "country", now I can do the "hill talk", and I can talk "big city". But thru it all, I still correct grammar. lol Do not use a double negative when speaking to me. It will get you a half hour lecture. Which most likely explains why my kids all did very well in english class. :)

Heather, I nearly choked on my coffee. :rofl:
 

susiequte

New Member
And don't get me started on the "we wuzzers". I quit dating a guy once because he always said this!!! "We was at the Walmart and we SEEN a such and such......" AUGH!!!! Another written peeve is people who use "sell" for "sale". "Couch for sell.............."AUGH!!!!

This thread keeps reminding me of things that bug me!!!!
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Chiming in on "WE" are pregnant.

I always stare blank stares as if I didn't understand and then the woman will usually say - "What's wrong?" and I will answer "We're pregnant? OMG this must be your first honey - because after 28 hours of LABOR and pushing and tearing and stifling screams? I was the ONLY one pregnant in my house. Man can't pass a bowling ball through his nostril? He's NOT pregnant."

Going North -???? ;)
Good point! The next time I meet a charasamatic woman with an iron will? I shall announce "Boy she sure has ovaries!" :tongue::laugh: - sounds better too!
 
F

flutterbee

Guest
Ok, so the expression, "bear with me"...is it "bear" or "bare".

I suppose I could use the dictionary, but this is more fun.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
It's "bear" with me. "Bear" as in carry. Or stay with me, wait for me.

Often if you're unsure about what spelling to use, think about the origin of the expression and how it was originally used. Dictionairies can help there, but the more you read (books, not posts!) the more your mind fills up with this wealth of background information.

It's been a long thread, I can't recall - have we dealt with the apostrophe issue yet? You know the thing - you see a sign on a shop. "fresh fruit and vegetable's here!" "Five table's, no waiting!" "Waitress's wanted!"
(which also reminds me - the shop signs where they decorate with quotation marks - as if they aren't confident enough to come out and state, WE HAVE FRESH VEGETABLES, they have to do it with JOHNSON GREENGROCER "we have fresh vegetables" "tomatoes" "potatoes" "fresh onions" - I want to scream. Like, who says they have fresh vegetables? They're clearly quoting someone else).

Back to apostrophes - they denote possession only in some cases (not personal pronouns). Or they indicate the position of a missing letter.
For example, you don't have an apostrophe in HIS, HERS, ITS (as in "its collar was on backwards"). But you do have an apostrophe in JENNY'S, THE PARSON'S, THE NEIGHBOUR'S (when talking about something they own).
Other words with apostrophes - they are words where a letter is missing, usually where two words have been run into one in the process. For example, IT'S as short for IT IS. It's the only time you have an apostrophe (with I T S). DO NOT is run together and the O is dropped (being replaced by an apostrophe) to form DON'T. In a more old-fashioned way, SHALL NOT is run together but only one apostrophe is used, again to replace the O, to give SHAN'T.

Now, I know these rules thoroughly, but I still make mistakes when typing fast and not double-checking my work. Where I get cranky, is with people who either should know better, or who are putting their words in the public eye in a way where they should have availed themselves of professional services. ie signmakers, writers, those for whom words are a livelihood.

The most enjoyable places for finding gramamtical and spelling errors like these, are in those ads that promote correspondence lessons in editing and writing. Finding mistakes in those REALLY engenders confidence!! (not)

Marg
 
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trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
It's been a long thread, I can't recall - have we dealt with the apostrophe issue yet? You know the thing - you see a sign on a shop. "fresh fruit and vegetable's here!"

Marg, I am right there beside you on the apostrophe issue. Also the quotation marks sprinkled about like confetti.

When I see a sign such as: "Fresh" vegetables sold here I have to wonder how long they've been sitting there mouldering.

I've heard that apostrophe error referred to as the Grocer's apostrophe.
Having seen signs for Potatoe's, Vegetable's, Tomatoe's, etc. I think I understand why.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Every year at Back to School Night, I proofread the teacher's handouts, and return them with the mistakes highlighted. Miss KT was embarrassed until junior high, after that she thought it was hilarious. I don't do it just to be picky, I do it to see what standards the teacher holds him/herself to. If the paper they present to the parents is a mess, are they able to correct the student work in a way that promotes learning? Not everything has an answer key. The best syllabus was from her 11th grade English teacher, the worst from her 10th grade Health teacher.
 

Marg's Man

Member
One of Sydney's major papers is the Sydney Morning Herald.

For many years they had (in the eighth column of the front page) a humorous section called (funnily enough 'Column 8').
Column 8 still lives (on page 13 or wherever the first section of the broadsheet paper finishes) and one of Column 8's greatest creations is Apostrophe Man, dedicated to the correct use of apostrophes in EVERY situation. See this link for a sample but don't look too hard - Apostrophe Man doesn't appear very often these days - he/she has taken too many hits.
http://www.smh.com.au/column8/

Marg's Man
 

susiestar

Roll With It
WOW!!! I am NOT the only one who has returned papers to the school with mistakes corrected in red pen!!!! I first did it in Ohio when they took Wiz' recess away because he didn't catch ALL of the teacher's spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes. He was in 2nd grade. I not only marked them in red pen, I sent copies to the Superintendent of Schools with a note about Wiz losing recess over this. (The Superintendent was my Great Uncle - and he truly was GREAT!)

I HATE yous guys, I also hate warsh as in "warsh your clothes in the warshing machine".

I don't have any problems with y'all though. Not sure why.

But one of my BIGGEST pet peeves is having an English teacher who cannot use proper grammar or spelling.

I don't have ovaries. Of any kind, not anymore. I have been known to tell people I have Balls, and they are bigger than any man's and up closer to my brain. I am referring to my breasts, of course - they are rounded and far tougher than that part of a guy. Let a guy try to nurse an infant with ANY body part. ROFL!

I have HUGE problems when I am walking through a store and find signs that are spelled incorrectly. Especially if the mistake is in the spelling of the brand name of a product that is right there next to the sign. When I point these errors out to store managers, more often than not I get a blank look. It makes me hand over my chosen items and go to a different store about 9 out of 10 times.

I also object to purchasing a product that is "chemical free". I was looking at makeup at Ulta and one several lines advertised as being "chemical free".

WATER has chemicals in it. Everything has a chemical formula when broken down. The mineral makeup cannot possibly be chemical free because it has minerals in it. ALL minerals have a chemical makeup.

I will stop now.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Am I the only one who gags when seeing cutsie spellings like EZ for "easy" and Kwik for "quick"? You usually see these as part of the name of a business. And the business owners all probably think that they're the clever son of a gun who came up with it first!
 

Abbey

Spork Queen
Ok...you try typing in now a hundred or so of pages from Old Bill where EVERY sentence ends with an exclamation point.

Abbey
 

C.J.

New Member
My verbal pet peeve - telephone callers.

Ring Ring

Me: Hello.

Caller: Is N* there?

Me: Yes.

Silence - more silence - muffled noises

Caller: Hello? I said, is N* there?

Me: Yes.

More silence, though I detect the sound of the hamster getting on the wheel in his brain

Caller: Well, can I talk to her?

Me: I don't know.

Again, silence.

Caller: Huh? What? Can I talk to her?

Me: I don't know.

Caller: I called to talk to N*, can I talk to her?

Me: (Now clearly enjoying myself) This is what works best when you call my home. I answer with "hello". When it is your turn to speak, you should say, "Hello. This is _____. May I speak with N*? At which time I will inform you whether or not N* is able to come to the phone.

The other call I love to receive is from the caller who mistakes me for N* - which is in and of itself insulting. I don't sound like her, and I don't talk like her. So, when the caller starts off with "Hey, what up?" I start talking about politics, a school board issue, sales taxes, anything I can think of to ramble on about until I have to come up for air. If at the end my ramble his response is, "Is N* there?" I reply as stated before, and play the game again.

I know, I could really use a new form of entertainment, but until they put on the "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline again, I don't know what it will be.
 
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