Phrases that people get wrong

[gemgirl]

As someone already mentioned, "irregardless" has always always gotten under my skin and driven me nuts.

And the two that my husband and his family can not shake- seen and ain''t. I can''t imagine how many times I have said "please say saw", which of course falls on deaf ears. I''ve offered my husband a dictionary to look up the word ain''t, and I always get a nasty look.

 

[Moh 10]

I honestly have never been able to use lie, lay, laid correctly.

I've tried to learn, and I have given up.
It is to the point where I now have a mental block about it.
I just find another word.

Oh, and I know this thread is not about pronunciation but when I hear wash pronounced with an R my teeth start to itch.

I realize pronunciation varies all over the US and there is no other word that bothers me.

WARSH?

 

[vizsla]

LOL.. i love this thread.. it''s the snarky in me..

ditto on irregardless... ugh!

"fresh brewed coffee" or "fresh baked cookies" it''s freshLY!

pronouncing eSpresso like EX-presso

i have a ton more... i''ll have to pepper them in

 

[somethingshiny]

OOh, I didn''t realize this was considered snarky! I guess I''m snarkier than I even thought!

The "on accident" instead of "by accident" is often used in the Midwest too.

 

[GoingCrazy29]

It makes me cringe when people say or write "congradulations" instead of ''congratulations''. You guys have already hit on a lot of the ones that drive me crazy!

 

[EricaR]

My bugaboo is always "mute point" instead of "moot point". It drives me bonkers!!!

 

[joflier]

Drives me nuts when people say ''melk'' instead of milk. ''onvelope'' vs. envelope

But I can''t gripe too much, because I do live in WI, and we do speak in our own dialect sometimes.

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Haha this thread makes me laugh. I think Haven''s right about the rhetoric rage!

I do agree with many that have been mentioned though. Haha it certainly makes me stop and make sure I don''t use any of them. "Could care less" that I''ve always been bothered by - I just want to ask someone, "So, you really do care then? As in, you could actually care less, so you''re saying you DO care?" Haha, FI always says I think too much into things. I guess so.

Spelling simple words wrong, or using the wrong form in context, gets at me too. As someone said before - ''loose'' instead of ''lose,'' ''fiance'' for a girl (haha that''s the French lessons in me - the extra e makes it feminine!)... especially when these mistakes are made in official or public articles and documents. It''s pretty sad.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/16/2009 9:26:37 PM
Author: charbie

Date: 8/16/2009 9:20:58 PM
Author: Moh 10
Disorientated instead of disoriented.

Insure vs. ensure
Insure refers to the business of insurance.
Ensure is to make something certain.
Lots of official published things get this wrong.

Save 30% off.

I worked as an orientation leader for a summer in college. The word ''orientated'' in general makes me want to haul off and hit someone.

Supposed vs. suppose.

My understanding is that orientated is the proper word in Australia.

As for "I could care less", I know that is not the right way to say it, but it comes out like that all the time for me, and I never bother to correct myself.

 

[Moh 10]

DH for husband . . . where did the D come from?

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 8/17/2009 12:06:00 PM
Author: Moh 10
DH for husband . . . where did the D come from?

"dear," lets people know that you still like him, otherwise it's just H

 

[waxing lyrical]

Irregardless makes me cringe. Dialate annoys me to no end. It''s dilate, people. Dilate.

 

[mrscushion]

Date: 8/17/2009 11:30:48 AM
Author: vizsla
pronouncing eSpresso like EX-presso

Maybe it''s the stuck-up Euro in me, but that one just KILLS me.

Also, "should have went" instead of "should have gone."

 

[Haven]

Ooh, it irks me to hear or read:

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

I''ve had students write "ima" instead of "I''m going to." I blame texting for that one.

 

[Upgradable]

Date: 8/17/2009 12:12:12 PM
Author: somethingshiny

Date: 8/17/2009 12:06:00 PM
Author: Moh 10
DH for husband . . . where did the D come from?

''dear,'' lets people know that you still like him, otherwise it''s just H

I always thought it stood for Designated Husband. You know, like Designated Hitter?

 

[Upgradable]

I also find myself frequently rolling my eyes with ethnic or regional colloquialisms. This may be because I''m an Illinoisian transplanted to Oklahoma, or that I am a 4th generation teacher.

Where are all y''all going? You is both singular AND plural. I just don''t understand having to add the "all," let alone two of them?!

 

[beaujolais]

--- also find myself frequently rolling my eyes with ethnic or regional colloquialisms. ---

I think these are cute, sometimes, though. But, I could see the teacher in you having a hard time with this.

---

Although the post asked for "phrases", here''s some words (of sorts):

"gimmee" (give me)
"potatah" (potatoe)

"Gimmee a pound of potatah salad." BLECH !

What is that?

 

[blackwave]

"The problem is.. is that blah blah blah."

Ahhhhhhh!! How did that slip into the lexicon? I heard a Congressman say it on the radio just yesterday.


"Should of" and "would of" drive me insane as well. Of course, lots of things do these days

 

[Moh 10]

You guysis are driving me crazy.

 

[waxing lyrical]

Date: 8/17/2009 12:26:15 PM
Author: Haven
Ooh, it irks me to hear or read:


''Should of'' or ''would of'' instead of ''should have'' or ''would have.''


I''ve had students write ''ima'' instead of ''I''m going to.'' I blame texting for that one.

LMAO @ ima. Wow. ''Should of'' and ''would of'' really bug me.

What also irks me is when folks fail to use the possessive ''its'' when it''s called for.

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 8/17/2009 11:26:15 AM
Author: Moh 10
I honestly have never been able to use lie, lay, laid correctly.

I''ve tried to learn, and I have given up.
It is to the point where I now have a mental block about it.
I just find another word.

Oh, and I know this thread is not about pronunciation but when I hear wash pronounced with an R my teeth start to itch.

I realize pronunciation varies all over the US and there is no other word that bothers me.

WARSH?

You should try living in WaRshington.

I don''t know where the R came from!

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 8/16/2009 10:02:31 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
''Minus well''
''Imparticular'' - It''s not a word and yet there are something like 40k google hits for it.

These 2 kill me! Minus well?! How does that even make sense?!?!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Someone sent me an article yesterday and wrote "This peaked my interest". If it were an article about mountaineering, it would be a funny pun. Unfortunately, it wasn''t.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/16/2009 8:52:45 PM
Author: indecisive
lol I have heard someone say it''s a ''doggy dog'' wold instead of a ''dog eat dog'' wold!

Oh that''s too funny - that''s exactly what I was about to post! My husband''s grandmother (not a native english speaker) says this one. She says a bunch of other stuff wrong too, but nothing specific comes to mind at the moment.

 

[Elmorton]

Okay, while I normally cringe at threads like this where everyone goes on the attack about what is proper English (Gemgirl, you should be lucky your husband hasn''t taken you up on your dictionary offer! He will certainly find ain''t in the dictionary if he looks), I think this thread is hilarious in terms of the actual misused phrases - kinda like misheard song lyrics. As a teacher, I hear a lot of these - tons of take it for granites - but I''m still on vacay brain though, so I''m at a loss right for any really good ones. Anyway, in terms of a teaching moment, sometimes explaining the meaning behind these phrases can be really funny. We forget sometimes how strange/historic some of these phrases are, and therefore while they''re still often in pop culture, the meaning can be quite far removed from the speaker/modern situation.

My favorite story about a misused/misheard phrase is actually my own misunderstanding. I once had a job where I was a media coordinator for a university health clinic, and I took a new poster that I''d designed to my supervisor. It was a for a Great American Smoke-Out, and I had the phrase "Nip it in the butt" going across the page with an image of a bent cigarette butt. My supervisor thought it was so cute and witty, and she was showing it to another person in the office when I overheard her say "Get it? Like nip it in the bud!" I felt like a complete moron - not being a gardner, the meaning of the real phrase was lost on me, and I''d seriously thought the phrase WAS nip it in the butt, like a dog snapping at your heels, only snapping at your rear end.

 

[that_someone_special]

I said a few weeks ago that still has people laughing, "Never look a horse-giver in the mouth"

 

[treefrog]

Deer fellow PS'ers,

I am sorry for my poor communication skills. Its' not like I try to always mess up but for all intensive purposes, I just have trouble with my righting. It's a doggie dog world though so I guess you will continue to make fun of me. That's ok.. I could care less. You know, six and a half dozen or the other times, I do get it write. I insure you I will try harder in the future but please, don't take that promise for granite -- I can only try. I think some of you are just a little too in tents.

Treefrog

 

[Tuckins1]

Date: 8/16/2009 8:06:43 PM
Author: monarch64
''For all intensive purposes'' rather than, ''for all intents and purposes.''

This one kills me too. I hardly ever hear anyone use this phrase correctly.

 

[indecisive]

Date: 8/17/2009 1:36:21 PM
Author: musey

Date: 8/16/2009 8:52:45 PM
Author: indecisive
lol I have heard someone say it''s a ''doggy dog'' wold instead of a ''dog eat dog'' wold!

Oh that''s too funny - that''s exactly what I was about to post! My husband''s grandmother (not a native english speaker) says this one. She says a bunch of other stuff wrong too, but nothing specific comes to mind at the moment.

Aww a little grandma saying it would probably be cute!

My husband, I am embarrassed to admit, says "mute point" and it drives me crazy!! It always reminds me of when Joey on Friends says that it is a "moo point" because it''s like a cow''s opinion, no one cares

!

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 8/17/2009 3:29:55 PM
Author: treefrog
Deer fellow PS''ers,

I am sorry for my poor communication skills. Its'' not like I try to always mess up but for all intensive purposes, I just have trouble with my righting. It''s a doggie dog world though so I guess you will continue to make fun of me. That''s ok.. I could care less. You know, six and a half dozen or the other times, I do get it write. I insure you I will try harder in the future but please, don''t take that promise for granite -- I can only try. I think some of you are just a little too in tents.

Treefrog

LOL!!