Phrases that people get wrong

[sunnyd]

Date: 8/17/2009 5:40:22 PM
Author: 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

!

Hahaha I love the moo point episode!! It''s like the air quotes one...oh Joey...

 

[Lesley Harris]

I used to have a coworker who would need to come into my office and "ventilate" when she was worked up!! I never did correct her but really had to control my laughter each and every time she said it

 

[Moh 10]

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

Hahaha.

 

[Tuckins1]

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

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 8/17/2009 6:18:24 PM
Author: Moh 10

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

Hahaha.

Loves it!!!

 

[Ara Ann]

Date: 8/17/2009 2:34:23 PM
Author: Elmorton

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.

This reminded me of my old boss...she used to say 'let's nab it in the butt' - instead of 'nip it in the bud!' LOL! Made me cringe every time she said it!

 

[Moh 10]

Date: 8/17/2009 6:38:39 PM
Author: Ara Ann
This reminded me of my old boss...she used to say ''let''s nab it in the butt'' - instead of ''nip it in the bud!'' LOL! Made me cringe every time she said it!

Are you sure she wasn''t just trying to get . . . uhm . . . "friendly" with you?

 

[atroop711]

Date: 8/17/2009 8:50:07 AM
Author: kiett98
...when people pronounce the ''l'' in salmon.

OH that drives me INSANE and when ppl say JEW-LERY instead of JEWEL-RY

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I dislike the over use of words and phrases more than anything else. The human language has way too many words to use those like "ergo" over and over again. Be creative, go for "as a result" or "therefore". You negate the purpose of using a big word by using it too many times. Instead of appearing intelligent and eloquent, you look desperate; like you want people to think you''re smart.


"fair enough" and "touche" also drive me batty.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 8/17/2009 7:25:05 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I dislike the over use of words and phrases more than anything else. The human language has way too many words to use those like 'ergo' over and over again. Be creative, go for 'as a result' or 'therefore'. You negate the purpose of using a big word by using it too many times. Instead of appearing intelligent and eloquent, you look desperate; like you want people to think you're smart.


'fair enough' and 'touche' also drive me batty.

LOL, Stephanie. I'm 100% with you.

I just discovered another offense - homonyms, but especially semi-homonyms like sense and since. I see one substituted for the other constantly.

Oh, and assume vs. presume.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

You give advice and you advise. You lose a ring when it''s loose, you don''t loose a ring.

 

[treefrog]

Date: 8/17/2009 6:21:52 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 8/17/2009 6:18:24 PM
Author: Moh 10

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

Hahaha.

Loves it!!!

It was a slow afternoon. Sorry to put you through that!

Although I have been to many countries, I don''t speak or write any foreign languages. I simply can not imagine trying to learn to speak or write in English...

to, too, two
their, there
wear, where
poor, pour

...in addition to everything mentioned above. I hate to admit it but I live near DC and I have to stop myself from putting the ''r'' in wash and Washington. I guess I picked it up early on and nobody ever corrected me. I think I was in college before I got busted on it. I simply had no idea it wasn''t pronounced that way.

Treefrog

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Rediculous drives me batty. It''s insane how many intelligent people cannot spell that word.

I hate if someone is putting up a caption for a picture and they say it is "John Doe and I." No, you idiot. That''s a picture of "John Doe and me."

My ex NEVER said "I''m going to." Instead it became one word that made my skin crawl.... "In''gunna."


AAAAHHHHH

 

[Kunzite]

Old wise tale

 

[lulu]

It''s desperate and separate rather than desparate and seperate. And don''t get me started on affect vs. effect.

 

[ladypirate]

"Loose" instead of "lose" is one of my biggest pet peeves. Also, I used to have a boss who said "substainability" instead of "sustainability". It drove me batty!

 

[somethingshiny]

treefrog~ LOL that was very funny!


"old wise tale" actually makes sense a bit, and it''s certainly better than seeing written "Old wive''s TAIL" What do we need with her hiney?!?!



I like the doggie biting the butt, Elmorton. It certainly would be a doggie dog world!


This one isn''t a phrase, but I had to add it.

Have you ever heard a person describing a movie or book and tell you about the "climatic" ending. Really, like did it get really hot or humid or something?

 

[shimmer]

Ex-specially instead of especially

 

[Delster]

"Bare with me"

And why does everyone on this site keep forgetting about the 'u' in 'colour'?

 

[Deelight]

Date: 8/18/2009 5:28:21 AM
Author: Delster
''Bare with me''

And why does everyone on this site keep forgetting about the ''u'' in ''colour''?

LOL

 

[Magpie09]

Date: 8/17/2009 6:46:52 PM
Author: atroop711


OH that drives me INSANE and when ppl say JEW-LERY instead of JEWEL-RY

Guilty

Although, to be fair, here it's spelt Jewellery.

 

[atroop711]

Date: 8/16/2009 10:58:45 PM
Author: Amethyste
Your instead of You''re

and There instead of Their

Innernet instead of Internet

Nucular instead of Nuclear

Then instead of Than

Fiancee instead of fiance... and all of the vices and versas

OHHHH I wanted to SLAP BUSH every time he said NUCULAR instead of NUCLEAR...when he would open his mouth and say it this way my skin would crawl

 

[justginger]

You''re right, TGal - orientated is the British English version of the American ''oriented.'' It took me a while to figure it out; I wasn''t sure if they were exactly the same.

I am still not quite sure about "while" vs "whilst." Aussies are generally very particular about using "whilst" and look down on the American grammar habit of using "while." Once again, I think they''re the same - but I''m not positive.

Almost all of the things discussed tick me off. I hated being in school and proof-reading peer papers. Pure torture. Take the apostrophe out of that "it''s" unless IT IS doing something!!

+1 to everything suggested.

 

[pennquaker09]

I''m dying . . .

 

[Ara Ann]

I have a new one this morning...my good friend has said this to me a couple of times now and not sure how to take it!

"Make-shift"


To me, it implies that something has been thrown together in a somewhat cruddy/cheap way...is that what it is supposed to mean?

In two recent instances she''s used the term regarding my home and decorating style, one really kind of hurt my feelings...we re-purposed our formal living room and now use it as our dining room, looks like a dining room, nothing weird going on, but when she was here last she said to her husband,

"Let''s go see their make-shift dining room."

Made me feel like I should have had an old door for a table and cardboard boxes for chairs!

Then today, I showed her some pics of rustic fireplace mantels and shelves, we have a stone fireplace surround and I am trying to choose which look to go with. She referred to the shelf I showed her as a "make-shift" style! Again, to me it sounds like something you throw together with whatever you have laying around...that is not the look I am going for, LOL! And I don''t consider it ''make-shift'' according to my understanding of the phrase.


Am I misunderstanding "make-shift" or is she misusing it? Any advice here?

 

[trillionaire]

I hate when people say "I''m waiting on line" rather than "IN line".

I despise when people say "You welcome" rather than "you are welcome" or "You''re welcome"

My FI says he needs to ''make groceries'' rather than ''buy groceries''. I think this is a regional thing, but always

''s me!

 

[Jen_91909]

Date: 8/16/2009 9:08:23 PM
Author: somethingshiny

Date: 8/16/2009 9:03:21 PM

Author: EBree

''I could care less.''



I see this one all the time!

I loathe and despise that! My sis says it and it makes my skin crawl.



Another one is ''six and one half dozen or the other'' instead of ''six of one, half dozen of the other.''

oh jeez...finally this expression actually makes sense to me now! It''s because I have always heard it said incorrectly (the way you wrote it the first time).

 

[curlygirl]

I seriously can''t control my laughter!! I agree with all of these! I''ll also add visa versa instead of VICE versa (I think someone may have mentioned this), ex-cetera instead of et cetera, escape goat instead of scapegoat, ying and yang instead of yin, perscription instead of prescription. I could go on and on, I have serious pet peeves about this stuff. So glad I''m not alone!

 

[blackpolkadot]

Date: 8/18/2009 11:11:23 AM
Author: trillionaire

My FI says he needs to ''make groceries'' rather than ''buy groceries''. I think this is a regional thing, but always

''s me!

I know near New Orleans they say this. One of my professors tells a story about when she moved to Arkansas from New Orleans. A certain day of the week she would go grocery shopping, and she would tell the other professors she had to go "make groceries." They all thought she was going home to cook until one day another professor saw her in the grocery after her last class.

So it is a regional thing to my knowledge, but I still don''t understand it.

 

[somethingshiny]

Makeshift is a word. It means a substitute for something unavailable. I have a makeshift dining area in my living room since my kitchen isn''t large enough.

Some people use the word with a negative connotation (like being less than desirable) but in general, it''s basically improvisation.