Grammar Peeves

[firecat88]

One I hear a lot and gets to me all the time is MSDS Sheets.

That reminds me of CSS sheets. Lost count of how many times I heard that in class today.

[Ree]

I get "RGA authorization" which means "Return Goods Authorization authorization."

Another work related one that bugs me. They spell "throw" or "threw" as "through".

I am often asked to claim a leaky bottle of something or broken glass that has been disposed of, and I am told they "through it out", or if something has to be saved for a sales rep to look at for credit, the note says, "Do not through out."

[Cookie]

Some people would....

Ok, yeah. I knew better. I would like to THINK people wouldn't say that. Leave my fantasy world alone! I'm having tea with the tooth fairy!

[MoonCat]

Oh, let's not forget, "So I thought to myself..."

If you can think to someone else, you are telepathic.

[Food Lady]

My friend just did this one: isle/aisle. She posted on facebook that she was in the grocery isle. Really? Is Gilligan there, too?

[sms001]

All of the above!

Jester, you're not alone in hearing Mom's voice urging you to correct misuse. Mine continues to do it from beyond the grave.

One of my favorite gentle corrections (which I DO try to not give in to too often) is to exaggerate the offense. If someone says "I seen him go by with his friend." I'll say "I think you mean 'I seended him go by...' there Bill."

Having said that, I really am of mixed feelings on correcting. On the one hand, I realize that misuse of one's native language is often seen as an indicator of laziness or poor education.
On the other hand, one of the wonderful things about English is its incredible flexibility. We all often look to Shakespeare as a role model for writing, but he made stuff up all the friggin' time. Why shouldn't the language continue to evolve? My favorite example of this is "guys." In fifty to a hundred years, I have no doubt that almost no one will have a clue that it started as a gender specific word. The number of women I see who object to being referred to as one has declined steadily over the years.
On the gripping hand, I really think radio and television announcers (journalists, presenters, etc.) should be held to a higher standard than others, just so we have some sort of baseline to look toward. The U.S., at least, is so large that regionalisms could easily let us branch further and further from being mutually understood.

I saw literally mentioned a few times, but my biggest pet peeve lately is the modification of unique. Even the supposed "pros" do it often. I don't think it's just me though, as it was a Jeopardy answer within the last two weeks or so.

Thanks for the "just deserts" lesson folks. I didn't know, or even suspect, that one. I think I always assumed it was something along the lines of just=fair + desserts=substitute for reward.

There's a local radio ad that goes above and beyond "ATM machine" and "PIN number" for redundancy. In it they refer to "custom LASIK laser eye surgery." Leaving aside the fact that every human is unique, and therefore the surgery would HAVE to be "custom", LASER and EYE (because where else would the cornea on which you're performing keratomileusis be?) are built right into the damn acronym!

[dalesys]

You wouldn't say "There is some oranges."

"There is some melons!" is normal, though.

[MoonCat]

This one makes me cringe: "Spaded" instead of "spayed." Arrgh...

[Ree]

Not really a grammar peeve, but I thought it was funny.

I found a note on one of the returns on my desk saying that the "customer was not sadisfided'.

[fireheart]

One of the things I may or may not encourage with a teaching placement is the idea of an "Oops board". The idea is that students would be encouraged to bring in newspaper articles, catalogues, fliers, notices, photos of notices etc. where there's a spelling or grammar bungle and put them up on said "Oops Board."

[MoonCat]

One of the things I may or may not encourage with a teaching placement is the idea of an "Oops board". The idea is that students would be encouraged to bring in newspaper articles, catalogues, fliers, notices, photos of notices etc. where there's a spelling or grammar bungle and put them up on said "Oops Board."

That would be fun. One of our smaller local supermarkets had a pic of dandelion greens in its flyer, labeled, "Dendelods." How they managed to spell it THAT wrong is beyond me.

[BrenDAnn]

Not really a grammar peeve, but I thought it was funny.

I found a note on one of the returns on my desk saying that the "customer was not sadisfided'.

How long did it take you to stop laughing? Oh lord...One a co-worker of mine does, since we're on the subject is "We ain't got no <Xitem>" or "We don't have no <X item>!" Double negatives like that drive me insane! Have we forgotten the word 'any'?

[fireheart]

That would be fun.

That's what I thought. It'd put their English skills into practice and also prove that you can't rely on spellcheck.
The only thing I'd have to take into consideration though is whether to allow "Engrish" things to go up on the board.

By the way, a little website to interest you all: www.engrish.com

[Ree]

Was just listening to the news a moment ago where they reported on a very bad accident.

The reporter said, "Out of 11 deaths, there were only 3 survivors."

I'm thinking they need to think that one out again.

[BrenDAnn]

Or three turned into Zombies or Vampires. I know, it's horrible to joke like that, but when stupidity lends itself to it...