Grammar Peeves

[Eireann]

AD does NOT mean "After Death". It stands for "Anno Domini", and it goes before the date, not after. BC goes after the date.

AD 2012, 1500 BC.

The past tense of "sneak" is "sneaked", not "snuck", just as the past tense of "leak" is "leaked", not "luck".

[Merriweather]

Oh HOLY HELL. This.

We were watching 'Dogs 101' a while back, and it was talking about the Norwich Terrier. Pronouncing it 'Norr-which'.

@.@

AUUUUGH. I couldn't watch it, it sounded DREADFUL. I suppose it's all right, it's just I'm used to the home saying. I posted on FB afterwards, giving the correct pronounciation - 'Norritch'. A Yank friend of mine commented '*has pronounced it wrong his entire life* XP' and a Brit friend commented 'People from Norfolk say it as Narrch, so... '

XD It was amusing. I just wonder how some folk pronounce some of the odder names in the UK...we went through Housemate's big book of Cathedrals recently, having a giggle at awful potential pronounciations of some settlements...

I tried to make it a point to find out how to pronounce the place names, especially local places. We did get a chuckle out of some American pronunciations, and to be fair, the odd chuckle at a British news anouncer or someone on TV mis-pronouncing American place names as well.

Of course it's impossible to always get it right, so I made many mistakes, and am pretty tolerant of others as well. What did drive me up the wall were some of the people my husband worked with, who had no interest in knowing the correct pronunciation, and even would complain and insist that the local pronunciations were "stupid" This was in Wales, where local name were, gee, WELSH ! Yet they would argue that they should be pronounced as they would be in English (and American English at that). After a few conversations where I found myself being less than polite (in fact, I was looking for something heavy to smack them with ) I finally had to just refuse to be in the same room with a few of them, since my sightseeing plans did not include the inside of a British gaol.

[Cookie]

Yeah, I can relate to names being shortened like that. ugh. I grew up near a place called "Shelbyvile", but the locals all called it "Shevville". With a southern accent, it sounds like a lot like "shovel".

[dalesys]

....Pixel!

RAH! RAH! RAH! -- Spider

[sms001]

"I was not fazed by Kitty phasing through the wall."

....Pixel!

[SongsOfDragons]

British place names especially can be pronounced oddly - after you repeat a name for a thousand years or so, it often ends up in a kind of verbal shorthand. Living near Cambridge, it took me a while to catch on that when someone said what sounded like Mawdlin college, they were actually referring to Magdelene college.

Oh HOLY HELL. This.

We were watching 'Dogs 101' a while back, and it was talking about the Norwich Terrier. Pronouncing it 'Norr-which'.

@.@

AUUUUGH. I couldn't watch it, it sounded DREADFUL. I suppose it's all right, it's just I'm used to the home saying. I posted on FB afterwards, giving the correct pronounciation - 'Norritch'. A Yank friend of mine commented '*has pronounced it wrong his entire life* XP' and a Brit friend commented 'People from Norfolk say it as Narrch, so... '

XD It was amusing. I just wonder how some folk pronounce some of the odder names in the UK...we went through Housemate's big book of Cathedrals recently, having a giggle at awful potential pronounciations of some settlements...

[Eireann]

Merriweather, your post reminded me of something I saw on another site. A woman knew the term "faux pas", but didn't know how to spell it; she wrote about a "fo-pa" occurring at an event.

Last year, I read an article online that was deplorable. The apostrophes were misused everywhere; the article lacked many details; the grammar was bad. Yet the "author" (and I use the term VERY loosely) has a job working for a news station. When I pointed out the errors, there were many heated comments opposing mine (from the "author's" friends and family, I suspect). One guy went so far as to say that he didn't read the news for proper grammar and punctuation.

Sad.

[Merriweather]

Context is everything. While I wouldn't think twice about spelling or grammar errors in a casual email from a friend, errors in the newspaper drive me up a wall. I definitely don't always speak perfectly, and I do take a few liberties with the English language in quick emails to someone close. However, I would take great pains to be as near perfect as I could on a resume or company report.

I admit I'm far from perfect, and have dangled many a participle with no shame whatsoever, not to mention splitting infinitives with abandon.
It's those errors that wouldn't have made it past a sixth grade teacher that feel like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

I definitely have a few personal pet peeves that have me searching for the largest most compehensive grammar book I can find - in order to use it as a weapon Some have already been mentioned.

unnecessary apostrophes annoy the fuck out of me!

Couldn't have said it better myself. Why is it, no one can use an "S" to pluralize a word without adding an apostrophe? It's getting to the point I notice more when they actually get it right than when they get it wrong, simply because I so rarely see it used correctly.

Also, people who think that when referring to yourself and another person, you ALWAYS use "and I." Not true in every situation. To know whether to use "I" or "me", take out the other person's name and see how it sounds:

Applause! Yaay. That's such an easy one to figure out, no complicated rules to remember or anything, yet SO many people don't get it.


I'm actually quite tolerant of regional pronunciations - having lived so many places, and seen such a wide variance of what is "correct" depending on where you live. Such as Car Mel (emphasis on Mel, as in Flo's boss at the diner) and Car Mull (emphasis on the car), depending on whether you're in a town of that name (both spelled Carmel) in California or Indiana.

British place names especially can be pronounced oddly - after you repeat a name for a thousand years or so, it often ends up in a kind of verbal shorthand. Living near Cambridge, it took me a while to catch on that when someone said what sounded like Mawdlin college, they were actually referring to Magdelene college.

As someone posted, talk about wading thru the crick all you want, as long as you know to spell it creek

Oh, and my all time pet peeve - please be sure that the term you have heard used, but never seen written, is actually what you think it is before posting it for hundreds or thousands of people to read, such as on Craig's List.
My all time favourite example of this was the woman who posted for a garage sale, with directions that included the fact that she lived not on a through street, but on a "cuddle sack".
Second place goes to the person who posted a real estate ad for an older house, the dining room still had it's original beautiful "Wayne's coating" on the walls.

And to those who struggle but still try, please don't take offence. All comments are aimed at those who either know proper grammar and refuse to use it at all, or those who don't know it, don't want to know it, and yet still expect to be taken as seriously as those who do make an effort.

[MoonCat]

Oh, and when customers say they NEED something when really, they only WANT it. You don't NEED a donut, people!

Well, that's debatable.

[Chazzie]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this already, but I have a serious issue with "than"/"then" swaps. I know a certain CS poster that drives me nuts with this one

Oh, and when customers say they NEED something when really, they only WANT it. You don't NEED a donut, people!

[MoonCat]

"One in the same" - It's one and the same.
"Irregardless" - there's no such word. It's just "regardless."
Oh and my favorite one to hate. "I really miss not going there." No - you miss going there. Or whatever phrase..."I miss not doing that" or something similar...

[HappyFun Ball]

I'll admit I make a lot of grammar mistakes, I didn't do well in English.

My peeves:

I've got some meat unthawing (You mean you are freezing/refreezing it?) If you are defrosting meat you are thawing it.

"For all intensive purposes."

[Iris Kojiro]

YES. YES. YES.

Our friends had a beautiful orange/white cat named....Bert. Short for....Sherbert. Arrgh.

Oh here's one...How do you pronounce the word "mauve"?

It rhymes with "cove." Most people say "mawve". Makes me grit my teeth when I get customers saying that.

I've made those two mistakes my whole life, but...

[Food Lady]

I heard one at work today: "I seen it at [forget what store she mentioned]...." It's either "I saw" or "I've seen". That error is sooooo common here.

[BookstoreEscapee]

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."

I think that's a great idea!

I will admit to saying "me and Colleen" when talking about my best friend...but I only say it to my mom because it drives her crazy. I did it as a kid and she would correct me so I started doing it on purpose.