English pet peeves

Wainkerr99

Wainkerr99

Closed Account
Then instead of than.

better THAN you.

not better THEN you.

Geddit? Goddit? Good.

Almost every site has this. Next time you read gossip or even some news items, you will see this misuse.

This is really a personal pet peeve. Even English people speak this way. it is nothing, really. The use of the word 'got'. One can say, 'I have a pet peeve', not 'I have got a pet peeve'. Both words indicate possession of something.



I'll be back.
 
iv6789

iv6789

Closed Account
Not really an English one, but I had a coworker that hated when people replied to her questions with, "Well, yes and no." Nothing more aggravating for a reporter I guess.
 
DreamSparrow

DreamSparrow

dropjaw83 said:
This one might be really nitpicking, but I hate it when someone uses the word tragic to refer to something that is not actually tragic.

A tragedy is a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.

Someone getting cancer is not a tragedy, however unfortunate it may be. I know that the word tragic has mutated into our language to mean something sorrowful, but it still bugs the heck out of me.
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:confused: Unless you're communicating with us via a faster-than-light speed internet connection from Chaucerian Canterbury, there's no reason to be prescriptive about that.

I'm currently reading the complete works of Oscar Wilde (d. 1900). Just before I logged on to FOs, I came across a passage where he uses the word tragic in the sense of meaning something calamitous. I'm quite sure it's been considered an acceptable usage for tragic long before any of us were born.

"Txt-spk" makes my teeth itch. Fair enough if you're sending an SMS to someone, but tlkin lyk dis on de netz is an offence that warrants castration! Can't really think of anything else.
 
D

D-rock

dropjaw83 said:
Not really an English one, but I had a coworker that hated when people replied to her questions with, "Well, yes and no." Nothing more aggravating for a reporter I guess.
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Add to that people who want a "yes or no" question when it's not possible to answer a question that way in a realistic truthful manner without adding context or some other further explanation.
 
Ace Bandage

Ace Bandage

The one and only.
Mrs Jolly said:
This is a good place to tell people to read Bill Bryson's, "The Mother Tongue. English and how it got that way." And then follow it up with, "Made in America. An informal history of the english language in the United States."

Although Bryson draws on some serious academic research - he is a humourist of the first rank -both volumes are a hoot. If you like language or you want to get into an english major's knickers read these books.
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I agree completely, those are two of my favorite books of all-time. Both of them are very informative and lighthearted. Another one I would recommend would be Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. She points out many of the major pet peeves that I have with how other people abuse the English Language. For example, she notes how stores insist on advertising CD's and DVD's with a superfluous apostrophe. That always bugs the hell out of me. So if you're looking for a few interesting books on the English Language, check these out.
 
gunslingingbird

gunslingingbird

i hate whn sum shthead snds me a txt msg and its wrtn lik this coz he cant bother2write n real wrds b/c he dont wanna useup txtchars i may wud understand if the msg were s/t long but if all the msg says is in the mornin ill be in sj in the afternoon thn it makes me wanna kik the fukhed in the teeth b/c the msg is less thn the allotted 160 chars in a txt msg fukn shit stains :crash:
 
Vanilla Bear

Vanilla Bear

Bears For Life
gunslingingbird said:
Why is it that noses run and feet smell?
Why do you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?
One mouse, two mice. One louse, two lice. One house, two hice?
:dunno:
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Why is GSB sometimes fucking annoying, but it's never annoying to fuck GSB?!

Also something is annoying as fuck, but an ass fuck is never annoying. (or almost never hehe, depends on who you are in the bathtub)

:dunno:
 
gunslingingbird

gunslingingbird

maleonetwo said:
Why is GSB sometimes fucking annoying, but it's never annoying to fuck GSB?!

Also something is annoying as fuck, but an ass fuck is never annoying. (or almost never hehe, depends on who you are in the bathtub)

:dunno:
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:D :lovecoupl
 
S

Superfly007

I wish the english language would just open up and let the best words in (like fuck,shit,cunt,etc.) I know they are in the dictionary, but lets be honest these words need to be let out "fuck" is the only word that can basically be put in as a noun, pro-noun, and verb whenever you want. Well I don't know if you all will agree but till later Fuck it.
 
gunslingingbird

gunslingingbird

Superfly007 said:
I wish the english language would just open up and let the best words in (like fuck,shit,cunt,etc.) I know they are in the dictionary, but lets be honest these words need to be let out "fuck" is the only word that can basically be put in as a noun, pro-noun, and verb whenever you want. Well I don't know if you all will agree but till later Fuck it.
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I take it you've read Carlin? :)
 
M

marquis2

Like others I find the use of text language when not texting is annoying.If you haven't enough respect for the recipient to call them "you" instead of "u" then you shouldn't be writing to them.
 
B

bloodtypemd

Anyways is a small annoyance of mine.
Your and You're (this is so easy to figure out folks)
same with there, their, and they're
accept and except
 
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