| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| MguyXXVI |
Posted - 03/21/2007 : 06:51:35
I have a pet peeve about this (as well as the juxtaposition of aggravate and any word properly a synonym of irritate). Here's an excerpt from some web site with which I agree:
quote:
Hanged means "executed by hanging." Some authorities accept hung.
Hung means "suspended" otherwise.
Both are past tenses or past participles of the verb to hang, but each applies to specific cases.
Examples: The five plotters in the Lincoln assassination were hanged.
We hung the towels out on the clothesline to dry.
Since we are on the topic, observe:
quote:
Aggravate mean "to make worse." The root is grave, in the sense of "serious." Remember this root when spelling the word.
Irritate means "to exasperate" or "to inflame."
Incorrect: His teasing aggravated me.
Correct: His teasing irritated me.
Incorrect: That meal irritated my condition.
Correct: That meal aggravated my condition.
Please post accordingly.
P.S. I know: I'm just being pedantic (actually, being just pedantic, unless you view "being" as a helping verb), but, hey, it's better than ... [you fill in the blank]. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Stalean |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 22:45:36
quote:
Originally posted by R o � k G o 7 f
My peeves:
Any variation on the phrase "try and [any second verb]". E.g. I'll try and do it tomorrow. No, you'll try to do it tomorrow. "Try and stop me." Do I have to do both?
Quote:
"Should I say try and or try to? How about would have or would of"
Replace try and (I will try and fix it) with try to (I will try to fix it). Some grammarians label try and as incorrect when really it is just very informal and best used in conversation. Try to is standard usage and appropriate for all levels of formality in both speech and writing. Other colloquial constructions are synonymous, or nearly so, with try to, such as be sure to and go and. Often try and is interchangeable with try to, but there are some contexts in which try and implies success, e.g., "Do try and behave," and others where try and is ironic and implies failure, e.g., "Try and make me move." Fowler's Modern English Usage (Burchfield, R.W., ed. New York: Oxford University Press [3 ed.], 1996) says, "It is an idiom that should not be discountenanced, but used when it comes natural"; but Fowler also wrote that it is "almost confined to exhortations and promises," and these are more common in informal than in formal contexts. As far as would of (and woulda), it is an irregular spelling of would have or would've (same with coulda, could of, shoulda, should of). These forms came to be because they reflect actual pronunciation and using would of in writing often occurs when one is writing in a hurry. The spellings woulda and would of are often referred to as eye dialect, which means 'an unusual spelling intended to represent colloquial or dialectal idiosyncrasies of pronunciation.'
I totally agree with your example using tomorrow, though.  |
| RockGolf |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 19:14:23
My peeves:
Any variation on the phrase "try and [any second verb]". E.g. I'll try and do it tomorrow. No, you'll try to do it tomorrow. "Try and stop me." Do I have to do both?
Confusing 'moot' (no longer relevant) and 'mute' (unable to speak). I have a manager who keeps referring to "mute points". I try to remaim... moot.
That "often" no longer has a silent "T". |
| ragingfluff |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 16:46:31
In response to Koli:
What really annoys me at the moment is air-headed sales assistants who spot me waiting to pay for something and ask: "Are you all right there?" It seems to happen all over England. What's wrong with "can I help you?"
Should it not really be "May I help you?"
I know several people who when answering the phone, if they hear the caller ask "Can I speak to....?" will respond "I'm sure you can" and hang up |
| Stalean |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 15:59:47
One that I find more amusing than any other emotion is "Can I see the (fill in the blank)?" for "Please, pass me the (fill in the blank)."
"Sure, see it. There it is."  |
| Koli |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 13:12:06
quote:
Originally posted by tortoise
Could of, should of, would of etc. 
I remember a spelling test from when I was a young tortoise: teacher said "Spell of, as in he should of done his homework". The correct answer, of course, was H-A-V-E.
Yeah, that one annoys me too. I see it in emails from people who ought to know better (damn, missed an opportunity to say 'should of known better'  ).
One of my favourite gaffes is confusion between appraise and apprise. I've seen it a lot in committee minutes. Okay, we know that staff assess and evaluate the calibre of committee members, but don't tell them what you're doing!
What really annoys me at the moment is air-headed sales assistants who spot me waiting to pay for something and ask: "Are you all right there?" It seems to happen all over England. What's wrong with "can I help you?"
One time ("at band camp" I hear you continue) I reacted with a smart-arse answer and immediately regretted it. Now I ignore the words and respond as if they've said: "would Sir like to pay for that using a credit card or cash?"
Another gaffe that I've observed a few times recently is confusion between definitely and defiantly. Very recently someone in my office filled in the self-assessment part of their annual appraisal form and wrote that in the past year their communication skills had defiantly improved. Beat that! |
| tortoise |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 20:35:32
Could of, should of, would of etc.
I remember a spelling test from when I was a young tortoise: teacher said "Spell of, as in he should of done his homework". The correct answer, of course, was H-A-V-E. |
| Chris C |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 20:34:30
quote:
Originally posted by StaLean
Maybe not American for too long according to AskOxford.com:
"momentarily for in a moment:
'momentarily', in British English, means 'for a short time'. In US English it has the sense of 'very soon', a meaning which looks likely to establish itself in the UK too. For the time being, phrases such as the one used by airline staff 'we will be landing momentarily' can still cause consternation."
No doubt we shall find out momentarily. Or maybe later.  |
| Stalean |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 20:17:56
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
quote:
Originally posted by StaLean
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
The (mainly) US usage of momentarily winds me up. According to my dictionary, momentary means "lasting only a moment, short-lived, transitory". This word does NOT mean SOON.
Correct usage is, I believe () "He was momentarily surprised at how many votes his top review had received"
Incorrect usage: "The MERPS will reject another review momentarily".
Not that I use momentarily very often, but it seems MSN Encarta disagrees with you on this one.
So that'll be Americans talking about an oddly american usage of a word..
Maybe not American for too long according to AskOxford.com:
"momentarily for in a moment:
'momentarily', in British English, means 'for a short time'. In US English it has the sense of 'very soon', a meaning which looks likely to establish itself in the UK too. For the time being, phrases such as the one used by airline staff 'we will be landing momentarily' can still cause consternation." |
| Stalean |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 20:03:09
Indeed, all worthy instances of grammarian prescriptive rules. I find that "alot" for "a lot" truly bothers me. There is no such word as "alot." There is the word "allot" meaning 'earmark' or 'give as share.' Also:
1. The pronunciation "pitcher" for "picture."
2. The use of "use to" for "used to."
|
| Chris C |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 19:55:13
quote:
Originally posted by StaLean
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
The (mainly) US usage of momentarily winds me up. According to my dictionary, momentary means "lasting only a moment, short-lived, transitory". This word does NOT mean SOON.
Correct usage is, I believe () "He was momentarily surprised at how many votes his top review had received"
Incorrect usage: "The MERPS will reject another review momentarily".
Not that I use momentarily very often, but it seems MSN Encarta disagrees with you on this one.
So that'll be Americans talking about an oddly american usage of a word.. |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 13:42:45
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Stupid
I hate when people say "peruse". Despite its meaning of "to read thoroughly", the word is more often misused to mean "skimmed over". I have no idea how a word couldbecome its own antonym. What's bad is that everytime someone uses it, I have to insult them and ask what they mean.
I always thought it had something to do with South America.  |
| Stalean |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 05:06:11
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Stupid
I hate when people say "peruse". Despite its meaning of "to read thoroughly", the word is more often misused to mean "skimmed over". I have no idea how a word couldbecome its own antonym. What's bad is that everytime someone uses it, I have to insult them and ask what they mean.
I find it humorous when people say "I'm nauseous." They mean "nauseated," but sometimes, by complaining, they are "nauseous."
You might like to "peruse" this British perspective on nauseous versus nauseated, Mr. Stupid. |
| Sean |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 04:14:48
A word that's become so abused that it's effectively a 'dead' word is "psychotic" when people actually mean "psychopathic". I gave up being annoyed about it when I realised that well over half of the usages on IMDb plot summaries are wrong (usually when referring to killers). So I don't see the point in using the word any more as few know what it means, and the rest will think it means something else. Although strangely enough the noun that 'psychotic' relates to (psychosis) hasn't been subject to the same misuse.
I'm guessing people must just like the sound of it.  |
| Mr Savoir Faire |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 02:13:34
I hate when people say "peruse". Despite its meaning of "to read thoroughly", the word is more often misused to mean "skimmed over". I have no idea how a word couldbecome its own antonym. What's bad is that everytime someone uses it, I have to insult them and ask what they mean.
I find it humorous when people say "I'm nauseous." They mean "nauseated," but sometimes, by complaining, they are "nauseous." |
| Sean |
Posted - 03/25/2007 : 23:26:25
quote:
Originally posted by E.L.F
This debate has thrown me into quite a dilemma..
I'm really confused now as to whether I'd prefer the man in my life to be Hanged or Hung..
...or well hanged or well hung...? |
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