Words or phrases you hear misused all the time

"begs the question"

Misused so often that I think the meaning is actually changing. :-(

r1 What's the original meaning then?

“I could care less” when the person means “I couldn’t care less”. Lazy, ignorant Americans don’t realize how lazy and ignorant they appear.

Until very recently I've been completely misunderstanding and misusing the phrase "(to go) off book". It means to know the material in question by heart so that one no longer needs "the book", but I thought it meant going "off" as in away from, disregarding the book and improvising.

I've said it a lot...

Words with "ality" added at the end, such as: "functionality", when it used to be, "functional". There are other words, too... but can't think of any others now. I've heard it, though.

It always catches me off guard when an otherwise well-spoken person say, "I can't phantom...." instead of "I can't fathom...."

R5.... Example: The function of this.... now: The functionality of this...

Jive for jibe.

"Honing in" instead of homing in.

Basically - Often incorrectly used as a qualifier by people who are clueless.

Literally - So misused that even I don't remember its correct usage.

Legalize and Decriminalize - The belief that removing the penalty makes something legal rather than decriminalized.

R2, it's my understanding that "begging the question" was a term used in formal logic, and meant, essentially, that an argument was circular. But it's been taken out of that context and used to mean "that invites the question." I think the meaning of the phrase HAS changed. English is always evolving.

Oh, I have a long list of these!

Any casual tossing around of psychiatric terms, such as "autistic", "bipolar" or "aspergers." As someone who studied psychology back in school, I effing hate this. Especially when it's just casually tossed at people who are just socially different (as in eccentric/quirky/creative, shy, socially withdrawn or awkward, etc.). I used to see this stuff on the IMDB forums all the time now but now it's all over YouTube. "Anyone think Celebrity X is an aspie?" or "clearly Celebrity Y is autistic."

Ditto "antisocial." Antisocial doesn't mean someone's who's shy or nerdy. It's someone who thinks and acts in a way that is....wait for it...anti-social. But, not anti-social as in rude or impolite. We're talking about a flagrant lack of disrespect for laws, social conduct, personal feelings, so, your average run of the mill crook, con artist, rapist, domestic abuser, bully, etc. People like that.

Oh, and lastly, "Mary Sue." It has never, ever, ever meant what that ugly troll doll, Max Landis, turned it into. A Mary Sue is a poorly written alter ego or muse that the author hyper-idealizes to comical levels. Not only does the character have a ridiculously broad skill set that puts MacGuyver to shame, the fact that the character is either based on the writer or someone he or she is in infatuated with is pretty obvious in a very clumsy, awkward way. That last part is especially what makes a Mary Sue a Mary Sue; it's obvious that the author engaging in self flattery or is writing some kind of self-indulgent love letter to his or her love interest.

Hi Della, it’s nice to read your posts lately. Did you just get out of jail or something? It seems like you’ve been away, and are back again.

My sister is hard of hearing and also creates her own narrative to make sense of thing. I’ve heard her repeat things I’ve told her were speculation and she repeats it as fact, and expands on it, filling in the details. She also uses words that sound right, but aren’t. A lot. Or should I write,[italic] alot. [/italic]

'Momentarily' instead of 'in a moment'. Flight attendants do this all the time. 'We will be arriving at New York's John F. Kennedy airport momentarily'.

Nope. Momentarily means 'for a very short time', so unless they're planning on landing the plane, having us all jump out quickly, and then taking off again, it's being used incorrectly.

For all intensive purposes.

"Penultimate" does not mean what most people who use it think it means.

Nonplussed

Erstwhile

Seasonal for seasonable.

[quote]I effing hate this.

People who type "effing" instead of "fucking." If "fuck" is what you mean, "fuck" is what you say. You dumb fuck.

Nearly everyone types "dominate" when what they mean is "dominant."

"Dominate" is a verb. "Dominant" is an adjective. If you are a dominant person, you dominate.

Hi Summer Storm at r13. Mediopolis hurt my feelings, cuz, you know, it's all about me.

Even though I'm a paid subscriber, they denied me posting privileges Golden Globes night! I stopped my account. I re-started. I'm a rug. Walk over me.

[quote]Nonplussed

I never use this because I'm sure I get it wrong every time. Is "plussed" a word? What does it mean?

Perplexed R23

"Taken for granite" instead of "taken for granted."

I don’t use “nonplussed”, because I can’t find a circumstance where it wouldn’t sound ridiculous.

Glad you’re back, Della!

I could care less but it’s too much effort.

R24 Is it "plussed" or "nonplussed" that means "perplexed?

Here's Carrie.

As I've seen mentioned on other threads : "impact" is not a verb, and neither is "impacted."

It is probably not realistic to think that complaining about bad usage has any chance of making an impact these days.

I have two...

People who say snuck when they mean sneaked.

People who says hung when they should say hanged.

"anyways" is wrong it should be ANYWAY. i know the plural is a regionalism, but damn! stop it! (looking at you Hal Sparks)

Another lost cause, I guess:

"Media" is a plural noun, like "people." It's not correct to say "the media is biased." Some are, for sure.

Nauseous

Hopefully

From the gecko. (From the get go.)

Someone saying they are being sarcastic when their tone is actually facetious. Sarcasm is verbal snark and being facetious is verbal irony.

"Irregardless"; "Conversate"

R9 actually "honing" can be correct:

honing (present participle)-refine or perfect (something) over a period of time.

another way of saying home in on

Predominately (not a word!)

"land up in" instead of "end up in"

"step foot in" instead of "set foot in"

"butt naked" instead of "buck naked"

supposably (not a word!)

phenomena (plural) used as a singular (s/b phenomenon)

R40, We have so much in common, it's a phenomena

That's not how it goes, R41. The correct line is:

We have so much in common, it's a phenomenon.

You're welcome.

Whenever I read “could/should/would of” instead of “could/should/would have” it makes me cringe.

mute instead of moot

"Disinterested" when they actually mean "uninterested."

When people use like instead of including. An example is when someone my say, "Artists like Madonna and Cher will appear." Madonna and Cher are appearing, not artists like them. Drives me bonkers.

R46, I object to Madonna being called an artist.

r46 Not necessarily.

R44 . I cant hear you, WHAT?

R42, have you know sense of irony? Truly, after all these years, sir?!

R47 I appreciate your sentiment!

R48 I think that is the only time I would agree with that!

"step foot in" -- I think this is a British idiom.

I like the unabashed redundancy of "free gift."

lol R47

nauseous / nauseated

“Seen,” instead of: “Saw.”

"I COULD care less."

The one that seems to have become all too common lately: "I should have went," and its variations.

"butter wouldn't melt in his mouth" should be someone who is cold and spiteful. Instead, it means someone who is a flatterer, which is bizarre, since butter would melt in his mouth. Chavs are so fucking dumb, and when their culture jumps to the New World, it results in insipidity.

R58 I hear this all the time. It makes my ears bleed. I am a teacher and co-teachers and administrators say it. It is all I can do not to scream, "SHOULD HAVE GONE!"

'Pacific' to mean 'specific'

[woman seated next to Dr. Johnson at a dinner party]: Sir, you smell!

Dr, Johnson: No, madame. You smell. I stink.

moot point

It should mean a subject is debatable or open to discussion, but is often used for the opposite reason.

"If I would have known" instead of "if I had known"., and the like.

My mother pronounces “chic” as “chick”. I have been correcting her for years and I swear she does it on purpose at this point.

She used to say “irregardless”, too.

“For all intensive purposes”

I’ve heard this one over the years “old timer’s disease” (snark which one?) instead of “Alzheimer’s disease” “I go” instead of “I like” or “ I do” “Where’s it at?” Instead of “Where is it?

R63, actually, the secondary meaning of "moot" is "irrelevant" or "academic," and that's the meaning Americans usually intend.

A couple of times recently here, I've seen the word "ravishing"used in place of "ravaging".

[quote]Well that just ruined it for me. No ravishing from me for this dummy.

ravishing (răvˈĭ-shĭng) adj. Extremely attractive; entrancing.

ravage (răvˈĭj) (1) v. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. (2) v. To pillage; sack: Enemy soldiers ravaged the village. (3) v. To wreak destruction.

You call my vapid, but an early Datalounger let me know I'm vacuous! I looked both up, but have forgotten the difference-ness.

Recent widespread annoyances:

"on trend" instead of "trendy"

"price point" instead of "price"

Loan, as a verb. Lend is the proper verb. Loan is a noun.

"Local area" hospital. Traffic reporters in LA -- all of them -- say the victim was transported to a local area hospital.

Data as a singular noun. Data is plural, so "the data are" or "the data show"

Drug instead of Dragged. The dog did not drug anything, but he might have dragged something.

Excetra

I've been hearing "price point" since the 1960s.

R69 -- " to ravish" has a sexual meaning. It works in the "bad" example you cited.

[quote]My mother pronounces “chic” as “chick”. I have been correcting her for years and I swear she does it on purpose at this point.

Does she also call "quiche" a "quickie?"

Here's one everyone seems to have given up on: "forte," unless used in a musical context, is pronounced FORT, not FOR-tay or for-TAy. It comes from French, not Italian.

Chaise lounge for chaise longue.

On the Great British Bake-Off/Baking Show: The contestants ALWAYS say "crème pâtisserie" instead of the correct "crème pâtissière. (The judges and the narrator usually say it correctly, or just say "crème pat.")

Just saw this in another thread: "hairbrained" for "harebrained."

And this one seems like a lost cause: "straightjacket" for "straitjacket."

Athlete has two syllables—Ath-lete. Too many sports people and news readers on TV make it three syllables—A-the-lete. Drives me crazy.

“I wish I was...” instead of the subjunctive, “I wish I were...” This one makes my ears bleed. Also, “better than him/her/us” instead of “better than he/she/we.”

R79, you mean ath-uh-lete. That one makes me go nucular too.

Literally Exactly Totally

I'm guilty of this one -- "bemused" does not equal "amused."

What is it with people who start sentences with 'I mean'? 'I mean' should only be used if you've already said something that needs further explanation. It is spreading like wildfire.

Myself - self reflexive. Should be used to emphasize an action only done by you, affecting only you. So no "and"

Ironically (another often misused word thank you Alanis) I think people use 'myself to sound more formal or smart, yet use it wrong and sound dumb.

That's a whole nother matter.

Non-plussed to mean unfazed. It actually means perplexed.

In regular people’s defense, both hoi polloi and non-plussed sound like they should mean upper crust and unfazed.

R61, South Specific is my favorite musical.

Moot point Close proximity Laughing all the way to the bank In point of fact

[quote]'Momentarily' instead of 'in a moment'. Flight attendants do this all the time. 'We will be arriving at New York's John F. Kennedy airport momentarily'. Nope. Momentarily means 'for a very short time', so unless they're planning on landing the plane, having us all jump out quickly, and then taking off again, it's being used incorrectly.

R15, you’re incorrect. Momentarily also means at any moment; imminently: expected to occur momentarily.

R87, I agree with you on "nonplussed," but "hoi polloi" has always sounded right to me.

Irrevelant.

Actually.

"Between you and I" is like nails on a chalk board for me.

Historic and historical are not interchangeable.

Wine is not decantered.

Prostate instead of prostrate

I still don't positively know what is the correct way to pronounce "Hiroshima."

Are all syllables equally stressed or is "ro" stressed?

"Ro" and "Ma", R97 - according to an eighth grade teacher of mine who visited there repeatedly. Of course, the asshole had a speech impediment, so you'd get a face full of spit every time he lectured us on the triumph of USA over "fashshhshshsishm".

Sarcasm, satire, parody and irony are distinct literary devices. All may be humorous, but don't have to be.

[quote]"Media" is a plural noun, like "people." It's not correct to say "the media is biased." Some are, for sure

I think "media" has become like "data," where both the singular and plural are acceptable now.

[quote]I think "media" has become like "data," where both the singular and plural are acceptable now.

Only to ignorant fuckwits who are clueless about the singular (medium and datum).

This one only applies in the written word, so not exactly what OP is driving at: Many reputable news sites (e.g. cnn.com, Politico) seem to have completely abandoned the word “led” as the past tense of “to lead”. They instead now use “lead”, which is a noun and a heavy metal. It always catches my eye and I’m not sure why editors don’t see it or know better or give a shit.

Two dum too no, r102.

Pretty much every linguistic abuse mentioned on this thread so far is 100% guaranteed to make me tear my hair (and yes, I'm nearly bald as a result).

But what can you expect when even a high school text I've recently seen entitled "English Grammar In Use" features the sentence "This is the Canadian friend who I told you about." And it's not presented as an example of two egregious usage errors, either.

Can we please ring-fence DL by instituting a language test, and only those who can prove a minimum level of competence (for example, by knowing the difference between "who" and "whom") would henceforth be granted posting rights?

Please?

You should educate yourself...

The phrase is fine, but it’s often used here by someone who is about to wildly guess as to the entire history of Western Civilization to make the point that they are some kind of superior smarty pants.

[quote]You should educate yourself . . .

A oft-used euphemism for "You should think, believe and feel exactly like I do".

I have a friend who uses many of these malaprop, but thinks herself superior to the rest of us because she had her two wedding receptions at the richest country club in town. So tiring.

BTW, flounder in place of founder.

I'm very tired of hearing "awesome" for every little thing. It should be for truly special, awe inspiring things or experiences.

HIPPA instead of HIPAA.

Aren’t the kids today referring to things that are “awesome” as things that are “legit”?

R110, I hear “lit” and “dank” a lot, from middle schoolers.

Actually, the term is “fucking lit”, but.

[quote]uses many of these malaprop,

malaproISMS

Using "masseuse" to refer massage therapists of either gender.

Not knowing the difference between "fiancé" and "fiancée."

"He graduated high school." You can say "he graduated FROM high school," or, more properly, "WAS graduated from high school," although the latter admittedly sounds somewhat pretentious.

Comparatives/superlatives, e.g., "better" vs. "best." When there are only two items being compared, "better" is appropriate.

[quote]malaproISMS

????

Mission Accomplished.

In addition to “should/could/would of” instead of “have,” I am, perhaps overly so, disgusted by those who write or say, “use” instead of “used” in situations such as “I use to go to the gym with Matt Lauer.” Why do so few people say “used to” anymore?

Consequently, in my speech, I overemphasize “should HAVE” and “useD to,” and, therefore, sound like a lunatic.

R3, do fuck yourself.

The word asterisk. Some unfortunates say asterik.

I saw "doggie dog world". News programs pronouncing harassed and details incorrectly.

 "Very unique." No. Unique is one-of-a-kind. It is either unique or it isn't. Nothing is "more," "not as" or "very" unique.

 "Myriad of…" No. Myriad is an adjective, NOT a noun. It is "there are myriad things…:

 "$50 dollars." No. It's either "$50" or "50 dollars."

 "Jewelry" pronounced as "jew-luh-ry." No. The word is pronounced "jew-el-ry."

 "Bicep." No. "Biceps" is both plural AND singular. Believe it or not, there is no "bicep."

 "Buttock." No. "Buttocks" is both plural AND singular. Believe it or not, there is no "buttock."

 "Double-C" words—flaccid, occipital, etc.—wrongly pronounced with an "S" sound. No. It is not pronounced "flassid," it's pronounced "flack-sid." I can't think of a single double-C word in which the first C isn't pronounced as a K.

 [quote]And this one seems like a lost cause: "straightjacket" for "straitjacket."

Well-played, R78! As a lieutenant in the Grammar Police, little gets past me; however, I seriously questioned "straitjacket," so I looked it up and found you are absolutely right. For years I have been spelling it wrong (not that I actually have much occasion to use the word), and I now stand corrected. Thank you!

These people are confusing Hoi polloi with the old term hoighty tonight. Isn't it similar to riff raff?

[quote]As a lieutenant in the Grammar Police, little gets past me

Well, you fucked this sentence up. "Little" is a lieutenant in the Grammar Police?

So R20, are you implying that Ms. Ashton (looks younger every day) was incorrect when describing my manhood?

Ernest Menville, M.D.

So it isn't proper to say Boozy, flaccid clown?

R122: I think he was talking about the size of your peen.

Sorry, hoighty toighty^

Wait, r120. The correct way to pronounce "flaccid" is flack-sid? That is new to me.

If we're talking pronunciation, my recent issue is "cache," as in "cache of weapons." It is correctly one syllable, and it rhymes with bash.

But I hear "cashay" (or cachet) all the time, even from military spokespeople.

"Ground zero" is not a synonym of "square one."

Well, everyone knows that most military types are not stoop-shouldered from toting around brains.

broo-SHETT-uh

That one has become all too common.

I just looked up flaccid R127 and it really is pronounced flak-sed and not flassid.

We knew, R131.

Well R127 didn't, okay?

R40 There is nothing wrong with ‘predominately’. The idea that it has to be ‘predominantly’ is something to which pedants who aren’t quite as clever as they think they are tend to cleave.

the one that drives me crazy is the use of me & I. Even the newscasters on tv don't use it properly. The rule is so simple I don't understand why so many people have a problem with it

Ass period

I just saw this in another thread: principal vs. principle.

Also, the use of "everyday" as other than an adjective. In any other context, it should be two words.

[quote]the one that drives me crazy is the use of me & I. Even the newscasters on tv don't use it properly. The rule is so simple I don't understand why so many people have a problem with it

Share the rule, please.

r138 if you are saying "Tom & me" are going to the store....take away Tom and you have, "me am going". You would say "I am going" so it is Tom & I

if you say I'm buying it for "Mom & I", take away Mom and you have "I'm buying it for I". correct way: I'm buying it for me so it would be, "I'm buying it for Mom and me."

Li-berry instead of library

R15 thank you for laugh

Bourgeois

R138/139, how about simply explaining the grammatical basis for the difference in usage between "I" and "me"?

It's absolutely straightforward: "I" is the nominative form of the first person singular, and "me" is the objective form. (Luckily for us anglophones, English only has those two cases for pronouns, and not six like Russian or nine -- I believe -- like Slovak.)

So if the speaker is the subject of the phrase, the nominative "I" is used. If the speaker is the object (direct object or indirect object, it makes no difference here), "me" is correct.

- I hit her.

- She hit me.

r143 not everyone sees things as clearly as others see them.

My father had an IQ of163. He would get so annoyed when people didn't understand something that he thought was so simple. I finally said to him, you have above average intelligence and people just cannot see what you see. You are up here, they are down here so they need to understand it on their level. I was one that was down here so I tried to never ever ask him a question or I would have to sit and listen for an hour to the answer and never understand a word he was saying.

If I had to think all that when trying to use Me or I, I would never get it right. Much easier to just remove the other person

What’s worse R138/R139 is when the pronouns are reversed, so we get “her and I went to the store."

ENORMITY used to describe just something vast or large, not terrible. Obama's teenaged speechwriters used it wrong countless times.

This discussion is better suited to a remedial English class.

Sorry Sir, @ R40, I side with R134 on this quandary. It is indeed a REAL word. It appears in Oxford, Cambridge, & Collins dictionaries. It has ever so slightly a different meaning. English does change over time, whether we like it or not. I am somewhat old, and British; I notice very little distinction paid to the two even amongst intellectuals.

"Spot on"... but, I catch myself saying that.

You keep right on typing it that way, r134.

Why did so many people start saying "verse" instead of "versus" when the two words mean such different things?

Enjoy the list that I started a list on my phone a while ago...

"Enyouthen"

"debili-dating"

"tempting faith"

"disconcern-ing"

"as faith would have it"

"zap resources"

"dis-included"

"not out of the clear yet"

"average-day people"

"brilliant-ness"

"out-roar"

"sabotager"

"an all-exclusive cruise"

"I'm suspect of it"

"assumingly"

"well-knowledged"

"unrelentless"

And the surrender to syllable inflation: "preventative" is now acceptable for "preventive" and "effectuated" instead of "effected" and "orientated" instead of "oriented"

On a commercial for a university, one student said that, "it has shapened my life"

On some NPR program, "the Republican Party is in-occlusive" :D

R142, just don’t say “boogie.”

Yes, please listen to R153, especially the millenials spelling the french word for candle, bougie, when they are using this cutesy abbreviation.

r154 "millennial" is misspelled in your post.

I guess it's a southern thing, but I hate "IN-shur-ance."

Thanks R155. Typo

I loved it when one of the real housewives said something like :

"No - don't mix the two of them at the same party. They always fight. They're like oil and vinegar."

Most of these are quite annoying but that was just hilarious to me. I just picture her having ordered 100s of salads in her life with oil & vinegar, morphing that into some kind of saying.

"LIKE"

I work at a top-tier graduate school and although not English majors, I can't believe the way these grad students write/speak. And now it's considered "elitist" to correct them. I don't five a crap, I correct them constantly.

Simple things like "her and me" and "me and him" and when did "myself" replace "me"? Fucking awful.

R90. Thank you. Yes, Merriam-Webster does indeed give 'at a moment' as one of the uses of 'momentarily'

I would be remiss, however if I did not cite my source for my earlier posting. It was from an article by Rob Reinalda, which ran in the Huffington Post.

[quote] “I’ll be with you momentarily.” Fiona might say this when trying to assure the waiting parties that she is just a jiffy away from joining them and bestowing upon them her undivided attention. Momentarily is the adverbial form of momentary, as in a momentary delay — a delay that will last but a moment, not begin in a moment. It’s better to use presently, which means, yes, in a moment or two — though most people use it as a synonym for currently, which one rarely needs anyway, as the present tense of verbs handles that quite nicely.

I stand corrected

^ 'at a moment' should be 'in a moment'

Gunna or gonna —- not words

That's an impressive list r152. What is "Enyouthen" supposed to be?

"Not out of the clear yet" made me laugh.

I heard "hoi polloi" misused on a mid-1960s episode of "Perry Mason," so it's not a new thing.

gift as a verb and all its conjured, conjugated forms--including the one used as an adjective for a physical space

-Contrary to what most of us were taught in elementary school, it is not always "and I.": My friend and I went to the park. A bird crapped on my friend and me. -It is "espresso," not "expresso." -Italian words that end in the letter "i" (panini, biscotti, ravioli, etc) are in plural form.

"ect" instead of "etc."

I once got an email saying something like "I wouldn't want it to reek cause havoc with the group"

It made me laugh for 2 reasons. First, she clearly forgot to delete "reek" when she realized she better use "cause" instead, because she couldn't figure out the spelling. (I have made similarly stupid edits). Second, I realized I had no idea how to write spell it either.

R130, that is the correct pronunciation as spoken by Italians. Do you pronounce it like a German (broosketta)?

[quote]Contrary to what most of us were taught in elementary school, it is not always "and I.": My friend and I went to the park. A bird crapped on my friend and me. -It is "espresso," not "expresso."

Don't blame this on your school.

No one was taught to always use "and I."

Though many have, clearly, forgotten the grammar that was shared with them.

r170 needs to brush up on his Italian pronunciation.

For intensive purposes.

The fire "totally engulfed" the house. Engulfed means totally....

"5 AM in the Morning". It's 5AM or 5 in the morning, not both.

R137, when you have two c's in a row. The first "C" takes a "K" sound. Think of Succeed, same rule for flaccid.

Presently does not mean now. It means in the near future. Use Currently to describe something happening now .

Forget "Preventative." Preventive has the same meaning.

Hoi polloi doesn't mean the Upper Class, it means the masses.

"Mary visited 12 different countries" or "13 different colors of paint.": If you drop "different, " the sentence has the same meaning.. There are 12 countries and 13 paint colors.

I am annoyed when people say things like "I am going to watch the VMA Awards tonight" or "I have to take the SAT Test this weekend." The letter "A" already stands for "award" so you aren't watching the Video Music Award Awards. Nor are you taking the Scholastic Assessment Test Test. Just say "I have am going to watch the VMAs" or "I have to take the SAT this weekend."

R179, don’t forget PIN Number and ATM Machine.

r175 your comment was misdirected; R137 didn't say anything about "flaccid."

R180 and we can add VIN Number.

Very unique, extremely unprecedented, completely finished, etc. The adverbs are superfluous.

R161/R15:

Your a class act. ^^^spelled it that way on purpose for a chuckle.

Does anyone recognize the guy in r161? The pic is not at the link and is undraggable to Google Images.

No perv

Flaccid, according to Merriam-Webster, can be pronounced both ways. The first pronunciation is the soft c sound.

People use redundant terms all the time, and it becomes normalized to the point where you can't really speak without the redundancies. For example, countless news articles refer to "the HIV virus," not "the HIV". In conversation, though it doesn't come up often, it would be pretty odd to hear someone say the latter.

Yes, I've heard "penultimate" misused many times. A lot of people seem to think it's a more forceful version of the word "ultimate."

Then what do they think "antepenultimate" means?

Recently heard a man who wrote a "documentary" pronounce it docu-men-TARY. It's docu-MEN-tary.

Biopic pronounced bi-OPPIC. No! It's BIO-pic—a biography picture. People can be so fucking stupid.

Do not add an ":S" to the word TOWARD.

Misuse of the word and: Try "and"... rather than Try to... Regarding the pronunciation of numbers: Rather than One Hundred Twenty-three, One Hundred and twenty-three. The combined use of "and also": a redundancy, either word does nicely on its own, or better options are replacing also with similarly, additionally, undoubtedly, In addition, furthermore, nonetheless, moreover, secondly, etc. I understand American usage is much more lax regarding this last example, however unless one is an attorney, using repetition for emphasis to aid in convincing one (or a jury) of a formal argument, it really serves no purpose.

[quote]Regarding the pronunciation of numbers: Rather than One Hundred Twenty-three, One Hundred and twenty-three.

There probably isn't a rule for this, but today I heard someone on tv refer to the year "two thousand and one," and thought the "and" was weird.

And now, it bothers me when people continue to use "two thousand" for recent years. Can't we all agree to say "twenty-eighteen" instead of "two thousand eighteen" or worse "two thousand and eighteen"?!

[Quote]Can't we all agree to say "twenty-eighteen" instead of "two thousand eighteen" or worse "two thousand and eighteen"?!

R195, I'm guilty of that (two thousand eighteen). I try to remember to say "twenty-eighteen," but saying "two thousand" is still very ingrained in me, as if it's the correct way. I expect that your way will be the standard within the next ten years, though, especially among the young generation.

Up and at 'em. Not up and Adam.

I said "twenty-oh-one," "twenty-oh-two," and so on.

Sayounara is only used when you do not plan on seeing someone again

Agree R195

Cognitive Dissonance

It does not mean "confusion" or indecisiveness or lack of awareness or whatever the fuck people try to apply it to in order to sound smart or describe something that they do not know how to describe.

The origin of the term is a series of famous psychology studies where they gave people very boring tasks and rewarded them with $1.00 - and then the people later decided they liked the very boring task. When they rewarded the study participants with $20, they said they only did the task for the money and hated the task. Human beings strive for internal psychological consistency in order to function in the real world. A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable, and is motivated to reduce the "cognitive dissonance" - sometimes by lying to himself . (Festinger, 1957).

This was the origin, so that's just background and context. It is now defined as "the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change."

CNN and NPR types love throwing around the word with no understanding of its meaning. I am watching Westworld and they are using it in some way that has nothing to do with any of the above definitions - I guess they can get some slack for being sci fi in a way, but they could've used another term.

"President Trump."

LGBT instead of Queer.

Queer instead of LGBT.

LGBT and queer. They do not mean gay.

I dunno—the "G" part does, doesn't it?

Then just say "gay." LGBT doesn't really describe anything because it tries to describe everything.

LGBT = stingy with words

G huh?

It's not a "tough road to hoe," it's a "tough row to hoe," as in a row of carrots in your vegetable garden.

^^^ A woman I used to work with was married to a Chinese guy named Ho. Their last name was Ho. When we learned she was pregnant with a girl, we all suggested names. My suggestion was “Rhoda”—Rhoda Ho. Well, she didn’t use my suggestion.

There's a drag queen called Ida Ho.

“Flush it out” instead of “flesh it out” as in add flesh to a skeleton or add details to a basic sketch of an idea.

“Get one’s goat” when they really mean “get one’s goad.”

I have never heard "get one's goad."

R170 has them reversed: "sch" in German is the "shhh!" sound, as in Schnitzel or schnauzer.

Neither have I, R214 R215

"Fulsome" seems to be a lost cause. The only place where it's correctly used is in older novels. Even educated people now use it instead of full or comprehensive.

And lately I've been hearing "coronated" instead of "crowned" as in Queen Elizabeth was coronated in Westminster Abbey.

"Chomping at the bit," instead of CHAMPING.

"Wherefore" to mean "where." It actually means something more like "why."

Do a lot of people imagine that Juliet's line is "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"

And "coronated" makes me want to behead someone.

That IS Juliet's line, R221, but she doesn't mean "where are you, Romeo," but, "why are you Romeo and not someone else, so I could have a chance with you?"

No, the comma would effectively change the meaning; but I agree with your interpretation of the line's true meaning. The difference IS between "Why are you Romeo?" and "Where are you, honey?" The comma places the name in apposition, rather than as object of the verb.

A sentence using the real meaning of "wherefore" plus a comma ( "Why are you, Romeo?") makes no sense. It's "Why did you have to be Romeo,"and it's punctuated accordingly.

[quote]And "coronated" makes me want to behead someone.

Let's conversate over it.

'Rather than One Hundred Twenty-three, One Hundred and twenty-three'

Hey spaz, everyone in the UK says 'and' and we invented the fucking language.

There are probably many academic articles published about the "begs the question" thing.

R244 Your response made me jizz a little.

R226 You quoted a fellow Brit. I do not add the and, neither do most people in finance repeating large numbers, and people in banking omit it as well. It IS a redundancy. Perhaps it is a regional habit, or dependent on how one is taught. I use an and for the "change" portion when referring to sums of money. Obviously all English speakers use colloquialisms and slang, I'm not judging people for it really. It simply is tiresome AND not necessary.

discusting for disgusting.

chester drawers for chest of drawers

rod iron for wrought iron

Another lost cause: "head over heels," which really should be "heels over head" because the former is one's natural state.

R107, "flounder" can be used as a verb to mean "to struggle" (Merriam-Webster's).

R120, "myriad" can be used as a noun as well as adjective (Merriam-Webster's).

If only "myriad" could also be used as a verb...

I would myriad that post. Will you myriad me?

r233 But could you "myriad" only one thing?

Just read on a thread here "ditch-water" blonde.

[quote] R128: “Ground zero" is not a synonym of "square one."

In the 1980s and 1990s, when my friends and I used to go to large nightclubs, I used to specify a location in the club as “ground zero”. A place for us to circle back to, if we became separated and wanted to meet up again. It had to be an interesting spot to hold your attention if you wound up hanging there alone for a while, before one of the crew happened by. 9-11 made the expression useless for this purpose. Plus, I aged-out if it.

Hot Boris Sanchez of CNN recently conflated two separate expressions when Erin Burnett asked him a question.

I can't remember what he said, but I remember being thoroughly rankled and wanting to grab my phone and post to DL, but I was in the middle of making stuffed peppers (this was the week Aldi had three color bell peppers for $1.19/3pk) and I was sure that it was so egregious that I would never forget exactly what he said.

Sure he's good looking, but what a turn off! He'll never get this pasty 40 year old ass if his brain doesn't work any better than that!

Oh, but what I was going to say-- I think boatloads SHOULD be changed to buttloads.

The one I hate is "leading question" used to mean the difficult question - the million dollar question. It is exactly the opposite - a leading question is one which contains its own answer. It's a lawyer's term of art. A lawyer extracting evidence in court is not allowed to ask his own witnesses leading questions, because he is not allowed to lead them towards a particular testimony. He has to ask only open questions, so that they give their own version of events. A leading question would be "Is it true that you were 20 miles away from the murder scene at the time of the murder?".

'That's not true'. 'Well, it's the exception that proves the rule!'. You don't know what that means!

[quote]'Well, it's the exception that proves the rule!'. You don't know what that means!

I have never known what that means. That and "all over you like a cheap suit" and "my reach exceeds my grasp."

Newscasters who begin every third sentence with the word now drive me up the wall. Anderson Cooper does it constantly. It's never needed and adds nothing to the sentence.

The exception tests whether the rule is valid, R240; it's 'prove' in its older meaning of 'test'.

“Seen,” is a word that needs to be abolished from Earth. In a space rocket.

Anyone have a problem with my statement? Smear my bum with ice cream and lick it.

r243 Huh? Then what would you use for the past participle of "see?"

R242, I would think that every exception would be evidence the rule was invalid rather than prove its validity.

Well, yes R245, that is what I meant - apparent exceptions test whether the rule works. Either the rules works or it doesn't -you can't have real exceptions. People use the phrase to mean something like ' If there's a rule, there can be exceptions' or something.

r144, my father was like that too: genius, polymath, and linguist (he spoke 5 languages). He would get into fights (and was fired from jobs) if people used incorrect grammar or words improperly, even people speaking their native tongue. He never accepted the fact that people do not want to be corrected by a guy who is irritated by your crap grammar or pronunciation or usage.

I've just encountered awe for aww and caddy for catty (I was trying to figure out the phrase "people being caddy" in a post).

Certain people throw "whom" in sentences where it doesn't belong. I guess they are trying to sound more intellectual or something.

Also- basically ALL of corporate-speak it bastardized English. "Let's touch base so we can level set and scope & define the parameters around the functional needs in the war room on 28 with our HR business parters".... or maybe that's all used correctly but it is just grating on the ears. Corporate-speech always throws "around" in everywhere. "While I do have concerns around the upcoming deadlines if we table it for now, we can re-engineer the milestones around customer-centric feedback around the new packaging"

r248. I need "whom" abuse receipts.

Fuglimic.

When they say cum whore but it should be cum slut. So annoying.

"Under way" should be two words ("the project is under way") except when used as an adjective before a noun ("the underway flotilla"). Even The Washington Post gets it wrong here...

[quote]Newscasters who begin every third sentence with the word now drive me up the wall. Anderson Cooper does it constantly

But at least AC usually speaks in complete sentences. On ABC World News, David (Tyler) Muir's scripts often leave out verbs.

"Our correspondent Hotboy Jones in Atlanta tonight." (Jones is IN Atlanta)

"In Washington tonight, new charges against EPA Chief Scott Pruitt. " (There ARE new charges, or new charges EMERGED or whatever)

Verb, please, Davy.

r253 That's a now decades-old Shepard Smith timesaving technique. You and I are probably the only people in the world who have ever noticed.

On tender hooks instead of on tenter hooks

"On tenter hooks" instead of "on tenterhooks."

This thread's giving me a tummy egg

Seriously, R257?

R258 No it was just a bit of gas

Whoops. Yes, it should be tenterhooks.

"Just desserts." The word is DESERTS, from the same root as "deserve."

Slavish, if it hasn't already been mentioned, is pronounced slave-ish.

Thank you, r261. I did not know that. Which syllable gets the accent?

How else [bold]would[/bold] you pronounce it, R262?

[quote]How else would you pronounce it, [R262]?

I've heard it wrongly pronounced as SLAH-vish.

“Broach” instead of “brooch”.

Also, the misuse of compound words. “Someday” is different from “some day”. “Every day” is different from “everyday”. Any more/anymore. All together/altogether. And so on.

Discrete vs. discreet. Both are valid words, but they're not interchangeable.

“It’s a mute point.”

Did you mean “moot”?

“Cliche” as an adjective. It’s not - it’s a noun.

It really grinds my beans that most people pronounce the words 'often' and 'soften' wrong. In both UK and american dictionaries/usage the 't' is silent, so it is "offen." I always cream my jeans when some nerds or intellectuals say it the right way.

^^^ Did you say “often”, or “orphan”?

Just saw this on another thread: "tick" for "tic." (As in a facial tic.)

Also people who use "tact" when they mean "tack."

R271 Suck my clit.

A pharmacy prescription is a scrip, not a script.

It's housing tract, not track.

Regimen and regiment have two completely different meanings. You're on a medication regimen. The troops were part of a regiment.

The holiday is pronounced HALLOW-een, not HOLLOW-een. (Rhymes with shallow, not follow.)

[quote]It's housing tract, not track.

Where I grew up, that kind of house was situated in what was called a "development." Where I live now, it is called a "plan." But you're right about "tract," not "track." I never heard the latter until now.

Idiots who say "pundint" when they mean pundit. I'm thinking of frequent guests and even hosts on Faux News who derisively refer to "pundints" all the time.

You know the answer to that problem, r276. You do.

r274 is batting 1.000. All of those are great examples.

R274, both scrip and script refer to a pharmacy prescription. In fact, I think script is more widely used within the pharmaceutical industry.

I got your reference, r271

Agree, R279.

A preSCRIPTion is just as accurate as a ‘scrip.

While we’re on this word, I hate when people refer to it as a PERscription.

Isn't "scrip" the those shopping certificates they used to sell (and possibly still do) to raise money for schools and charities?

PRESENTLY does not mean "now." It means "in the near future." CURRENTLY describes an event happening now.

Incorrect, R283. Presently can also mean now.

Someone just posted on another thread:

“The gig is up.”

Aaaaaargh

r285 Perhaps he was just reporting on Mr. Gig Young's suicide.

R284, "At present" can mean now, but not "presently."

R287, from dictionary.com:

[quote]at the present time; now: He is presently out of the country.

From vocabulary.com:

[quote]at this time or period; now “he is presently our ambassador to the United Nations”

From Merriam-Webster’s dictionary:

[quote]2 : at the present time : now

From my own knowledge of the English language, “presently” is used for now.

"Like"

Like, always.

That and “basically,” R289. Lol.

“So, basically, I went to the store. I saw him there and basically said, ‘yo, what’s up?’ and he basically told me...blah, blah, blah.”

^^^ Is “basically” the new “literally”?

The person selling your house is a realtor, not a realahtor.

R292 Actually, he or she is a Realtor (capitalized.) Apparently it's a trademarked term.

Maybe this has already been mentioned because it's so common: nuclear pronounced nucular.

Also I notice that "brand new" is in my Oxford Dictionary. I'm pretty sure that it was "bran new" in Dickens' time.

Op, I hate to break it to you, but how polloi has two meanings and one of them IS fancy people.  So, I guess it was you who was wrong.

Polloi | Definition of Hoi Polloi by Merriam-Webster

Definition of hoi polloi. 1 : the general populace : masses. 2 : people of distinction or wealth or elevated social status : elite.

I always understood people to be saying would/could/should’VE not OF.

Writing “should of” would be another matter.

With respect to "presently," here's an explanation on usage from Wester's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary: "Both senses [meaning before long, or currently] are flourishing in current English, but many commentators have objected to sense 2. Since this sense has been in continuous use since the 15th century, it is not clear why it is objectionable. "

^^ Webster's and not Wester's

[quote]Actually, he or she is a Realtor (capitalized.) Apparently it's a trademarked term.

Yes, it is trademarked. That’s because not every real estate agent is a Realtor. Becoming a Realtor requires certifications you must go through.

R288 You cannot tell a moron what not to believe. Just laugh.

"Actually" is used constantly, especially it seems by folks on HGTV (like Vern Yip in the old days).

I wish trendy usage would replace "actually" with one of my favorite phrases, "in reality."

Did the president, in reality, just say that obviously untrue thing?

Do people in reality believe that thing he just said?

I see people using "cypher" here a lot; I always thought that "cipher" was the only correct spelling, but apparently the other one is an accepted variant.

Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!

"Have your cake and eat it too"... Makes no sense. The correct (and most logical) version was "Eat your cake and have it too". How hard is that to understand????

What’s the difference, R305?

They mean the same thing.

r306 Smoke on your pipe and put that in!

Misused words and phrases don't phase me! It's just a faze.

Since he's found God, he's been keeping on the straightened narrow.

^^^ You take the high road and I’ll take the low road…

R307, that’s a bad analogy. To smoke something out of a pipe, you have to first put something in that pipe. There’s a definite order to doing things, as opposed to “having your cake and eating it too” where there’s no correct order for doing things.

Whether you want to “eat your cake and have it too,” or “have your cake and eat it too,” the order makes no difference.

Has no one mentioned the distressing fact that "who" is disappearing from the language?

"The people that came to the party..." is much more common now than "the people who came to the party..."

From now on it will be "Horton hears a that."

If you all don't know this site... it's all here...

"Have your cake and eat it" isn't as incomprehensible (to me, anyway) as "his reach exceeds his grasp." "Reach" and "grasp" mean the same thing where I'm from.

I never that "have your cake...." expression.

It should've been "keep your cake and eat it too" or something. If the origin was from another language, maybe something got lost in translation.

[quote]I never that "have your cake...." expression.

You "nevered" it?

woops... understood* that

So many people use "woman" in writing when they really mean "women". I don't understand why I see this mistake so often. I see it often enough that I am actually surprised when it is correct. Most people know when to use "man" and when "men" would be appropriate but for some reason they mix up "woman" and "women". Sometimes I even see "men and woman" when they mean "men and women". Wouldn't the "e" in "men" in the very same sentence be a clue?

[R36]: Have your cake and eat it too - the cake's on a plate in front of you and you get to eat it now. Eat your cake and have it too - you eat the damn cake but you still 'have' it? Even though it's now in your stomach? Not that complicated.

And for the evangelicals among you:

Gladly the Cross-eyed Bear

[quote] "Have your cake and eat it" isn't as incomprehensible (to me, anyway) as "his reach exceeds his grasp." "Reach" and "grasp" mean the same thing where I'm from. —Anonymous"

What is life like with only partial awareness? R314, where on earth are you from where "reach" and "grasp" mean the same thing? In order to GRASP anything, you have to REACH for it, right? One follows the other. Have you never heard the Browning quote, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?" Do you not set challenges for yourself to give your existence some meaning? (Obviously, not English, by the look of it.) Challenges like paying attention in school, reading the ocassional written word, learning from media instead of just letting it anesthetize you, etc.?

[quote]Gladly the Cross-eyed Bear

Coming soon to the Cartoon Network.

Whenever I attend a performance of Handel's Messiah I hear the chorus All we like sheep ... as Oh ! We like sheep ...

^ Me, too!

I cringe every time I read or hear, "I could care less," instead of "I COULDN'T care less."

Put that cake in your pipe and smoke it!

Attention straight women of childbearing age:

If it's eyes aren't reasonably spaced, do NOT breed with it.

A cursory glance at the mugshots of people who commit the worst acts of domestic violence will tell you as much.

Oh, fuck! Wrong thread! My post was about that guy whose parents took him to court to force him to move out of their house.

I love R326.

[quote]Definition of Hoi Polloi by Merriam-Webster: 1 : the general populace : masses. 2 : people of distinction or wealth or elevated social status : elite.

I don't think there are too many cases of this, but it really bothers me when a word or phrase has acquired two different meanings that are pretty much the opposite of each other.

R312 "Who" is not disappearing. It is just the dumbing down of the language by Americans. Only the educated or upper classes tend to speak properly. Commoners and the rabble give no fucks for proper language usage.

^oops! Faulty parallel construction. Commoners or the rabble...since they are the same thing.

I love how Brits always say, "Well spotted!" to congratulate you on your grasp of something obvious. So naughty. But their use of "obviously" in nearly every sentence makes me cringe. It makes me smile every time because they throw it in to draw attention to something that is usually not obvious at all. ("OBVIOUSLY, I was terrified." How the hell is this obvious if one weren't there to see whether it was obvious, or not?)

“If you think (blah blah blah), you have another thing coming!”

It’s another THINK coming. Think about it (no pun intended). If you’re saying “if you THINK...” then what other “thing” would be coming? You’re trying to say if you think XYZ, you should think again.

From a review of the new Studio 54 documentary, "hoi polloi" used correctly:

[quote] Studio 54 became a privileged space — a private club, essentially, in which people’s faces and threads were their membership keys. Tyrnauer doesn’t back off from the uglier side of the club’s door policy, the infamous nightly ritual of the hoi polloi standing out there on the curb, stranded — forever ­— on the wrong side of the velvet rope.

Ramsacked.

Valentime's Day.

Num chuks.

Chimaney.

Of course "I couldn't care less" is correct, but I don't understand the logic of it: it means "I don't care" about something, but there's no saying how much you currently DO care, regardless of your inability to care less [than you currently care]. You could care a lot, and your inability to care less just confirms that you care a lot.

I get it - it's just a figure of speech with its own implied sense.

"Hoi polloi" was misused on last night's premiere episode of "Pose."

"premise" for "premises."

"complaintant" for "complainant."

"hoi polloi"

the greek actually means, "the many" the commoners in other words

People constantly misuse the word "ironic." It happens on here all the time as well. "I was sitting at a stoplight, and my exact same model and color of car pulled up next to me. Isn't that ironic?" No, dumbass, not in the least - that's just a coincidence.

Many people think they know when to use "I" instead of "me." They do not.

"Meet Jacob and I later." - NOPE. That should be "Meet Jacob and ME later."

"Jacob and me will be there at 5:00" - NOPE. That would be "Jacob and I will be there at 5:00."

A good rule of thumb is to remove the other person from your sentence. Would your pronoun still make sense? Meet I later? Meet me later? Me will be there at 5:00? I will be there at 5:00?

"I made a concerted effort ..."

A "concerted effort" is one made in concert with others.

[quote]It’s another THINK coming. Think about it (no pun intended). If you’re saying “if you THINK...” then what other “thing” would be coming? You’re trying to say if you think XYZ, you should think again.

I've read this before, and while I agree that "another thing coming" doesn't make any sense, I think "another think coming" sounds pretty stupid. Why not just say "you should think again?"

R337, really? "I couldn't care less" means "I care not at all about [whatever is being discussed], therefore it would be impossible for me to care less than I currently do." Seem clear to me.