Usage nitpickers, unite!

[Robb]

One last time.... :evilgrin:

It's a web site, not a web "sight."

You cite a reference, you don't "site" one.

And keep those apostrophe's in you're pocket's!!! :D

[kick-ass-bob]

1. I sight webcite's...

:evilgrin:

[FunBobbyMucha]

2. You cannot "orientate" someone.

You can orient them, they can attend orientation, but no one is orientated.

"Irregardless" is not a word. Since "regardless" means 'despite any other factors,' "Irregardless," if it existed, would mean 'NOT despite any factors.'

I used to point this out repeatedly to the masters-prepared and doctorate-level bosses at my old job, which probably explains why they hated me so much.

[kick-ass-bob]

3. Irregardless is a restaurant, however...

http://triangle.citysearch.com/profile/6179203/?cslink=search_best_rating_cust&ulink=search__searchrating17_2__1_profile_2_1

[Bossy Monkey]

6. Orientate is perfectly proper British English n/t

[Metatron]

15. It is also an acceptable American English word

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=orientate

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Oh, yeah, that is a sure way to win the hearts and minds of

the educated.... pick on little things like that!

Seems like it worked, too.

[miss_kitty]

45. Also in the family of misusage you mention here, FunBobbyMucha

'Iterate' v 'Reiterate.' I'm not going to iterate here what I have told people time and time again.

[kick-ass-bob]

4. I have a real one:

Is it:

'I couldn't care less'

or

'I could care less'


One makes sense to me and the other does not...

[fugue]

11. It's "I couldn't care less"

Lazy people have dropped the "n't" so much that it now passes in conversation, but it is quite simply incorrect.

[kick-ass-bob]

12. That's what I figured, but I wasn't sure how it happened.

[miss_kitty]

57. When I say "I could care less"

I add, "but I don't know how," because it does not make sense.

[bloodyjack]

5. 'conversate' was a very popular word among my texas gym coaches

needless to say, they were all bastards.

ah, LITERALLY. oftentimes you'll hear people use "LITERALLY" to add emphasis to a figurative expression. for example:

A: oh man that movie was such a riot I literally shit my pants
B: you mean you actually shit your pants?
A: no man its just a figure of speech what are you a retard

also: the term "sweating like a pig." PIGS DON'T SWEAT

[eyesroll]

8. I occasionally use "sweating like a pig" correctly.

People have no idea what I'm talking about.

[pagerbear]

18. Do pigs actually sweat?

[bloodyjack]

28. No, they lack sweat glands

[figbash]

7. and it's people WHO..

....not people THAT. Also FEWER goes with quantity; LESS with quality. Fewer beans, not less beans. Unless, of course, your beans really are inferior.........like the Chimp's.

Man, I'm really gettin' tense. Am gonna need heavy doses of meditatin' and levitatin' to get thru the election.

[fugue]

9. "Disconnect" is a verb

The noun form is "disconnection."

Also, adverbs ending in "-ly" do not take a dash to connect them to their adjectives; they are inherently connected. It is, for instance, "publicly funded programs" not "publicly-funded programs."

[bowens43]

14. not according to dictionary.com

n. (dsk-nkt)

A lack of connection; a disparity: “There is a cosmic disconnect between what the voters want and what the party of the corporate interests can give them”

[fugue]

60. Yeah, and I think "ain't" is in American Heritage

I'm not impressed.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

63. Contrary to what many believe, dictionaries only report usage

they do not "rule" on what is acceptable.

[pagerbear]

19. You mean hyphen, not dash

<pagerwink>

[fugue]

61. You are correct! ^_^

My mistake. I do know better. I know proofreading marks for hyphen, en dash, and em dash. ^_^

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. Couple of my least favorites...

Xmas for Christmas

Nite for night.

misuse of 'handed down' and 'handed up' in court journalism

mis-identification of common military units, ships, or aircraft (calling an Aircraft Carrier a Battleship)

[FunBobbyMucha]

17. Are you military?

Cuz we civilians don't know all the classifications and when military folks correct us, it makes me nutty. I'm a designer, doesn't mean I expect someone else to know what Helvetica bold is.

Conversely, when military folks refer to their freakin' car as their "vehicle" I wanna scream. It's a Geo, Cap'n!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

23. Yes. retired. But I don't mean BS like car/vehicle, and I don't

mean from average people who do not, or have no reason to, know better; I mean in media reports. Errors due to laziness from people who are supposed to be authoritative.

[JimmyJazz]

33. Does that mean I can stop carrying around

my copy of Jane's Ships? Because that this was getting heavy!

:7

[Aristus]

29. Now to be REALLY pedantic:

Xmas is a perfectly acceptable abbreviation of Christmas. It originated in the Middle Ages. The 'X' came from the first letter of the Greek word for Christ; Christos, or XPICTOC.

[Book Lover]

44. The X in Xmas is a medieval contraction

As I'm sure you know, it's not the Roman letter X but the Greek letter Chi, and stands for Christ. Scribes used it, as well as many other fascinating shorthand devices, to shorten their scribing burden.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

64. yes, but the people using it now do not have that reference

and it is annoying.

Just because they used it in the Middle Ages does not make it right.

They died of illness that we consider trivial now, should we do that?

[Book Lover]

65. Well, sweetheart, you are entitled

to be as annoyed as you want; I certainly enjoy being annoyed by a bunch o' shit that others wonder over (I am still torqued off, for instance, about how I was treated at this one job over 10 years ago. Seriously), but we moderns do many things derived from medieval and ancient practice. As a medievalist, I like seeing it.

I promise to not use it anywhere it would annoy you, even if it means making more noise on my clackety-clack keyboard :-)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

69. On reflection, you are right. I had not thought about the charm

that the middle ages imparts to us here in the information age. I hereby withdraw my objection to xmas.

[Book Lover]

72. Wow, that was easy

Um, can I withdraw my objection to something that bugs you?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

73. Nah. Well, if you insist.

Be my guest.

[JimmyJazz]

16. Okay, I'll jump on this bandwagon:

It's BETWEEN for two people and AMONG for more than two.

Also, one does not "shoot the messenger." The messenger is not to be killed and the piano player is not to be shot.

And, for the record, something cannot "cut the mustarD." It's muster and in "this passes muster."

Okay, I'm finished. Thank you for allowing me rant. I'll leave you alone now. :)

[pagerbear]

20. But one can cut the cheese

[JimmyJazz]

22. why do you go start a flatulence thread and leave my rant alone?

:P

[pagerbear]

21. I hate "they" or "their" for third person singular

...when the sex of the person spoken of is unknown. Yes, I know it's common usage, but it makes me crazy.

[jukes]

39. um hmm

i prefer "it" & its"...

[Book Lover]

47. Did you know that serious discussion is going on at Chicago UP

to regulate this usage? Yes, I was also shocked and dismayed, but personally, I'd rather have this a regulated usage than have folks use the sexist, if correct, "he" for the generic third person singular...

[Bucky]

80. My college English prof alternated between "he" and "she"

I understand the reason for the emphasis on gender neutrality, but saying she instead of he is a better way of reinforcing the point that opportunities should be evenly dispersed between the genders.

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. Eat's Shoot's and Leaves is one of my favorite grammar books.

:hi:

[miss_kitty]

48. Actually Mrs Grumpy

since we're being nitpicky here it EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES!, but you were prolly:) being deftly sarcastic, and I missed it...but just in case...:hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. /sarcasm off. I added the puncuation because that is what irks the

author so much when seen on the side of a public bus. :hi:

[miss_kitty]

53. She is a laugh riot

Have you heard her speak? did you know there is a society for the protection of the apostrophe? It's called 'The Apostrophe Protection Society' based in England, of course.

http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/

[ScreamingMeemie]

54. I would love to hear her speak.

Thanks for the link! :hi:

[Phillycat]

25. It's LOSE, not LOOSE, and LOSER, not LOOSER!

DAMMIT.

[DelawareValleyDem]

27. I get annoyed at

people who think "it's" is the possessive from of 'it'. Or people who use 'and' in an infinitive - 'Try and come to my party'. Or people who start sentences with conjuctions like I've done several times. :-) Most of all, I hate freepers who think 'moran' is the correct spelling. :D

[On the Road]

26. I am a Usage Nitpicker in Most Cases

although I do willfully split infinitives and misuse the word "hopefully" (eg, "Hopefully, I'll get my refund check this week"). Sometimes the language has to evolve based on common usage.

On the other hand, it is "different from" and not "different than."

And when a sentence end with a parenthesis, the period goes outside if the parentheses cover part of the sentence and inside if they cover the whole sentence.

Oh, and the possessive of James is James's, not James'. The only exception, according the Chicago Manual of Style, are the names Moses, Jesus, and certain multisyllabic ancient middle eastern names like Artaxerxes.

[Philostopher]

30. It's an asterisk.

That thing some of us put after Bush*, I mean. Not an 'asterik' or an 'asterix' -- as-ter-isk. Pronounced like 'ass to risk'.

That's all -- my other ones will get covered in this thread before it's been up an hour.

[miss_kitty]

51. Pronunciation? I've said it before, but let me iterate-

Accessory, is pronounced 'ACKsessory,' not 'ASSessory.' sheesh. ASSclowns

[Aristus]

31. This is more overusage, rather than improper usage, but:

I've come to the conclusion that "awesome" is the favorite superlative of illiterates. People who are not well read tend to use 'awesome' to a nauseating degree. Everything is always "awesome! Just awesome"!

Never wonderful, incredible, grand, staggering, splendid or even awe-inspiring. Just awesome.





Like totally! :+

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

70. A wonderfully munificent posting.

totally awesome, too.

[bunkerbuster1]

32. My very favorite pair of sentences

used to illustrate the proper use of Your/You're and Lose/Loose, went as follows:

You're a loose, skanky ho'.

You need to lose your gut.

[Bill McBlueState]

34. Does ho' come with an apostrophe at the end?

Or should it have an apostrophe at both the beginning and end?

Our fish 'n' chips are the best, you loose, skanky 'ho'.

[bunkerbuster1]

58. So long as you don't put it in between quotation marks

you've mistakenly used for emphasis.

That's my favoritist pet peeve.

Or, I should say, that's "my" favoritist pet peeve.

[Bill McBlueState]

35. who / whom

I'm willing to forgive the use of 'who' where 'whom' is appropriate, at least in casual conversation. But someone I know consistently uses 'whom' when 'who' is warranted. I don't know if she thinks she sounds more intelligent that way or what, but it's bizarre.

[tilsammans]

36. It's "I graduated FROM . . . "

I HATE it when I see "I graduated high school"! It's "I graduated FROM high school"!

:grr:

One should not be allowed to graduate without knowing the correct usage!

[tsakshaug]

37. How are you?

"I am doing good"
Which means you are doing good works in some form or another.

"I am doing well"
Is what is correct-or at least what I have been taught.

[Debi]

38. The point is moot...

We would not be able to hear a mute point!!!

[DemBones DemBones]

40. Hypocrites practice hypocrisy; hypocracy is not a word, but if it were,

it would presumably refer to a government run by hypocrites -- or hypocrats!

[lapislzi]

41. Everyone has HIS point of view

If you want to make it gender-neutral, "Everyone has A point of view."

It is a challenge to be both grammatically correct and gender-neutral, but it can be done.

[skygazer]

42. "Normalcy" is a pet peeve of mine

It's a strait jacket, not a straight jacket. Saw that one the other day.

[lapislzi]

43. Oh, and another one: "on a daily basis"

How about "every day" or "daily?"

I hear that one just about...every day.

[tsakshaug]

46. At this point in time

we will look at that issue in a going forward basis.

[sister moon]

49. Nobody mentioned this one yet,

but one of mine is "half mast" when one means "half staff".

Trying to redeem myself here after making a nuisance of myself on another thread. Not a complete sentence. shoot me.

[miss_kitty]

56. They can bite you :)

I saw that stuff...nothing much to get worked up about. I feel your pain and use my own self-edit chip quite often.

Welcome to DU sister moon :hi: I'd say "life's a bitch" here, but that'd just get me flamed wouldn't it? So I won't say it.

And congrats on getting what I assume is your first thread, locked, before anyone could comment on it! and no explanation! anyway, see ya 'round!

[RebelOne]

52. People who don't know the difference between

it's and its irk me. It's = it is. Its = possessive pronoun.

[Skittles]

68. like I told my boss

it's ALWAYS stands for IT IS - unless you're talking about Cousin It's car. :D

[RebelOne]

55. Okay, some more.

Hear and here. Hear: to preceive by the ear. Here: at or in this place.
There and their. There: At or in that place. Their: Possessive form of they.
Sheer and shear. Sheer: Many meanings. Check dictionary. Shear: To remove by cuttting or clipping.

[CAcyclist]

74. you did mean to say "perceive",correct?

[Robb]

59. "Cloudy skies are expected"

...Incorrect. "Skies" is not the issue, it's the understood "condition of".

(The condition of) cloudy skies is expected. :)

Further, there is not more than one sky.;)

Similarly, data are collected....

[BoX o BooX]

62. Impoper use of "evacuate."

"One hundred people were evacuated..."

No they were NOT, dumbfuck. The AREA was evacuated of one hundred persons. To evacuate means to empty out. If you evacuate one hundred people, you will have a god-awful mess on your hands.

[put out]

66. "Whet" your appetite.

One does not "wet" an appetite. "Whet" means to sharpen, as you would sharpen a knife on a whet stone. It also means to make an urge more keen.

"Wet" your appetite. I suppose that means happy hour. That, I can do.

Am I being pedantic? You bet. I'll try to do better.

[MsConduct]

67. Irregardless Chaps My Hide! n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

71. Okay, since I was beaten about the head and shoulders over

xmas, and I might add, rightly so, I offer another horrific example of lazy Americanisms...

The trash needs emptied.
Or the lawn needs mowed. or
The walk needs shoveled.

What has happened to "to be"?

[CAcyclist]

75. My pet peeve

affect and effect

You can effect change but you are affected by the downturn in the economy.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

76. Your and you're misuses bug the shi*t out of me!!

[Pied Piper]

77. Here are mine...

People who say "Ek cetera" instead of "Et cetera" for the abbreviation "etc".

I had a college professor who used to say "We shouldn't take these things for granite." What a doofus - I guess he got his doctorate from "Diplomas-R-Us".

[Serial Mom]

78. Even a mod used copy write instead of copyright

But worse is when people use LOOSE for LOSE

Loose the game???

[Bucky]

79. I don't have a "sneaking" suspicion. I have a sinking suspicion

That one used to really annoy me. How it's been used so bad for so long that the wrong form is acceptable and I just have to get over it.