Fun with Pet Peeves
December 14, 2007 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
Let’s have a little fun today. The past few days were entirely too serious, so let’s laugh a little.
I was listening to the local news and a county official used a word I hate “irregardless.” Actually it’s a non-word. it doesn’t exist. Irregardless, like “for all intensive purposes” and “where’s it at” are the grammatical equivalent of nails across a black board for me.
Here are a few more I can’t stand:
- 1 AM in the morning. – Um…doesn’t AM indicate morning?
- Using “loose” instead of lose – Two different words meaning too different things. They’re even pronounced differently.
- its/it’s, their/they’re, your/you’re – Admit it. It bothers you too.
- “Home in” instead of “hone in” and vice versa – Update: please see comments for discussion regarding home in/hone in.
- Text messaging type abbreviations in email or blog posts. U no wht I mean?
- Using the word “literally”. It literally makes me cringe when people use this word to illustrate a point.
- “I could care less.” Really? Well I couldn’t care less.
There are also expressions that bother. For instance, if I hear the expression “At the end of the day…” one more time, I’m going to pull my hair out.
So … share. What things to people say or write that make you want to bang your head against the wall?
Deb – Your links in the email you’ve sent out in past 2 days have gone to http://www.freelancewritingjobs.com not http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com.
FYI
Thanks Kara. I guess I have been distracted.
Nails acrossed the blackboard. That’s how my brother in law says across. DRIVE ME BONKERS.
Also, my mother in law who calls every place she stays in on vacation a “motel.” Even if we are renting a room or suite in a 4-star, upscale HOTEL or RESORT.
Or perhaps it’s my husband who says “We need to set down” instead of “sit down.”
Um, am I making my husband and his family sound like rednecks? They really aren’t! (Okay, maybe a little.)
My dad says he is “a scared” of things. It’s annoying.
Well seeing as how it’s at the end of the day..:o) Sorry, couldn’t resist.
I hate it when people pronounce things incorrectly. I think it has to do with speech therapy classes when I was a little girl, but if you can’t pronounce the word, don’t make up new ways to say it. I was listening to a newscast and every single reported said Afghanistan differently. By the end I couldn’t even remember what the right way was.
It’s not so much a pet peeve but I hate when prospective clients will use the word “kewl” in correspondance. Umm…my brother used to write that when he was 15, not a 45 year old man who is trying to hire me. I almost declined the contract because in an online conversation, he used “kewl” about 10 times in the span of 20 minutes. If you are going to use cool, at least spell it right.
Obviously, I’m not hip, jive or anyone that is “kewl”.
I could probably come up with a few more but I think I’ve made my rant.
Mine are more puncutation-related, like quotation marks when you’re not quoting anything (like in the yellow pages: “free delivery”) and apostrophes when pluralizing (I saw a painted plaque once that said, “Grandma’s are special.” Grandma’s what?
These phrases get to me also:
at the end of the day
think outside the box
at this juncture
at this point in time (why not just say now?)
6 a.m. in the morning
10 items or less
enclosed please find
Arrgh!
“disrespect” as a verb. Makes me want to scream.
The your/you’re, they’re/there/their, and its/it’s mixups definitely drive me up the wall.
Sentences joined with a comma also drive me nuts, it’s just so wrong. (!!! … See, I can hardly even make myself do it as an example!)
Actually, I hate most inappropriate punctuation use. It really irritates me, when people do stuff like this. I think, it’s really annoying.
Okay, I need to stop before I self-destruct!
This one really gets to me: “There’s three (or four or five)” … um, if it’s more than one, don’t you mean there ARE?
The “AM in the morning” thing drives me nuts, too.
My mother in law is constantly talking about being “flustrated.” Flustered? Frustrated? Which one is it? Ugh!
Funny – there seems to be a trend with in-laws.
I’m annoyed by “the reason is because” and “what it is is.” I’m especially annoyed when my father-in-law says things like “the reason was is because is….”
>> “the reason was is because is….”
That would make me so flustrated!
Those are all so funny! I have two words: “Even still.” As in: “The windows look pretty clean. Even still, it’s probably about time we give them another wash.” And using -ed instead of -ing. As in: “The leaves need raked, the house needs mopped and the dishes need dried.” All courtesy of my fiance. (We don’t live in a pig-sty. Really.)
Also: fustrated, libary, realator and axed (instead of asked). Fortunately, none of these are courtesy of my fiance.
Ah, my long pet peeve list. I’ll try to only open Pandora’s box a little bit here.
My biggest annoyances:
between you and I
I myself
how come
Katie, you just reminded me of a spoken one I can’t stand: supposebly
Katie, your mention of “realator” reminded me of the Jib Jab video that was floating around during the Bush/Kerry presidential election. To the tune of “This Land is Your Land” the Kerry character sang to Bush:
“You can’t say nuclear.
That really scares me.”
http://www.jibjab.com/originals/this_land
Katie –
I usually look at it as the speaker leaving out “to be” — i.e. “The dished need to be dried” — rather than saying “-ed” instead of “-ing”.
It bugs me too, but only if I actually stop and think about it. That one is not one of my auto-alarms.
Another of my pet peeves: Anytime a client tries to correct my grammar…to something wrong. I recently had a client insist that something should be “do” instead of “does.” I politely told him that he was wrong. Haven’t heard back from him yet, and it’s been a few days. :::sigh:::
It’s amazing how many clients hire WRITERS and then act like THEY’RE the expert.
Katharine -
Oh no. People try to correct my use of me/I in speech all the time. Usually they are wrong.
I work with an undergraduate research journal so I’ve had a few experiences editing undergraduate work. There have been times when I came across something absolutely horrendous, edited it to be sensible, and then had the author quietly undo my work and turn in something un-grammatical. What ensues is a passive-aggressive edit war, until we reach a happy medium.
I noticed that you spell your name somewhat differently from most Americans. I wonder, has anyone here ever been corrected on the spelling of their own name? Now that would be a treat.
Deb-
I was always baffled by the use of “I could care less”! My generic response has always been: “Well, then why don’t you?”
I have a bunch of pet peeves. One of them involves not new writers, but people whose work I read all the time. I’ve found that a lot of young writers (young meaning my age, 21) have favorite words that they’ve latched onto. They use them all the time, sometimes correctly, sometimes incorrectly. It’s really quite deplorable when you can identify authors (who might otherwise remain anonymous) based on repeated use of unconventional words. Of course, one might turn around and say that they are developing their own personality as a writer, but I wonder whether that’s just nonsense in this case.
Saad – Actually people love to tell me my last name is missing a vowel. I usually tell them my father in law was too cheap to buy one. Whenever I spell my name for anyone I say, “Ng…that’s it.” The other person will inevitably respond “and what’s the rest?”
In Queens NY Ng is rather popular especially in the areas heavily populated by Asians. Where I live now I get lots of disbelief.
I am pretty sure that to “home in” is correct – it means to zero in on, as a homing pigeon would do. To “hone” is to sharpen.
Deb –
I’ve always wondered… How do you pronounce your name?
Saad –
Katharine was my paternal grandmother’s middle name. Katharine Hepburn spelled it that way, too. I’m not sure where the slightly different spelling came from, but people misspell it ALL the time. I constantly get emails, credit card offers, even bills and checks addressed to “Katherine.”
What cracks me up the most is how many people seem to think that just because it’s spelled differently, it should be pronounced differently, too. I get a lot of attempts like “Kath-AH-reene” and “Kath-AH-riine”.
@Katharine (Which is how my sister in law spells it too…)
It’s pronounced “ing”.
I’d say about 86% of the people I encounter don’t even try to pronounce it, they just say the letters. Deborah “N -G”.
Amy–I can’t believe I forgot “supposebly”! That was my high school economics teacher’s favorite word, all stretched out and dramatic, like, “Suppooooooosebly, I’m not saying this word correctly.” Definitely belongs on the list.
Joanne–That video is hilarious. I saw it months ago but just got another good laugh out of it.
Katharine–Exactly. That’s what I told my fiance: “It’s either ‘The dishes need TO BE dried’ or ‘They need dryING.’ Choose one!” It’s a miracle he’s still marrying me, I’m such a grammar nutcase. (That inappropriate comma was for you, Katharine.
)
@Courtney – That’s one for looking up then. I was always led to believe it was “hone in” but you know, I’ve been wrong before!
Deb –
Thanks! I’m glad to know how to pronounce it correctly.
Embarrassingly enough, I think I was thinking the letters in my head most of the time.
But then again, until I was in high school I thought “fragrance” was pronounced with a short vowel in the beginning, “frAHgrance.” I’ve always had a problem with “thinking” words with the wrong pronunciation.
Courtney is right! And here’s the proof. I learned something new today!
Katie… Thanks?
:::twitches:::
My biggest pet peeve in this area is when someone writes or says “needless to say” and then goes on to explain something in detail. It’s a particular annoyance of mine because I have a brother who uses it all the time, and when he says it, I know it’s the cue for a long winded explanation.
i always want to scream out “then don’t say it!” when someone says it.
One more pet peeve:
People who say “you’re kidding” about stuff that isn’t funny. I know this isn’t a grammar thing, but it bugs me when I say something like “My neighbor just passed away” and the response I get is “You’re kidding?”
Katie,
I had a teacher in elementary school who pronounced it the same way your teacher did (with that emphasis). As a result, the one friend I still keep in touch with from grade school still mispronounces the word.
Katharine,
I recently had a client tell me my grammar was wrong. I’m not a grammar guru or anything, but I knew that in this case I wasn’t wrong. I was using “I see HIS editing my grammar” rather than his suggested “I see HIM editing my grammar.” I restrained myself from correcting his correction, even though it irritated me, and even though his correction ruined about ten sentences in the document. I’ve learned never to argue with lawyers. It’s his name going on the document, not mine.
Deb,
I’ve had people tell me my name should be pronounced Darby, because that is the way Derby is pronounced in England and Ireland. I tell them when I move there, I’ll pronounce it their way.
Pet peeve: alot instead of a lot (they never mean allot).
My name is often misspelled and people ask me if I’m sure. Same with my last name, it is either misspelled or they leave off the van completely.
I have another huge pet peeve but it isn’t a grammar thing. It has to do with nicknames. People wil constantly try to shorten my name and the only thing they can come up with is “Siren” but they pronounce it “Seren”, my name is pronounced Serena and I have had people correct me on that, “Wouldn’t it be Siren-a”
My mother’s husband used to call me “Chicken” as a pet name. That one used to drive me nuts, “So, Chicken, how ya doing?” He also used to dance up to me saying, “Hey there, Ch..Chi…Chick…Chicken,” and no he doesn’t have a stuttering problem. So pet names are a big peeve to the point that my DH will only call me dear once in a blue moon. He knows that I hate sweetheart, pumpkin, sugarplum, and all the rest.
Oh and on the topoic of annoying stepdad’s (or mother’s husband lol), his favourite line is “So, do you have a job yet?” Writing isn’t a job I guess but when I wasn’t working I still had the same question. My reply was always, “Yes, I’ve been working for the same company since I was 18,” or “No, but I am in college full time and I work on my summer holidays.” When he has asked the question for the 8th time in an hour I just want to take the law into my own hands. LOL
Pet Peeve: Stupid new keyboard where I punch several keys at once.
Um, is this a joke?:
“There are also expressions that bother. For instance, if I hear the expression “At the end of the day…” one more time, I’m going to pull my hair out.”
Seems if you’re going to get on your soapbox, you should make sure not to make the very mistakes that you are criticizing.
“Bang, bang, bang” (head on wall).
Do I have to tell you? It’s the word ‘here’.
Katharine and Courtney, I stand corrected, however….
I’m finding arguments for either side. For instance I found one writer who said “hone in” came first and evolved into “home in” after they started using carrier pigeons in the war.
Here’s another interesting argument for hone in:
http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/08/hone_in_or_home.html
which suggests it can go either way, especially if you’re using the word hone to “focus” in on something.
I think I’ll keep reading up, this is rather interesting.
@Justin – Good catch. That one was a typo – I do know the difference though.
Oh, Deb, I wasn’t trying to claim credit for knowing about “home in” — I was actually quite surprised to find that Courtney was right, as I’d always thought of it as “hone in.”
Regardless, what you found out sounds very interesting! Makes me want to get my hands on a very old dictionary.
@Katharine – It IS interesting isn’t it? I think the bottom line (right now) is that home in on is the accepted use, while my version is the one that makes everyone nuts!
Deb — LOL. I hate the “right now” part. It makes me more likely to just rewrite the sentence.
Has anyone other than me done that when working on a project — checked on a phrase and ended up getting so confused about usage that you just give up and rewrite it entirely?
Oh boy. Back in high school our principal held a side job as an underwear model. (Not Kidding, Mr. Stevens was known as Burlington’s Magram’s Man.) Anyway, he always started off his morning with a little motivational speech held over the school intercom.
Here comes my pet peeve. It always started “I have an EYE-DEER for today.” People who pronounce idea with the R on the end of it drive me nuts.
Then another lesser known item – I once got into an argument with an author over this. When someone gets their “just deserts,” it really is spelled d-e-s-e-r-t-s, not desserts like the after dinner splurge item. The phrase dates back to an older form of desert (a derivative of deserve) and somewhere along the line, people started spelling the phrase incorrectly. I only happen to know this one because I read a book about grammar once that was packed with little quirky items like that, but when the author decided to tell me that I was brain-dead and needed to read a grammar guide after I mentioned that she should change the spelling of that phrase before it went to press, I decided that informing the world about the phrase “just deserts” would be my new life goal.
Ann –
“Warsh” drives me nuts too.
That sounds like an interesting book. Don’t suppose you remember the title?
Hmmm… you learn something new everyday. I never would have guessed that “home in” is correct. Wow!
I have a friend who always uses the word “initially” when she means to say “essentially”. It drives me up the wall!
My other big annoyance is people who use “you and I” every single time, even when the correct usage is “you and me”. I’ve even noticed this in a few songs. Makes me what to scream!
Ann (again) –
I am so the type of person who needs to see it to believe it.
Anyway, my dictionary backs up your grammar book’s claim:
de • sert2 n. 1. Something that is deserved or merited, esp. a punishment. Often used in the plural.
Word History: When Shakespeare says in Sonnet 72, “Unless you would devise some virtuous lie/To do more for me than mine own desert,” he is using the word desert in the sense of “worthiness; deserving,” a word that is most familiar to us in the phrase “just deserts.” This word goes back to the Latn word deservire, “to devote oneself to the service of,” which in Vulgar Latin came to mean “to merit by service.”
There’s more about the Latin roots of the word, but I don’t feel like typing all of it.
Sorry, the “2″ in desert should be a superscript, but it didn’t work out that way. It’s the second listing of the word.
Oh, it drives me NUTS when songwriters use incorrect grammar, especially when the correct usage would work with the rhythm, rhyming, etc. just fine!
Hey Deb, this really has been a fun discussion. Good choice!
Who can forget Paul McCartney in “Live and Let Die”
“…but in this ever changing world in which we live in…”
@Katharine – I needed something light today. The problem is, I need to go back and read what I wrote about distractions because this has been so distracting.
See I had to read the Paul McCartney lyric twice to find what was wrong. LOL. My mind omitted the second “in” for me on the first go through so I read it, “world in which we live.” Have to love how the brain works. I often read sentences the way I feel they should be read and never how they truly are.
Ha!
Deb, you’re not the only one — this has proved quite distracting for me too.
Oh well. I think sometimes we get distracted because we really NEED a distraction.
Wow. Many interesting comments. There aren’t too many grammar issues that really bug me because people make mistakes.
Although, I can’t stand when people say things like, “I always go there some of the time.” Is it always? Sometimes? What?
I don’t know if it’s grammar per say but I don’t like LOL, TVMFL, TFF, BFF and all that other junk. I don’t mind MIL and that’s it. I especially dislike when people shorten my name in that way such as, “Hey J what’s up?” That makes my head want to explode.
Oooh, what about that song “Hungry Eyes” from “Dirty Dancing”– “I feel the magic between you and I…” I used to love that movie, but that line makes me cringe!