There are some words and phrases I dislike immensely. I don’t know why, I just do. I love words. I love language and the printed word. I’ve been spotted reading the dictionary. I buy books by the ton which is inspiring me to think about getting an iPad if just for the savings on buying books. ( I am of course, using this as an excuse to justify the purchase of this sexy little device.) But when I see the poor little word misused, misspelled, bent into agonizing ways that supposedly suits the purpose of the writer, I simply go a little nutty. Sarah Palin’s misuse and “invention” of the word, “refudiate” drove me right off the edge. Here are a few words and phrases that give me pause:
“Side-kick:” This is a person’s assistant or close associate. This is not a friend or relative.
“Vow:” I notice this one used a lot by tabloid newspapers usually in a story about something Oprah says she’s going to do, like lose weight. It’s a solemn promise and should probably be reserved for nuns.
“Dupe:” This has three meanings. One is short for “duplicate.” The others are a noun and a verb having to do with a deception or trick and the victim of such. It irritates me.
“Think outside the box:” The people who use this phrase rarely do.
“The customer is always right:” Now this is just plain wrong. An impressive percentage of my customers are so wrong half the time, I don’t know how they got a driver’s license.
“Parrot Mommy”: I know this shouldn’t bother me, but it’s the “Mommy” part that irritates me. Growing up, my Mother was known around my home as “The Big M.”
“Wack:” As in “That’s just wack.” It says absolutely nothing. Totally non-descriptive. Lazy.
“Sassy:” I simply hate it. The origin was from the mid 19th century. It should have stayed there.
Confusing, “Their,” “they’re” and “there:” God help me I’ve seen it everywhere. So there.
Excessive apostrophe use: God help us. I’ve seen this sprinkling of apostrophe’s on sign’s, on menu’s, on truck’s and in blog’s. God save us all from this horrible habit. And yes, I put those apostrophes there on purpose to make my point. I realize they are all wrong.
Confusing, “Your” and “You’re.” This is a double fault. It’s wrong and includes an apostrophe. It causes me physical pain when I see this.
“Errant:” An editor replaced this word for the word “misplaced” in an article I wrote. I almost strangled him, told him if he ever pulled that again, I’d never write for his little newsletter again. I didn’t. The newsletter went down in flames. I didn’t mind.
“I’m your biggest fan:” I happen to love certain things, admire certain people for what they’ve written, done, created, performed, etc. But I don’t get crazy about it….At least in the presence of the particular person I admire.
“LOL” I grudgingly must use this on occasion. But it’s taking over actually writing.
I feel better now. Thank you for allowing me time to get that off of my mind.
December 3, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Ugh! Do you hate ugh? I hate it when people can’t SPELL! Are you kidding me? My perception of them immediately drops to toilet level…………..and yes, I hate when they don’t know how to use “there, their and they’re” properly……….and my personal favorite……people who pronounce Illinois as Illinoise or Des Moines as Des Moynes………………for god sakes, there IS NO EXCUSE! You have grammar check and spell check!
LikeLike
December 3, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Thank you Sandy. I thought I was being “picky,picky,picky.” Glad to know I’m not the only one who gets pissed off about this. I feel better now.
LikeLike
December 3, 2010 at 8:55 pm
I hear you…..what drives me crazy is when people don’t know how to use: to, too, two…in their correct form. When I read things that are grammatically wrong, I have to fix it in my head before I can continue. Yah…I’m a bit anal that way.
Glad to hear that I am not the only one that can spot these errors. You are not picky, just mentally sharp.
LikeLike
December 4, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Rants rule! I get upset about pronunciation.
A ‘turbine’ is a type of engine, a ‘turban’ is something you wear on your head.
Steel and grain are ‘milled’, cheese or weather comes in ‘mild’.
The pronunciation of these words is not interchangeable.
I make many more spelling mistakes (or grammatical errors) when sending texts/social networking/instant messaging. I try to type as fast as I would talk, making for alot of errors. I like to think it’s not something I would do if I were writing something more formal.
LikeLike
December 4, 2010 at 3:36 pm
LOL from YOUR BIGGEST FAN! 😀
LikeLike
December 4, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Surprised “irregardless” wasn’t on that list, or the people too lazy to proof read their work and let “form” slip by in place of “from” (happens to me all the time, but I catch 90% of them at least!)
“Irregardless” is one of my tops though. The corporate lingo out there drives my up a wall at times!!
LikeLike
December 4, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Erroneously, this article makes me want two LOL. Thanx 4 writing you’re funny and informative article’s.
LikeLike
December 5, 2010 at 12:55 am
Allison, If your response wasn’t so damned funny, I’d go hurt something. And I know it was deliberate on your part. But I have actually received emails that read that way. I have to “clean them up” before posting them here because it makes me crazy. And I do slip up on occasion here at PN. So I periodically go through posts to spot check and make sure I didn’t miss anything. I police my own crap. But I assure you they are typos as opposed to grammatical errors. Your response was charming and breathtakingly brutal!
LikeLike
December 14, 2010 at 2:05 am
Oh, I can forgive people for spelling errors most of the time….cough….but what I find totally unforgivable is deliberate misspelling. It drives me up the wall, over the wall, and down the other side.
It often takes an enormous amount of time and energy to try and decipher their deliberate stupidity, and I for one simply skip those posts and blogs these days.
Oh, and on a side note…..I apologise in advance for my use of “my mummy” on my facebook wall. I don’t know what else to call her, that person who does all my typing.
Now, don’t get me started on lose and loose, and the constant lack of d in “it’s suppose to” …..
LikeLike
December 14, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Midori!
I forgot lose and loose! That one makes me nuts too!
LikeLike
July 16, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Our city hall used to have an outside door labeled “Art’s Council”. I asked my husband “Who’s Art who gets his own council?” I didn’t have the guts to say anything by my husband made a joke the next time he saw the Mayor. Now the door is labeled “Beautification Committee”.
LikeLike
July 20, 2011 at 9:59 am
IRREGARDLESS … really??? Love how the Urban Dictionary defines it: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=irregardless
LikeLike