Mispronunciation/ Poor grammar that annoys you?

The King of Moo

therealme wrote: »

Me and (name).

It's (name) and I.

It depends on the context.

If you're referring to yourself as the subject of the sentence, you use "I."

"John and I are going to the party."

If you're referring to yourself as an object of the verb, you use "me."

"Steve invited me and John to the party."

If in doubt as to which one to use, think of whether you would use "me" or "I" if you were referring to yourself alone.

Frank Lee Midere

What about the misuse of which and that, huh?

I was thinking about I was sat. I feel it's mostly misused but has one use as a passive tense where the speaker is forced by circumstance, rather than somebody else, to sit somewhere.

That is:

I was sitting under the shelter because of the rain

Semantically equivalent to

It's was raining and I was sat under the shelter.

Anyways grammar is descriptive. That doesn't mean that individuals can make their own grammar rules but that society can and does, over time.

LynnGrace

This doesn't annoy me but I notice it, phased instead of fazed, and weary instead of wary.

Frank Lee Midere

The King of Moo wrote: »

It depends on the context.

If you're referring to yourself as the subject of the sentence, you use "I."

"John and I are going to the party."

If you're referring to yourself as an object of the verb, you use "me."

"Steve invited me and John to the party."

If in doubt as to which one to use, think of whether you would use "me" or "I" if you were referring to yourself alone.

That trick is very useful. It's funny how nobody would say "me is going to" but would say "John and me are going to". How come one sounds so bad but the other not? Anyway it's a good way to teach what's correct and not.

Mr Pseudonym

I hate (:p) when people say, "...or, should I say..?" I often hear radio presenters using the phrase, e.g, "I'm here with Brian O'Driscoll, who plays football - or, should I say, rugby?" And, I'm thinking, "Yes...yes you should!" The context in which it would be appropriate would be something like, "Snoop Dog is in da house - or, should I say, Snoop Lion?" That is, where the first wasn't an error, but the second may be more correct. You might use it when pronouncing a foreign name: "My French friend, "FILL-ip" - or, should I say, "feel-EEP?"

Pinch Flat

I've worked in a few places over the years and each one usually has it's corporate phrase that everyone seems to latch onto and it becomes the lingua Franca.

Where I work now, the word "moot" (or sometime "moot point") is completely over and misused, as well as being spelt incorrectly ("Mute"). It's a word used by one director and now used by each if the directors and some of the staff.

So to me a correct use would be "it was a moot point whether the wall should be black or blue". Where 'mute' is used instead, we have phrases like "John muted whether he should go on Friday or Saturday" appearing regularly. It finds it's way onto letters and emails spelt in the 'mute' form. I've gotten on the bandwagon spelling it moot and people have pointed out I'm wrong. It's funny. Causes much hilarity with UK & US clients.

coffee_cake

Candie wrote: »

Advice and advise used improperly, apostrophe abuse, alot and cue/que for queue, and one I saw today - human beans!

And when they have a smoke they're baked beans :D

Wise Old Elf

The King of Moo wrote: »

It depends on the context.

If you're referring to yourself as the subject of the sentence, you use "I."

"John and I are going to the party."

If you're referring to yourself as an object of the verb, you use "me."

"Steve invited me and John to the party."

If in doubt as to which one to use, think of whether you would use "me" or "I" if you were referring to yourself alone.

The other side of this, I used to get e-mails asking "Can you do this for "boss's name" and I?"
It's ME dammit. ME!

dxhound2005

Pinch Flat wrote: »

I've worked in a few places over the years and each one usually has it's corporate phrase that everyone seems to latch onto and it becomes the lingua Franca.

Where I work now, the word "moot" (or sometime "moot point") is completely over and misused, as well as being spelt incorrectly ("Mute"). It's a word used by one director and now used by each if the directors and some of the staff.

So to me a correct use would be "it was a moot point whether the wall should be black or blue", where 'mute' is used instead, as we as phrases like "John muted whether he should go on Friday or Saturday". It finds it's way onto letters, and email as well spelt in the 'mute' form. I've gotten on the bandwagon spelling it moot and people have pointed out I'm wrong. It's funny. Causes much hilarity with UK & US clients.

If mute continues to be used widely instead of moot it might replace it eventually as the accepted standard form. That is how the language changes. I understood moot to broadly mean debatable but apparently it can also mean not valid as an argument, not worthy of debate. I wasn't aware of that until I looked it up.

Usage Note: The adjective moot is originally a legal term going back to the mid-16th century. It derives from the noun moot, in its sense of a hypothetical case argued as an exercise by law students. Consequently, a moot question is one that is arguable or open to debate. But in the mid-19th century people also began to look at the hypothetical side of moot as its essential meaning, and they started to use the word to mean "of no significance or relevance." Thus, a moot point, however debatable, is one that has no practical value. A number of critics have objected to this use, but 59 percent of the Usage Panel accepts it in the sentence The nominee himself chastised the White House for failing to do more to support him, but his concerns became moot when a number of Republicans announced that they, too, would oppose the nomination. When using moot one should be sure that the context makes clear which sense is meant.

I note your odd use of lingua Franca, should be lingua franca or Lingua Franca?

Pinch Flat

dxhound2005 wrote: »

If mute continues to be used widely instead of moot it might replace it eventually as the accepted standard form. That is how the language changes. I understood moot to broadly mean debatable but apparently it can also mean not valid as an argument, not worthy of debate. I wasn't aware of that until I looked it up.

Moot to my knowledge is a legal term - for you have mootings around legals arguments, and in law schools a moot court is used to simulate real court settings for students.

dxhound2005 wrote: »

I note your odd use of lingua Franca, should be lingua franca or Lingua Franca?

Why odd? I was using it in the context of a medium of communication between peoples of different languages. So words brought into common use to explain more every day things, especially in the corporate world where these buzz words flourish. Somebody has even written a book about it that looks amusing. http://www.amazon.com/The-Lingua-Franca-Corporate-Banker/dp/1907720588

Technically I suppose it's a proper known , so both words should be capitalised as Lingua Franca. Then again, I have a D in honours English and far from a language expert.:pac:

dxhound2005

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Moot to my knowledge is a legal term - for you have mootings around legals arguments, and in law schools a moot court is used to simulate real court settings for students.


Why odd? I was using it in the context of a medium of communication between peoples of different languages. So words brought into common use to explain more every day things, especially in the corporate world where these buzz words flourish. Somebody has even written a book about it that looks amusing. http://www.amazon.com/The-Lingua-Franca-Corporate-Banker/dp/1907720588

Technically I suppose it's a proper known , so both words should be capitalised as Lingua Franca. Then again, I have a D in honours English and far from a language expert.:pac:

I left school at 14. I note your very odd usage of the word known.

Pinch Flat

dxhound2005 wrote: »

I left school at 14. I note your very odd usage of the word known.

Very odd indeed - I blame the spell checker and hold my hands up. Also very odd that you can't read the forum charter. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055747615. These skills are normally mastered by 14.

So it's a moot point whether you're being a plain 'dick' or a 'grammar nazi'.

abbir

Disco Stuart wrote: »

The other side of this, I used to get e-mails asking "Can you do this for "boss's name" and I?"
It's ME dammit. ME!

A friend of mine would often "correct" me when I said "you and me" or something similar when I had said it correctly. Would never believe me when I said that I was right. She also writes "should of" all the time. She has an honours degree in English.

dxhound2005

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Very odd indeed - I blame the spell checker and hold my hands up. Also very odd that you can't read the forum charter. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055747615. These skills are normally mastered by 14.

So it's a moot point whether you're being a plain 'dick' or a 'grammar nazi'.

Neither, since this is a thread about the usage of words. You pointed out poor practice in your own post.

Pinch Flat

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Neither, since this is a thread about the usage of words. You pointed out poor practice in your own post.

Ah relax will ya, slip of the spell checker. Now, back on yer Nazi high horse.....:pac:

nc19

Whatsisname wrote: »

Theres a special place in hell for people who type "though" as "do". If you're gonna shorten "though", use "tho", how does "do" even come into contention??

I would imagine that their socioeconomic background has a large part to play.

fussyonion

I remember in school, the teacher was checking over essays the class had written.
She took everyone's copybooks and handed them back at the end of the day.

I noticed she'd circled the word "gorgeous" (I'd written) marked an X on it and wrote in red pen instead "YOU SPELT IT WRONG. IT'S GEORGEOUS"
:rolleyes:

Pinch Flat

nc19 wrote: »

I would imagine that their socioeconomic background has a large part to play.

I'm not sure about that. I had a graduate working for me a few years back - educated in one of dublins exclusive fee paying schools. He kept writing 'yous' into emails, it was news to him that this was not a real word.

Philo Beddoe

Pinch Flat wrote: »

I'm not sure about that. I had a graduate working for me a few years back - educated in one of dublins exclusive fee paying schools. He kept writing 'yous' into emails, it was news to him that this was not a real word.

I remember explaining to my mother, a Dub, that Chinese was not the plural of 'chinee'.

RainMaker

Always find it strange to hear the way American say things like "The ocean" - no change in the pronunciation of "the" in front of words beginning with vowels

Fizzlesque

I often wonder why so many people (myself included) weren't effectively taught the correct use of it's versus its, even though we all managed to correctly learn when to use, and when not to use, apostrophes in most other circumstances.

Years ago my boss, who detested badly written English, pulled me up on adding an apostrophe when applying ownership to the word 'it'

"The swan broke its neck."
"Its neck was broken"

Otherwise it becomes 'it is'.

Ever since my boss pointed out this error, I can't help but notice it being used by lots of people who would otherwise use apostrophes correctly.

One person I know always insists on adding the apostrophe at the end of the 's' and that irritates me even more.

Actually while I'm on the subject of adding the apostrophe to the end of the word - I often see: peoples', which is ridiculous as people is already a plural, so no need to place the apostrophe at the end of the word.

Usually in those cases I want to correct the writer because it suggests to me they do care about using apostrophes correctly, but correcting people is often frowned upon, so I just grumble to myself and shout at the computer screen instead.

secondrowgal

crutch vs. crotch

Drives me nuts

WilyCoyote

Instead of costly Breathalyser kits ........... pronouncing this should be the test. And it would be suitable for asthma sufferers - unless they inhaled it

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane&submit=Submit

WilyCoyote

Fizzlesque wrote: »

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Actually while I'm on the subject of adding the apostrophe to the end of the word - I often see: peoples', which is ridiculous as people is already a plural, so no need to place the apostrophe at the end of the word.
...................................................................................................................................................

AFAIK when the plural is used the apostrophe came after the "s".

There seems to be a different set of rules for the Its versus It's.

Can anyone clarify this?

Regardless, in this day and age, making yourself understood is the main thing and lots of grammar rules were brought into the mix by literary elitists a few hundred years ago.

coffee_cake

WilyCoyote wrote: »

lots of grammar rules were brought into the mix by literary elitists a few hundred years ago.

Maybe they just wanted some consistency, it's not uncommon

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtschreibreform

As for rules, "its" is possessive, "it's" is "it is" or "it has"

Tokyo

WilyCoyote wrote: »

AFAIK when the plural is used the apostrophe came after the "s".

Found a nice example online that explains it according to the rules I went by when I was in school:

If you are speaking about a group of people, large or small, you put the apostrophe after "people." You put the apostrophe after the possessor, which in this case is "people."

So the sentence is:

I correct other people's grammar mistakes.

However, if you are talking about a nationality of people or of a race of people, "people" here can have a plural possessor: peoples.

You might say.

Of all the native peoples in the new world, the Mayans are believed by many to have had the most advanced culture.

Who were the gods of these peoples? Who were the gods of the other native peoples? Were these peoples' gods one and the same, or did they vary from tribe to tribe?

There seems to be a different set of rules for the Its versus It's.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that, but, when you mean it is or it has, use an apostrophe.
It’s a nice day.
It’s your right to refuse the invitation.
It’s been great getting to know you.


When you are using its as a possessive, don’t use the apostrophe.
The cat hurt its paw.
The furniture store celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Pinch Flat

bluewolf wrote: »

Maybe they just wanted some consistency, it's not uncommon

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtschreibreform

As for rules, "its" is possessive, "it's" is "it is" or "it has"

Same in French - "Le Conseil supérieur de la langue française"

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/dglf/politique-langue/cslf-accueil.html

WilyCoyote

You know, that is what I had learned as well. But the years and 40mls of Lipitor daily have taken their toll.

Badly Drunk Boy

greenflash wrote: »

That and the 99.9% of people in Ireland who say "Can I get..." Instead of "Can I have..," when ordering something (usually a roll or sandwich) in a shop. No you cannot 'get' it because you don't work in the shop. The staff will get it for you, bell ends.

Irish comedian (or should that be 'comedienne'? ) Aisling Bea was recently on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and as she was selecting her letters, she repeatedly asked "Can I get a vowel?" and "Can I get a consonant?".

Sean Lock wasn't happy. "YOU SHOULD BE ASKING IF YOU CAN HAVE A VOWEL!! IF YOU WANT TO GET A VOWEL, GET OUT OF YOUR CHAIR, GO OVER TO RACHEL AND GET ONE!!".

jme2010

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