Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Grammar Rant:
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
June 10, 2013 at 8:53 pm #791569
JanSParticipantSmitty, I have wondered that about me at times, too…lol
June 10, 2013 at 8:56 pm #791570
JustSarahParticipanttrickycoolj: Yep, the incorrect pluralizing drives me nuts. If pluralizing a multi-word term with modifier(s), the subject noun should be pluralized, not the modifying word(s). Cases in point (or, as these people would say, “case in points”): If one has more than one bill of lading, one has bills of lading (not bill of ladings), more than one sister-in-law is sisters-in-law (not sister-in-laws), more than one mother-to-be is mothers-to-be, and so on.
June 10, 2013 at 9:09 pm #791571
justadumbguyParticipantThe two that drive me batty that I see often these days are:
‘for all intensive purposes’ instead of ‘for all intents and purposes’
and
‘bare with me’ for ‘bear with me.’
It seems, by the way, that the term eggcorn has been coined to describe phrases like the two above which is apparently similar to, but different from a mondegreen (which refers to a line misheard in a song or poem). I’d never heard of either of those words before reading this thread, proof once again that WSB is always educational to read …. and a great way to continue delaying do this big ugly task I keep avoiding ;-)
Please, feel free to pick at all the grammar errors in my post. :-)
June 10, 2013 at 9:40 pm #791572
RainierMemberAll great examples. Thanks for the laugh. Anonyme, loved Eats, Shoots, and Leaves!
June 10, 2013 at 9:57 pm #791573
WSBKeymasterAt least once a week, we receive a lost/found pet post describing the poor wayward critter as “skiddish.” (actually “skittish”) And sometimes the lost/found pet is described as a “German Shepard” (actually “Shepherd”) … However, I don’t write the senders back and correct them, I just make the change while posting; it’s the last thing they need when dealing with a lost or found critter.
But thank you to those who catch my occasional wayward words in news stories, such as Jan, who pointed out this morning that I’d written “Wednesday” in a spot where I meant “weekday.”
Even those of us who have worked as professional proofreaders/editors make mistakes, and the wisest of us will readily ‘fess up to that.
-Tracy
June 10, 2013 at 10:11 pm #791574
JKBParticipantLike, there was this sight on the Innerwebs? And they sited an opfamologicker? an eye doctor any way, for something he said about cite.
June 10, 2013 at 10:13 pm #791575
HMC RichParticipantSometimes I see this term about subscriptions which drives me nuts, usually regarding sports packages on television.
NOT AVAILABLE IN ALL AREAS. Really? If it is not available, why promote it? I prefer TERRITORIAL RESTRICTIONS APPLY.
My wife loves Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. I guess I had better read it.
June 10, 2013 at 10:56 pm #791576
jissyParticipantToo funny, I remember another thread about grammar rants, glad there’s another!
Mine you ask? When someone says All-timer’s instead of Alzheimer’s. And my mother who says, “Tommy HilfiNGER” instead of Tommy Hilfiger.
June 10, 2013 at 11:32 pm #791577
leamkParticipant“Expresso”
June 11, 2013 at 12:01 am #791578
shed22ParticipantAksed.
June 11, 2013 at 12:19 am #791579
RarelyEverParticipantProper grammar is the difference between knowing your shit, and knowing you’re shit. :D
June 11, 2013 at 12:31 am #791580
trickycooljParticipantChipottle instead of Chipotle, cracks me up every time!
How do you correct close or long time friends when they mispronounce something like that?
Have a friend that insists that melee is mee-lee. It was in a video game title, and he just didn’t believe it was “may-lay.”
June 11, 2013 at 1:13 am #791581
JoBParticipantJune 11, 2013 at 2:33 am #791582
HunterGParticipantLeamk, I hate that one too! It kills me when I hear expresso, drives me crazy.
On another note, I don’t take it upon myself to correct anyone who says it. Grammar police drive me crazy. There are more important things to focus on people!
June 11, 2013 at 3:01 am #791583
angelescrestParticipantToomuchwhine–
I’ll explain the “For Sell”. (You’ll get it as you’re in Italy). It’s a Spanish-thing. “Sell” pronounced in Spanish is “sale/sail”, where “sale” pronounced in Spanish is “sah-lay”, which actually means he/she/it is leaving. Read by a Spanish speaker, “For Sell” sounds like “For Sale”. Italian, too, no?
June 11, 2013 at 4:57 am #791584
TreyseaLinMemberAll of the sudden
June 14, 2013 at 1:24 pm #791585
anonymeParticipantHeard this on KIRO news last night:
“We are efforting to get more details”.
“EFFORTING” ???
“Dialogueing” is the other one that gets me. Apparently, any noun can become a verb these days. Or maybe I’m just olding, or Spanishing.
June 14, 2013 at 2:24 pm #791586
JanSParticipantJune 14, 2013 at 3:16 pm #791587
2 Much WhineParticipantSpanish and Italian are close but no cigar. Sale in Italian means salt and vendita means sale. When my mother-in-law emigrated from Italy to the states in the 50’s she was amazed at how many stores had huge signs advertising that they had salt (sale) for sale.
I did hear a cool new word the other day from an American that’s been in Italy too long. . . . he said a test that his wife took was going to abilitate her to complete her degree (meaning “to make able”). I think I found a new word that I like.
June 14, 2013 at 3:33 pm #791588
miwsParticipantJune 14, 2013 at 5:48 pm #791589
JKBParticipantThis is a grate topic! I’m glad we could all conversate about it.
June 14, 2013 at 6:45 pm #791590
miwsParticipantAwright, let’s put the breaks on the punmobile before this goes any further! (or is it farther?)
;-)
Mike
June 14, 2013 at 7:15 pm #791591
TeslaMemberI am often embarrassed or sad for the numerous people who never learned basic pronoun usage and while they could be accomplished or talented in many areas, they mark themselves as super ignorant by saying things such as…”Her and I went to the store yesterday.”
As to the most common confusion of the proper word usage I hear so often deals with the confusion between the proper usage of either “obtuse” or “abstruse”. So many self important writers and orators get this wrong it signals intelligence deficits as readily as the pronoun gaffes. I’ve heard professors say “My quantum mechanics and string theory class is often too ‘obtuse’ for students to comprehend.” Nooooooo, “obtuse” means dull, imperceptive, or slow to understand (as well as an angle greater than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees). The word obtuse is usually applied to a person or people and their behavior. The proper word to use when referring to written text or arguments/teaching/discussions which are deep, complex, highly abstract, and hard to understand is “abstruse”. The proper use of “Obtuse” would be…”Only an obtuse blogger repeatedly confuses propaganda with reality.”
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.