Okay, time for a little levity. No sticky situations, anxious anecdotes or dicey dilemmas from the commercial writing world. Just some good old-fashioned griping – about grammar. Got the idea for this post a few weeks back when I managed to run afoul of a friend’s pet peeve by writing, “I’ll try and do _____.” Ouch.
Well. He wrote back, deservedly taking me to task, explaining in exquisite detail:
“I must say — with all due respect — I HATE when writers and others say ‘try and’ (as you’ve done here) rather than the more accurate and appropriate, ‘try to.’ ‘Try and’ suggests TWO different acts: trying something, and then something else (e.g., ‘Try and be a better person.’ So you’re saying, ‘try’ (whatever) AND ‘be a better person,’ too. Whereas ‘try to be a better person’ says precisely what you’re meaning: try to be better.”
Just getting warmed up, he continued, “Almost as bad as when 99.9% of people say ‘could’ care less, when they really mean, and should be saying ‘couldn’t’ care less.”
Voila! Blog fodder. My pet peeves? Beyond the ubiquitous “you’re/your,” “it’s/its” and “compliment/complement”? Well, I’ll let you guys tell yours, and perhaps delve a little deeper while we’re at, and maybe we’ll teach each other something new in the process.
I’ll leave you with this…
Knock-knock.
Who’s there?
To.
To who?
To whom.
What’s one of your grammatical pet peeves (one at a time, please, so we can encourage more contributions from more of you…)?
If you’re an English purist, what are your “grammatical grudges”: those things that have been accepted into the vernacular, but IYHO, should never have been?
What are some obscure/esoteric points of grammar that so many people get consistently wrong, but you know better? 😉
Any fascinating grammatical/linguistic trivia you care to share (word origins, evolution of expressions, etc.)?
My biggest “grammatical grudge” is when people say “nother.” Most times they can just say “other” but for some reason they throw the damn “n” in front of it. Now “nother” is actually in the dictionary! What ever happened to ANother or just plain other? Is that really so hard?
I value precision, particularly in language. I hate lazy word-slinging that distorts literal meanings.
That’s why misuse of “range” (the mathematical term, not ranchland) hurts my eyes and ears. It happens regularly, particularly in print and broadcast news reports such as these: “Complaints range from high taxes to last trash pickups” . . . or “Healthful foods range from vegetables to tofu.”
No they don’t, literally. “Range” doesn’t mean “include,” a perfectly fine word that takes just two more keystrokes. Deployed correctly, range applies to anything with a clear, finite beginning and end:
The alphabet ranges from A to Z. Numbers range from 1 to 10. Presidents range from Washington to Obama. Peter’s readers range from Connecticut to California.
But colors on this site don’t range from tan to blue to green.
Too picky?
And oh yes, at risk of being Bower-slapped as disobedient, deliberate use of “healthful” up there is a couldn’t-resist allusion to another pet peeve: Misusing “healthy” in reference to food or activities, as though they — and rather than those benefiting from them — will live longer and more healthfully.
Done now. Your turn.
You’ve covered my biggest pet peeves when it comes to written mistakes. But I always get twitchy when someone mispronounces a common word, too. For instance: I have a friend who always says “supposebly” instead of “supposedly”. Drives me crazy.
Another one is a regional phrasing I noticed while living in the South: “in the floor” — as in, “Your shoes are lying in the floor.” We Midwesterners understand that nothing can be “in” the floor, unless it’s had a bad transporter malfunction, ala Star Trek, and is instead lying “on” the floor.
I’ll stop now. 😉
My biggest pet peeves (besides your and you’re) are with punctuation. And I must cite two briefly:
When people end a question with a period. As in, “I’m asking you to do something, but no, it’s not optional, I’m really telling you.” “Will you please edit this document. Thanks.”
And my biggest writing pet peeve of all… is the overuse… of ellipses…. AAAAHH!!!I detest it…
I get frustrated with myself when a writer accidentally omits a word. My brain locks in on the omission and I have to read the sentence over again, sometimes repetitively. I suppose it is some form of OCD. In your case, it was “…while we’re at (it), and maybe…” where the word “it” was omitted.
Where you at? Texas, of course. Here everyone is fixin’ to do something. I’ve been here 30 plus years and I have just about given up. Even my grown children ask, “Where you at, Mom?” They know better but love to yank my chain.
I am definitely a grammar cop. I blow the whistle on my dad all the time. He frequently says “we was,” “you was,” and “they was.” And he gives lectures!
“It’s/Its” has become my biggest pet peeve because I see it written incorrectly so often, even in “professional” works. I recently caught the error in a help topic on my computer! IT’S not hard to remember. If you’re replacing “it is,” use the apostrophe. Why is there so much confusion?
An error I’ve accepted is the use of non-possessive pronouns before gerunds, like in the sentence, “We appreciate you attending our daughter’s wedding.” I want to say “your” instead of “you,” but I stop myself. I know it sounds stuffy.
“Irregardless” drives me crazy. Also, the widespread use of the apostrophe for no clear reason! Not possession, not contraction, but just randomly thrown in, as in “The chair’s were set around the table.” Argggggh!
I think it’s important be a grammar cop these days. People love to blame their keyboard for their mistakes – what’s wrong with going back and correcting mistakes?
pet peeve; so many writers use “loose” to mean “lose”. I see it everywhere! ” Don’t loose your head about it!”.
And, for some strange reason there are many people out there who spell “having” as ” haveing” !
Since you asked … 🙂
Using over /under instead of more than / less than is my grammatical pet peeve. Over and under are physical locations; more than / less than numerical quantifiers. A company has not been in business for “over 10 years.” Its been in business for “more than 10 years.” The misuse is so rampant it is almost accepted as appropriate. But I am compelled to silently correct the misapplied “overs” to “more thans.” (It’s the little things …)
I won’t bore you with my long list.
Instead, I’m posting to buck the trend: everyone else so far has a first name that begins with A.
🙂
I wince when someone (myself included) says, “Can I borrow that?” when they/I mean “May I borrow that?”
The word gotten, as the past tense of got, still sounds wrong to me. Even after almost forty years in this country. It’s considered archaic usage in Britain.
However, as dear old Mum used to say, “English is a living language, and life isn’t always pretty.”
Pet Peeve? The overuse of the word “that”. Most sentences are fine without “that”, they do not lose their meaning and the message is clearer. It’s the equivalent of the young person’s “like” or “you know” or, the worst offender, “you know what I’m sayin’?”. I don’t like and many times I don’t know. Use “that” when you need it, otherwise restructure the sentence or hit the delete key. ’nuff said.
William Safire, wordsmith and columnist for the New York Times, once wrote that he wanted to get a dog and name it “Peeve.” Then he could introduce it, saying, “This is my pet, Peeve.”
Mine are misuse of apostrophes (its/it’s, desk’s, desks’), twisting nouns into verbs (medal, impact, duet), and tossing in the word “of” where it does not belong (it’s not that big of a hill). Arggghh!!!!
What a great opportunity for us grammar snobs to sound off! My extraneous apostrophe pet peeve was already listed. One time, I walked by a dry erase board advertising the “special’s” of the day and couldn’t help but rub off the apostrophe!
I have two more:
Than/then. So many people misuse it, even in professional circles.
And the worst, using “of” instead of “have” as in “I could of gone to the game.”
What’s with adults using 2nd grade grammar?!
Don’t throw tomatoes at me purists. I’m actually enjoying the loosening up of formality in writing. I’ve been teaching freshman comp for the past year and it’s been really interesting to compare my generation (I’m 40-something) with the younger generation. I also work in social media. With electronic media, we live in soundbites. Twitter has forced us to get really creative with the 140 character limit and I love it! It’s true economy in words.
I’m still in shock that they are teaching my 3rd grader to write in cursive. That’s a bit like handing him a movie to watch on a VCR or a telephone with a cord – never coming back!
One of the mistakes my students make often is the incorrect use of affect and effect. But I get it, I have to stop myself and figure out which is the noun and which is the verb sometimes.
Since about four out of five respondents so far have cheated on the “one only” request, I will too–but I’ll leave out ones already mentioned, and will set myself an 80-word limit.
-Dangling modifiers: “Wondering what to do, the clock struck twelve.”
-“They” for “he or she.” (There’s nothing sexist about using either “he” or “she” generically where both are given fair turns.)
-“That” instead of “who” when referring to a human being, as though people were objects.
Where do I begin? How about with the misuse of the reflexive pronoun “myself.” I noted getting two separate emails this week from online marketers containing such an error. One began with “Myself and Bob will be putting on a webinar this week.” The other stated “That is one thing that myself and the other members of my team do very well.”
I find myself wanting to tear my hair out when I read such things. I, myself, never make such mistakes.
Has no one mentioned the split infinitive? Ever since Star Trek’s “to boldly go” (which always sets my teeth on edge), it has been used commonly and without qualm.
Ah, what fun…;) I KNEW this would be a well-visited post… Speaking of which, did I write that correctly? Is in “well-visited” vs. “well visited”? I know with all these grammar gurus in attendance, I’m sure someone can be the correct and final arbiter…
But, you guys have covered SO many of the egregiously common and commonly egregious offenders! I need to rack my brain a little to see if I can come up with any you haven’t noted, but I’m sure we have a ways to go…
My faves from above? The overuse of “that” (not technically or grammatically incorrect, but so unnecessary in so many cases, and by dropping it in much of your writing, you really make it more readable and more conversational. It’s something (that) I relatively recently had brought to my attention.
Also, using you vs. your (i.e., “I appreciate you reminding me of my appointment (wrong)” vs. “your reminding me…” So common it’s been accepted into the vernacular.
Ah, just thought of another one: using “more” instead of “fewer” when referring to thing that can be counted. Fewer people, not more people.
Okay, gotta run. In Maine with 7 friends, and lobster just came out of the pot… I know, not fair to rub it in… 😉 Be back later…
PB
After reading about all these pet peeves, I could care less. Except that it really should be “I *couldn’t* care less,” but people misuse that expression all the time. That’s my grammatical pet peeve.
Fun topic, Peter.
@Peter: Did you really mean “more” vs. “fewer”? Or did you mean “less” vs. “fewer”?
Since moving to the Midwest 28 years ago, I’ve repeatedly encountered a peculiarity in the vernacular wherein the infinitive “to be” is omitted from phrases of necessity. Laments such as “The floor needs mopped,” “The dog needs groomed,” or “The oil needs changed” are commonplace. I don’t get it. I grew up in the deep South, where we know how to speak correctly: “The oil needs to be changed ’cause I’m fixin’ to carry my husband to the airport.”
There are a lot that bother me, but the worst is “most unique”. I hear it all the time!
Someone mentioned about having a question without a question mark. Much more common I find is adding question marks to statements. Like this?Aaagghh!
Thanks Julie,
Yeah, what she said…;)
I was obviously moving too fast when I wrote it, something one doesn’t want to do in the midst of a forum on bad grammar… Unless the goal is to keep providing comment fodder… 😉
So, yes, “less” vs. “fewer,” for, as one grammar site defined it, “mass nouns” (less, as in less tape, work, sunshine, mess) vs. “count nouns” (fewer, as in jobs, pencils, friends).
And while we’re at it, further (for metaphorical distance; “he went further in life than his brother”) vs. farther (for actual distance; “he threw the ball farther…” But this one isn’t AS well-known, so we’ll cut some slack…
PB
I work with a lot of international clients. English isn’t their first language. My biggest grammatical pet peeve is when they say “advice me” instead of “advise me.” It’s a very common mistake with that group. I’m hardly a grammatical purist, but that one makes me feel like my brain might explode.
A HUGE annoyance from my retailing days: using everyday as one word when it doesn’t modify anything, as in low prices everyday vs everyday low prices. See it constantly in ads. Actually had to argue the point with marketing execs with who insisted on leaving as is. Even the retailer’s ad agency of record, (one of the biggest global conglomerates,) kept using it in their work.
I’m not really a grammar cop, but some mistakes bug me. “Often times” for example. Why can’t we just say “often?” Recently I’ve seen this phrase in several places: “could of” instead of “could have” or even “could’ve.”
Then there is the whole question of punctuation going inside or outside the quotation marks. I know that rule varies by location, but if they comments on this post are any indication, the trend is heavily in favor of the punctuation going outside.
Phrases with inherent redundancy. A few heard on the news:
After the crash, rescuers found two live survivors. (All the other survivors were dead.)
After setting off the bomb in Oslo, the man traveled to an offshore island (as opposed to an island ON shore which, in Norway, is simply called “land”) and began shooting students there.
I love this post. Some of the above commentors snagged some of my favorite peeves, but there are always more.
The mixing up of “imply” and “infer” by writers and journalists who should know better. I suppose I get a little flip when someone says to me, “So, are you inferring that ________?”
I can’t help responding with, “Well, I’m not inferring, but I’m definitely implying.”
I usually get a glazed look in return.
Alot instead of a lot.
Literally and figuratively. Heard a news anchorwoman say, “I literally exploded with laughter.”
THAT would have been a pretty sight, no doubt.
It’s real good, or real healthy, or real smart. Since when did “really” take so much more effort to use? I guess it’s real hard to figure out.
I make allowances for someone’s socio-economic background. After all, the most important thing is what is being communicated rather than the finess with it’s done. However, I make no such allowances for writers and professionals who are supposedly educated, and whose stock in trade is their ability to communicate well.
I work in the film and TV industry, and it is amazing to see the blatant grammar, spelling and usage mistakes by people who purport to be scriveners.
I could go on, but I’m getting real tired.
Aha, caught myself. I meant, “finesse with which it’s done.”
Writin’s real hard.
“A terrible tragedy occurred today…” as opposed to, what, a delightful tragedy?
Misspelled words. Ugh. To me it equates sloppiness, which is probably far from the truth, but that’s my mind for ya.
My college editing professor absolutely drilled that punctuation always goes inside the quotes.
Always.
Always.
Always.
Always.
She edited Time Life books for 20yrs and made $100+/hr as a freelance editor. I wasn’t gonna argue with her. 🙂
The Gregg Reference Manual (every writer should have one of these – awesome reference and the definitive on grammar) states that punctuation inside quotes is the preferred American style, while punctuation outside quotes is the British style.
Punctuation Queen, I am not. So the above manual is priceless. And no, I didn’t use it for this message! 🙂
Coming a bit late to the party. 🙂 This topic is always a winner.
I second the loose versus lose as a biggie. Loose is what you’re trying to lose. 🙂
My Dad’s pet peeve was effect versus affect so I always seem to notice that one. But, I think one that has me grinding my teeth is early on. Even media people use it. Early on what??? How about just early or earlier?
Thanks for the fun post, Peter.
Julie,
You’ll have to be more specific than “The Midwest.” I lived 21 of the first 24 years of my life in Illinois, plus one in Iowa. Then five more in Wisconsin. I never heard anyone speak that way. So it must be a rural thing.
Julie,
Ahh, I see you’re in Indiana. That explains a lot. 😉
Michael and Julie,
I have lived in Northwest Illinois for most of my life and many people use “babies need changed” when speaking. I am probably guilty of it myself. I thank you for pointing it out so I can watch for it in my writing.
My biggest pet peeve is when my kids, and sometimes my wife, use the word “funner.” It has the same effect on me as the sound of the dentist’s drill. I don’t know why.
I was surprised that one of my most commonly-encountered errors has not been mentioned yet — using “insure” in place of “ensure.” I see it ALL THE TIME from business executives who promise their company will stop at nothing to “insure the satisfaction of every customer,” yada yada yada. I’ve even seen it on permanent signage (including a sign at a recently visited national landmark) that was probably proofed a hundred times. In modern usage, at least, “insure” refers to insurance coverage (to protect against financial liability). “Ensure” means to “make sure” something will or won’t happen.
While I do not agree that casual conversation must be as precise as formal writing, (it would be sad to lose all those regional dialects) I cannot stand when people say “pacifically” in place of “specifically,” pronounce the “t” in “often,” say “gesture” with a hard “g,” or put an “m” in the middle of “voluptuous.”
As for writing, an ellipsis with more than three dots is enough to make me lose my…
I agree with these comments 110%. Irregardless, I vow to try and make a 360° change in my bad grammar habits, and make sure myself and my friends do the same.
(And yes, I do know better.)
Thanks for the laugh.
My pet peeve is misuse of “farther” (referring to actual distance, as in “Main Street is farther away than you think”) and “further” (figurative distance, as in “nothing could be further from the truth.”) A fun book on this topic is “The Grouchy Grammarian – A How-Not-To Guide to the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better.” The author is Thomas Parrish. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
I hate when someone’s going to “pour over” something rather than “pore over” it, when people use British spellings because they think they look distinguished, and when someone refers to a blog post as a blog – like “read my last blog to learn about this.”
I noticed this thread topic has broadened to include grammar, usage, punctuation and spelling. I have pet peeves in all categories, but I’ll limit myself to three for now:
“Hopefully” describes a person’s mood. She bounded down the stairs hopefully, she looked up hopefully, she smiled hopefully. I keep hearing sentences like, “Hopefully, we’ll have it by Tuesday.”
My journalism pet peeve is the use of “wife” or “husband” when the spouse is deceased. “Husband of Challenger astronaut” and “wife of slain civil rights leader” imply that the couple are still married. One is the widower, or widow, of a dead person.
Finally, when a doctor retires, he is still a doctor. He is not a former doctor.
I’m not sure how common a blunder this is, but I used to hear the word “conversate” quite a bit. As in: “Could you please stop interrupting? We’re trying to conversate.”
Ugghhh! That’s not a word! It’s just not!
Not only do we “conversate” nowadays, but we also apparently “orientate” our new employees. Once they’ve been properly “orientated” they are free to shout across the counter “I can help who’s next” rather than “I can help whoever is next.” And so it goes.
It seems people are orientated toward subtracting, or adding, nother syllable. Those creatures, pardon me, critters you see in the headlights are raccoons and opossums, not coons and possums.
Off topic, my least favorite twenty-dollar verb is “differentiate”, used instead of “distinguish.” My least favorite adjective is “miscellaneous”, used in print by people who can’t spell it.
Thanks to all – great stuff! And Marty’s comment (so true, by the way…) about new employees at a fast-food counter reminded me of one of my HUGE pet peeves. Now this one moves the discussion in a slightly different direction, but hey, I think we’ve covered a lot of ground, so let’s evolve it a bit!
It’s when waiters (or anyone in a service profession) say “No problem” in response to a thank-you on your part. And not trying to point fingers, but overwhelmingly, it’s young people doing it. It’s always bugged me and I couldn’t put my finger on why until I came across this great article from small-biz guru Jim Blasingame that nails it.
Bottom line, it implies that giving good service, while “no problem” in this case, might be a problem another time. Like they’re indulging you this one time, but hey, my mood could change at any time, so don’t get used to it.
I frequent this one restaurant in my neighborhood, and one of the things I love about it (besides the great food), is the service. The server doesn’t just say “you’re welcome” when you offer thanks, but rather, the even sweeter, “It’s my pleasure” (pointed out in the article). It’s amazing how much more “taken care of ” you feel with just a small change of words.
Anyone else bugged by the “No problem” trend?
PB
Regarding the “less v. fewer” peeve, I saw the new Mercedes-Benz 2012 C-Class Coupe commercial last weekend and the voice-over went on to proclaim, “More power, more style, blah blah… less doors.” Given the commercial was comparing the new coupe to its sedan sibling in the C-Class lineup, I thought it should have been “fewer doors.” In the commercial, a four-door sedan is chained to some rocks, speeds off, and two of the doors are ripped off to reveal the new two-door coupe.
That’s easy. “These ones.” As in “These ones over here.”
For me, it is like someone poking me in the spine with a needle. Repeatedly.
I hear you, Heather… But, hey, count your blessings that you’re not in the South, where (yes, outside the major metros), instead of “these ones” or “those ones,” they’d just say, “theezins” and “thozins”… 😉
PB
oh..and hanged vs hung.
I absolutely cringed when the news lady said “Saddam Hussein was hung today.”
Honey. If he was hung today, he was probably hung yesterday too. But he died because he was hanged.
I taught “Effective Business Writing” on behalf of a training company. The instructional designer included a wonderful list of commonly misused words. Here are just a few of my favorite examples:
Capability vs. Capacity
Capability means having the talent or efficiency for.
Capacity means having the potential or being suitable for holding or storing
Wrong: He has the capacity for the job.
Right: The storeroom has the capacity to hold all our files.
Dilemma vs. Predicament
Dilemma indicates two specific and equally undesirable choices.
Predicament means a generally difficult situation.
Wrong: Her lack of finances is quite a dilemma.
Right: Her dilemma is having to choose between a man she doesn’t love and one she loves, but treats her like crap.
As for the “No problem” issue… Isn’t it the abbreviated version of “Never a problem”?
One of my pet peeves: the use of the object pronoun in place of the subject pronoun. “Him and Becky came over yesterday.” It’s heard frequently here in NJ, as it was in IN a couple years ago. Also overheard in IN: “All’s we need is a good rain.” All’s? Can anyone explain?
Mine has to do with the misuse of negation, like with ‘all don’t’ vs. ‘not all do’. Someone will say something like, ‘all college students don’t go to Harvard’.
They should have said, ‘not all college students go to Harvard’.
As far as word origins go, one of my favorites is the origin of the word ‘vaccinate’. One of the biggest breakthroughs in medicine came from the development of the smallpox (also known as the Variola virus) vaccine. This was a horrible disease that had a high mortality rate and if it didn’t kill you, it could cause blindness and terrible scarring, disfigurement and other complications.
In the 18th century a British physician, Dr. Edward Jenner found that many people who worked on farms did not get infected with smallpox. The reason? They had previously been infected with cowpox from working with cows.
Cowpox is scientifically known as the Vaccinia virus. It is in the poxvirus family like smallpox is, but is a much milder disease.
Doctors and scientists at the time had some notion of the concept of immunization since it was well known at the time that once you had smallpox and survived, you were immune to future outbreaks. The problem was that they were using smallpox (albeit in a controlled manner) to immunize people from smallpox. The process was known as variolation and lots of people died as a result. Jenner’s discovery provided a much safer alternative.
Jenner’s efforts eventually led to the eradication of smallpox in 1979. The Variola virus only exists in laboratories.
Thanks Christopher!
Love the vaccine story – I had heard that. And as a student of Spanish for many years, “vaca” is cow, so I’d made that connection myself – and then got more details over time.
One of my favorite word origins is international distress call used by aviators: “Mayday! Mayday!” Being a little bit of a French student as well, came across this one in my studies. It comes from the French, “M’aidez” which, of course, means “Help me” and is roughly pronounced, ” Mayday.” 😉
PB
The use of “arguably.” I hate it!
The voice on the TV commercial asks “Have you or a loved one become sick or died after taking Topamax (or the current medication that is fuel for the trial lawyers)? I think that they should realize that if I have died, I’m not likely to hear their commercial.
Most infuriating to me is when someone says, “As far as x …” and then leaves out the “is concerned” or even “goes” that one expects to come next. I feel like Roger Rabbit in the movie waiting for the “two bits!” response to the call of “shave and a haircut!”.
And what’s with “irregardless”?
Another thing I hate is when people start a sentence with “and”.
Thanks, Mark!
AND… 😉 Yes, I’m famous for starting sentences with “And.” And I think (geez, I can’t stop myself) there’s a good reason for it. I say it makes your writing more conversational, which make it more interesting. It’s how people talk and how they explain things, and how people think (i.e., in chunks, and as they come up with the next chunk, it’s logical to start their next sentence with “And.” As such, it’s human and it’s real. One can get out of hand with it and I do have to rein myself in from time to time, but frankly, I have no intention of stopping…;)
There’s one I love, and I just heard it several times recently, mostly from young people. You ask them something, and they’re not sure of the answer, and they say, “I think it’s _____, but I’m not 100%.” Not 100% what? Not 100% sure? Not 100% intelligent? Not 100% a sloppy speaker (just 99% a sloppy speaker…). It’s this shorthand, like they’re talking in text mode or something…
PB
Even those who hate the idea of starting a sentence with “and” seem to do it themselves; reread the next-to-last paragraph of Mark’s post.
Funny, Katherine! I didn’t even notice that, but see, Mark? It’s just what I was talking about. It’s how people “talk as they think.” Just a natural thing to do when one is writing conversationally…
PB
Sorry Guys, that was a little joke. I’m embarrassed about how weak it was now…
Oh, sure it was a joke…;) Seriously, I believe you, AND still think it makes for conversational writing…
PB
Off the subject, how many of you are old enough to have been vaccinated against smallpox?
You’re driving behind a delivery van and look at the sign on the back that asks, “How am I driving?”
How do I know how you’re driving? Maybe you have the wheel gripped between your teeth and are using your hands to work the accelerator and brake. Maybe you’re nearly blind and have your 5 year old son sitting on your lap telling you what’s ahead. Scary question. Best not to give it too much thought until you’re far away from that van.
My grammatical pet peeve is people who don’t appreciate the difference between grammar and usage claiming to be horrified, dismayed and disturbed by imagined violations that in fact do not break any actual rule and are perfectly good English.
I’ll cite just one source, today – Erik Wensberg’s revised edition of Wilson Follett’s “Modern American Usage” – because it is so readable, but there are plenty of other usage guides (Fowler, Garner, American Heritage to name a few) that agree with the following:
“A prejudice lingers from a bygone time that sentences should not begin with *and.* The supposed rule is without foundation in grammar, logic, or art.”
“The superstition that deplores the use of the *split infinitive* dates from the nineteenth century. But the practice — putting words, most often an adverb, between *to* and the verb — has gone on since the thirteenth. . . .Of the split construction, Bernard Shaw wrote: ‘Every good literary craftsman splits his infinitives when the sense demands it.’ ”
The sense of what Capt. Kirk had to say about the Starship Enterprise’s five-year mission demanded that he tell us it was “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” No other sequence of those words would achieve what Garner describes as the essential characteristic of good writing: a pleasant combination of sound and sense.
Damn the infinitives. Full split ahead.
Bravo, Ken! 😉
Starting sentences with ‘and’ I can live with. Yes, yes, I know they’re not strictly correct, but at least they usually refer back to the previous sentence or paragraph.
What seems to have taken hold now is starting opening sentences of conversations or blog posts with ‘so’. (“So I was reading the NY website the other day and I spotted an interesting article…” / “So what we did was to take two cells and combine them…”). It doesn’t link to anything that comes before, as nothing comes before. Very weird.
I don’t use it myself, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
It seems to be a recent thing, but it’s spreading like wildfire. Already it’s jumped the pond from US to the UK. I even heard some Libyan rebels using it on the BBC the other day.
Thanks Kevin!
AND (sorry, couldn’t resist…), I think starting a sentence with “So” is just another version of starting with “And…” 😉 Just like “and”, “so” is a conversation device, and, in the right hands, it can make your writing more conversational, because, in fact, it’s exactly how people talk.
It’s almost as if there’s some unspoken rule operating that says how we write and how we speak are two very different things and should never be linked. Or put another way, how we write has to be a totally different “mode.” And certainly, 1) how SOME people speak is no model to emulate when we write! And 2) some writing demands a more formal and buttoned-up tone, far less loose than it’s spoken counterpart.
But, when it doesn’t, and assuming normal and adequately articulate conversation, complete with all its informalities, I don’t see any reason why the written can’t mirror the spoken. Especially when it’s writing whose goal is to connect with people and get them to take action on something.
PB
As a teacher, one of my grammatical pet peeves is the incorrect use of “I vs me”. For example, “Carey and me have gone to the pumpkin patch twice this year.” To me, it is such an easy fix! Simply take away the accompanying noun, “Carey”, and ask yourself if “me have gone” sounds correct. Of course, it isn’t always this easy to identify which pronoun to use but I do think this strategy works more often than not.
The unintended consequence of correcting ‘Carey and me’ to ‘Carey and I’ is that some people assume it’s right in all situations. So you then hear ‘My brother took Carey and I to see the pumpkin patch twice this year’.
The same solution still works, though. Remove Carey and the problem is immediately apparent (‘My brother took I to see the…’).
Poor old Carey. He’s got a lot to answer for.
Here’s one:
“That’s besides the point.”
Arrrgh! No. I’ve actually seen this misuse in a national TV commercial. Even high-profile writers sometimes fail to get it right.
Correct use is of course “Beside the point.”
Just the other day, my grandma asked me, “Did you do good on your exam?” I replied, ” Yes, I did well on my exam.” It bothers me when people mix up the words “good” and “well.” Another pet peeve of mine is hearing people say “I seen _______.” It doesn’t make any sense!
Another one I hear, but do not see in print is something like this:
“If you could move that chair over there…”
Usually the person who says this wants you to move the chair, but I keep waiting for a phrase to complete the sentence like:
“then we can have more room for guests at the party” or
“that would be great” or
“then it will start to rain”
At least something to complete the thought and not leave me hanging.
I think the previous comments have summed up my “grammatical grudges” so to speak, but I do have to add one thing. I hate hate HATE when I hear frustrated pronounced FUStrated, It just sounds stupid and lazy to me, or as if the person is trying to sound cute. My ex-husband’s step mom always pronounced it that way, and I am almost certain that she did it to be cutsie. She sounded like an imbecile.
I also have a slight peeve when it comes to casually using emoticons at inappropriate times. I worked with one particular man who would routinely add smiley faces and other emoticons to official memos and communications. It just seems unprofessional. AND (ha ha) to even the score for the younger crowd, the worst offenders with the emoticons seem to be older folks. The co-worker I mentioned before was my BOSS at the time, and I often cringe when I see my mother do it. I won’t use them at all, they annoy me to no end!
I apologize if I made any of the offending mistakes here, I’m home in bed dealing with a bout of the flu and not exactly on my A-game.
Thanks Frances,
Good stuff! And isn’t that always the case? They always think they’re being funny or hip, when, in fact, they come off looking silly. Thanks for weighing in, and here’s to getting well soon…
PB
FUStrated isn’t a common affectation here on the Texas Gulf Coast. While I sympathize with Frances’s viewpoint, I have to say that with a lot of people (yours truly all too often included), frustration and FUSSING (in the sense of nonstop infantile griping) are Siamese twins!
“Comprised of.” The word “comprise” means “to encompass” or “to consist of”; it is not a synonym for “compose.”
RIGHT: The zoo’s collection comprises 414 specimens.
WRONG: The zoo’s collection is comprised of 414 specimens.
There could be another whole article written on words that are misused for more common words because of superficial resemblance. “Enormity” means “great evil,” not “enormous size”; “noisome” means “repulsive or dangerous,” not “noisy.” See also The Elements of Style, Chapter 5. (https://bartleby.com/141/strunk3.html)
Thanks Katherine!
Incorrect use of “comprised” is probably one of the most common grammatical transgressions, even among grammar-savvy folks. I know it was only a few years ago that I discovered I’d been doing it wrong for so long, but given that it’s done wrong far more than it’s done right, it’s become acceptable. And that’s no doubt hair-tearingly fustra..er…. frustrating to those in the know… 😉
And loved your reference to “enormity.” Another one I just discovered just a few years back (my Mom, a word aficionado, pointed that one out), and also used incorrectly probably 99% of the time…
PB
I also loved the enormity reference. Another one that has changed meaning (or perhaps more accurately, became “accepted” with a new meaning) is the word notoriety. It means being known for some unfavorable act or quality. It now has become synonymous with fame.
These days, “famous” and “unsavory” are pretty much unofficial synonyms themselves, right? I can’t remember the last time there was a major political election where half the voters didn’t feel they were choosing the lesser of two evils.
Before you award any word “now acceptable due to repeated use” status, though, consider that “language doesn’t turn on a dime. For sanity to prevail, there must be a period of time between shifts in rules of usage and punctuation and other elements of writing in which we respond to “Everybody else does it” the way a parent would react to that type of justification uttered by a willful teenager: ‘Well, if everybody else went and jumped off a cliff, would you?’” (From “The Right and Wrong of Writing,” https://dailywritingtips.com/the-right-and-wrong-of-writing/.) After all, at least as many people as not seem to think that “it’s” is a possessive.
Speaking of “universally accepted as the least of all available evils” labels, I’d put “they” as a singular neuter pronoun, and “aren’t I?,” in that category.
Hi all,
I’m new to posting on Peter’s blog. Hi!
A couple of my grammatical pet peeves are misplacing “only” in a sentence and incorrectly using apostrophes with acronyms to make them plural. Ugh!
My biggest grammatical pet peeve is definitely the use of “towards.” Officially, towards is UK and toward is US. You’ve got to remember which side of the pond you’re writing for!
Also major for me is whether punctuation is inside the quotes or out — again it’s a matter of US vs. UK. Occasionally I can understand the mix up if it’s for clarity’s sake (which it sometimes seems to be in scientific work, for example).
A third would be the misuse of which and that.
PS. Has anyone else here read Woe Is I? by Patricia T. O’Conner? It’s by far my favorite grammar book and the one I always recommend to new writers and my editing clients.
Thanks Melissa,
And I’ve learned a few more things! Didn’t realize towards/toward was a UK/US thing. Interesting – as is the quotes thing, though I think I might have heard about that one at one point.
Speaking of UK vs. US, did you guys know that “billion” means something different in UK vs. US? While a billion in the US is a 1000 millions, a billion in the UK is 100 millions. No kidding. Just Google “‘Billion’ in UK vs. US” and see what comes up.
And Melissa, I LOVE Woe Is I. It’s what Strunk and White’s Elements of Style wished it was…;) It should be on every writer’s bookshelf. You’ll learn your grammar and chuckle all the way through…
PB
I didn’t know about the billion thing—fascinating!
And I’m right with you on Woe Is I. After mentioning it here I googled her and found out she has a blog (score!) and several other books that have come out since (double score!) that I know have to buy….
now*
A billion is 100 million in the UK? Well that’s news to me, and to everybody else on this side of the pond 🙂
In fact, a billion here is exactly the same as a billion in the US. It *used* to mean a million million, but that changed about 30 years ago, when we fell in line with US usage.
Our pint is different to yours though. It’s bigger – but maybe we can chat about that over a drink sometime…
🙂
Never mind. Well, I feel a little silly… 😉 Right you are, Kevin (like you needed me to tell you that…). Found this further reference, which explains what you said. Hmm, you mean you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet?
PB (a.k.a Gullible Gus…)
An advertisement in this month’s issue of a national magazine touting the virtues of PEX plastic tubing states “Use PEX tubing over copper pipes.” My literal brain conjures up an image of a copper water pipe inside a plastic tube. I believe that the writer would have been better served by saying “Use PEX tubing instead of copper pipes.” Alternatively he/she could have said “Choose PEX tubing over copper pipe.
And so it goes.
I don’t claim to be expert in English grammar and I know submitting a comment here sets me up for a “gotcha” if I get these sentences wrong. Nonetheless, I’ll risk it to express my irritation with the current craze that uses “of” in lieu of “have” following a modal verb, e.g., could OF, would OF, might OF, etc. Such usage has become epidemic, apparently as a by-product of texting (which may be the biggest threat to good grammar and spelling.)
I agree that “of” instead of “have” is grating, both to sensitive ears and to logical minds. Your post reminded me of the peculiar habit of a friend who used “in lieu of” to mean “in light of”–he should of studied French.
I don’t know about “of” in place of “have” being on the increase. But I agree with G Young that it sure is one I don’t like to see in print.
I wonder if it comes from mistaken hearing. Maybe to some people the spoken — and correct — contractions would’ve, could’ve, should’ve are misinterpreted as “would of” . . . and so on.
Of course, that explanation only goes so far. You’d think people would have read these things correctly in a newspaper, book or magazine.
Another few from the same gentleman whose pet peeve I run afoul of initially (see beginning of post above) and who inspired the post in the first place…
Should sentences like “I wonder.” end with a question mark?
This may be related to a general grammar rule, but which of these is correct?
I wonder if Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote speech at WWDC this year?
or
I wonder if Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote speech at WWDC this year.
My hunch tells me the question mark is incorrect, but I find myself instinctively wanting to add it. Is there a rule about this type of situation?
Your hunch is correct. Bryan Garner writes: Writers sometimes err by putting a question mark after an indirect question, especially one beginning with I wonder.
And this one…
“every day” (two words) vs. the “everyday” occurrence of people confusing “every day” with “everyday.”
😉
I believe “I wonder” sentences are statements, not questions, thus ending with a period.
I wonder if “leave you be” is correct. I much prefer “leave you alone.” I think it’s a southern versus northern US thing.
A common misconception among so many people these days is the usage of “kind of”. People always say, “Oh, it’s kind of hot outside.” When they should have said, “Oh, it’s rather/somewhat hot outside.” I’m not sure where this idiom is derived, but if you pay close attention nearly everyone uses it!
The good/well tidbit mentioned also bothers me.
Blegh!
Does anyone else cringe when someone speaks of the wonderful MOMENTO they have from an event, vacation, etc.? There is no such word in the English language! Of course, one certainly may have a “MEMENTO” of a “MOMENTOUS” occasion. Don’t worry, I’ll get over it. Puede tardar un momento.
Here’s a few good ones:
When someone thinks they’re referring to the plural of a subject by using words like “lot” or “ton” followed by the thing to which they’re referring, the lot/ton becomes the subject noun and the plural of that thing becomes the object, so you end up with people saying “There are a lot of secrets around here” or “That pile of rotting corpses are freaking me out.” There’s only one pile, people.
The second thing I’m seeing EVERYWHERE lately is that darn unnecessary comma. People seem to place it wherever they arbitrarily seem to think it fits. They place it, in spots like these. It’s like they’re emulating, very subtle separations in speech. Maybe they have, OCD. The list, goes on… (https://iolani.honolulu.hi.us/Keables/KeablesGuide/PartFour/UnnecessaryCommas.htm)
Something else that gets on my nerves a lot is the word “alright”. It’s supposed to be “all right”, but I guess people confuse it with other words that use the prefix “al” such as “already”. While not technically a grammatical mistake, it’s the #1 most common spelling error in the English language (according to Bathroom Reader).
And finally, probably my biggest pet peeve of all time is when people use the verb “lay” intransitively. “I’m going to go lay down for a while.” It’s SO annoying. Laying is what you do when you place another object down, like laying a card on a table. This confusion is most likely due to whoever thought it was a good idea to make “lay” the actual past-tense of “lie”. Sigh…
I’m sure there’s plenty of other things that annoy me, but those four are some of my biggest complaints. I’m just a big ol’ stickler when it comes to grammar. Anyway, I’m looking forward to anyone else’s contributions to this list! Take care!
And there a lot of problems with your pet peeve! 😉
There is absolutely nothing wrong with your example “There are a lot of secrets around here.” But you are correct that “That pile of rotting corpses are freaking me out” is wrong.
Let’s explore.
When “lot” means a manufactured batch of items produced, shipped or purchased at the same time, it’s always singular. “A lot of ceiling tiles WAS received today” means one lot of some unstated number of cartons or tiles was received, maybe at a store or job site.
But lot (or “a lot of”) also means MANY, which is a word that is plural in meaning and use.
Thus, you would say “A lot of ceiling tiles WERE received today” if you mean a large, countable number of tiles (MANY) that may not necessarily have been one actual lot. If the job is going well, the foreman might say “A lot of ceiling tiles WERE installed today,” which is the only grammatically correct way to express that many tiles were installed (again with no reference to those tiles being part of a manufacturer’s lot).
“A lot of” also can mean MUCH when the thing being referred to is not counted or countable. “There IS a lot of milk in the refrigerator” — meaning there is MUCH milk, but I’m not saying how much. “There IS a lot going on this weekend” — meaning there ARE a lot things happening.
Collectives or distributives or whatever these concepts are called can be tricky.
Heather mentioned news media substituting “hung” for “hanged.” Regarding the media, my pet peeve is the naming of the “wife” or “husband” of a dead person. When one partner dies, the surviving partner is no longer married. The surviving man is a “widower”, and the surviving woman is a “widow.”
Kevin Walsh mentioned “the pond”, a popular nickname for the Atlantic. Some of our local public ponds are known as “Lake ___.” I suppose it that lends prestige.
I don’t think I will ever get used to “disrespect” being a verb. One shows disrespect FOR a person or institution.
I will accept that Americans now “graduate” school, instead of graduating FROM school, sinceI have no problem with the fact that Canadians are “in hospital” and “in university.”
Just found this blog and have enjoyed all the great comments!
One thing that irritates me is the use of “where” and “at” together. For example, “Where are you at?” It seems no one realizes that it is redundant and grammatically improper. Of course, until recently, I believed the “where/to” combination (e.g. “Where does this go to?”) was acceptable, until I was duly convicted!
Also, having lived in a Commonwealth country, I share Melissa’s sentiments on UK/US word and grammar usage. There are significant differences that ought to be maintained.
Oh, one last thing: Long live the serial comma!
I just found this blog – very fascinating and interesting reading. My pet peeve(s), beside the nauseous and nauseated (if you feel like you’re going to vomit, you are nauseated, not nauseous. something is nauseous when it causes someone else to feel nausea, like a puddle of vomit). ok sorry about that one. However, if you look this one up now, the definition of Nauseous does now mean to feel nausea. The Ever Evolving language. I used to get so wrapped up in it, friends always say, “look it up” if you want to know what it means. but the dictionaries only depict the language as it is used. In other words, if a word is used in the wrong way enough, it will make it into the dictionary and then it becomes gospel.
My biggest right now is how absolutely everyone is using the singular of the form To Be. “There’s a lot of things that we can do…” They use the contraction, so don’t realize, I guess, to listen to it in it’s long form “There is a lot … ” You hear it on the news, on CNN, on TV in general, people say it, and even on commercials (where you would hope someone had proofed it). Someone told me about that one day a few years ago and since then I hear it everywhere. In fact I have found myself saying it and corrected myself.
Must be up there with the There/Their/They’re thing. People say they sound the same so they get confused. But I say if you knew the meaning of each you would never make the mistake. they are separate words. you wouldn’t confuse dog and cat. Ever notice that foreigners rarely get those confused – they’ve learned their meanings.