Grammar Pet Peeves

carolpetunia

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About "it" -- I know just how you feel! As my parents have gotten older, they've begun losing their nouns... so my mom is always saying things like, "After the thing, let's go by that place and get one of those, y'know, those things."
I used to ask for clarification... now I just nod in agreement...
 

lnbandcats

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Here is another word that boggles the mind...why would you pronounce "espresso" as "ex-presso"? I never could understand how that came to be another way to pronounce it.
Is that a regional pronounciation?
Now, about typos - I am the world's worst "typist" and sometimes I am in a real hurry and forget to proofread - so, please, if you find mistakes in my posts, it is only a case of stumbling fingers!
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by lnbandcats

Here is another word that boggles the mind...why would you pronounce "espresso" as "ex-presso"? I never could understand how that came to be another way to pronounce it.
Is that a regional pronounciation?
Now, about typos - I am the world's worst "typist" and sometimes I am in a real hurry and forget to proofread - so, please, if you find mistakes in my posts, it is only a case of stumbling fingers!
"pronunciation" is the correct spelling. Sorry, the devil made me do it.

I agree with you - the other is folks saying "axe me" instead of "ask me". I'd be happy to "axe" them!


Another is when someone says, "me and her went . . . " - this one makes me grit my teeth.
 

annericebowl

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Everyone here has the same grammar pet peeves that I do. I really hate talking to someone who uses bad grammar. I have walked away from conversations with people because the grammar was so horrible. If I can remember correctly, I vaguely remember that I stopped a friendship with someone because their grammar was so horrible.

No one has mentioned it yet, but the use of a comma before "and" when listing items: "We went to the store and bought milk, eggs, bread and butter." In school, I was taught that you add a comma before the "and" to signify the last item. The sentence should read, "We went to the store and bought milk, eggs, bread, and butter." If I am reading something and it's missing that last comma, I will edit it in.

Usually if I make grammar mistakes in a post, it's because I was in a rush and didn't proof read.

I was born and raised in the Southern United States, and since I have moved away, I have been trying to lose the southern drawl and words like "y'all". I never used the word "ain't" because just the sound of it makes my skin crawl. Bad grammar makes my stomach cringe, grind my teeth, and my hair stand up on the back of my neck.

I almost forgot another pet peeve: the phrase "any way". This is one that I use alot, but I have been correcting this. I am learning to use "as I was saying" to replace it.

Ah, another one is the word "trying". Like Yoda said, "Do or do not. There is no try." Something that I keep telling myself is that I am not trying to lose weight, I am losing weight.

I have also driven by signs that are not spelled and/or not puncuated correctly. There have been a few times that I have gone into the store and brought it to their attention because I had to pass by that sign several times a da,y and just the sight of it made me angry.

I work in a call center forty hours a week, and I deal with customers. One of the services that we provide is personalization on certain products. I had a fifteen minute argument with a woman that wanted "The Johnson's" on their Christmas ornament that they were ordering. I explained to her that "The Johnsons" was the correct punctuation. Did I give into her ranting? No. I simply said, "I will enter it as you want." When in reality, I did not add the apostrophe. Mentioning to me working in a call center and speaking to customers throughout the day, I hear good, great, and horrible grammar.

One last pet peeve of mine when it comes to grammar. The use of "alot" and "a lot". I've been in arguments about this one, too. "We are buying a lot of boxes that have alot of packaging." The person that I was debating this with me told me that the use of "a lot" is still spelled "alot".

I have more grammatical pet peeves, but I don't want to overload anyone nor myself.

The one and only reason that I absolutely HATE anything written by Mark Twain is because of the dialect he used to write his stories.
 

catcaregiver

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Originally Posted by AnneRiceBowl

No one has mentioned it yet, but the use of a comma before "and" when listing items: "We went to the store and bought milk, eggs, bread and butter." In school, I was taught that you add a comma before the "and" to signify the last item. The sentence should read, "We went to the store and bought milk, eggs, bread, and butter." If I am reading something and it's missing that last comma, I will edit it in.
The serial comma is necessary in some instances for clarification, but not always. There are some pretty funny examples here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_comma
 

trouts mom

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I agree with you - the other is folks saying "axe me" instead of "ask me". I'd be happy to "axe" them!
ME TOO!


I think its funny when people say they need to "dethaw" something...well you just need to thaw it..not DEthaw it
 

katachtig

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

Another is when someone says, "me and her went . . . " - this one makes me grit my teeth.
That is another one. Getting "me" and "I" mixed up. Just take out "the other and" part and see if it makes sense.

He gave it to John and I -> He gave to I?

John and me go the the store -> Me go to the store?
 
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kittkatt

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Originally Posted by AnneRiceBowl

I almost forgot another pet peeve: the phrase "any way". This is one that I use alot, but I have been correcting this. I am learning to use "as I was saying" to replace it.
You probably shouldn't read my posts then: I say "anyway" a lot!


I work in a call center forty hours a week, and I deal with customers. One of the services that we provide is personalization on certain products. I had a fifteen minute argument with a woman that wanted "The Johnson's" on their Christmas ornament that they were ordering. I explained to her that "The Johnsons" was the correct punctuation. Did I give into her ranting? No. I simply said, "I will enter it as you want." When in reality, I did not add the apostrophe. Mentioning to me working in a call center and speaking to customers throughout the day, I hear good, great, and horrible grammar.
Boy, can I relate to you there!
I used to work in a call center, too, and it just drove me nuts when the customer insisted on placing the apostrophe where it didn't belong!
We were told to do whatever the customer wanted, even if it wasn't correct. So instead of arguing w/ the customer (even when I knew they were wrong), and to cover my own butt over a grammatical or spelling error, I'd mark the packing slip "Personalization per customer's request." There were times when the customer would call back requesting a replacement or refund for the item being misspelled or whatever, after receiving the order and someone pointing out to them that the spelling or punctuation was incorrect - but they were not willing to admit the error was theirs to begin with; they would try "blaming" the person who took their order - which is why I always covered my butt!
My supervisor had to point out my "error" to me (that was part of HER job), but she knew it wasn't my mistake b/c I'm generally a good speller, and she also knew I'm almost always accurate when it came to punctuation. But she had to do her job, too....


One last pet peeve of mine when it comes to grammar. The use of "alot" and "a lot". I've been in arguments about this one, too. "We are buying a lot of boxes that have alot of packaging." The person that I was debating this with me told me that the use of "a lot" is still spelled "alot".
I'll admit that that one confuses me, too.
Is it alot, or a lot - one word or two??
And the apostrophe after the word "and": I was taught that you don't use it before "and" when you referring to a list of items. But now they're saying you should..


~KK~
 
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kittkatt

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

KittKatt, about laying vs. lying: As I understand it, laying is appropriate when you're referring to an action, the act of laying something down. Lying is appropriate when you're referring to the state or condition of lying down. So for example:

"I saw her laying down the litter scoop."

"I saw the litter scoop lying there."

Lying, as in telling an untruth, is just a homonym, not really related to either of those uses.
Thanks for the lesson, Carol Petunia!
I THINK
I have it figured out now..
But I think I need to lay down now for awhile: all this grammar stuff is giving me a headache..


Regarding prepositions and all the jazz, I wouldn't know a preposition from a word that's not a preposition.
I recall what a noun, verb, and adjective is (I think!), but all that other stuff is way over my head!
My school days were a loooooooong time ago!


~KK~
 

catcaregiver

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Originally Posted by KittKatt

I'll admit that that one confuses me, too.
Is it alot, or a lot - one word or two??
AFAIK there is no word "alot". It is "a lot". The word "lot" referrs to something of a large quantity (like the store Big Lots:-).

Originally Posted by KittKatt

And the apostrophe after the word "and": I was taught that you don't use it before "and" when you referring to a list of items. But now they're saying you should[/I
You meant "comma".
If I recall correctly I was taught the same thing. I made a post above commenting on this.
 
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kittkatt

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Originally Posted by catcaregiver

You meant "comma".
If I recall correctly I was taught the same thing. I made a post above commenting on this.
DUH!
I told you I'm not perfect!
I should receive the honor of dunce of the day..
I'll go sit in my corner now..


Thanks for the clarification of "a lot"! I thought that two words was correct, but...


~KK~
 

catcaregiver

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Originally Posted by KittKatt

Thanks for the clarification of "a lot"! I thought that two words was correct, but..
Well don't take what I said as gospel. I think "AnneRiceBowl" who originally posted about "a lot/alot" disagrees.
 

lnbandcats

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

"pronunciation" is the correct spelling. Sorry, the devil made me do it.

I agree with you - the other is folks saying "axe me" instead of "ask me". I'd be happy to "axe" them!


Another is when someone says, "me and her went . . . " - this one makes me grit my teeth.
It was just my stumbling fingers!
 

emrldsky

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Nuh uh...might give me away!
I write for a living at a University, but we follow the AP style. I'm not perfect...far from it! That's why my co-workers and I copy edit for one another. AP style mandates that you place the comma before the "and" when you have a series. But one of my BIGGEST peeves???

Any ways...there is no S at the end of it! If you MUST use it, please please please don't add the S! I heard it on a sitcom the other day and about jumped through the TV!!!

The only other peeve I have is the placement of "like" and "ya know" into speech when one would naturally pause. I caught myself falling into this trap as an undergraduate student, but quickly snapped out of it.


What brought it to my attention? I found myself making tally marks each time a classmate said "like" and "ya know" and told myself NEVER to do that again.
She averaged 5 "likes" and 2 "ya knows" per sentence.


Now, having said all that...I am far from perfect. I STILL struggle with "affect" versus "effect."

And, as my husband just pointed out...irregardless is not proper. Regardless is the proper word, trust me. Remember, ain't is in the dictionary, even if it isn't proper, also.
 

Moz

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Originally Posted by catcaregiver

Than/Then

Than is a conjunction used in comparisons: “Better late than never.†“I would rather be happy than rich.†“Blood is thicker than water.†“He is taller than I am.â€

Then is an adverb pertaining to time: “We said goodbye, and then we went home.†“The way we lived then is quite different from the way we live now.†“Finish your supper; then you can watch TV.â€
Argh, I hate that! Same with they're, their, there.
 

carolpetunia

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Just to chime in -- I'm a lifelong supporter of the comma-before-the-and, and I'll defend it to the dea... well, I'll defend it to some serious injury, anyway.
Whether a sentence could be misinterpreted without that "and" or not, it just reads better with it -- otherwise, the final two items in your list sound more closely related to each other than to the rest of the list. So I always include it.

Those of you who share my passion for the language would surely enjoy "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," the famous little grammar book by a very funny Englishwoman who takes grammar almost as seriously as AnneRiceBowl does...
 
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kittkatt

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Originally Posted by emrldsky

Any ways...there is no S at the end of it! If you MUST use it, please please please don't add the S!
Guilty as charged!
Please don't read my posts!


Now, having said all that...I am far from perfect. I STILL struggle with "affect" versus "effect."
Effect & affect sometimes confuses me, too.
But I'm getting better at it..


~KK~
 
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kittkatt

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Whether a sentence could be misinterpreted without that "and" or not, it just reads better with it -- otherwise, the final two items in your list sound more closely related to each other than to the rest of the list.
That's the way I look at it, too.


~KK~
 
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