Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Misuse of Common Words and Phrases


The misuse of common words or phrases by people who ought to know better is definitely among my top pet peeves.  Here is just a sampling of some of my personal favorites:

1) "On tomorrow" or "on yesterday" or "on today."  This one kills me.  It's just "tomorrow" or "yesterday" or "today."  These words imply the prepositions "on" or "to" so it is redundant and unnecessary to insert them.  In fact, "tomorrow" was once written as "to morrow."  The only exception would be if you said (or wrote), "Let's meet later on today."

2) Yeah, yay, yea, yah, ya.  I would estimate these terms are misused about 90% of the time.

Yeah is pronounced ye-uh, as in yes.  "Hey Champ, are you going to the the game?" "Yeah sure, I’ll go."
Yay – it's the opposite of saying "boo" and is a synonym of hooray. It’s used in cases of excitement...
Yea - this is an old school term used to say "yes" or "I agree."  The antonym would be "nay" as used in a business meeting.
Yah – is also an expression of agreement but there is no excitement.  "Hey are you ready to go yet?" "Yah, I'm coming."
Ya - is just slang for "you."  As in, "How are ya?"

3) For all intents and purposes - NOT all intensive purposes...I mean have you ever even thought about what you're saying?? Oh and that reminds me...

4) Your/ You're - This one is really elementary but I see it getting jacked up all the time. Your is a possessive pronoun. It is used to indicate that something belongs to or is owned by something or someone. You're is a contraction for you are.

5) Their/ They're - again, a really elementary error.  Their is a possessive pronoun to indicate that something belongs to two or more people, places, or things. They're is a contraction for they are.

6) Accept/ Except - Accept means to receive something.  Except means to exclude something.  I will accept all the packages except that one.

7) I Couldn't Care Less - NOT "I could care less."  It has to be negative or you're saying something less than what you actually intended to say.  All you have to do is think about it for a second.

8) Sense, Sents, Cents- Sense is a vague feeling or perception.  Sents means an aroma or smell.  Cents is a quantity in which each part has a value equal to 1/100...what is commonly referred to by the US mint as a penny.

9) All Together/ Altogether -  All together means everyone or everything.  Altogether means completely or entirely.  You can be all together singing in one room.  You can decide the facts are altogether compelling.

10) Chester Drawers - Chester who??  It is "Chest of drawers."

There are many, many more but these are probably at the top of my list.  Feel free to click here to add your own.

12 comments:

  1. It is 'Hearse', not Hearst! (I'm in the funeral business and hear this all the time). An being in the midwest I hear 'we wuz...' and 'I seen...' way moe than I care to admit. bhive

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS... darn keyboard...letters are sticking. I know it should have been 'and' and 'more'. bhive

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amen! And I'll add one: to / too

    ReplyDelete
  4. Corey would like to add "Pacifically" instead of saying "specifically," as in "I want to SPECIFICALLY invite you."

    Corey and Jenny Johnson

    ReplyDelete
  5. P.S. Corey also says "Why can't it be 'Atlantically' or 'Gulf-of-Mexico-ally'?" ;o)

    Corey and Jenny Johnson

    ReplyDelete
  6. as I said on FB - it's the Right to Bear Arms, not the Right to Bare Arms... I know that because I was corrected when I typed it wrong. Hahahaha! trust me... no one wants to see my flabby arms! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Irregardless" is one I've heard more frequently. It's just "regardless"...saying irregardless would make it a double negative.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Some one I know ALWAYS writes "of coarse" instead it should be "of course"..It is NOT a class in that context...That one irks me

    ReplyDelete
  9. Another one is " I no" That is not the proper usage...It should be " I know"

    ReplyDelete
  10. Some others --whose and who's, principle and principal. Another one - complement and compliment. Complement is a noun or verb that means something that completes or makes up a whole.Compliment is a noun or verb that means an expression of praise or admiration.

    ReplyDelete
  11. There are about a million I could add to this list just by copying the facebook status updates of some of my younger cousins.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great stuff, guys! Love the comments...thanks for posting!!

    ReplyDelete