Thursday, April 28, 2011

Things people say...

....that annoy me more than they should.
Maybe. It's entirely possible I'm just the right amount of annoyed and everyone else is wrong. I think I'll choose to believe that.

1: People who say itch when they mean scratch. "I'm itching my leg!" No, you're scratching your leg because it's itchy.

2: People who have forgotten that the word "literally" has an actual meaning and isn't just said for emphatic purposes. "I literally coughed my lungs out." No, you didn't. They're still in your chest cavity where they belong.

3: People who say borrowed instead of loaned. "He borrowed me some money." No, he loaned you some money. You borrowed it.

4: People who say prostrate when they actually mean prostate. Prostate - exocrine gland found in the body, considered to be a part of the male reproductive system. Prostrate - being in a reverentially or submissively prone posture. You are not seeing a Urologist because you have a prostrate problem. Most annoying is when doctors are the ones saying it wrong. They, of all people, should know better.

5: People who say "Be back before {whatever time} or you'll turn into a pumpkin. I know it's from Cinderella (as has been pointed out to me), it's still wrong.  Cinderella didn't turn into a pumpkin, her coach did. So unless you're meaning to imply that the person in question is going to be dragged around by animals, ridden by various people and end the night as a vegetable, don't say it, it's stupid. (If you are meaning to imply that, the people you know are more interesting than the people I know.)

I don't always expect people to talk perfectly. I end sentences with prepositions, I use words that aren't actually words "shirtlessly", "shalln't", but I would like it if people didn't talk stupidly.

Feel free to share your own vocabulary peeves, or tell me why you think I'm wrong in the comments.

8 comments:

Toni said...

YES! The thing that drives me craziest, though, is that people simply don't know how to use apostrophes. I had this mastered by the time I was 10 or 11 -- it's not rocket science!

no-one said...

I hate that too.

Windsmoke. said...

I agree with all of the above and just like to add the word vulnerable which is pronounced in the media as "vunerable" there's an "L" in this word and should be pronounced as such :-).

Marie said...

I agree with all you wrote, plus Toni's observation. The apostrophe misuse is unbelievable. Like this car I saw the other day: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/ozswede/2011/45971_459268838783_523523783_6322558_6427015_n.jpg I wanted to take an axe to Rover's head office :-) Then there are those who confuse "their", "There" and "they're" or "your" and "you're" or "lose" and "loose". But sometimes I smile at the irony of those people thinking they are making a pithy or cutting remark by writing "You're all a bunch of loosers"

no-one said...

I hate that so much. It's pure laziness. Anyone who has had more than four years of schooling in an English speaking/learning country, and doesn't have a learning disorder, should be able to figure out which one to use.
It bugs me to the point that I have become *that* friend on Facebook who writes litte correction comments when people get it wrong.

Davoh said...

what's a 'litte' correction? .. definitely loosely lost ..heh

no-one said...

*little*

Aspiring...something said...

My most hated is number 3... He borrowed me the book. Grr I hate that.
I have another to add. Using the wrong too. When they just use one o. And I just read one where someone wrote to instead of till. 'I can't wait to mothers day. My daughter has made me a card, but my husband has hidden it to Sunday'... That's just not right.