Grammar quirks

[Mental Magpie]

{snip}
Also, not sure if I mentioned it yet, but "addicting" drives me up the wall.

In what context?  And why?

"This game is so addicting."  No it's not, it's addictive.  It's not technically incorrect, it just grates on my ears.

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

I know I'm late but I've been away... I'm bewildered by one I see a lot (not alot  ) on this site: Deity (noun), a god or goddess, or the state of being divine.

Diety (adjective, I suppose!), like a diet.

[runs away]

[squeakers]

Reign/rein.  You reign/rule over your subjects.  You tug back on the reins to slow or stop a horse.

If you are reining in your desire to not eat chocolate that makes sense.  You are holding back on your desire to eat chocolate. 

I guess reigning in (maybe "over" would work better than "in" here) your desire to not eat chocolate could mean you are over ruling your desire to not eat chocolate but it would be the wrong word because that would mean you _were_ going to eat the sweet bits of goodness. LOL

(now I want some chocolate!)

[lady_disdain]

I know I'm late but I've been away... I'm bewildered by one I see a lot (not alot  ) on this site: Deity (noun), a god or goddess, or the state of being divine.

Diety (adjective, I suppose!), like a diet.

[runs away]

Perhaps the "i before e" rule makes people automatically type ie, not ei.

[jmarvellous]

Saw this one today and cringed: kind've.

It's "kind of," or even the colloquial "kinda," but not "kind've."

[pinkyblue]

You're "a part" of something, not "apart" of it.  Grrrrr. 

The internal contradiction of this particular error amuses me, though - using a term of division/separation when the speaker or writer means to indicate inclusion. 

[Mental Magpie]

Saw this one today and cringed: kind've.

It's "kind of," or even the colloquial "kinda," but not "kind've."

This is, to me, just like "John and I" when it should be "John and me".  People are so focused on trying to be right that they over apply it to everything and fail. 

[artk2002]

I mourn the loss of the adjectival past participle.  Now I see "can food" instead of "canned food" regularly in grocery stores, and even in one local library, "unshelf books" instead of "unshelved books".

Yes! Yes! The "handicap" parking space and the "ice" tea! Arggh!

Another one I see a lot: "bran-new." Because everyone knows that nothing can be newer than bran?

One that got to me just the other day: "Shave Ice". An entire industry has lost their 'd'.

[Elfmama]

I mourn the loss of the adjectival past participle.  Now I see "can food" instead of "canned food" regularly in grocery stores, and even in one local library, "unshelf books" instead of "unshelved books".

Yes! Yes! The "handicap" parking space and the "ice" tea! Arggh!

Another one I see a lot: "bran-new." Because everyone knows that nothing can be newer than bran?

One that got to me just the other day: "Shave Ice". An entire industry has lost their 'd'.

That one is Hawaiian Pidgin.  Parts of the country that see snow called that treat 'snowballs', but when it was introduced to Hawaii, someone decided that using the more familiar word 'ice' would mo' betta.  Pidgin rarely worries about grammatical correctness.

[Thipu1]

Saw this one today and cringed: kind've.

It's "kind of," or even the colloquial "kinda," but not "kind've."

This is, to me, just like "John and I" when it should be "John and me".  People are so focused on trying to be right that they over apply it to everything and fail.

For some reason, many people don't like to use 'me'. 

'John and I were invited  to the Wedding' is correct

'The Wedding invitation was sent to John and me' is correct.

If you can substitute 'we' for 'John and X',  'I' is correct. 

If you can substitute 'us', 'me' is correct. 

[EmmaJ.]

I was taught to remove one person and see how it sounded.

"John and I were invited to the wedding" becomes "I was invited to the wedding".  So "I" is correct.
"John and me were invited to the wedding" becomes "Me was invited to the wedding."  So "me" is incorrect.

"The wedding invitation was sent to John and me" becomes "The wedding invitation was sent to me".  Correct!
"The wedding invitation was sent to John and I" becomes "The wedding invitation was sent to I". 
Incorrect!

[Mental Magpie]

I was taught to remove one person and see how it sounded.

"John and I were invited to the wedding" becomes "I was invited to the wedding".  So "I" is correct.
"John and me were invited to the wedding" becomes "Me was invited to the wedding."  So "me" is incorrect.

"The wedding invitation was sent to John and me" becomes "The wedding invitation was sent to me".  Correct!
"The wedding invitation was sent to John and I" becomes "The wedding invitation was sent to I". 
Incorrect!

This is also how I was taught, plus "me" is in the predicate and "I" is in the subject.

[Elfmama]

Me too. (Although to be grammatically correct, it should be "I, also!"  But apparently teachers do such a good job of squelching "Me and John went to the store" that people ever after say "John and I" even when it should be "John and me."  DH tried to argue that one with me at one point, that it should always be "John and I" because it was a plural.

[Thipu1]

There's also the urge to write things in an affected way because it sounds more refined.

The Rockefeller family has been plagued by this for generations.  People thought that the pronunciation sounded lower class.  As a result, letters to them were often addressed to the 'Rockerfellow' family. That makes them sound like a group in 1960s London.

A similar thing happened to the term 'tuxedo'.  In the 19th century, an enclave of wealthy people developed on the New York -- New Jersey border around a picturesque area known to the local people as Duck Cedar Pond. 

To the new people building their mansions the term sounded uneducated.  Thus, 'Duck Cedar' became 'Tuxedo'.  If this hadn't happened most men would be wearing Duck Cedars to their Weddings. 

 

[squeakers]

I know I'm late but I've been away... I'm bewildered by one I see a lot (not alot  ) on this site: Deity (noun), a god or goddess, or the state of being divine.

Diety (adjective, I suppose!), like a diet.

[runs away]

Perhaps the "i before e" rule makes people automatically type ie, not ei.

Or maybe because they think it is pronounced "diii-ity" (long I) instead of "dee-itty" (long E)?  It's one of those words you may have only read and never heard or heard but didn't make the connection due to the spelling being different than what one would expect. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601674