Grammar quirks

[Venus193]

"Axs" for "ask".  I don't know if that's a kind of dialect, and it's controversial here because it seems mostly connected to race.  It still makes me cringe, though.

That one still makes me cringe although I don't hear it frequently anymore.

Three companies ago there was someone in the office who did this.  To compound the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue she would also say "pacific" for "specific."

[EmmaJ.]

I pass three produce stands on the way to work.  Every single one of them is offering beefstake tomatoes.   

[Adelaide]

I really don't know enough about grammar/spelling/pronunciation to be that picky, but I think I was made that way by my English teachers. Some of my pet peeves include the following:

1. One of my friends has a habit of "punctuating" her texts with the word lol.  "We're going to the mall lol I saw that hot guy lol you should come next time lol". Another friend will use ellipses like they're going out of style, and she always posts them in big blocks of text. "I just think....maybe if I tried harder....but I'm not sure...." It drives me up the wall. I realize that I'm not the punctuation queen, but "lol" and "......" don't count as punctuation. I picture my first friend hyperventilating from "laughing" and my second friend having to draw deep, sucking breaths between each "sentence".

2. I cannot ever remember the difference between affect and effect. I go out of my way to avoid using those words. Same situation with the word "whom". >.<

3. It's/its  they're/their/there two/too/to

4. "fixin' " is not a thing. As in, "I'm fixin' ta go to the grocery store." I say it too. I am from the South. I admit defeat.

I pass three produce stands on the way to work.  Every single one of them is offering beefstake tomatoes.   

I find that hilarious, only because I don't have to see it everyday. I do feel your pain though. There's a large sign at a doughnut shop here that reads

"Coffee's
Cafe's Macchiato's
Latte's
Cappuccino's"

[rose red]

The one I forgot: I and me.

'Me and KayMarie are distressed by aberrant apostrophes.'

I hate this too.  I see it so much lately that I even questioned myself and wondered if grammar changed while my back was turned.

This isn't grammar, but spelling.  On book forums, so many people type "heroin" instead of "heroine."  That one little "e" makes a world of difference so please spell correctly!

[Redneck Gravy]

I also avoid use of affect & effect - years of study and I still cannot get comfortable using either word.

I am guilty of using fixin and yonder.  I am fixin to go out yonder and pick up dinner.  I explained yonder to a Yankee one time, "yonder is wherever I am pointing.  It is not a specific place it is just over there."  Poor man thought it was a city in Texas. 

I cannot stand the misuse of pitcher & picture.  You pour from a pitcher and show me a picture of your grandbaby.  I worked for a printing company for years, finally asked one of the workers to use the word photo, agghh.

Also, I live in the Permian Basin.    my head splits open when I see Permain   that's just bad spelling

[JennJenn68]

Many of those already posted are "hot buttons" with me, so I'll refrain from repetition.  So far, however, nobody has mentioned the one misspelling that drives me absolutely bonkers--"alot".  Folks, those are two separate words.  "A".  "Lot".  Meaning "a great many".  If you want to make it one word, better add the additional "L" and change the definition of the word to match "allot". 

I've even seen teachers make this oh-so-painful error, and I shudder to think that we are entrusting the education of the young to those who haven't yet managed to grasp Basic English 101.  When I gently pointed it out to the grade two teacher at our school, as the offending phrase in question was posted (in the teacher's printing) on the bulletin board where parents were going to be able to see it, she said that it "didn't matter" because "children need to know that people aren't judged by how they spell".  Uh, yes, they are.  Any employer attempting to weed through a pile of several hundred applications will immediately drop a resume with misspellings and obvious grammar errors right into the trash.  Assuming one manages to get hired, sending off emails full of spelling and grammar errors will negatively impact how one's employer is perceived.  So, yeah, spelling and grammar matter.

Thus endeth today's sermon from Mrs. English...

[lady_disdain]

"Axs" for "ask".  I don't know if that's a kind of dialect, and it's controversial here because it seems mostly connected to race.  It still makes me cringe, though.

That one still makes me cringe although I don't hear it frequently anymore.

Three companies ago there was someone in the office who did this.  To compound the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue she would also say "pacific" for "specific."

I have a reprint of a little etiquette manual from the very late 19th century and it includes a section on grammar. Yes, it does say that "axs" should be avoided.

I hate the hating/loving construction: "I am loving this dress", for example. The present continuous tense conveys the idea of something that is happening now but will most likely in the future. "I work with computers" is different from "I am working with computers". This idea is very different from the concept of love, which does seem to have an element of permanence to it.

From a social point of view, this construction may be an interesting symptom of a consumerist, trend driven society, where we all know that the "it thing" of the moment will only last a moment and that we will all be loving something else next week.

I could, however, support the use of this construction for flavour of the month relationships: "Mary is loving Bob this week".

[lady_disdain]

Many of those already posted are "hot buttons" with me, so I'll refrain from repetition.  So far, however, nobody has mentioned the one misspelling that drives me absolutely bonkers--"alot".  Folks, those are two separate words.  "A".  "Lot".  Meaning "a great many".  If you want to make it one word, better add the additional "L" and change the definition of the word to match "allot". 

I've even seen teachers make this oh-so-painful error, and I shudder to think that we are entrusting the education of the young to those who haven't yet managed to grasp Basic English 101.  When I gently pointed it out to the grade two teacher at our school, as the offending phrase in question was posted (in the teacher's printing) on the bulletin board where parents were going to be able to see it, she said that it "didn't matter" because "children need to know that people aren't judged by how they spell".  Uh, yes, they are.  Any employer attempting to weed through a pile of several hundred applications will immediately drop a resume with misspellings and obvious grammar errors right into the trash.  Assuming one manages to get hired, sending off emails full of spelling and grammar errors will negatively impact how one's employer is perceived.  So, yeah, spelling and grammar matter.

Thus endeth today's sermon from Mrs. English...

How about alright?

I know some people defend its use as a word, meaning "acceptable". I am not speaking of this use. I am speaking of the downright wrong use "I checked the multiple question answers and they were alright". No, they were all right (aka, 100% correct).

[Thipu1]

Don't get me started on everyday idiocies.

However, I can see how some of these things happen.

'Per say' for 'per se' could be due to an over-zealous spell checker.  I've had times when the ding dangety thing will NOT let me write something I know is correct.

Using 'them' instead of 'those' may be intended to be humorous.  We all know the phrase, 'How do you like them apples?' as a jocular put-down.  It can also be used as an intensive as, 'I sure would like to get me some of them there apples!'.  Everyone knows it's not correct but will use it from time to time.

[Sedorna]

Many of those already posted are "hot buttons" with me, so I'll refrain from repetition.  So far, however, nobody has mentioned the one misspelling that drives me absolutely bonkers--"alot".  Folks, those are two separate words.  "A".  "Lot".  Meaning "a great many".  If you want to make it one word, better add the additional "L" and change the definition of the word to match "allot". 

That reminds me of this.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

[Redneck Gravy]

Freshman year of college, English teacher writes:

A                            lot               on the blackboard

Says, "if I see it wrong you will write 100 sentences using it correctly"   

[takeheart]

This isn't so much a grammar quirk, but more of a punctuation issue. It drives me crazy when people use "..." between sentences rather than correct punctuation. I know a lady who works in a professional office and this is an example of her email: "Hey takeheart... Sorry it took so long... looking at everything that we have going on-I don't think that we will be able to make any at this time... We do appreciate the offer... Thank u"

[violinp]

Many of those already posted are "hot buttons" with me, so I'll refrain from repetition.  So far, however, nobody has mentioned the one misspelling that drives me absolutely bonkers--"alot".  Folks, those are two separate words.  "A".  "Lot".  Meaning "a great many".  If you want to make it one word, better add the additional "L" and change the definition of the word to match "allot". 

That reminds me of this.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

I love that entry! It's hilarious!

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

Many of those already posted are "hot buttons" with me, so I'll refrain from repetition.  So far, however, nobody has mentioned the one misspelling that drives me absolutely bonkers--"alot".  Folks, those are two separate words.  "A".  "Lot".  Meaning "a great many".  If you want to make it one word, better add the additional "L" and change the definition of the word to match "allot". 

I think I love you.

I've even seen teachers make this oh-so-painful error, and I shudder to think that we are entrusting the education of the young to those who haven't yet managed to grasp Basic English 101.  When I gently pointed it out to the grade two teacher at our school, as the offending phrase in question was posted (in the teacher's printing) on the bulletin board where parents were going to be able to see it, she said that it "didn't matter" because "children need to know that people aren't judged by how they spell".  Uh, yes, they are.  Any employer attempting to weed through a pile of several hundred applications will immediately drop a resume with misspellings and obvious grammar errors right into the trash.  Assuming one manages to get hired, sending off emails full of spelling and grammar errors will negatively impact how one's employer is perceived.  So, yeah, spelling and grammar matter.

Thus endeth today's sermon from Mrs. English...

I do! I love you!

I worked for the company - it was construction - in which the Sales Director would pass advertisement copy with absolutely egregious errors in it, and say 'it doesn't matter; most people don't notice.' I could not get him to grasp that the people who didn't notice wouldn't notice whether the ad was right or wrong, but the people who did notice would judge the company and would think that if we didn't care about the detail in our own promotional materials, we wouldn't care about the details in, oooh, say, their planning applications or building plans or invoices. And then they would go to a competitor who might not be as good a builder, but who knew how to spell 'estimate'.

[silvercelt]

Not actually grammar, but the use of the word "break" for "brake".

One may accidently break a vase.  One uses the brakes in one's car to reduce speed (abruptly or otherwise).

Every time I see the word used incorrectly (often here on E-hell) my teeth itch!

My peeve is bear/bare.

I once got an email from an employee asking me to "bare" with her as she worked through a computer issue.  She really did not get it when I responded that I would be more than happy to be patient, but I wanted to keep my clothes on.