Grammar quirks

[pinkyblue]

Me, too!  Please, understand what you're saying/writing before you put it out there!

[EmmaJ.]

"i.e." and "e.g." are NOT the same thing.  Using them wrong makes you look more ignorant than not using them in the first place!

One of my old jobs years and years ago was secretary to an Accounting Department.  One of the managers would dictate all his letters and memos to me and he positively sprinkled them with i.e.'s and e.g.'s.  If I tried to correct (or even delete) them when I typed the documents, he would just make me retype it all. 

He would also find a way to use "irregardless" in nearly every memo.   

[Pippen]

'Healthful', 'Flavourful' and ' Nutritional' (as in the nutritional value as opposed to nutrient value) drive me nuts!

[Redneck Gravy]

Irregardless is one that does me in...   agghh

[Slartibartfast]

Ooh, almost forgot - when my high school got renovated my senior year, they redid the front doors.  And put up a sign "VISITOR'S SIGN IN AT FRONT DESK."  Etched into the glass.  It was too expensive to replace, so they just left it that way.  (They did take out the brand-new tiling which mistakenly spelled out "666" right in front of the office, though.)

[Lexophile]

Oh where do I start?

"utilized" for "used" - "utilized" means an object is being used for an activity other than which it was intended.
"lead" for "led" - just because the word "read" is spelled the same in the present and past tenses doesn't mean "lead" is.
Any use of "lastly."
"comprise" instead of "compose" = the word "comprise" means "to include", so when someone writes "is comprised of", it's incorrect.

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

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".

I know this was incredibly far back in the thread, but after reading through all 7 pages, my jaw is still hanging over the bolded phrase. Please tell me that teacher is no longer manipulating the malleable minds of our young.

I think all of my quirks have been covered here. Proper use of comprised vs. composed of is probably my most bothersome one.

One I haven’t seen here yet:
Thanks to my grade 9 English teacher and the venerable Strunk and White, any time someone tells me they feel nauseous I want to respond “yeah, you are a bit fetid—I’m feeling nauseated thanks to you.” But, I think that common usage has made the cause (nauseous) / effect (nauseated) distinction archaic.

[portabella]

These aren't just quirks.  They're common examples of sloppy diction, grammar, and vocabulary usage.

When people say “I could care less”.  Most people do this, but if they would think about it for a second the correct expression is “I couldn’t care less”.

People who don’t know the difference between “effect” and “affect”.

“Pacific” is the name of an ocean.  Maybe you mean “specific”.

“For all intensive purposes” ?  huh?  Try “for all intents and purposes”.

[pinkyblue]

Ooh, ooh, thought of another one - "simplistic" instead of "simple." 

I think that one falls in the category of "it has more syllables, so it MUST be the better word!"

[Pippen]

These aren't jusy quirks.  They're common examples of sloppy diction, grammar, and vocabulary usage.

When people say “I could care less”.  Most people do this, but if they would think about it for a second the correct expression is “I couldn’t care less”.

People who don’t know the difference between “effect” and “affect”.

“Pacific” is the name of an ocean.  Maybe you mean “specific”.

“For all intensive purposes” ?  huh?  Try “for all intents and purposes”.

How did you get inside my brain?! While you are there can you have a bit of a tidy up please?

[wendelenn]

Oh, just popped over to a different ehell thread and saw this one.

Copywrite.

grrrrrr!  CopyRIGHT!

[portabella]

These aren't jusy quirks.  They're common examples of sloppy diction, grammar, and vocabulary usage.

When people say “I could care less”.  Most people do this, but if they would think about it for a second the correct expression is “I couldn’t care less”.

People who don’t know the difference between “effect” and “affect”.

“Pacific” is the name of an ocean.  Maybe you mean “specific”.

“For all intensive purposes” ?  huh?  Try “for all intents and purposes”.

How did you get inside my brain?! While you are there can you have a bit of a tidy up please?

 

I know people who regularly commit all the infractions I mentioned, and they have master's degrees.  How? 

[JennJenn68]

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".

I know this was incredibly far back in the thread, but after reading through all 7 pages, my jaw is still hanging over the bolded phrase. Please tell me that teacher is no longer manipulating the malleable minds of our young.

Unfortunately, she is--but not at our school.  (Nothing to do with that, though.  She was offered a post closer to home.  She'll be teaching as long as her father is a high-up in our local school board.  Politics can be so much fun!)

I might have missed it (this thread is rapidly becoming a full spool!) but one pronunciation that causes me to blow all of my fuses is "nu-cu-lar" for "nuclear".  ARGH!

[Giggity]

Ooh, ooh, thought of another one - "simplistic" instead of "simple." 

I think that one falls in the category of "it has more syllables, so it MUST be the better word!"

Same thing with "incident." The plural of it is apparently now "incidentses." I think people are confusing it with "incidence." I'm not sure how.

[Twik]

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".

I know this was incredibly far back in the thread, but after reading through all 7 pages, my jaw is still hanging over the bolded phrase. Please tell me that teacher is no longer manipulating the malleable minds of our young.

Don't think that this is an individual quirk of this particular teacher. She was most likely taught that in her own teacher training. (Been there, bitten my tongue until it bled in courses like that.)

Spelling, grammar and all that old-fashioned nonsense just "interferes with a child's creativity". Which is why the typical internet comment nowadays is "u mad, bro?", repeated ad infinitum.