Grammar quirks

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

It’s voilà.

Not wah-la. Not walla. Not viola.

Voilà.

I can excuse voila, if accents are beyond your technical capability.

(Or, when in doubt, just use English)

Yes, my Gods where did 'wah-la' come from?

Back in the day people wrote the above just to see how many people would immediately email in a correction (back when all there was were email lists) and it carried over to forums.  Nowadays? I don't know if people are still being silly or if they don't know the difference.

 http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253486

I see it on blogs a lot in contexts where I truly believe the authors don’t know the difference.

[Elfmama]

It’s voilà.

Not wah-la. Not walla. Not viola.

Voilà.

I can excuse voila, if accents are beyond your technical capability.

(Or, when in doubt, just use English)

Yes, my Gods where did 'wah-la' come from?

Back in the day people wrote the above just to see how many people would immediately email in a correction (back when all there was were email lists) and it carried over to forums.  Nowadays? I don't know if people are still being silly or if they don't know the difference.

 http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253486

I see it on blogs a lot in contexts where I truly believe the authors don’t know the difference.

Since I don't read many blogs, I hear it instead of seeing it.   Usually pronounce 'walla', with the emphasis on the first syllable.  Certain people on TV use it all.the.time. 

[crella]

It’s voilà.

Not wah-la. Not walla. Not viola.

Voilà.

I can excuse voila, if accents are beyond your technical capability.

(Or, when in doubt, just use English)

Yes, my Gods where did 'wah-la' come from?

Back in the day people wrote the above just to see how many people would immediately email in a correction (back when all there was were email lists) and it carried over to forums.  Nowadays? I don't know if people are still being silly or if they don't know the difference.

 http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253486

I see. I haven't heard it spoken yet, but have seen it in print, on FB in one of those 'I know who will post this and who won't'  messages.

[MamaMootz]

I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but I keep coming across this one and it's driving me INSANE.

"discusting".

Between this one and "alot", my eye twitches. In a disgusting manner. A LOT.

[Amava]

I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but I keep coming across this one and it's driving me INSANE.

"discusting".

Between this one and "alot", my eye twitches. In a disgusting manner. A LOT.

But but but... what do you have against the alot?    He's so cute!
I believe he's been posted before, but here he is again:

[MamaMootz]

I saw that blog post, Amava, and thought it was hilarious.

Oh, and another one that I didn't see posted on here:

"Where you at?'

I don't know why people say this seemingly all the time now, but it drives me bonkers.

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

I notice this one in speech more than writing (and am guilty of it myself, when I’m not thinking things out before I say them):

"So-and-so and I’s belonging" instead of "So-and-so’s and my belonging". Every time I realize I’ve said it I know I wince, but it just slips out out of habit.

[Elfmama]

I notice this one in speech more than writing (and am guilty of it myself, when I’m not thinking things out before I say them):

"So-and-so and I’s belonging" instead of "So-and-so’s and my belonging". Every time I realize I’ve said it I know I wince, but it just slips out out of habit.

"Our belonging" works even better!

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

I notice this one in speech more than writing (and am guilty of it myself, when I’m not thinking things out before I say them):

"So-and-so and I’s belonging" instead of "So-and-so’s and my belonging". Every time I realize I’ve said it I know I wince, but it just slips out out of habit.

"Our belonging" works even better!

There are occasions when you want to clarify whose it is, rather than sounding like you could be using the "royal our", so to speak.

For instance, "Please come to my twin’s and my birthday party" sounds a bit different than "Please come to our birthday party", depending on who you are speaking with (and their familiarity with said twin, etc).

[EmmaJ.]

I'm at home, waiting for a delivery.  Turned on TV to pass the time a bit and heard my all-time most annoying TV show announcement:  Star Track. 

Yep, the commercial for the upcoming show was (paraphrased) as follows:  Coming up next starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy is the classic Star Track.

Grrr.  Trek means journey!

[Redneck Gravy]

I think this is more of a spelling issue than a grammar one - but gurl instead of girl.   

I know not everyone is a brilliant speller, but really, girl is not a hard one to learn!

If you didn't know how to spell a lot in my freshman class, you certainly did by the time you got out.  If you spelled it alot you were assigned 100 sentences using it correctly.  Separate was another favorite of my English professor's words - not seperate, aggh.

She wrote              A                                        Lot     on the chalkboard (just like that) and if you got it wrong, Lord help you because you were going to be busy.

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

I think this is more of a spelling issue than a grammar one - but gurl instead of girl.   

I know not everyone is a brilliant speller, but really, girl is not a hard one to learn!

If you didn't know how to spell a lot in my freshman class, you certainly did by the time you got out.  If you spelled it alot you were assigned 100 sentences using it correctly.  Separate was another favorite of my English professor's words - not seperate, aggh.

She wrote              A                                        Lot     on the chalkboard (just like that) and if you got it wrong, Lord help you because you were going to be busy.

My freshman English teacher was a fan of "Separate. It has 'a rat' in it. And you’d want to separate a rat from you, right?"

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

I've seen these being misused on here more than once: presumptuous is not the same as presumptive.

Presumptive means based on a reasonable belief about what is likely to be the case. Hence the heir presumptive is the person likely to inherit a position or honour, but who may be supplanted by the birth of another person with a better claim. If Lord Thing has no children, his brother is the heir presumptive. If Lord Thing dies childless, the brother gets the title. If Lord Thing marries and has a son (we won't go into titles passing in the female line, it's too difficult), that son is the heir apparent - he definitely gets the title if he lives, and the brother doesn't.

Presumptive has nothing to do with good manners.

Presumptuous means behaving in a way you have no right to do and which may seem rude. If I ask you about your medical history, scrabble habits, and financial status, I'm presumptuous, not presumptive.

[Thipu1]

Regarding 'gurls' vs. 'girl's', is it possible that the posters went one step away from 'grrls'?

That was a term used by some feminists to indicate that they were not polite, little shrinking violets.

Think about the 'Guerilla Girls' and how they seek to bring attention to women artists. 

[squeakers]

I think this is more of a spelling issue than a grammar one - but gurl instead of girl.   

I know not everyone is a brilliant speller, but really, girl is not a hard one to learn!

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1914111 has a nice explanation and an interesting coincidence "PS From the mighty Webster: "Girl" comes from the old English "girle", that was also spelled "gerle" and "gurle""

(Some of the posts are in Italian but not all.)