Pet Peeves...

[heyduke]

It lose LOSE L O S E.... Lose lose... not loose ... lose the extra "O" that several of you are putting in the very quaint word LOSE!

dogs get loose... change is loose ... but you can't loose a game! You can LOSE it!


and while I am at it why do people lock one entrance door to a store and leave the other one unlocked?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

It lose LOSE L O S E.... Lose lose... not loose ... lose the extra "O" that several of you are putting in the very quaint word LOSE!

Uh.. it's "it's IT'S, I T ' S" not "it," as written above. Just a pet peeve .

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

dogs get loose... change is loose ... but you can't loose a game! You can LOSE it!

If is possible to hate a word, I hate this one. Every once in a while it just looks so wrong to me when I write it that I have to look it up again just to convince myself that English is the crazy one and not I.

 

[ls99]

I mean, you know, like....

Mercifully never seen them on this board.

 

[gindie]

I have two pet peeves:

1) Sitting in a restaurant with my family and always being addressed by the server as "you guys". It's not a gender thing with me, it just doesn't sound good to me.

2) I am the farthest thing from a grammar expert, but I get a cringe when people mix up the words "less" and "fewer". It should be "12 items or fewer" not "12 items or less" in the express checkout line.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

I mean, you know, like....

Mercifully never seen them on this board.

Ready?
YouTube - Southern California's "Valley Girl" Speech Persists
Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[honobob]

Geez........Not another pet peeve thread!

 

[CuppaJoe]

...

and while I am at it why do people lock one entrance door to a store and leave the other one unlocked?

‘cuz they’ve got a screw loose?

Edit: Shouldn't that be: "Because they have screws loose?"
Hey, you mean, "should that not be" No, "should that be":
911 to the grammar police

 

[youbet]

"Your" is not the same as "you're." So, "you're going to get your ass kicked" works. "Hope your on your way to FIRE" doesn't.

For some reason, my technical and engineering buddies are most prone to this.

Having said that, my real pet peeve is people who get peeved about routine vocabulary, pronunciation, diction or slang usage and bring it up all the time. With the Chicago Public School system as my Alma Mater, I'm just glad I'm able to communicate successfully with anyone from time to time!

 

[bbbamI]

Well, I'm "gonna" say "y'all" 'til the cows come home. Does anyone have a problem with that?

Ooops, I've ended my last sentence with "that". How about that?

 

[youbet]

Y'all add all the "that's" to the end of sentences that y'all wants ta add!

 

[kumquat]

Ooops, I've ended my last sentence with "that". How about that?

Is "that" a preposition? If not, WTF?

 

[cantlogin]

...and while I am at it why do people lock one entrance door to a store and leave the other one unlocked?

I'd like to think it is for some reason other than pure laziness but I don't know what it might be.

 

[vicente solano]

Hey, all of you...I´m trying to learn good and proper American English so stop F*****G AROUND

 

[Walt34]

People who ramble on endlessly about nothingness and use polysyllabic words when monosyllabic words will do, and make use of unnecessary punctuation when its not necessary, I mean, you know, its like, annoying.

 

[wrigley]

I have two pet peeves:

1) Sitting in a restaurant with my family and always being addressed by the server as "you guys". It's not a gender thing with me, it just doesn't sound good to me.

2) I am the farthest thing from a grammar expert, but I get a cringe when people mix up the words "less" and "fewer". It should be "12 items or fewer" not "12 items or less" in the express checkout line.

I couldn't agree more. Where I grew up on the South-Side of Chicago we'd say: "USE GUYS"

Mike

 

[Sarah in SC]

Grammar Girl podcasts are the best! And I keep a running list of homophones used by my various correspondents. I love being back in school with 20-somethings!
The latest:

She swam across the mote and escaped.
I do not waiver in this preparation.
It's not a pretty site.
People look pale, miserable and week

 

[mews]

hmmm...

Sight
site
cite

and the ever-popular there / they're / their confusion.


ta,
mew

 

[freebird5825]

Hey, all of you...I´m trying to learn good and proper American English so stop F*****G AROUND

I myself had proper American English drilled into my head during 12 years of parochial school . We even had to do sentence diagrams in HS English class.
Examples Diagramming Sentences

So if I slip and commit anyone's pet peeves, forgive me , as it is probably a latent mental rebellion emerging from my subconscious.

 

[MikeD]

World's most overused word: amazing. Everything is amazing.

Two totally unnecessary words: various and actually. Almost every single time I have heard the words used in sentences, the sentence would be clearer if the word was left out.

Also irritating is people using adjectives to modify words that describe things that are either 100% yes or no conditions. Like most unique, almost transparent, or very critical. They either are or they aren't.

Let's not forget "top ten best" lists. "Best" means the *one* best. It should be top ten better list.

Mike D.

 

[Moemg]

The thing that drives me nuts is all the people who say "Have a great one " . What does that mean ?

 

[Sarah in SC]

Well you can only have one good "one", the rest are going to suck.
Rationing, dontcha know?

 

[RunningBum]

ur. Is it really that hard to spell "your"?

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

How about logically impossible uses of literally when the writer really meant figuratively, as in "I was literally buried in email."

 

[Westernskies]

i believes thus May has bean poosted ina difference thred befour; if sew a node two tha OP...

Gentle writer, please: rules to live by.

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's
highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
17. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
18. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
19. The passive voice is to be ignored.
20. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words
however should be enclosed in commas.
21. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
22. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
23. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-
shaking ideas.
24. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate
quotations. Tell me what you know."
25. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist
hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
26. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
28. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
29. Who needs rhetorical questions?
30. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
31. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.