Pet Peeve Regarding The Slaying Of The English Language.

[Roda]

  Lisa said:

I know a few people who don't have any!

The way I figure it is that they are the same.

[mushroom]

  Roda said:

Another one I had a hard time getting used to was reckon. I just had never heard the word used so much. Then there is the phrase that I hear alot "Bless your heart." I hear that mostly when people are having a hard time, sick or bad luck or something. I guess it seems to me a nicer way to say "I'm sorry for you."

Reckon "reckon" must be British?? though sure sounds 'Merican. I use it, but I am bilingual (lol) so don't know where my speech came from most of the time. And I have used "Bless your heart" in the sense of thanking someone who has done something out of the ordinary, an unexpected kind deed.

The Brit expression "no worries" just drives me crazy, because it is normally used in response to something you are very worried about, means "I'll take care of it" or "it will work out." Has now replaced the good ole Kiwi expression, "She'il be right, mate!" which, as homegrown slang, I tend to prefer for some reason

And the first time I came home with "gotten" which I picked up so easily my mother, like, almost went through the roof!!

[Mtndog]

Oh oh oh- you would have a field day in Boston!!!!!!!!!!

Everything is wicked cool, wicked long, and I am wicked tired

But the worst is "Hey Bev, look at those hosses?" Those what? HORSES.

This really isn't about English but if you EVER wish to upset me, tell me, "Sometimes you just have to suck it up" Pow! Right in the kissa!

[Jestgar]

  mushroom said:

And I have used "Bless your heart" in the sense of thanking someone who has done something out of the ordinary, an unexpected kind deed.

We use it differently, as in, "she's the one who comes to every potluck, eats some of everything, and never once has brought a dish.......bless her heart......."

sort of - 'if I weren't such a lady, I would be inserting an entirely different phrase here.'

[Wolicki]

  Roda said:

Another one I had a hard time getting used to was reckon. I just had never heard the word used so much. Then there is the phrase that I hear alot "Bless your heart." I hear that mostly when people are having a hard time, sick or bad luck or something. I guess it seems to me a nicer way to say "I'm sorry for you."

I believe the most common usage of "bless her/your/his heart" is while one is saying something nasty about someone else. For instance: "Mary, bless her heart, is getting quire a butt, isn't she?" That's the context I always heard my Granny, Mom, Aunts using it

[jerseyangel]

Where I come from "bless her heart" is a way of conveying empathy. I must be careful how I use it from now on

When we lived in the south, instead of saying "next Wednesday" people (older, especially) would say "Wednesday next". I actually think things like that are charming

[TrillumHunter]

Okay, I'm jumping into this. How about people who need to loose some weight?

Bless your heart is a tough one. You have to be aware of the context in which it is used to get the full meaning.

[mushroom]

  Jestgar said:

We use it differently, as in, "she's the one who comes to every potluck, eats some of everything, and never once has brought a dish.......bless her heart......."

sort of - 'if I weren't such a lady, I would be inserting an entirely different phrase here.'

Okey dokey, I agree with that, but I think "bless her heart" has a totally different meaning from "bless your heart" Although on the other hand, bless her heart could also be said of someone who always does all the cleaning up after a potluck, "She's the one, bless her heart, who can always be found in the kitchen washing the dishes." In my form of usage, that is. Confusing old langwidge isn't it??

[Jestgar]

  mushroom said:

Okey dokey, I agree with that, but I think "bless her heart" has a totally different meaning from "bless your heart" Although on the other hand, bless her heart could also be said of someone who always does all the cleaning up after a potluck, "She's the one, bless her heart, who can always be found in the kitchen washing the dishes." In my form of usage, that is. Confusing old langwidge isn't it??

hhmmmm.....

me: "gads, you look like hell today"

friend: ".........well bless your heart."

[DingoGirl]

  Lisa16 said:

You had best stay away from the "tickle me elbow" thread then.... those folks are doing some crazy thing with spelling!

  jerseyangel said:

I'll have you know it's work to fracture the language the way we do over there! I'm normally very particular about my spelling, grammar, and punctuation so I usually have to go back through what I have just typed to "silly it up".

:lol: WHOT? whooo, usss? yes, come JOIN US!! and it DOZ take werk ta mess up da spellin an' frackshure the langwij the weigh we do *snort*

excellent thread here.....

  wildwood said:

When people say I "seen" it instead of I "saw" it. Or when they say I "could" care less instead of I "could'nt" care less.

drives me NUTS!

  Salax said:

Ok since we are on a Celiac forum, I don't get why people call Celiac...Celiacs? Where did that "s" come from? I have Celiacs disease? No, it's Celiac, there is no s.

you beat me to it!! See it on here so phrequently...

"do I have celiac's?" (the apostrophe drives me especially nuts)

we ALWAYS say fix lunch, fix dinner.....is this a west coast thing?

  Lisa said:

My husband, who grew up in the country in the south, would cook a ham and always said that "we could eat on it" all week. (With tiny table and chairs). You can take the man out of the country, but....

I actually LOVE dialectical colloquialisms, find them quite charming. Not as many in California, all dialects sort of merged in westward convergence.....most of the charm is gone....but then we ARE quite famous for the over-use of LIKE... "I'm like.....he's all like..." San Fernando Valley.

Sorry, Rachelle

real-i-tor drives me NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Wolicki said:

,

How about "I axed him" instead of "asked"?

this is very dialectical (probably more race-related, actually) also....fascinates me.

  nikki-uk said:

WHO said the psillies on the 'Tickle my Elbow' thread carve up the INglish langwij??

  jerseyangel said:

I'm bound to offend someone here but since we're on the subject anyway.....the phrase "good to go" sets my teeth on edge.

hate "good to go"

Hate these the most:

"at the end of the day..." EVERYONE uses this now, and I was soooooo thrilled when I heard a report about two years ago on NPR of the most over-used and hateful phrases of the year - that was number one, I believe.

also - "going forward....." As in, "well, going forward, we plan to do such and such..."

what in hell else other way are you going to go?

  mushroom said:

The Brit expression "no worries" just drives me crazy, because it is normally used in response to something you are very worried about, means "I'll take care of it" or "it will work out." Has now replaced the good ole Kiwi expression, "She'il be right, mate!" which, as homegrown slang, I tend to prefer for some reason

I kind of like "no worries." Only a few people say it around here. Kiwi expressions would drive me WILD with their charm, would love it too much, would marry a Kiwi man instantly if he said phunny things and smelled good

"I seen it" is nails on a chalkboard.....but is a regional or educational thing. I once decided, when this expression was used multiple times in a 10-minute phone call with a guy I was to be set up with (with whom I was to be set up.....er, UP with whom I was to be set ) that I absolutely COULD NOT go.

"we was goin' over to GIT something" - my stepfather (whom I love) - his parents are Dust Bowl Oakies who ended up in Central California, tiny tiny farming town......LOTS of peeps have this dialect and speech pattern 'round these parts.....

There's a cop who comes into our office whose pronunciation of everything actually starts making me murderous....and then his dad comes in, 'tis even worse, and I have to leave sometimes the slaughter of the language is too much....but their superior, arrogant attitudes, combined with this - untenable

The Wal Marts - or 'going over to the Walmart" - - just cracks me UP - charming, in my opinion. My friend's New Mexico grandparents say this...it's not commonly used in California at all, though. Except in those small oakie towns, methinks.

gawd there are so many......they hit me all day long......whilst driving my car, listening to radio, watching summat on tv, mindin' my own bidness.....

just axe me later, there'll be more

SILLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you!!!! must head to thread...am so behind

[Imanistj]

I don't mind colloquialisms if I hear them while I am visiting the area in which they are common. I react to mispronunciations of standard American English. I suffer every year because of puNkin, HOloween, FebUary, and pitcher for piCture. A lot is two words and not the same as allot. I cringed as if I heard fingernails on a chalkboard listening to my ex/deceased husband and his relatives. Coudda did and shoudda went. DehyGration. Tires that tUmp because the tHread is worn. My MIL was always taking THums for indigestion. She called my kids' boTTles bot-les. I prefer route (root) to rOUT. I do accept, but still can't stand, second pronunciations of words, except that I hate to say "her ass" and use the more British HAIR-ess. Oh!!! I almost forgot. I am owed a million Hs. Over the past several years I have heard more silent Hs than I could have believed possible. Billy Fucillo's ads may be funny when he says his sales are Yuge but initial Hs are rapidly disappearing form American English, at least in the northeast. My friend dates Hugh, whom she calls YOU! Homage always had an H whenever we did nativity scenes when I was a child. The shepherds paid Homage to the baby Jesus. I hated it when the word simply lost its H but now the trend is to be very French and say oh-Mahj. Being reticent used to mean reluctant to say much but now it is also used to mean reluctant. Where are the grammar and English police when we need them?

[DingoGirl]

  Imanistj said:

I don't mind colloquialisms if I hear them while I am visiting the area in which they are common. I react to mispronunciations of standard American English. I suffer every year because of puNkin, HOloween, FebUary, and pitcher for piCture. A lot is two words and not the same as allot. I cringed as if I heard fingernails on a chalkboard listening to my ex/deceased husband and his relatives. Coudda did and shoudda went. DehyGration. Tires that tUmp because the tHread is worn. My MIL was always taking THums for indigestion. She called my kids' boTTles bot-les. I prefer route (root) to rOUT. I do accept, but still can't stand, second pronunciations of words, except that I hate to say "her ass" and use the more British HAIR-ess. Oh!!! I almost forgot. I am owed a million Hs. Over the past several years I have heard more silent Hs than I could have believed possible. Billy Fucillo's ads may be funny when he says his sales are Yuge but initial Hs are rapidly disappearing form American English, at least in the northeast. My friend dates Hugh, whom she calls YOU! Homage always had an H whenever we did nativity scenes when I was a child. The shepherds paid Homage to the baby Jesus. I hated it when the word simply lost its H but now the trend is to be very French and say oh-Mahj. Being reticent used to mean reluctant to say much but now it is also used to mean reluctant. Where are the grammar and English police when we need them?

OMG - "shoulda came, shoulda went " - I broke up with a boyfriend over this (and other things, he was kinda stinky)

FebUary, nuCULar, could care less.....yuge

but...........the ALL TIME WORST -

PITCHER for picture.....this is crazy-making......sometimes I subtly ask, "oh, did you mean that PICTURE over there, or a PITCHER from which you pour fluids?" Mean, very mean....

Had a brilliant boyfriend who said "supposably, " and I didn't correct him...don't know why, felt it was mean.....

Lots of really bad grammar on really bad "reality" TV shows.....I fear for the future of our nation, literacy-wise (just watch ONE episode - if you can - of Lorenzo Lamas's show - you will all D I E !!!!! ) Or Hef's playboy girls, living in mansion.....dumb as dirt.....

<um, I got expanded cable not long ago, and had a brief train-wreck fascination with these shows >

We just don't have too many charming colloquialisms in California...I would enjoy the heck outta the south, and hearing all of that, you betcher yer sweet tea

[Lisa16]

Alls I kan say is is tha George Bernard Shaw would be very proud of all the psillie's. Iffin 'm not mistook, he left his entire fortune to the reformation of the English spelling system.

Alls I kan think is that either he didn't have very much money when he died or his lawyer abskonded with it all.

Or perhaps he was really a psillie at heart and he haunts the internet-- looking for every opportunity to further his end.

[jerseyangel]

  Lisa16 said:

Or perhaps he was really a psillie at heart and he haunts the internet-- looking for every opportunity to further his end.

I'll go wif that one

[Swimmr]

Oh man, ya'll got me started. I bet I used a word that get's on someone's nerves, huh? hahahahaha!

Acrosst instead of Across ie "I went acrosst the street"

Chuldren instead of children

Fedjral (bet you can't guess this one) It's supposed to be Federal

Sawl instead of Saw

Drawring instead of drawing

I work with a lady who says the word "Unlessin" and she means "unless" ie "It's in the drawer, unlessin someone moved it"

I hate ALL the texting shortcuts used in the spoken language. Saying "OMG" or "LOL" is just insane.

Any (no offense, really...) terms such as "over yonder" and the word ruined said like "rnt." When you hear it you think they're grunting or making some noise when really they're describing something that is ruined. Used in a sentence: "That thair is rnt, I tell ya!"

Any variance of yummy, yummo, yumm, yum-yum.

The over use of "seriously" or "honestly" For instance, "Oh my God, I seriously didn't think he would say that...like serioulsy...I honestly was shocked." "Seriously, it was THIS big...like, seriously"

"What fer?"

Heighth...there is NO "th" at the end!

"Dag nabbit"

"John Brown-it"

"Son of a bisquit eater"

"Doo-dad"

"thing-ma-jig" or "thinga-ma-bob"

"same difference" (I DESPISE this)

"soda pop" It's either Coke or Pepsi, Sprite, etc.

oreeenge instead of orange...

Yella instead of yellow which is also not a greeting when you answer the phone...

milk pronouced without the "L" so it's miyuk

Fim instead of film

"It's off the hizzle fo shizzle muh nizzle" (cringes)

"fer" "wit" "thurr" "skreet" "fo sho"

All above used in a paragraph: "Yo, dawg...I went acrosst tha skreet fer dat right thurr...that hot shiznt. You know what I'm screaming 'bout. It's off the hizzle, fo shizzle, muh nizzle....alright, hit me back late...fo sho, dawg!"

[TrillumHunter]

WHAT!? Son of a biscuit eater is a personal favorite. That and, "Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea!!"

Fo' shizzle!

[Jestgar]

  Swimmr said:

All above used in a paragraph: "Yo, dawg...I went acrosst tha skreet fer dat right thurr...that hot shiznt. You know what I'm screaming 'bout. It's off the hizzle, fo shizzle, muh nizzle....alright, hit me back late...fo sho, dawg!"

:blink:

Where in Sam Hill do you live???

[mushroom]

Also, "Where's it at?" and "me and my mom went to the mall", *Me* doesn't go anywhere!And add to the yummy list "yummy mummy".

[Imanistj]

Another mother in law gem: or-an juice. What is an oran? I guess it is used to make some kind of juice. MIL also said kime instead of kind.

I choke when I hear someone say something is a wayS off. Also, nowhereS, anywhereS, somewhereS. How about a Master's prepared RN Director of Nursing saying and even writing anywayS? I don't think people who say these things can hear or listen very well. I am mortified if I realize I have mispronounced a word, and you can bet I will never make that mistake again. I beleive we all have a responsibility to listen to the way a person pronounces his or her name and to remember to say it correctly everytime we mention that person.

I do not find it endreaing when Obama switches into sloppy pronunciation when he is among the masses. I know he can say his INGS, going to and not gonna, etc. I think degrading his English for the common man is degrading the common man.

Oh! I have a stomach or abdomen, not a tummy. I taught my children the correct words for every part of their anatomies. My boys had penises, not wee-wees. And I don't believe any female other than the Virgin Mary has a womb. Women have uteri.

[Roda]

Then you would really hate it when people say JU ly for July and IN surance stressining on the in.(not sure how to type it to convey the mispronuncion). Oh then there is warsh for wash. How did that r get in there? How about winder for window? What really gets me going is when words like pen, get, set, etc are pronounced pin, git and sit. I really get on my kids (they hear it at school) about not saying their "e" like an "i". My oldest came home when he was in first grade and told me there was a new kid in his class. I asked him what his name was and he said (what I heard) N. I asked him if his name was Ian and he said no N. His name was really Ian but that is how he heard the teacher say it. It was kinda funny at the time, but I think my son is the only one that really pronounces the kid's name right now.

[emcmaster]

When people say: "I have Celiac's disease." No, you don't. There wasn't a person that this disease was named after. You have Celiac disease and we are Celiacs. No apostrophe.

[Wolicki]

I had a friend who liked Mexican food. Anytime we went out to eat, she ordered

Freheetas

I usually ordered Fajitas

[mushroom]

  Roda said:

I asked him if his name was Ian and he said no N. His name was really Ian but that is how he heard the teacher say it. It was kinda funny at the time, but I think my son is the only one that really pronounces the kid's name right now.

On the subject of name pronunciation in the States, I would hate to be called Graham (or Graeme) over there because I would always be addressed as Gram

[Roda]

  Wolicki said:

I had a friend who liked Mexican food. Anytime we went out to eat, she ordered

Freheetas

I usually ordered Fajitas

That's funny. My mom liked to eat tortilla chips. She woud say the "ll" in english as l's instead of the "y" sound.

[Juliebove]

  Imanistj said:

I don't mind colloquialisms if I hear them while I am visiting the area in which they are common. I react to mispronunciations of standard American English. I suffer every year because of puNkin, HOloween, FebUary, and pitcher for piCture. A lot is two words and not the same as allot. I cringed as if I heard fingernails on a chalkboard listening to my ex/deceased husband and his relatives. Coudda did and shoudda went. DehyGration. Tires that tUmp because the tHread is worn. My MIL was always taking THums for indigestion. She called my kids' boTTles bot-les. I prefer route (root) to rOUT. I do accept, but still can't stand, second pronunciations of words, except that I hate to say "her ass" and use the more British HAIR-ess. Oh!!! I almost forgot. I am owed a million Hs. Over the past several years I have heard more silent Hs than I could have believed possible. Billy Fucillo's ads may be funny when he says his sales are Yuge but initial Hs are rapidly disappearing form American English, at least in the northeast. My friend dates Hugh, whom she calls YOU! Homage always had an H whenever we did nativity scenes when I was a child. The shepherds paid Homage to the baby Jesus. I hated it when the word simply lost its H but now the trend is to be very French and say oh-Mahj. Being reticent used to mean reluctant to say much but now it is also used to mean reluctant. Where are the grammar and English police when we need them?

OMG! The "alot" one really got me. I even looked it up at dictionary.com thinking I was missing something. It's not a word. I saw someone on a yahoo message board claim that it was and explained why.

When I made the comment to my mom that I couldn't stand seeing this, she replied quite hotly, "Well... You don't KNOW. Maybe it IS a word!"

In my book if it's not in the dictionary, it's not a word.