What are some commonly misspoken words or phrases that bug you?

[stuartrida]

"I could care less" tops the charts for me. "Anyways" is a close second.

I am actually compiling a list for a project.

[deadparrot]

1. "Libary."

Oddly enough, I'd never actually heard it spoken that way until I got to college. Now two of my roommates pronounce it like that, and it drives me nuts.

[FreeState]

108. Are they from the North West area?

I was born and raised in Seattle and went to school in Utah - anyway my whole family says "libary". It could be a regional thing, or it could be my family is just a little f*cked up:) Im open to either...

[deadparrot]

111. No, they're from the Midwest...

And I've also heard it used in the south/southwest (Oklahoma area), so I don't even know if it's a regional quirk. And I don't even know why it annoys me, but every time they say it, I want to bang my head against my desk. :)

[Writer]

2. Irregardless...

the "less" negates "regard" just fine, thank you.

Also the media ARE ARE ARE ARE ARRRRRRRRRRRRE - not "is."

With much love,

The Writer.

[SeattleGirl]

14. That one gets me, too.

x(

[deucemagnet]

22. OMG! The son on American Dad just had the same rant!

:wow:

[Writer]

Really? What did he say?

[deucemagnet]

32. Stan used the word "irregardless"...

...and the son (Steve, I think) laughed and told him it wasn't even a word, and that the prefix ir- wasn't needed because it already was negated by the suffix -less.

I'm getting weird Donny Darko vibes.

[BarenakedLady]

60. That's my #1 irritation word.

:thumbsup:

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. newcular

[undeterred]

4. should of instead of should have

[achtung_circus]

17. Or should've. nt

[Redstone]

28. But, but, "should've" can indeed be short for "should have."

So it's hard to complain about this one.

Redstone

[achtung_circus]

42. Not complaining.

People use should of instead of should've.

[Mad_Dem_X]

58. Ugh, yes

I can't stand it when someone writes "could of." :mad:

[Lyric]

5. Hyperbole

Granted, there aren't many people in West Virginia who use that word regularly, but the ones who do always seem to pronounce it "HY-per-BOWL" instead of "hy-PER-bo-LEE"

[Redstone]

30. So, what sport has their championship game in the HyperBowl?

Redstone

[Starbucks Anarchist]

41. There was a horrible pop song recently that used that pronunciation.

I almost threw a brick through the TV when I heard it.

[Mad_Dem_X]

56. Ha, ha! I think I know the one

"These Words" by Natasha Bedingfield (sp?). I like the song, but when she says, "hyper-bowl" I always cringe.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

57. That's the one.

:puke:

[DrDan]

6. I am with you on this one

"I could care less"

that one bugs me

[Left Is Write]

7. I'm with you on "anyways." Also, "for all intensive purposes".

Oh - and "far and few between" instead of few and far between.

Oh oh oh - thought of another one. "Far be it for me" instead of far be it from me.

[femmocrat]

8. There are so many..... but these come to mind.

l. Less and fewer. Drives me crazy when people mix up these two words.
2. Referring to people "that" instead of people "who". I hear this one everyday!
3. Mispronunciation: applicable. It's "AP-lick-able", NOT "a-PLICK-able"!!!
4. And another one: integral. It is pronounced: "IN-te-gral", not "in-TAIG-ral."

[MnFats]

15. oh, and 'over.' Over is over, as in 'the cow jumped over the moon.' It is NOT

interchangable with 'more than.'

i had an editor once who killed for stuff like that.

[Gato Moteado]

94. so if we say we have been overcharged it's incorrect?

we've really been morethancharged?

[1gobluedem]

54. Less and fewer bug me too

When did people start saying less all the time?

[Patiod]

61. Less and fewer makes me crazy, too

My SO thinks I'm crazy - I yell at TV: "It's fewer! Not less!" (it's almost as if "fewer" doesn't exist - people rarely use "fewer" when they should use "less" -- they always less for EVERYTHING).

[Aristus]

64. Don't forget "in-TREG-al". That one always sets my teeth on edge.

n/t

[Kat45]

9. Febuary, instead of February

The liberry/library thing reminds me of that one.

[MnFats]

10. 'myriad of'

even though most dictionaries now allow 'myriad of' it's properly 'myriad' as an adjective.


misspellings, even tho I do it myself.

[Redstone]

80. Sorry, but it's NOT an adjective. " A Myriad was a Greek military formation of hoplites,

roughly analagous to a modern division, of about ten ten thousand.

So it IS "A myriad of."

Redstone

[twilight_sailing]

83. Can also be an adjective

[ikojo]

11. Axed instead of asked

birfday instead of birthday
and one that really grates on my nerves


MISSOURAH instead of Missour-ee

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

35. Used to bother me too

My relatives in Missouri say that they live in the state of 'MISSOURAH' and the Missouri river is pronounced 'MISSOUR-EE'.

When Michael J. Fox did his stem cell ad before the election, he pronounced Missouri as 'MISSOURAH'.

So, I think the natives pronounce Missouri differently than the rest of the country.

Of course, I could be wrong.

[Xipe Totec]

12. "It's six of one half"

It... just... rubs my pelt... backward.

[S n o w b a l l]

13. punkin....

instead of pumpkin. Drives me insane.

[mac56]

16. "Orientated"

instead of "oriented".

Drives me up the wall.

"Orientated" means "turned to the east".

[leeroysphitz]

18. Supposably.

[nytemare]

19. The "medium" and "mute point".

Not the person that communicates with spirits, you know, that grass thing in the middle of the road. The medium.

That drives me batty.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

20. "Flustrated"

"Irregardless"
"Nukular"

[SeattleGirl]

34. I hate the "Flustrated" too, but did you know it's actually a word?

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980602

[achtung_circus]

21. A couple.

As in a couple dogs.

It's a couple OF dogs.

[Xipe Totec]

23. very unique

as if there could be degrees of uniqueness. :eyes:

[Xipe Totec]

24. Spitting Image

It's spirit and Image, people.

[mzteris]

50. I thought it was

spittin' image.

:rofl:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

51. Not so fast there, my friend...

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-spi1.htm

[Shakespeare]

91. Nope, that's incorrect.

"Spitting image" is quite correct as an idiom.

[Kutjara]

110. Yep, it comes from 'spit and image.'

You still hear people in the UK (usually older people) say, for example, "he's the very spit of his father," to mean a child looks like his dad.

on edit: Vash's post above gives a link to a fuller etymology.

[Kali]

25. then/than, nukyouler, zoo-ology, I'm sure there are more and I know

I am guilty of bugging others so I try not to point these things out. In fact when I see these threads I usually open them right away with my pet peeves ready to post and quickly get embarrassed when I start reading some of the replies. Usually I :blush: :yoiks:

[Hosnon]

79. You can hear the difference when someone says "then" as opposed to "than"?

:yourock:

[KurtNYC]

26. "All things in moderation."

should be "All GOOD things in moderation"

[mzteris]

49. Not necessarily.

:evilgrin:

[Redstone]

27. All of them. And "tooken" is without a doubt the worst.

Redstone

[philosophie_en_rose]

29. Supposably. Sammich. Irregardless.

[bertha katzenengel]

31. all of the sudden

:banghead:

All. Of. A!. Sudden.

Sheesh!

[SOteric]

33. 'Expresso' instead of 'Espresso.'

[Patiod]

62. DU cured me of that. Maybe it was you!

I always used to order expresso. Then I read a "pet peeves" post on DU.

Now I order espresso.

[Generic Brad]

36. 'A zebra doesn't change his spots'

That phrase is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

[NewWaveChick1981]

37. I have a huge list...

These are some of my pet peeves, and they make my ganglia twitch... :yoiks:

Can goods (can they what?)
Toss salad (not even gonna go there...:yoiks:)
Devil crabs (I guess Satan can get them too....)
Devil eggs (so THAT'S where Satan originates!)
Ice tea
Whip cream (cream made from whips???)
Outer body experience (it's OUT-OF-BODY experience, you dolt!!!!)
Chester drawers (Chest OF drawers, you other dolt!!!)

And all the others mentioned here. :grr:

[MISSDem]

87. You made me think of rod iron for

wrought iron.

[NewWaveChick1981]

89. OMG... Isn't that the name of a minor porn star?

:rofl: :rofl: That's so sad. Like bob wire for barbed wire. :yoiks:

[athena]

96. Don't visit Hawaii.

The "ed" is consistently left out in Hawaii (e.g. "shave ice"). Our local CBS station even advertised its "balance news coverage" for several weeks before they realized their mistake and fixed the spelling on the screen. The announcer still says "balance news."

[KamaAina]

104. Aloha auinala, E Athena, and welcome to DU!

:hi:

Try check us out in the Hawai'i state forum (it could sure use the traffic!).

[IDemo]

38. "Issue", instead of "problem"

"Johnny is having flu issues and won't be in today"...:eyes:

[jarab]

39. "At the end of the day" or "One hundred and ten percent". n/t

...O...

[Montauk6]

40. Consummate

The proper pronunciation, I'd learned a while back, is "kun-SUM-it" not "KON-suh-mit."

Also, as awkward as it's proper usage is, "media" the word is still plural for "medium." It still should be "The media are having a field day" vs. "The media is going to let Bush slide on this."

[Spider Jerusalem]

45. OED actually gives both, as does Webster's...

although the OED (which shows standard British pronunciation) gives the "proper" one first, whille Webster's (which follows American pronunciation) has the order reversed.

[Patiod]

63. Same thing with data

took me years to learn that - it's what happen when your public school education doesn't include Latin!

[billyskank]

43. "Perquisite."

Prerequisite. Prerequisite. :banghead:

[Pool Hall Ace]

65. But perquisite is a word.

from answers.com:

Perquisite

Commonly known as a perk. A fringe benefit offered to an employee in addition to salary. Some examples of perquisites are reimbursement for educational expenses, legal services, vacation time, pension plans, life insurance coverage, company cars and aircraft, personal financial counseling, and employee assistance hotlines. In general, the higher an employee's position and the more valued he or she in a company, the more perks he or she receives.

[Tuesday_Morning]

44. self- delete

[Chorophyll]

46. Take a different "tact"...

...instead of "take a different tack."

And, "for all intensive purposes," which should be "for all intents and purposes."

[dysfunctional press]

47. people who use the wrong form of Their, There, or They're when speaking...

i HATE that.

[Rabrrrrrr]

52. Oh, yeah, totally. Or when they say "it's" when they mean "its" and vice versa.

You can tell.

[mzteris]

48. clearify -

instead of clarify! geesh....

Undiscriminate (indiscriminate)

oh - and this one -

Supposively. (aaacck!)

[BarenakedLady]

59. or Supposibly..

:banghead:

[1gobluedem]

53. "And I"

As in, "...they went to dinner with Bill and I." It's Bill and ME! It's so simple just take out the "and" to know whether to use I or not. Would you say "...they went to dinner with I?"

For some reason people think "I" is more formal. Not when it's WRONG.

[reyd reid reed]

55. Intensive purposes

instead of 'intents and purposes'

Drives me up the wall and I hear it all the time. What's worse is I see it written that way.

[Wetzelbill]

66. warsh or warshington

damn I hate that.

Also my brother always says: "calvary" when he means cavalry.

Eye-rack! I hate that too. People can't even say the country right, yet they think we should be occupying the place.

I had a roommate who used to say:"I have no quim..." when he meant: "I have no qualm..." I never told him that quim is actually a nasty slang for a woman's vagina. I am a jerk I know. :)

[Pendrench]

67. The word "Often".....the "t" is silent. n/t

[Arger68]

68. Console said as

"council". Example - "I looked in the center council of my car." Like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Also, when people say "jagwire" instead of jaguar.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

93. How the Hell do you say jaguar then?

[Oeditpus Rex]

98. Jag-you-wahr

[InternalDialogue]

69. Laxadaisical.

And if you get me going about that, I could give you a whole 'nother example.

[Left Is Write]

71. Along those lines: expresso

It is espresso. There is no "x" in espresso!

[InternalDialogue]

73. I like the way you espressed that.

:hi:

[Left Is Write]

74. ...

:rofl:

[Evoman]

70. eclectic....though, not necessarily because they misuse it.

If I hear one more person say their music taste is eclectic, I'm going to punch them in the face. Its just one of those stupid cliche things people say that bothers me...I have more (e.g. "Thats just your opinion"), but thats enough for now

[TheBaldyMan]

72. Just about anything Dubya says. n/t

[Ariana Celeste]

75. Honestly?

I really don't care as long as I understand what you are saying.

[Oeditpus Rex]

99. Atta goil

:pals:

[Radical Activist]

76. "come with?"

Come with what? With who? Finish the fucking sentence!!!

[Broken_Hero]

77. The one word that gets me all the time...

Is Oregon...its not Ore, than Gone...its basically pronounced like Organ...I heard a lot of talking heads last week misusing the word numerous times. My next one is region specific to my current home in sw Missouri...

The words Nevada...is Na-va-duh...thats how they pronounce it...instead of Ne-va-dah

Noel...they pronounce it...Nole...like Mole, but with an N....

[crim son]

102. Also, "Bangor" pronounced "banger". n/t

[crim son]

103. "Spaghetti" pronounced "Pissgetti". I want

to strangle my little boy when he does that! JUST KIDDING HENRY!

[TangoCharlie]

78. nucular?

nucular NOOK'-ya-lure purtainin' to a 'tomc NOOK'-ya-lus.

Einstein? Yah, great bagels.

Edit: oops, I see Proud2blib already suggested this one. I missed his improved spelling.

Regards.

[ceile]

81. "fixin to"

As in "I'm fixin(g) to go to the store". Drives me insane and nearly everyone I know says it.

[Beausoleil]

82. In my mind

I'm a grammar Nazi, so most of the above really get on my nerves. Another that I can't stand is the use of "infer" when "imply" is correct. People seem to think they are the same but "infer" is classier, so they use it incorrectly. To "infer" is to get meaning from what is said/written, whereas "imply" is what the speaker/writer does to impart meaning.

Another one is Wa-La! Yeeeech!

[Vinca]

84. Preventative.

Drives me nuts.

[MISSDem]

85. It's not misspoken but the word is used much too much and

the word - basically.

[TangoCharlie]

86. Duplicity or duplicitous

.. when they mean "duplicate" or "redundant".

[mondo joe]

88. COULD OF for COULD HAVE makes my skin crawl.

Also, SHOULD OF for SHOULD HAVE.

[SKKY]

90. Irregardless. It bugs the daylights out of me.

It's not even a word for (Figure of worship of your choice here)'s sake!!!!

[Tikki]

92. When I was a kid I thought it was......

"Taken for granite" instead of "Taken for granted"....

I rarely do either.


Tikki

[Gato Moteado]

95. bob wire instead of barbed wired

nt

[athena]

97. Begging the question.

There are several TV commercials that use the phrase "beg the question" to mean "raise the question." It drives me nuts.

[Oeditpus Rex]

100. Show 'em this

[tbyg52]

101. The "ph" words

Pamphlet = "Pamplet"
Amphitheater = "Ampitheater"
Ophthalmologist = "Opthamologist"
Sphere = "Spear"

Also using "out of pocket" to mean "out of town" rather than "I had to spend some money." But maybe that's just my neck of the woods.

[SPKrazy]

105. "Stastictics" Really bugs me

Not partickaly"
We need to grapht it (for graph)
Nuk-u-lar for nuclear as in our Chimperor's way of saying it

hell I hear misspoken words all day long by people that one would think should know better, but I guess I'm just supposed to bite my tongue.

I also grew up with a Journalism professor and an English Teacher.

:rofl:

[tbyg52]

106. I grew up with two parents who never attended college

Who spent their evenings reading and looking up occasionally to correct the grammar or pronunciation of the network newscasters....

I'm tellin' ya, it all comes down to whether you read or not.

[FedUpWithIt All]

107. I knew someone who used to say, "Otherwise than that"

drove me mad.

Of course i am not one to talk. I am sure i have many grammatical faux pas.

[Crap_in_a_Hat]

109. He was "hung" for murder

Or anything else to that effect. If he was "hung" for murder, all that means is that he was a necrophiliac.

[montanto]

112. * asterick *

I don't hear this one but I see it all the time: alot. I can't stand "my bad." Hear instead of listen to, as in "can I hear my music?" "Can I go to the bathroom?" I don't know, do you know the way? You wouldn't have lived this long if you didn't have all the proper plumbing, right? I once dumped a girl because she told me "its ex-PRESS-oh" when I asked her if she wanted espresso (it was mostly her attitude though). Anyways, irregardless, I hear teachers, TEACHERS DAMN 'EM saying "we need less students and more accountability." What're ya gonna do?

Oh I forgot "whatevers."

[nerddem]

113. because it was from an english major, it made me doubt...

...but i still think i'm right. the phrase is "for all intents and purposes", right? as opposed to "for all intensive purposes"? i was joking about that and she looked at me like she really didn't get my point, so i doubted myself for a second and moved on.

so what's the deal?