Be Impeccable: Commonly Misused Phrases That Will Make You Sound Ignorant

[Arwenn]

Alternative ways of saying someone is lacking intelligence:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1972777248685211686

I think my favourite is Victorian English: "I should not wish to fatigue your mind with particulars."

 

[Fluffy]

One of the most annoying mispronunciations I hear people say is aks (said arks) in place of ask. So I asked AI why.
I presumed, (may be correctly because it’s generally bogan style Aussies that I’ve heard say it that way) that it was a general intelligence thing but it appears not so.

Here’s what AI said. I was surprised.

- Aussies may say "aks" instead of "ask" due to a linguistic process called metathesis, where sounds switch places in a word, and its roots in older forms of English. This pronunciation has been present in English for over a thousand years, originating from Old English where both "ascian" and "acsian" existed. The "s" and "k" sounds have swapped places many times throughout the history of English, and both "ask" and "aks" (or "ax") have been used in various dialects.

Historical context

• Old English roots:
  The word "ask" existed in Old English as both ascian and acsian. As early as the 8th century, variations with the sounds swapped appeared in manuscripts.
  
  
• Middle English usage:
  Geoffrey Chaucer, the 14th-century English poet, used "ax" in his writings, indicating that the metathesized version was common at the time.
  
  
• Coverdale Bible:
  The 1535 Coverdale Bible even included the phrase, "Axe and it shall be given you" (Matthew 7:7), showing that the "ax" pronunciation was once considered formal enough for print.
  
  
• Regional variation:
  While "ask" eventually became the standard form in some regions, "ask" was originally the northern dialect's pronunciation, and "ax" was common in the south and midlands of England.
  

Modern-day pronunciation

• Dialectal variation:
  The pronunciation of "ask" as "aks" is a form of linguistic variation that is found in various dialects today, not just in Australia. It is an example of how languages evolve.
  
  
• Not a mistake:
  Rather than being a sign of ignorance, saying "aks" is a product of a long history of English pronunciation, according to linguistic evidence.

 

[EmeraldR]

in ireland the word craic is used alot and quite a few people who arent necessarily familiar with the word and its meaning think its crack !!

whats the craic ? Any craic ? The craic was mighty !

Craic - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[broken.english]

The American use of “then” instead of “than” is the one that gets me the most.

“more then that…”

Yes, for me as a native German it is beyond my comprehension - a pain in my brain.

Maybe it is just due to a regional accent? Southern perhaps?

No, you can find this error in hundreds of e-books from everywhere.

On a similar level, in my perception, is the inability of so many people to make a plural without using an apostrophe.

 

[Breo]

Alternative ways of saying someone is lacking intelligence:

Some more from Deep Seek (AI) on the light side with a wink:

• His compass points to a different true north.
• He's a permanent resident of his own private Idaho.
• She's not on the same page; she's not even in the same library.
• He's got a wonderfully imaginative relationship with the facts.
• He has an alternative interpretation of cause and effect.
• She possesses a unique, almost artistic, approach to logic.
• His internal narrative is... richly embellished.
• She colors outside the lines, and then insists the lines were never there to begin with.
• His elevator doesn't just skip floors; it goes to entirely different buildings.
• If his train of thought were a real train, it would be powered by squirrels and running on marshmallow tracks.
• He's not just marching to the beat of his own drum; he's in a completely different parade.
• Her grasp on reality is as firm as a wet bar of soap.

My favorite is "not even in the same library".

 

[SevenFeathers]

No, you can find this error in hundreds of e-books from everywhere.

That is just completely wrong! Then and than are two completely different words. Bad writing AND bad editing in those books.

On a similar level, in my perception, is the inability of so many people to make a plural without using an apostrophe.

I see that all the time and hate it. I want to take a marker around with me and correct signs with that problem.