Words......

Not exactly sure which is correct. One word alone gets my goat and that is accrossed. I was brought up to say "across the street" but when I moved from the east coast of the US to the mid-west, people would use it in this context "acrossed the street". Not sure why it bothers me so.

Another one I find amuzing with no bothersome feelings at all is "can you see what I am saying"
 
Pronunciation of certain words are my pet hate at the moment.

Words such as etcetera being pronounced as ekcetera, appreciate pronounced as appre-see-ate and negotiate pronounced as nego-see-ate.

It's even worse when the speaker is a newsreader on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting), I would expect this from the commercial channels, but the ABC!!
 
I've noticed that sometimes "per say" is used instead of "per se" (latin for "by itself")
 
Bluestar said:
Another one I find amuzing with no bothersome feelings at all is "can you see what I am saying"
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I always thought that "can you see what I am saying" referred to abstract thinking and grasping the main point of the speaker, as in "seeing the big picture". But it might be an attempt in theorizing by a non English speaker. :D

One other that is perhaps amusing in a similar way is "You feel me?"
 
Then there is "toeing the line" vs the incorrect form: "towing the line".
 
Actually, "do you see what I'm saying" is something that is said by those who are equally visual and abstract in their thinking. They describe with words and hope that their listener has built up a mental visual image of what they are describing.
 
Laura said:
Actually, "do you see what I'm saying" is something that is said by those who are equally visual and abstract in their thinking. They describe with words and hope that their listener has built up a mental visual image of what they are describing.
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Often "see" is used as "understand."
 
When I got my first job I started hearing people say "So I says to the guy". That one drove me nuts.

But not as much as, "as per usual". I mean really!

And then when I started to hear people I know talk like that, like my brother, I couldn't understand why they would do it - on purpose! I think it has to do with "fitting in", like they don't want to sound too educated around the others and be thought of as an egg-head, or arrogant. But I'm sure the majority of the others know darn well you don't say "I says to the guy".
 
mocachapeau said:
When I got my first job I started hearing people say "So I says to the guy". That one drove me nuts.

But not as much as, "as per usual". I mean really!

And then when I started to hear people I know talk like that, like my brother, I couldn't understand why they would do it - on purpose! I think it has to do with "fitting in", like they don't want to sound too educated around the others and be thought of as an egg-head, or arrogant. But I'm sure the majority of the others know darn well you don't say "I says to the guy".
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That's more of a regional dialect saying. I heard that phrase all the time as a kid growing up in the Midwest, especially by my grandparents. I'm actually rather fond of the saying because of the nostalgia associated with it.
 
Unnecessary confusion, such as often occurs with inflammable and flammable.



------------------------------
—Usage note
Inflammable and flammable both mean “combustible.” Inflammable is the older by about 200 years. Flammable now has certain technical uses, particularly as a warning on vehicles carrying combustible materials, because of a belief that some might interpret the intensive prefix in- of inflammable as a negative prefix and thus think the word means “noncombustible.” Inflammable is the word more usually used in nontechnical and figurative contexts: The speaker ignited the inflammable emotions of the crowd.
Source: _http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inflammable
 
Laura
Actually, "do you see what I'm saying" is something that is said by those who are equally visual and abstract in their thinking. They describe with words and hope that their listener has built up a mental visual image of what they are describing.
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So true. I hear myself saying this in the classroom when I often mean "Do you understand?" I try to find the words the students can build with so we can create some shared meaning. Sometimes this requires finding the lowest common denominator--some metaphor from pop culture that most of them have been exposed to. It is always a creative challenge to be understood and in the process of finding the right words I usually learn something about how the minds of people and myself work.
shellycheval
 
How about "unthaw", which would mean that you're going to freeze it. :huh:

So taking some chicken out of the freezer to unthaw is absolutely not going to work! :D
 
This makes me think of a friend of mine who's fond of saying "you don't hear me not complaining" in stead of "you don't hear me complaining". It could mean the same, but doesn't necessarily have to, so I think it's funny. Normally however I don't really like more than one negation in a sentence, but perhaps there could be instances where it's just the right thing to say.
 
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