Words......

tom32071

Jedi Master
FOTCM Member
There are two words that I try not to use too often. They are love and hate. To me these words should be used only in cases of extreme emotion. A lot of people use love and hate almost constantly. I think this is incorrect in most cases like and dislike are sufficient.

Then there are words that I try not to use at all. Like always, forever and never. To me when you use these words you are making a promise or statement that is virtually impossible to keep.

And then there are words, acronyms, initials, etc that people just use wrong.

Like the word NEED, a lot of people do not seem to understand the difference between want and need.
I was at a McDonalds once and a woman told the person behind the counter "I need" and then she proceeded to order a big mac ,etc. I so wanted to say " Lady, you do not need that." But I didn't.

Then there is V.I.N. When you go to get insurance on your car or to buy or sell a car the people will invariably ask for the VIN number of the vehicle. Now for the average person this would be a forgivable error, but for someone who works with this stuff it isn't. VIN stands for vehicle identification number, so, when they ask for the VIN number they are asking for the vehicle identification number number. I'm always tempted to say "1", after all it is the first (and probably the only) VIN for that vehicle.

I know that I am not perfect and my grammar needs some work but I try to use words properly. Sometimes it seems that people just don't care.
I know that most every one has words, acronyms, etc that it just drives them crazy when they are misused. What are they ?
 
It’s weird when someone says: “that’s what I’m saying” instead of “that’s what I said” or “that’s what I meant.”

It’s worse when they say it after you countered what they originally proposed.

Also, a lot of people over here pronounce the word “ask” as “ax.” I once overheard a conversation where this was called to attention and it was vehemently defended! :scared: :huh:
 
One of my pet peeves: people who pretend to be educated by using the word "infer" when the correct word is "imply." For some reason, they think that the two words are equivalent and that "infer" is just classier. Not so. Just think of the difference between pitching a ball and catching a ball. You pitch with imply and you catch with infer.
 
Laura said:
One of my pet peeves: people who pretend to be educated by using the word "infer" when the correct word is "imply." For some reason, they think that the two words are equivalent and that "infer" is just classier. Not so. Just think of the difference between pitching a ball and catching a ball. You pitch with imply and you catch with infer.

I've never noticed this. Wonder how many times I've done it? :umm:
 
Jerry said:
I've never noticed this. Wonder how many times I've done it? :umm:

Example: I did not imply that you were guilty, though you inferred that I might mean you.
 
one of my minor grammar pet peeves is when people say "i could care less". if they could care less, then they at least care a little....maybe a lot. and then i realized the british never use that phrasing. rather they always say, " i couldn't care less"...correctly. i have a lot to say about british pronunciation, but they have us beat out with their grammar. :)
 
lord jim said:
one of my minor grammar pet peeves is when people say "i could care less". if they could care less, then they at least care a little....maybe a lot. and then i realized the british never use that phrasing. rather they always say, " i couldn't care less"...correctly. i have a lot to say about british pronunciation, but they have us beat out with their grammar. :)

Where I grew up, it was always "I couldn't care less." Then, in later years when a lot of yankees moved into the area, it sort of morphed into "I could care less." That always bugged me.
 
tom32071 said:
Then there is V.I.N. When you go to get insurance on your car or to buy or sell a car the people will invariably ask for the VIN number of the vehicle. Now for the average person this would be a forgivable error, but for someone who works with this stuff it isn't. VIN stands for vehicle identification number, so, when they ask for the VIN number they are asking for the vehicle identification number number. I'm always tempted to say "1", after all it is the first (and probably the only) VIN for that vehicle.

Good point Tom. A similar one to this is when people talk about the "PIN number" of their credit or ATM card. PIN stands for "Personal Identification Number".

Anyway, just remember, never give your PIN to anyone you don't trust, but you can give your PIN number (if you know it) to anyone you like. ;)
 
lord jim said:
one of my minor grammar pet peeves is when people say "i could care less". if they could care less, then they at least care a little....maybe a lot. and then i realized the british never use that phrasing. rather they always say, " i couldn't care less"...correctly. i have a lot to say about british pronunciation, but they have us beat out with their grammar. :)

Yeah, I've notice that one used a lot.

Another mistake which I think mostly Americans seem to make is the swapping of the words 'then' and 'than' sometimes when writing.
I can understand a phrase like “He liked it more then that”, because it fits with the usual American accent, a sort of drawl, ( I'll rephrase that to yankees after reading Laura's post above) but the same people who make that mistake also seem to usually do the opposite and put 'than' where 'then' should be.

For instance: “He said goodbye than walked out of the room.”
I can't figure that out. Didn't they ever get pulled up for it at school? Any ideas?
 
The error of ending a sentence with "you know?" (and this kind of incomplete sentence structure.)

:lol:
 
These have all been pretty good. Quite a few of them are on my list. Some of them you have to attribute to background and some are just ignorance.

A lot of times people will use "their" and "they're" improperly and then there's "your" and "you're", you really only notice this in writing, and there are some others that sound the same but when written there is a difference.

I usually try to avoid the big, $5.00 words and stick with the simple, $.50 words. Partly because most people understand the simpler words, but also because I understand them. If I try to use the bigger words I usually have to check the dictionary first.

My sister is a great one for using the big words and a lot of times really obscure words. Quite often it will slow down my reading because I have to figure what the word she used means. I think that sometimes she actually makes up words to suit her needs. Probably not but sometimes it seems that way.

Something that really annoys me is a person that can't seem to talk without using swear words, especially in mixed company. I'm no angel, I swear as much as the next person, but, I really, really try not to do it mixed company. To me it is just disrespectful.

Something else I've noticed is that if something I say can be interpreted in more than one way it usually is, and generally not the way I meant it.
 
tom32071 said:
I usually try to avoid the big, $5.00 words and stick with the simple, $.50 words. Partly because most people understand the simpler words, but also because I understand them. If I try to use the bigger words I usually have to check the dictionary first.

ah yes, long words for the sake of them. made me think of this :) :

Red Dwarf said:
CAT: Er, just for me: could you run that by me one more time, but this time do the big writing version, with pictures. One word per page?

KRYTEN: Let me think of a cogent paradigm...

CAT: I'd rather have a good example..?
 
Nomad Reply #13 on: Today at 10:26:26 AM said:
Quote from: Red Dwarf
CAT: Er, just for me: could you run that by me one more time, but this time do the big writing version, with pictures. One word per page?

KRYTEN: Let me think of a cogent paradigm...

CAT: I'd rather have a good example..?

Good one!! I like that.

Actually I shouldn't pick on my sister for her use of high dollar words. She really is a word person, she enjoys words and she probably uses some words just because they need to be taken out and used from time to time. As far as slowing down my reading that is probably a good thing as sometimes I go fairly quickly and could miss the whole point sometimes.
 
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