Grammar Pet Peeves - Page 3 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

cooper83 · 2010-04-05, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake

Ditto. But you will find many novelists (and their editors) accept its use. I do too when trying to be creative in my writing.

Rules like that are meant to be broken. Or at least that's what I tried to convince my teachers.

kcbrk32 · 2010-04-05, 06:18 PM

People who use the computer term byte in place of bite. I often see the expression "sound byte".

NB Josh · 2010-04-05, 06:43 PM

I've been told that you can start a sentence with and in certain situations. I believe mostly if you use a transition word after, for example. And then he...

Retired Guy · 2010-04-05, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PG44

Oh, yes, irregardless! It gets my blood pressure up every time.

Both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries acknowledge "irregardless" as a real, if not commonly used word. Also, before someone mentions it the word "especially" is also real.

chazz · 2010-04-05, 07:10 PM

Nice to see this discussion..but will it do any good ..so..regardless of that ..some things that bug me....using "to" instead of "into"
for example ..he goes in the room ..good grief ..use the toilet !! what they meant was ..goes into the room.
or ..TV news .. the car went in the canal.... it went INTO the darn canal !!
and there are a bunch more examples.

Now ..someone mentioned weather or temperature actually ..so ..what bugs me with weather terms is..
using the term HEAVY for wind .."There were heavy winds today" do we measure wind speeds or force by weight? No ..it's a force..light, moderate or strong.
Should be ..Strong winds ..etc

Same with fog .."Heavy fog today" ..same idea ... fog is not measured by weight... it's thick, dense, or thin or some other similar description.

Precipitation is OK described by light, moderate or heavy, ie light rain, heavy snow etc.

"Heavy cloud cover.." no no no .. thick or dense is OK

dezzpayne · 2010-04-05, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deckster

Ironically, the word is moot not mute

That was my point.

As per Webster
A malapropism (also called a Dogberryism or acyrologia) is the substitution of a word for a word with a similar sound, in which the resulting phrase makes no sense but often creates a comic effect

So yeah I found it pretty funny when people who were senior management using the phrase "mute point". Makes me realize there's hope for me yet!

Nuje · 2010-04-05, 07:36 PM

Here's a couple that always irritate me:
Subject-verb disagreement (as illustrated above).

Getting back to someone's mention over wordiness: The use of "in order", as in "we will be closing early in order to do inventory". I haven't come across a single instance since I started on this jihad against "in order" where a sentence and its meaning wouldn't have been just as clear without the "in order". Why do people use it? To sound fancy? More learned?

Got very close to another dangerous one in the preceding paragraph: the use of the double- or triple- or even quadruple-negative within a sentence where the reader is almost always going to lose track of whether the writer is for or against the topic at hand.

The other one is the spelling of "gel". As in "the Canucks are really starting to gel"; more frequently, I see it spelled as "jel".
Now, the original of this, of course would be "gelatin", meaning to come together and function as one cohesive unit. But thanks to Bill Cosby and the good people who make J-E-L-L-O (did the fact that a jingle was made with that spelling contribute to it taking over the world?), "jel" now seems to be not only acceptable, but THE way to spell it.

My pet peeve in my own writing - my overuse of hyphens. I've come to use it way too much as a crutch in tossing in snarky asides, related info, or even simply using it as a conjunction - kinda like that just right there.

JamesK · 2010-04-05, 09:36 PM

Quote:

senior management

A former manager like to say "solutioning".

wolfman · 2010-04-05, 11:03 PM

Another one... using "insure" instead of "ensure".

Korak · 2010-04-06, 09:15 AM

This one always makes me cringe, you know what I'm sayin'?
It seems to be used a lot in the U.S., you know what I'm sayin'?

magnet · 2010-04-06, 09:30 AM

If you are "giving it 110%"...
whose 10% are you stealing?
If you fill your car with gas 110%, you will leave 10% on the ground beside the pump.

Korak · 2010-04-06, 09:36 AM

So Jenny goes "Who are you goin' to the dance with"?
And I go " I'm not sure"
And she goes "How 'bout goin' with me"?
And I go "O.K."

JamesK · 2010-04-06, 10:00 AM

Or "Where are you at?" Or "high rate of speed" instead of just "high speed". Speed already implies rate (of motion).

cascarbob · 2010-04-06, 10:18 AM

Show me the rule where you reverse the v and the r, Mr. Brett Favre!

JohnnyCanuck · 2010-04-06, 10:26 AM

I hate it when Canadians spell like Americans: humour, neighbour, favourite, and centre as examples.

2010-04-05, 07:10 PM	#35
chazz Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Nepean Posts: 50	Oh Boy ! Nice to see this discussion..but will it do any good ..so..regardless of that ..some things that bug me....using "to" instead of "into" for example ..he goes in the room ..good grief ..use the toilet !! what they meant was ..goes into the room. or ..TV news .. the car went in the canal.... it went INTO the darn canal !! and there are a bunch more examples. Now ..someone mentioned weather or temperature actually ..so ..what bugs me with weather terms is.. using the term HEAVY for wind .."There were heavy winds today" do we measure wind speeds or force by weight? No ..it's a force..light, moderate or strong. Should be ..Strong winds ..etc Same with fog .."Heavy fog today" ..same idea ... fog is not measured by weight... it's thick, dense, or thin or some other similar description. Precipitation is OK described by light, moderate or heavy, ie light rain, heavy snow etc. "Heavy cloud cover.." no no no .. thick or dense is OK

2010-04-06, 09:30 AM	#41
magnet Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Calgary, AB Posts: 4,014	If you are "giving it 110%"... whose 10% are you stealing? If you fill your car with gas 110%, you will leave 10% on the ground beside the pump. __________________ When it comes to humility, I am the greatest!

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2010-04-05, 06:18 PM	#32
kcbrk32 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Winnipeg Posts: 144	People who use the computer term byte in place of bite. I often see the expression "sound byte".

2010-04-05, 06:43 PM	#33
NB Josh Veteran Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: New Brunswick - Shaw Direct Posts: 3,150	I've been told that you can start a sentence with and in certain situations. I believe mostly if you use a transition word after, for example. And then he...

2010-04-05, 07:36 PM	#37
Nuje Veteran Join Date: May 2002 Location: A charted un-desert isle Posts: 2,465	Here's a couple that always irritate me: Subject-verb disagreement (as illustrated above). Getting back to someone's mention over wordiness: The use of "in order", as in "we will be closing early in order to do inventory". I haven't come across a single instance since I started on this jihad against "in order" where a sentence and its meaning wouldn't have been just as clear without the "in order". Why do people use it? To sound fancy? More learned? Got very close to another dangerous one in the preceding paragraph: the use of the double- or triple- or even quadruple-negative within a sentence where the reader is almost always going to lose track of whether the writer is for or against the topic at hand. The other one is the spelling of "gel". As in "the Canucks are really starting to gel"; more frequently, I see it spelled as "jel". Now, the original of this, of course would be "gelatin", meaning to come together and function as one cohesive unit. But thanks to Bill Cosby and the good people who make J-E-L-L-O (did the fact that a jingle was made with that spelling contribute to it taking over the world?), "jel" now seems to be not only acceptable, but THE way to spell it. My pet peeve in my own writing - my overuse of hyphens. I've come to use it way too much as a crutch in tossing in snarky asides, related info, or even simply using it as a conjunction - kinda like that just right there.

2010-04-05, 11:03 PM	#39
wolfman Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Winnipeg Posts: 154	Another one... using "insure" instead of "ensure".

2010-04-06, 09:15 AM	#40
Korak Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Eastern Canada Posts: 311	This one always makes me cringe, you know what I'm sayin'? It seems to be used a lot in the U.S., you know what I'm sayin'?

2010-04-06, 09:36 AM	#42
Korak Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Eastern Canada Posts: 311	So Jenny goes "Who are you goin' to the dance with"? And I go " I'm not sure" And she goes "How 'bout goin' with me"? And I go "O.K."

2010-04-06, 10:00 AM	#43
JamesK Veteran Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mississauga Posts: 5,089	Or "Where are you at?" Or "high rate of speed" instead of just "high speed". Speed already implies rate (of motion).

2010-04-06, 10:18 AM	#44
cascarbob Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Whitby, ON Posts: 100	Show me the rule where you reverse the v and the r, Mr. Brett Favre!

2010-04-06, 10:26 AM	#45
JohnnyCanuck Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 4,645	I hate it when Canadians spell like Americans: humour, neighbour, favourite, and centre as examples.