Random on-line grammar rant

[33girl]

Does it drive anyone else abslutely insane when people refer to a "web sight"?? I go especially nuts when I see it on a GREEK web site - kind of shoots all our scholarship claims out the window...

Proper usage:

"My hair in the morning is a terrible SIGHT. If it had its own web SITE it would be called <A HREF="http://www.badhairday.com."" TARGET=_blank>www.badhairday.com."</A>

I just needed to get that off my chest!!

[12dn94dst]

LMAO!!! i didn't know the internet could see!! do you need a web cam to go to a "web sight"???? LOL

[Sexy Mocha]

LOL!! Well, if you think that's bad...get a load of this.....A neighbor of mine was watching Jerry Springer the other day. All of a sudden he calls out "Hey guys, you have to get in here and watch this!"
"What's the topic?" my friends and I yell back.
"It's one of those Fraternity shows." he replies.
Now, we're like that's odd...Jerry never had any topics dealing with fraternities or Greek life before. Running to the television,we hear this idiot say..."I don't see how these women can come on national t.v. to take a FRATERNITY test to find out who their baby's daddy is!"

Totally different person, as he's explaining to me how his father use to always accuse him of selling drugs, says very seriously..."I don't know why... but my dad was always under the CONCEPTION that I was doing something illegal to get money."

WHAT THE FU.........?!?

My dad's friend, after returning from a funeral, tells my mom..."Even though I did REVIEW the body the other day, I decided to go to the funeral as well."


THREE WORDS.....PATERNITY, ASSUMPTION, VIEW

In the immortal words of Jerry...Where do they find these people??

[This message has been edited by Sexy Mocha (edited September 04, 2000).]

[Texas Alum]

my all-time biggest grammar peeves:
(since we are having a little rant)


1) GOTTEN is not a word.
2) Neither is IRREGARDLESS
3) it is "et cetera", not "ek cetera"

When I hear these, I just cringe... although I just smile and don't say a word! Although I have to confess that even I slip a "gotten" in once in a while. Once you start listening for it, you will see -- people use it ALL the time!

[Elite Ivy]

I thought I was the only one who cringes everytime someone murders the English language.

Here are some of my pet peeves:
1. You do not FUNERALIZE a person, you EUGOLIZE them. Funeralize is not a word.

2. I seen is not correct, try I saw.

3. Disencourage is not a word, try discourage.

4. Words that end in ed, do not need that extra syllable to show that they are in the past tense. Ex. liked, not likeded. To be phonetically correct, the ed should actually be said as a t.

5. Where you at, Where's that at, ect. is not correct. My mom always replies with behind that preposition.

This list could go on and on. I have a BS in Speech/Communicative Disorders.

[thatgirl]

Oh MY, MY, MY. I stand corrected. Irregardless IS a word.

Main Entry: ir·re·gard·less
Pronunciation: "ir-i-'gärd-l&s
Function: adverb
Etymology: probably blend of irrespective and regardless
Date: circa 1912
nonstandard : REGARDLESS
usage Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that "there is no such word." There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

[Siobhan]

There are a lot of grammar mistakes that make me cringe, but I would have to say the worst is 'funner'. EG, sorority ABC is funner than sorority XYZ. Ahhh!!

[thatgirl]

LMAO @ 'irregardless'. Why do people act like they don't know.

While we're on the subject...

Dagnabbit, CONVERSATE is NOT a word. Converse.

PACIFICALLY.... SP. SP. SP. The word is SPECIFICALLY!!

My all-time favorite. CORRECTIFY. The pimp on Springer goes:
"Now, correctify me if I'm wrong."
CORREEEEEECCTIFFFFFYYYYYYY!
Somebody wake me up!

[dc1]

It drives me crazy when people write really long responses with no punctuation and no ending it seems as thought the thought just rambles on endlessly with no reference to their original thought and most often looses meaning halfway down the post because the reader spends longer trying to decifer what the originator intended to say than the actual meaning and it gets really old trying to place mental punctuation within the large.... oh forget it, I forgot where I was going with this. :P

[matthewg]

I think, to say "gotten" instead of "got" (in terms of: I have got/gotten) or "forgotten" instead of "forgot" is correct, at least in British English - that's what I learned at school. "gotten/forgotten" is a little bit older and might not be very common, but, please correct me if I am wrong, I think both forms are still valid. The same applies to different spelling of words in Britain and the US (neighbor vs. neighbour; theater vs. theatre).

[mgdzkm433]

Ok, this isn't 'writing' stuff, but one thing I do that drives me crazy is the word 'for'. Ok, I'm from West Virginia, so I have just a hint of any accent. When I say the word 'for' it comes out 'fer' if I'm talking fast. I can't stand it, and I constantly correct myself. I also hate being made fun of for regional dialect such as 'POP'. OK people, around here we say 'pop' when talking about soft drinks, I don't make fun of other people for saying 'soda' so get over it! That's one of my pet peeves, I can't stand when people make fun of me for the way I talk. As long as we are on grammar, we all make mistakes. But here are a few that drive me crazy.

you're, not your. (someone pointed this one out earlier--drives me crazy too)

a lot, not alot (it's two words!)

BADLY NOT BAD (ex. "I feel so bad" is WRONG!!!! It's "I feel so BADLY") That is the one that REALLY drives me crazy.

[Texas Alum]

thatgirl - thank you! although I would never USE "irregardless" (holding tight to my personal opinion that it is just not as correct as "regardless"), I am so glad to have a point of reference - because I will now refrain from correcting anyone!!!!


mgdzkm433 - GIRL, I am with you!!!! I will not make fun of your "pop" if you do not make fun of my "Coke". YES, in Texas we call ALL pop or soda "Coke" - regardless of the brand name (I didn't do that on purpose, honest )... as in "I'm going into the 7-11 for a coke, do you want one?" "Yeah, bring me a Sprite."

Also, can I just say for the record.... (and PLEASE back me up on this if you are from the South)...

I CANNOT and WILL NOT give up my "y'all". I may have been a National Merit Scholar and an English major, but "y'all" is here to stay, IMHO. It is just more practical! Every language on the planet - except English - has a proper word to indicate the collective "you". It is just LOGICAL. Why else would they say "youse guys" and "you all" and everything else all over the country? it makes SENSE to have a term that reflects the second-person pronoun of a group.

and that's my 57 cents...

[James]

This might wander a little bit . . .

Thank you for the clarification on irregardless. I had used it previously but stopped when I was corrected.

Proper use of good and well is a pet peeve of mine. Contrary to popular opinion the words are not interchangeable! I wince when I hear them used improperly.

IT is curious that there doesn't seem to be a second person pronoun that is plural and all inclusive of a group. I tend to use the word "everyone". "Listen up everyone!"

Some of the other improper uses of words that people are mentioning I have never heard used that way. Makes me wonder what parts of the country we all come from


James

[mwedzi]

tsk, tsk, tsk, you all get really uptight about this grammar thing, huh? I taught English and don't care as much as ya'll do (hee hee). Being a linguistics major has really freed me from obsession with prescriptive grammar, though I never cared too much to begin with.

Language changes. Things that we consider correct now were incorrect at some point and vice versa. And language will continue to change, so there is really no point fighting it.

Let it go. Move on. Breathe.

[33girl]

One other Greek-related grammar faux pas that makes me cuckoo.....

I would like to know what in the world people think they are saying when they refer to a "perspective member."

If you mean a PROSPECTIVE member, say so. If you don't know the difference, it's called a dictionary...look into it.