Has someone recently made it illegal to say "outstanding", "forthcoming" or "before"?
I cannot think why else everyone would be saying "stand out", "upcoming" or "ahead of" in their place.
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I don't know but....
.... it seems to have become legal to:-
- say (and write) 'would of' for 'would have';
- make transitive verbs intransitive (as in, for example, 'your order has despatched'. What exactly has my order despatched?); and, of course
- the ubiquitous aberrant apostrophe.
People who write and speak so carelessly should be ranked among child molesters, bankers and used car salesmen and sent to a concentration camp on St. Kilda for re-education.
Or 'Firstly' rather than 'First', no such word! The same applies to 'secondly' and 'thirdly' apparently!
St Kilda ...
... Mount Etna would be my choice, just lob them in to appease the gods of punctuation , spelling and grammer, known also as the three wise monkeys "He're no evil "; "Sea no evil"; and "Spoked no evil"
Grammar prize
... Mount Etna would be my choice, just lob them in to appease the gods of punctuation , spelling and grammer, known also as the three wise monkeys "He're no evil "; "Sea no evil"; and "Spoked no evil"
I have spotted the above trick post and now claim my prize.
My pet hate is "fed up of...."
Just to widen the rant a bit and in the spirit of the awards season.
Candidates for the 'Head furthest up his/her own a**** award'
My nomination is Evan Davis on Today who referred to himself as "part of the metrosexual metropolitan elite"
Unique and tautology
Unique means there is only one. It is an absolute quality. Something is either unique or it isn't. So something cannot be "fairly unique" or "pretty unique". Such things are simply rare.
Also PIN is an acronym. Personal Identification Number. So there is no need to say PIN number, the number part is already in there.
Mine are
'Different to' rather than 'different from' (Different FROM, similar or identical TO)
'Comprising of' rather than 'comprising'(beloved of estate agents!)
Affect and effect
My personal bugbear is when people confuse affect and effect. It really effects me badly when people fail to understand the affects of this mix-up ;)
Train station
OK in Nashville but not in Nuneaton. Correct term is 'railway station'. I have even heard this on Radio 4 for goodness sake.
For those that disagree, try singing the opening line of Simon & Garfunkel's Homeward Bound or the refrain of Abba's Another Town Another Train using your preferred option. Doesn't work does it?
Songs as precedents?
OK in Nashville but not in Nuneaton. Correct term is 'railway station'. I have even heard this on Radio 4 for goodness sake.
For those that disagree, try singing the opening line of Simon & Garfunkel's Homeward Bound or the refrain of Abba's Another Town Another Train using your preferred option. Doesn't work does it?
I don't see Flash Gordon approving of citing songs - specifically the Rolling Stones and Get off of my Cloud! :-)
Five
I don't see Flash Gordon approving of citing songs - specifically the Rolling Stones and Get off of my Cloud! :-)
There's a song by Five that uses off of - winds me up every time... I prefer Rolling Stones 'Paint it black' - nice and loud
Phraction Phobia
'Fifty per cent less than' - what's wrong with half?
I shouldn't mention 'more than' and 'less than' - they really get me shouting at TV or radio. 'Two times more than' - is that supposed to mean twice as much or three times as much? 'Two times less than' could be either half or minus two. Grrrrr.
Be clear and concise
'There is a wide gap between the respective positions of the parties, and this will mitigate against the possibility of an early resolution to the dispute.'
You mean 'MILITATE' you dozy plonker! What makes this even worse is the fact that the speaker or writer is using fancy words in the belief that this will lend weight and credibility to his opinions. Instead he comes across as a numpty. Why not just say
'Because they are so far apart, the parties are unlikely to resolve the dispute quickly.' Job done.
Let me be Pacific about this ...
... you cannot be this ocean unless you are a saline liquid and reside between Asia, Australasia and the Americas !
It's / its
As well as the bugbears already mentioned, confusion between "it's" and "its" sets my teeth on edge - especially as my iPhone only seems to know the existence of "it's".
"It's" is short for "it is", while "its" means "belonging to it". As in, "It's sad to say my mug got its handle broken off."
M
ours yours theirs
As well as the bugbears already mentioned, confusion between "it's" and "its" sets my teeth on edge - especially as my iPhone only seems to know the existence of "it's".
Similarly some people think ours, yours and theirs should have an apostrophe because they are possessive.
I hope you are all making allowances ...
... for disconnection problems.
My fingers are usually disconnected from my brain, ie. my brain says this, but my fingers type that. I am crap at punctuation, but my spelling isn't bad .... when the connection is working :)
Rolling Stones favourite
I like Jumpin' Jack Flash ... and as a bonus it reminds me of the Whoopie Goldberg film.
Ourselves spoke to yourselves
The use of ourselves and yourselves is my pet hate.
Although I confess to not understanding grammar enough to deal with the differences between
less / fewer - and various other expressions.
I do find you tend to adopt the language of those around you - whether subconciously or not.
I remember inwardly groaning when the phrase 'shall we take that offline' came out of my own mouth.