'The word pedants' top 10 | It's specific, not Pacific...' blog discussion.

tabbycat2k

Aaaargh - one of my pet hates - you can borrow money FROM somebody, not OFF somebody!!!!!!!

blacke

I come from Northern Ireland and live in Scotland. Have heard this in both places.....

pattern pronounced as pattren......... it really irritates me!

redglass_2

I've been waiting all my life for this thread. :j:j:j

The death penalty should be reintroduced for people who say 'haitch' and 'fewer'. It seems only reasonable. I've also got some horrors of my own...

'Key' used instead of 'important', especially when it's in meaningless combinations like 'key priorities' (as opposed to unimportant ones?).

'Top tips' - I was happy with just ordinary tips, thanks.

'Team GB' for 'the British team'. How hard is it to say one extra syllable?

'One of the only shops that sell this...' It's either one of the few shops, or it's the only shop.

Double comparative ('more better, more colder'). I hear this a lot on Radio 4, which used to be a safe haven for pedants like me.

'Attendees.' This is a nonsense word. If you are a fiancee, it means you have been affianced to someone. If you are a divorcee, you've been divorced. That 'ee' ending means that something has been done to you, and in both cases, you also have to be female to get the double 'ee' (if you're a male who's been engaged or divorced, you only get one e). Now, does an attendee mean a woman who's been attended? No, it bl**dy doesn't! The expression that is needed is 'an attender' or 'a person attending'. I've also seen 'standees' meaning 'people standing'. :mad: What next? Learnees for learners? Singees for singers? Give me strength.

'Based around' - a thing can be based ON another thing. If it's based 'around' it, it will probably fall sideways.

'Particuarly' for 'particularly' and 'pedal stool' for pedestal'.

'Accessory after the fact' - an accessory is something like a scarf or a handbag. An accomplice is an accessary (interestingly, MSE's software is angrily underlining the word as I type, which shows how far the rot has spread).

Email messages that inform me, 'This message was sent with High Importance', instead of 'this is an important message'. How do you 'send something with High Importance'? By puffing out your cheeks and looking pompous?

Ahh. I feel twenty years younger with that off my chest, even if I do still think like a fogey.

Barter

redglass wrote: »

'Team GB' for 'the British team'. How hard is it to say one extra syllable?

Great post; thanks given. However, in the extract above, with the definite article eliminated because it could be in either statement, the number of syllables is the same. It doesn't confuse the sense, and that's the guiding issue as far as I'm concerned.

hitatotatus

It couldn't get more worser!!:eek:

sassysar

"I won her at badmington"
Oh I see, is she on the mantlepiece?

hazyjo

'24/7'. Arghhh.

It's 'communal', not 'communial'. Double arghhh!

A work colleague was talking about an 'arcove' today, meaning an alcove. Managed to bite my tongue...

Jx

esuhl

redglass wrote: »

The death penalty should be reintroduced for people who say 'haitch' and 'fewer'.

I'm with you all the way on "haitch" (it even pains me to type it!)... but what's wrong with "fewer"?!

firstinflight

Sorry, but I, and many people I work with regularly "give 110%", in that we work beyond our capacity, we put in effort that is disproportionate and unsustainable, and we get no thanks for doing so.

Eco_Miser

redglass wrote: »

'Attendees.' This is a nonsense word.

However, it is in the Oxford English Dictionary, with the meaning 'a person who attends'

redglass wrote: »

'Accessory after the fact' - an accessory is something like a scarf or a handbag. An accomplice is an accessary (interestingly, MSE's software is angrily underlining the word as I type, which shows how far the rot has spread).

All the way to the (Concise) OED, whose definition of accessary is 'var. of ACCESSORY', and actually lists the phrase 'Accessory after the fact'

redglass wrote: »

Email messages that inform me, 'This message was sent with High Importance', instead of 'this is an important message'. How do you 'send something with High Importance'? By puffing out your cheeks and looking pompous?

No, by ticking the 'High Importance' box or menu item.

shellysue wrote: »

how about

Almost exactly

It's probably misused, but there's nothing wrong with the phrase itself: for example 0.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 is almost exactly 1.

firstinflight wrote: »

Sorry, but I, and many people I work with regularly "give 110%", in that we work beyond our capacity, we put in effort that is disproportionate and unsustainable, and we get no thanks for doing so.

You can't work beyond your capacity; your capacity is at least 10% greater than you think it is. That you get no thanks, while unfortunate, and quite possible unfair, is irrelevant to the pedantry.