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

Niksan

I should of like literally died 110% after I failed to brought a pacifically top rated cISA.

paul1664

I want to scream when I hear (usually Americans):

"I could care less about ....."

when it should be

"I could'nt care less ...."

If you could care less then it obviously isn't something to be that bothered over.

Idiots.

Raksha

'Can I go to the loo?'

As my Teachers at school used to say 'I would hope you can, what you mean is 'May I go to the loo?'

Febuary - it's FebRuary!!!

billieboy_2

My pet hate is "somethink" instead of "something". I'm absolutely amazed at the times I hear this on the television .

skirkpatrick

Everyone in the whole, wide world seems to spell "lose" with two 'o's. Why is this? To loose something is an entirely different thing than to lose something!

(But don't you often find that when you're being a grammar nazi and typing, you end up making a silly mistake yourself?)

Niksan

paul1664 wrote: »

I want to scream when I hear (usually Americans):

"I could care less about ....."

when it should be

"I could'nt care less ...."

If you could care less then it obviously isn't something to be that bothered over.

Idiots.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/may/20/language-usa

chrismbt

Two pet hates are "ask" pronounced "arks" and "quite unique".

"Unique" means that there is only one of it, there are no degrees of "uniqueness", if there are two or more then its not unique. Nothing can be "very unique". Unique seems to have become a synonym for "rare".

chrismbt

By the way, "cheap at half the price" makes no sense!

Tupperware_Queen

ScarletBea wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. To decimate is to reduce drastically, not just 10%, it's not linked to the 'decimal system'.

it is how the Roman legionnaire instilled discipline, they would kill 10% of soldiers - hence decimate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army)

I vividly remember this from a Latin lesson at school

ginger_tosser

ScarletBea wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. To decimate is to reduce drastically, not just 10%, it's not linked to the 'decimal system'.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. The term "decimate" IS linked to the number 10. The origins of the word stem from the Roman times where it was used to instill disciplineand "encourage" performance by killing every tenth person in a poorly performing legion.