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

sav2001

"New and improved"... It's one or the other, it is impossible for something to be both!!! This is one of many!

ThePlague

You, of course, mean "legionary" and not "legionnaire".

northerner60

caroline. wrote: »

People think I'm petty with this one, but I can't stand it when people say 'p' instead of 'pence'. Especially on adverts!! I always shout 'PENCE' at the television!

Thank you for mentioning one of my pet irritations, as my Maths teacher 30 years ago used to say " A p is a vegetable. "The replacement of the "th" sound with the letter f really irritates me. I have noticed this recently on "The Chase" by the chaser Mark who asks if the contestants would like to win "Firty Fousand pounds" :mad:. Sadly if people in the media are unable to use our language correctly what hope do our children have. There are numerous complaints about poor standards in education. We need to start with television presenters especially on Children's tv.

Neil_of_Stevenage

northerner60 wrote: »

The replacement of the "th" sound with the letter f really irritates me. I have noticed this recently on "The Chase" by the chaser Mark who asks if the contestants would like to win "Firty Fousand pounds" :mad:. Sadly if people in the media are unable to use our language correctly what hope do our children have. There are numerous complaints about poor standards in education. We need to start with television presenters especially on Children's tv.

Now you've got me going - I could put my foot through the TV every time I see that commercial for "Bet Free Six Five".

ewarts

I've seen "Addicting" a lot on the internet recently. For example "This game is very addicting" and "Chocolate is addicting".
Surely it's "This game is addictive" / "I find chocolate addictive".
Addicting could be used in the sentance "By giving her lots of chocolate, Ann was addicting Sue to chocolate".

koru

ScarletBea wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying me on the origins of the word 'decimate'.

As this whole thread is a pedant's charter, I can't resist pointing out that they did not clarify you. They clarified the origins.

KimYeovil

baby_fuzz wrote: »

If I'm feeling a little silly, I try and get it for 2p... Especially if they are missing the £, and it says 1.99p!:D

http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2007/08/original-recording-of-verizon-customer.html

kneelbeforezod

ewarts wrote: »

Addicting could be used in the sentance

Sentence

beebuzz168

Lollypop1234 wrote: »

One that has recently stunned me was the amount of people in our office who call a drawer a draw.

I hear this so often now that I'd started to think i was wrong in calling it a drawer!!

andyfras_2

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).

I had not heard of this, so I checked in my Concise Oxford Dictionary:

"accessory n. & adj. (also accessary)
n. (pl. -ies)
1 an additional or extra thing.
2 (usu. in pl.) a a small attachment or fitting. b a small item of (esp. a woman's) dress (e.g. shoes, gloves, handbag).
3 (often foll. by to) a person who helps in or knows the details of an (esp. illegal) act, without taking part in it.
adj. additional; contributing or aiding in a minor way; dispensable.
accessory before (or after) the fact a person who incites (or assists) another to commit a crime."