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

jerez

I'm as guilty as a lot of people when it comes to using cliches but I hope I at least use the right cliche. My pet hate is people who say 'to be fair' when they mean 'to be honest'. As in: Q. "Would you like a tea or a coffee?" A. "To be fair I'd like a glass of water" Grrrrrrr.

dzug1

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

.

March use to be the first month of the year, .

That's another one that gets me. It's USED to.

Paul_Varjak

dzug1 wrote: »

That's another one that gets me. It's USED to.

I get a little dyslexic when I type.

juno

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I get a little dyslexic when I type.

That's my pet hate.

Everyone is either dyslexic or has a baby on their lap! Nobody will just admit to being wrong.

quoia

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

It is M&S (no spaces) or Marks and Spencer (with spaces).

Except when it isn't ...

Paul_Varjak

juno wrote: »

That's my pet hate.

Everyone is either dyslexic or has a baby on their lap! Nobody will just admit to being wrong.

I do pride myself on being honest! It is certainly not a mistake I would make in handwriting!!

Barter

KimYeovil wrote: »

... And, again, I wasn't crticising the use of abbreviations...

I know it's only a typo, but just shows we can all make mistakes...glasshouses & all that.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

TightgitJon wrote: »

One of my big pedantic niggles is British people pronouncing the noun "research" in the American way. If you want to do some "REsearch", you'd be best off starting by checking the dictionary for the correct British pronunciation. It's reSEARCH, with the stress on the second syllable, not the first.
My other biggie is the fact that newsreaders these days always seem to insist on referring to the old bill as "the pleece", swallowing the "o" which should be pronounced "uh", as in "puhlice". If they can't get it right, what hope is there for the rest of us?

I share Martin's (and others') frustration, and agree it may be my age, though the fact that I'm an English teacher makes me get more pathetically uptight about this stuff, I suppose. Although I can see I am losing these and many other battles, I can't help bemoaning them anyway. (Predictably, I agree about "should of").

Should I try to get out more, do you think?

That research is a funny one for me. If using it as a verb I would stress the second syllable but if using it as a noun I would stress the first. Never really thought about that until I read your post.

Paul_Varjak

And where do you do research? In a Laboratory. But try telling that to an American!!

And never say to an American: "I am just going outside for a fag".

But, at least, Americans do understand the difference between underpants and pants!

WhiteChristmas

Martin - there's a big regional/cultural influence on the aitch/haitch thing; apart from that, good griping. I'm going to assume the bought/brought thing is London-centric, because I've never encountered it.

I'll add;

loose/lose : how difficult can it be???

My pet hate, however, is the substitution of "myself" for (usually) "me".