2008 Season Opener for: "Irritating Words and Expressions" 1

[SantaMufasa]

As several have requested, this thread puts to bed the old, longer-than-comfortable thread that has a similar title.

<soap box>

My Pet Peeve of verbal irritation is the seemingly universal abuse of pronouns on either side of any form/conjugation/tense of the verb infinitive, "to be".

This verb is unique in that it implies equality. As we know from maths class, "If A = B, then B = A". In English, this correlates to "If A is B, then B is A". This implies that if we use pronouns on either side of any usage of the verb "to be", the pronouns should be nominative/subjective, not objective.

Specifically, when we use "to be", pronouns should be subjective: I, he, she, we, they; not objective: me, him, her, us, them.

Abuse: It's me.
Correction: It's I.
Reverse to prove: "I am it."; not "Me am it."

Abuse: The winners should be us.
Correction: The winners should be we.
Reverse to prove: "We should be the winners."; not "Us should be the winners."

Abuse: The most qualified is her.
Correction: The most qualified is she.
Reverse to prove: "She is the most qualified."; not "Her is the most qualified."

Sammy Davis Jr. Lyric abuse: "I've Gotta Be Me."
Less poetic correction: "I Must Be I".
Reverse to prove: "I must be I"; not "Me have got to be I."

So, let's please always use subjective/nominative pronouns when using any form/conjucation/tense of the infinitive, "to be".

</soap box>



Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[ESquared]

annunciate -> enunciate

 

[Remou]

"missing" is my destination every time I go on holiday!

You might enjoy Communicado.

 

[LNBruno]

At the end of the day" whatever it is you’re blathering on about won't freaking matter because we're all getting out of here, heading to a pub, and trying to forget what a complete imbecile you sound like using these tired, worn-out, and mostly meaningless expressions.

< M!ke >
[small]Don't believe everything you think.[/small]

 

[SantaMufasa]

It is often fun to throw a "spanner" ("wrench") in the conversation when some cliché seems viable:

At the end of the millenium

or

At the end of the minute

Another linguistic pet peeve...constant misspelling (especially in non-MAI Tek-Tips forums) of separate as seperate


Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[MeGustaXL]

Another linguistic pet peeve...constant misuse of "constant" when the writer means "repeated"










Chris

So you ride yourselves over the fields,
and you make all your animal deals,
and your wise men don't know how it feels...

Ian Anderson

 

[SantaMufasa]

Yeah...I constantly hate that. <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[johnwm]

Similar confusion exists over the use of continuous and continual.

I continually see them confused.

___________________________________________________________
If you want the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first.
'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'
Drive a Steam Roller
Steam Engine Prints

 

[p5wizard]

if I plugged in the cable I might use her iwreless network

Well, yesterday a work crew started ripping out wall and ceiling panels in our office building and they went on to install a bunch of new cables. When asked what they were for, the crew foreman replied, we're uh... installing wireless networking. ;-)

p5

 

[MeGustaXL]

Similar confusion exists over the use of continuous and continual.

Yeah, I constantly confuse them, leading to continuous tapping of the backspace key, making continual corrections <grin>

 

[kjv1611]

Well, yesterday a work crew started ripping out wall and ceiling panels in our office building and they went on to install a bunch of new cables. When asked what they were for, the crew foreman replied, we're uh... installing wireless networking.

[ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2]

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[Dollie]

I literally hate the use of literally in every single literal description, literally.

And now, with the election year on us, I have the feeling we'll be seeing "yes, but..." make a comeback.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Repeated misspelling of "definitely" as "definately".

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[razalas]

You want to..." or "You don't want to..."

as in "You want to take Main St. and turn left at Elm to get there quickly."

Especially when spoken by someone I consider a friend.

Maybe I really don't want to go down Main. Maybe, I really would rather go by way of Broadway. How can you possibly know what I really want?

How can I really call you a friend, if you don't respect my capacity for making my own choices and knowing my only feelings?

Or am I just overly sensitive?

Code what you mean,
and mean what you code!
But by all means post your code!

Razalas

 

[ascotta]

Now Dollie would that be ...


"Yeah but no but yer but no but yeah but no but year" ?

[blue] A perspective from the other side!![/blue]

Cheers
Scott

 

[Stella740pl]

...constant misspelling (especially in non-MAI Tek-Tips forums) of separate as seperate
...
Repeated misspelling of "definitely" as "definately".

May I add to your list also misspelling "experience" as "experiance"?

 

[SantaMufasa]

Amen, Stella, "definately" is definitely near the top of my Verbal Annoyances list. Thanks for adding that one.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Thargy]

Americans saying "off of" instead of from.

Is this acceptable in American English, or just poor performance from our colonial cousins, who use and abuse English, well.... almost as much as the English!

T

Grinding away at things Oracular

 

[Stella740pl]

Americans saying "off of" instead of from.

Hm.

I am not a native English speaker, so please bear with me.

"Off of" combination can be confusing, but I thought that when it is used, "off" is usually part of the verb phrase, not just an adverb in itself.

Something like this: "Our detergent will lift the toughest stains off of all your clothes.", or, to avoid breaking the verb phrase apart, "The toughest stains will come off of your clothes."

Can it really be substituted with "Our detergent will lift the toughest stains from all your clothes." or "The toughest stains will come from your clothes."?

Or, say, this sentence "We will take 10 percent off of the price of your purchase." (In this case, by the way, I am not completely sure whether "off" goes with the verb "take" or not.) But would this substitution be correct: "We will take 10 percent from the price of your purchase." ?

 

[SantaMufasa]

Tharg,

Although I agree that some "iliteruts" abuse "off of" where "from" should appear, I have not found its misuse here any more rampant than amongst my Commonwealth Buddies.

Further, I agree with Stella, that universal replacement of "off of" with "from" is not necessarily in order. Where "off of" is appropriate, use of "from" slightly modifies the contextual meaning.

"Off of" implies some manner of "removal from, or diminuation of" something, while "from" implies more of "origin" without regard for any diminuation of mass or amount from a source.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Thargy]

Stella,

for all to see, including Santa, my response to your questions.

"Off of " is usually just plain wrong. So, I would say
instead of
"Our detergent will lift the toughest stains off of all your clothes"

one should say
Our detergent will lift the toughest stains off all your clothes, or
Our detergent will lift the toughest stains from all your clothes.

My best attempt would be
"Our detergent will remove the toughest stains from all your clothes".

In your question about
"The toughest stains will come from your clothes." I would imagine this being used where someone has stains on their clothes, shoes, hair, skin etc and all are to be cleaned.

The response might be, "it will be difficult to clean your shoes, but the toughtest stains will come from your clothes". By using the word "toughest" you introduce the idea of degree of difficulty (IMHO).

I believe that your last phrase is correct.
"We will take 10 percent from the price of your purchase." although in American English I believe that more common usage would be
"We will deduct 10 percent from the price of your purchase" which I have never heard in nearly 50 years of living in England, but frequently when watching American TV programmes.

In English English (if that's permitted) I would expect to hear
"We will take 10 percent off the price of your purchase".

Ah, English, a wonderful language, elegantly and consumately designed to confuse foreigners (and Americans):->




Grinding away at things Oracular