<p>“I don’t mean to be rude but…”</p>
<p>Well then just don’t say it because you *are *about to be rude. Either just say it and be rude, or don’t say whatever it is. Don’t preface your rudeness by saying you don’t mean to be rude! That makes it seem even more rude. </p>
<p>And all variations of the same - I don’t mean to be offensive etc etc</p>
<p>How about “woken” and “boughten”?</p>
<p>Those get to me.</p>
<p>How about when someone says “Gee, your hair looks great today!”</p>
<p>It always makes me wonder what my hair looks like on OTHER days.</p>
<p>I hate the new trend of saying “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome.” I see it with young people in service transactions. </p>
<p>And here’s a pet peeve, somewhat related: I was in the Apple Store, the bill came to $xx.79. I paid in cash and said, “I have the 79 cents” to indicate to her that I was getting out the exact change so she didn’t start to make change. She said, “Awesome.” Well, no, it’s not awesome that I had 79 cents on me!</p>
<p>You LOSE belongings you don’t loose them.</p>
<p>Around here a lot of people AXE for advise.</p>
<p>pizzagirl, I totally agree about the misuse of “awesome”. </p>
<p>The Grand Canyon is awesome. Childbirth is awesome.</p>
<p>Having the correct change, not so much.</p>
<p>And a second on your petpeeve of things to say instead of “you’re welcome,” pizzagirl. The one I’ve noticed alot lately is “No worries!” Where are we, the land down under?</p>
<p>Another pet peeve in our family is football announcers who routinely use the present tense when the event being discussed has clearly already happened. As in, “If Santana makes this catch (that he just missed!), it’s a sure score for Washington.” etc. It’s the standard way they talk anymore!! What is the deal with that? Guess just to make it come more alive or something.</p>
<p>ghostfire13–are you from PA? I’ve only heard some of H relatives use whenever instead of when, and he is from PA. It always dives me crazy when I hear it.</p>
<p>Most of the things posted above annoy me.</p>
<p>However, where I live, it’s even worse. The majority of people wouldn’t even realize any of those things were incorrect. They couldn’t care less and I’m labeled the grammar snob if I take note of such things (never to someone publicly, but say something to my H or kids)</p>
<p>Here are my biggest daily grammar annoyances:
“I seen”
“They was”
“He done”</p>
<p>Popular country music does nothing to help any of the above examples…</p>
<p>I guess this one is my biggerest (hehe) complaint, and it’s in constant use by teenagers:
“Me and Sam…” Ug. My D’s new speech and language pathologist (who makes a big deal of her Master’s degree and experience) also says this. Ug. Ug.</p>
<p>What do they teach in English class anymore? It certainly isn’t grammar.</p>
<p>Bad grammar, lazy spelling, and leetspeak do bother me, but what really gets me is “collegiate-speak” – the use of high-falutin’ two-bit words to describe (in a veiled or grant-prompting manner) very basic concepts.
Utilize. (try “use”)
Indubitably. (try “yes”)
Disbursement. (try “spending”)
Human capital. (try “staff”)
Methodology. (this one kills me – do you really mean the study of methods?)
Paradigm shift. (well, “change” is overused now :D)</p>
<p>Edit: Just remembered my absolute, all-time pet peeve of all. “Administrate.” No, no, noooooo! An administrator doesn’t administrate anything, darn it – he administers the object of his administration. Gaah!</p>
<p>Oh, and LOL.</p>
<p>“hi there”
“hi lol”
“how r u”
“fine lol u?”
“k”
“lol”
“rofl”</p>
<p>Come on folks… you’re not really rolling on the floor and laughing out loud at the word “hi.” I once bought a small appliance from someone, an adult no less, whose sales pitch was, “you’ll love it, it’s perfect lol!” Come to think of it, the appliance was defective and had to be returned, so maybe she was laughing.</p>
<p>My pet peeves right now have to do with visiting family. (Mine just left after spending the last 6 days with us.) Here goes: Why did they have to bring: 1) the 9-year-old’s pet hamster (someone at home was willing to watch him) and then leave a trash bag full of smelly hay in the guest bedroom; 2) the Wii they got for Christmas and related Wii gizmos as well as four other electronic games (Leap things?) for the 7 year old’s amusement; 3) a piece of plywood to put under the mattress in the guest room (they told me they don’t like the memory foam–I offered another room, but they insisted that the wood under the mattress would do the trick; 4)their leftover food from Christmas (it would be a crime to let it go to waste–no one ate it and they left it in my fridge) and finally–even if I refused, it would have been great if they’d offered to load the dishwasher (which got loaded and emptied at least twice a day) just once or to collect the plates from dinner or to make any offer to help with meals. Am I being unreasonable? My spouse says I should just chill since they’re only here two or three times a year.</p>
<p>^^haha, lol your post sounds like an Ann Landers or Dear Abby entry. I am not sure your post belongs in this thread however.</p>
<p>“ghostfire13–are you from PA? I’ve only heard some of H relatives use whenever instead of when, and he is from PA. It always dives me crazy when I hear it.”</p>
<p>No, I’m in southern California, but I hear it on TV.</p>
<p>my pet peeves have nothing to do with language, but they are sound related.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Gum chewing - I should not be able to hear your gum in your mouth (people in the office do this as well as out in public) </p></li>
<li><p>Whistling - if you are not in the shower, I don’t want to hear your tune (again I don’t understand why people feel like they can walk down a hallway making a piercing sound)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>One of my pet peeves is not grammar-related:</p>
<p>In the grocery store, women put their purse in the seat for toddlers, then walk away to go squeeze the lemons. About five times a year, in our local newspaper, in the “Police Reports” section, some woman’s purse is stolen from the grocery cart. Are these people stupid?? When I pass their cart with the purse at the store, I want to smack their heads and tell them that if they don’t pay attention to their purse, then I’ll steal it, just to teach them a lesson!!</p>
<p>And on the subject of grocery stores, how about people who are “surprised” that they have to pay when checkout is complete? Okay…take the checkbook out of your purse…how much do I owe?..oops, I forget, I have coupons…just let me write out the check …this pen dried up, do you have another?..slowly sign your name…</p>
<p>You want to mop up my melted ice cream?</p>
<p>I knew this thread would drive me nuts.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot about “axe”. I heard that explained once. A fellow on TV explained why blacks have trouble with the <em>sk</em> sound in ask- because in none of the languages native to Africa does that sound exist. He compared it to some sounds Americans have difficulty with when they speak German or sounds Japanese have difficulty with when they speak English.
Imo it’s hard to buy that explanation. An African immigrant perhaps- but a black here, many generations removed from Africa? And if his explanation is to be believed, how could a person properly pronounce ski or skill?</p>
<p>I agree about “no problem” or “not a problem”. These drive me nuts. Are they really saying… “well, THIS time it’s not a problem, but next time it might be!”? After talking to my H about this (he is in a service industry), he made a point of telling employees not to use the phrase when dealing with customers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Another variation of this behavior also annoys me (my New Year’s resolution is to chill out about this stuff, but it’s OK if I just write about it, I think . . . )–huge line waiting for an open cashier (think CVS Pharmacy check-out) and one person (usually a woman) pays for her stuff, but then takes two years to count her change, open her purse/put the money back or the credit card and then zip the purse and pick up her stuff. Unlike the grocery store scenario–all the slow-poke has to do is move to the side and organize herself. I know there are older folks who don’t move as fast as they once did, but moving to the side is really not that hard and it lets everyone check out quickly.</p>