Pet Peeves!

[Lise]

Here's a really irrational one of mine, from the ever merging border between Spanish and English in this country: In English we say take a pill, take my medicine. In Spanish, the verb "tomar" can mean both take and drink. So people who grew up speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere else almost invariably say, "I drank my medicine", "I drank my pills", "How many times a day should I drink it?", etc. It drives me nuts. It's futile to try to correct it, "In English you can only drink a liquid. You cannot drink a pill. Say 'take', not 'drink'." They look at me as if I were a cranky, control freak, middle aged white woman in a lab coat. Which I am, of course! But still.

The latest from the Spanglish files: A dad yells to his little boy, "Watchale!" as he runs down the aisle at Target. ie: Watch it!, but in Spanglish.

[Trek420]

has anyone mentioned "more importantly" yet?

more imortant, importantly is not a word or not a good one anyway....yet. Used to drive my Dad right up the wall, I'm sure its use contributed to his demise.

[Geonz]

She strutted about, importantly, as her minions greased her bicycle. However, Philippa knew that her grease was no more important than others'.

Personally, I prefer changing to adverb form if, in fact, you are modifying an action. So, "More importantly, you must remember to inflate your tires!" woudl not pique my peevedness.