words that make you grit your teeth

[Eden]

(Though I hope my weird sentence structures do not make other people crazy -- I tend to use excessive "--", "....", and such on emails or boards, but I really (really) do know how to write correctly!)

I tend to use "....." and a few other things on message boards too, that I would never use if I were writing say, a research grant, or a term paper. I think it is because we are trying to recreate conversation when here. A little judicious use of devices like smilies or "...." or italics hopefully convey a lot of emotion that can otherwise be difficult to get across when writing informally. "I suppose, if it were preferred, we could add a narrator" said the writer, who winked and paused meaningfully.

[Crankin]

Well, I use the ellipses and semi-colons a lot on here, but not in formal writing. It's more for emphasis. I admit to using "frickin" and friggin', along with god. But I also use the real f word more than I should, too. Not at work, though!
CrazyC, they abbreviate everything here in Massachusetts, too. When I moved to Florida at age 15, I asked directions, something like, "How do you get to 77th Ave?" Here in MA, you never say avenue. The name of the street is Massav, Commav, etc. Man, I was laughed at for using that abbreviation in speech. Every school I worked at here called the lunch room the caf and when I was a special needs teacher, I didn't know what the heck they were talking about when they kept referring to "sped."
I use wicked once in awhile, as in the New England-ism Veronica refers to. When I used wicked-pissa once, when my kids were teens, it sent them over the edge. No one says that anymore, at least from what I can tell.
Ain't, I seen, dint, prolly

[indigoiis]

"these ones"
It's technically correct, but it is just so wrong.

[SadieKate]

I have a question for those of you who dislike certain words like "prolly." Do you hate every instance of it or do you recognize that it can be used in jest? I would never use the word in a formal situation, but to friends and family with the right inflection, it's just a figure of speech. Like times one uses the word "ain't". When I am speaking with someone, I can generally tell by the speaker's inflection whether she knows the difference between proper and poor grammar.

Out fishing with my brother once, he stumbled around for the name of young turkeys. He conjured up "turklets" and it's stuck. Not a real word, but who cares? He's not going to use it in a research paper.

Language is such a fluid thing and humor can come in many forms.

[Aggie_Ama]

Out fishing with my brother once, he stumbled around for the name of young turkeys. He conjured up "turklets" and it's stuck. Not a real word, but who cares? He's not going to use it in a research paper.

Language is such a fluid thing and humor can come in many forms.

I call a herd of moose MEESE. We are planning a trip to Alaska and were talking about seeing Moose. I told my husband, why is the plural of goose Geese but the plural of Moose isn't Meese? We got a good laugh and now we say it. Prolly would piss a lot of people off to hear it.

I think what annoys me is over use of words. My brother-in-law uses ain't all the time. Any my cheek tingles when I hear it remembering getting slapped for saying it over and over just to piss off my mom.

[rij73]

This thread is hilarious... I just remembered another one that REALLY gets to me.

I hate it when the word "crescendo" is used to describe a climax or peak. I've heard this pretty frequently as in: "His anger reached a crescendo." I think it has become an accepted use.

Crescendo means "growing" in Italian. It is used in music as an indication to increase volume gradually. It does not mean anything about the moment of greatest volume or climax!

My husband (an architect) hates it when "architect" is used to describe someone in a non-architectural sense. For example: "The architect of the 9-11 terror attacks." Drives him NUTS!