Grumpy Grammar Grinch Grouses...

[Trek420]

I know, I know, as the song by C. Lauper goes: "We're just GIRLS..and we wanna have FUN.

It's "girls just want to have fun" which is very different from "we're just girls"

Oh nooooo, now it's on to the "lyric grinch"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwFeQpy_Us

[Aint Doody]

How about "mis-cheev-ius" as a pronunciation for mischievous? I abhor that. I even heard Ann Curry say it incorrectly doing the news on the Today Show a few months back.

And there's a local commercial for a restaurant in Tri Cities, WA, that has a versa-tile menu.......yikes! What do they serve???

I like "fixing to." I grew up in the Deep South and didn't realize that everybody else in the US didn't say that until I moved out to the Pacific Northwest.

[michelem]

How about "mis-cheev-ius" as a pronunciation for mischievous? I abhor that. I even heard Ann Curry say it incorrectly doing the news on the Today Show a few months back.

Yes, annoying! I guess it happens often enough for a note from Dictionary.com:

Pronunciation note:
Pronunciations of mischievous with stress on the second syllable: [mis-chee-vee-uhs] or, less commonly, [mis-chee-vuhs], instead of on the first: [mis-chuh-vuhs], are usually considered nonstandard. The pronunciation [mis-chee-vee-uhs], with the additional syllable, occurs by analogy with such words as previous and devious.

[pinkbikes]

My two pet peeves are:

infer vs imply

and

led vs lead

I am SO sick of reading job applications telling me about how some applicant "lead a team on a project." He might want to lead a team and he may have led a team, but he probably didn't dunk them in a vat of molten lead!

[Biciclista]

congradulations? ERRGGGG ARGHHH!!!!

[bmccasland]

congradulations? ERRGGGG ARGHHH!!!!

Guilty as charged. I'll go stand in a corner with a Dunce cap on if it'll make you happier. Don't ask me why my brain refuses to remember how to spell it (I T ) correctly.

I can tell you that I was taught rote memorization in school, not phonetics. The only spelling rule I learned was "I before E except after C". I had long battles with trying to find words in the dictionary, when I couldn't spell them, and was doing my best to sound them out. I still have trouble spelling. Became a happier spelling camper when I discovered the thesaurus - I could find the word I wanted by looking up similar words.

[Skierchickie]

I was behind a minivan this morning, on my way to work, and they had the following emblazoned across the back: Read a Newspaper Everyday

Grrr! Every Day.... EVERY DAY!!! Our local newspaper is terrible, by the way. I don't think they read. What is worse, they quoted a local school official a few days ago, saying "Every parent who left a message received a call back from myself". Shouldn't school officials have a grasp of proper English? Misuse of "myself" is one of my pet peeves. That and the apostrophes on every plural word (by the way, Crankin, I think you meant "doesn't", not "does" ).

[Andrea]

Yes, annoying! I guess it happens often enough for a note from Dictionary.com:

Pronunciation note:
Pronunciations of mischievous with stress on the second syllable: [mis-chee-vee-uhs] or, less commonly, [mis-chee-vuhs], instead of on the first: [mis-chuh-vuhs], are usually considered nonstandard. The pronunciation [mis-chee-vee-uhs], with the additional syllable, occurs by analogy with such words as previous and devious.

I think that the 4-syllable version sounds more fun.

[Pedal Wench]

alot instead of a lot
abit instead of a bit

breath and breathe, however, confuse me.

[Veronica]

Alot starts young. I beat my 5th graders about it a lot. It doesn't help.

Veronica

[Crankin]

Invariably, when I would ask my students (who had me for 2 years) what important things they learned in my English/Language Arts class, the fact that a lot is two words always came up.
Don't get me started on the incorrect use of apostrophes.
Please, just because a word ends in an s does mean it needs an apostrophe.

[uforgot]

My pet peeve (and I'm sure I've mentioned it) is your vs you're. I've received invitations that read your invited. I'm also currently fighting I seen with my students. They'll say "Hey, I seen you the other day", or "I seen Joe downtown". Goes right through me.

[PamNY]

I like "fixing to." I grew up in the Deep South and didn't realize that everybody else in the US didn't say that until I moved out to the Pacific Northwest.

I also like "fixing to." I no longer say it, but I contend that it has a precise and important meaning. And I won't even start discussing "I reckon."

Pam