Grumpy Grammar Grinch Grouses...

[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" ).

[BikeDutchess]

used
supposed

... as in "we used to think spandex was silly" and "he was supposed to buy me a beer after the ride."

I just cringe every time I see "use to" or "suppose to"

[pinkbikes]

"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" ).

Thank heavens there is another human in the world who cares about the improper use of the reflexive pronoun! I thought I was the only one!

Do they use it because they think it sounds nicer and less egotistical than good old "me"??? It is so common and so insidious that the other day I had to stop myself before I used it too!

They call me "the apostrophe Nazi" at work for my efforts to ensure anything that goes out under my signature (with an apostrophe) is correct.

[Crankin]

Yea, the "does" was simply a typo.
While I really know that spelling ability has nothing to do with intelligence, it still bothers me to see misspelled words in print. I know there are varying opinions as to how necessary correct spelling is on a forum like this, but the same errors over and over get to me. I am pretty sure many would tell me to chill out, and that it doesn't matter.
As far as the speech patterns go, many of them are regional. It would be sad to lose some of the words that are unique to different parts of the country. It's already happened around Boston. Words like tonic (soda), barrel (garbage can), and bubbler (water fountain) are only heard in certain towns, usually places where many generations of families have lived without any in-out migration. You only hear the "Boston accent" in the old mill cities, certain towns, or in older people. I know that I purposely lost mine very quickly when I moved away in high school.
However, things like "I seen" and "he don't" or "your" for "you're" are just bad grammar/spelling!

[Biciclista]

Thank heavens there is another human in the world who cares about the improper use of the reflexive pronoun! I thought I was the only one!

Do they use it because they think it sounds nicer and less egotistical than good old "me"??? It is so common and so insidious that the other day I had to stop myself before I used it too!

They call me "the apostrophe Nazi" at work for my efforts to ensure anything that goes out under my signature (with an apostrophe) is correct.

You are not alone!
We were at the Opera the other day and they have a big marquis where you can read what they are singing while they are singing. I could not resist letting my husband know the two times they made typos.

Yes Veronica, good points. They need to be conversant in both the mainstream dialect and their own.

[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.