What word sends you over the edge?

[lauracolumbus]

Just the thought of someone asking to borrow your vulva...oh my goodness

 

 

That's so funny! My dh has a vulva!:lol:

 

Classy drives me nuts.

 

As does

 

pontificate

 

most unique, very unique...

 

plethora

 

EYE-talian.

 

My Eyetalian grandmother from Queens NY used to say warsh, so it's more than a southern/TX thing. She also said earl for oil.

 

Any words used by an over 30 mom trying to look hip and failing miserably.

[lauracolumbus]

Oh, and the guy in the First Form Latin dvds uses y'all not because he's from the South (or at least I don't think he is), but for ease of distinguishing between 2d person singular and 2d person plural. So, y'all has migrated to classical education.

Laura

[Just Me]

I really dislike the misuse of the word "I" in a phrase. For example - 'That is my friend and I's favorite movie" And I hear it soooo much!!

 

I also dislike the misuse of weren't - example: It weren't the best movie I had ever seen. This may be a Southern thing, but really!!

 

And please don't end a sentence with a preposition. "Where is it at?" gets the response of 'behind the at' at our house.

 

My dad hates 'I've got.....' He always replies, "you either have it, or you got it, but not both!"

 

I dislike 'mirror' and 'rural' simply because I can't say them right and my dh picks on me! :glare:

[Crimson Wife]

You can let your husband know that the OED says:

 

"Orientate is commonly regarded as an incorrect usage in American English.

 

So, it's commonly regarded as incorrect usage. Does that mean that most people think it's incorrect and therefore it is (dictionaries being descriptive rather than prescriptive)? Or does it mean that it is regarded as incorrect despite being correct?

 

My Webster's American Family Dictionary includes the word without any qualification, so I'd chalk it up to being an opportunity for the veteran NCO to take the know-it-all newbie officer down a peg or two :tongue_smilie:

[Melissa in St Louis]

When we were kids, my dad also hated the word fart. We weren't allowed to say it. So he invented the word "fluff" as a substitute.

 

 

 

OOOOH! In our house, we say "emu" instead. :lol: No idea how that started, but it's been that way as long as we've had kids.

[stormy weather]

Fart(I need a cringe smiley) we call it a bottom burp. And finally butt,(the thing you sit on) my friend's mom's alternative to that was " the back of the lap" :lol:

[k2bdeutmeyer]

I'm on the "panties" bandwagon too!

 

Oh...and DH calls sweatshirts "sweaters". Drives me insane! A sweater is something knitted with yarn.....a sweatshirt is made from cotton and/or polyester. UGH!

[Spy Car]

So, it's commonly regarded as incorrect usage. Does that mean that most people think it's incorrect and therefore it is (dictionaries being descriptive rather than prescriptive)? Or does it mean that it is regarded as incorrect despite being correct?

 

Laura

 

The editors of the OED appear to have left themselves some "wiggle-room" on this question (given the vague language).

 

It does sound "wrong" to my American ears, but perhaps I'm among those who commonly believe it is incorrect usage in American usage but are not correct about the matter. Not sure.

 

Bill

[Night Elf]

ooohhh... my dd11 told me to say she doesn't like when I use the word britches instead of pants! :D

(and please don't read that as a curseword!)

[Night Elf]

Back when my DH was a new 2nd Lt. fresh out of ROTC at Stanford, he went off on the soldiers in his platoon one time for using the word "orientate". Ranted and raved about how that wasn't a real word and how it made them sound ignorant, yadda, yadda, yadda. His master sergeant (who got a master's degree after retirement and became a college professor) quietly took him aside later that day to show DH the entry for orientate in the dictionary. :blushing: :lol:

 

Yes it is, and I misunderstood what my DH said. He knows it is a word but he hates it because he doesn't think it's necessary.

 

Some of these other responses are making me laugh. I would drive many of you mad because I use many of these words.

 

I also found y'all in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. So does that mean it's a real word too?

[Jennifer in NH]

It was very popular when we lived in southern New Hampshire years ago, and people we knew from the Boston suburbs used it, too. I'd never heard it in the midwest, though. Well, except dh and I say it, because we pick up weird sayings wherever we live.

 

Ways it was used on New Hampshire:

 

"Watch out, those fries are wicked hot!"

 

"Wow, that car's wicked pisser!" (That one still makes me laugh as one of the weirdest phrases ever.)

Having grown up just outside Boston and now living in NH, I can assure you that the proper spelling on that last word is "pissa" you really don't pronounce the r. :lol: having said that..I think I had blocked that word from my memory. I hate it more than any word I can think of! I don't usually say, "wicked" as in, "wicked neat!" or "ah, that was wicked cool!" but it does occasionally slip out.

[Crimson Wife]

Having grown up just outside Boston and now living in NH, I can assure you that the proper spelling on that last word is "pissa" you really don't pronounce the r. :lol: having said that..I think I had blocked that word from my memory. I hate it more than any word I can think of!

 

I grew up in a suburb about an hour west of Boston and I can't recall hearing anybody ever using that word. :confused: I do remember being confused when I went to college out in California and everyone thought that's how folks in Massachusetts talk! :tongue_smilie:

[Melissa in St Louis]

All you anti-farters beware of visiting south St. Louis county. Around these parts the number 40 is pronounced "farty".

:lol::lol::lol::lol: SO TRUE! :lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Jennifer in NH]

I grew up in a suburb about an hour west of Boston and I can't recall hearing anybody ever using that word. :confused: I do remember being confused when I went to college out in California and everyone thought that's how folks in Massachusetts talk! :tongue_smilie:

I'm hoping that you are younger than I am and it just happily went out of fashion after the 1970's. :001_smile:

[Cinder]

Love this thread! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who hates panties. And we don't fart, we howdy. (A holdover from dh's military days.) More words that bug me:

 

jew-le-ry

real-a-tor

pasta (when mil pronounces it "pass-ta" with a short a)

 

The one that currently sends me over the edge is "di'int" for "didn't." Dd has been saying this because this is how the kids next door say it. :glare:

 

I have to say, I do like "ginormous." Probably because I love Kipper, and that's where I heard it first.

 

 

Cinder

[Annie Laurie]

Sorry if I made you feel bad. :blush: You seem like a tough woman, though, so I won't worry too much. :lol: My nana (Texas) always said warsh, and my mom's people are from Oklahoma, so it must be a southern thing.

 

My Dad, who is from Orville, Ohio, says warsh. :tongue_smilie:

[GailV]

Having grown up just outside Boston and now living in NH, I can assure you that the proper spelling on that last word is "pissa" you really don't pronounce the r. :lol:

 

Whoops, you're RIGHT! Then again, I haven't lived there since the 80s. These days I'm busy learning to say "warsh" and "fark" (the latter is a dining utensil with tines).

 

In a British setting I've also heard "wickedly" used instead of "wicked". It sounded classier.

[Crimson Wife]

I'm hoping that you are younger than I am and it just happily went out of fashion after the 1970's. :001_smile:

 

I was born in '77 ;)

[blessed2fosteradopt]

Fart and sucks are on the top of my list but my most hated word, actually not a word but heard often around here, is conversate.

 

We were conversating...... uugggghhhhh!

[mominbc]

I don't know if this is used in the US but here so many people say "cheers" instead of good-bye or thank-you and it drives me crazy!!! I feel like saying, "Where's the champagne!!" :glare:

[RoughCollie]

I have list.

 

The word that most irritates me is "gifted". My mom did not "gift" me a new calendar. She "gave" it to me.

 

Then there are the words I never say out loud. The Rule is that these words should never be said by anyone in polite company. They include words that should never be typed. :D

 

Unhappily for me, these are words that ordinary people use all the time -- especially when those people find out about The Rule. (I usually tell them The Rule when they ask why my eyes are bugging out of my head when I hear them say those words.)

[Chelle in MO]

OOOOH! In our house, we say "emu" instead. :lol: No idea how that started, but it's been that way as long as we've had kids.

 

Maybe you were at the zoo when you discovered you needed a term for that??? You know, you're walking by the emu pen and somebody lets one and you think, "Emu! That's what we'll call it!" :lol: O.k., I'll stop.

 

What's the word that bugs your dh that I used in a post a few months ago? I've been trying to think of it all day!

 

By the way, I tried to PM you back, but your PM box is full!

 

Chelle

[RoughCollie]

And finally butt,(the thing you sit on)

 

We call that a "bum".

[JeneralMom]

I am really bothered lately that my kids and DH leave the "g" off the end of verbs. I am constantly correcting them , and Dh jokes that I am trying to save the English language one "g" at a time. Examples - leavin', eatin'.

 

My husband says "alls" which drives me nuts. "Alls you have to do is...."

 

We never, ever say fart we say "pass gas"

 

I think, however, the thing that really bothers me is when people leave letters out of words. Seriously, it is ca-ra-mel, not car-muhl.

[Lisa in Jax]

...of course, any obscenity, MOST especially the "F" word and "G_D_" and obscene slang terms for parts of the human anatomy or bodily functions.

 

A few more offenders -- although much more mildy offensive than the ones above:

 

"app" -- Just say "application"; it won't hurt you.

 

"gift" as a verb

 

"nucular" instead of "nuclear"

 

There are more, but I'll stop there.

 

Almost all of your pet -peeves are mine, too, and here are a few more:

 

Both "C" words (male and female) for privates.

"Disrespect" used as a verb.

Nouns used as verbs in general -- "I staplegunned it."

"I know, right," the way many teens use it now.

and, last but not least: "Huh?" instead of "Pardon me?" or "Excuse me?"

:lol:

[OnTheBrink]

 

The one that currently sends me over the edge is "di'int" for "didn't." Dd has been saying this because this is how the kids next door say it. :glare:

 

 

 

Cinder

 

OH, you reminded me how much I hate that, too! Along with "buh-in" instead of "button", "beh-room" instead of "bedroom", and "yous" instead of "you all". Heck, I'd take "y'all" over "yous" any day!

[SonshineLearner]

I think, however, the thing that really bothers me is when people leave letters out of words. Seriously, it is ca-ra-mel, not car-muhl.

 

car·a·mel   [kar-uh-muhl, -mel, kahr-muhl] Show IPA

–noun

1. a liquid made by cooking sugar until it changes color, used for coloring and flavoring food.

2. a kind of chewy candy, commonly in small blocks, made from sugar, butter, milk, etc.

3. a yellowish brown or tan color.

I looked this up when my dad use to say "Carmel".... :-) Either is proper :D

[Cindyg]

I have list.

 

The word that most irritates me is "gifted". My mom did not "gift" me a new calendar. She "gave" it to me.

 

I hate gift and gifted as verbs also. A gift is a noun. And gifted is an adjective.

[cin]

I can't beleive this one hasn't been posted yet....LIBERRY. As in, we need to get our books back to the liberry (or libary).

 

I think the word panties sounds creepy too. And another one that my girls have picked up from Grandma is buhtatuhs. As in mashed buhtatuhs. We actually have written it out for the girls to pronounce.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My husband dislikes the word "poop." Makes him crazy. For my mother-in-law, it's "snot." Me? I don't like so-called words that aren't really words: irregardless, strategory, musicality... to name a few.

 

 

musicality |ˌmyoōziˈkalətē|

noun

tastefulness and accomplishment in music : she sings with unfailing musicality.

• the quality of being melodious and tuneful : his speaking voice hinted at musicality.

• awareness of music and rhythm, esp. in dance : the audition panel was looking for coordination, musicality, and flexibility.

Edited February 21, 2010 by Suzanne in ABQ

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Myriad.

 

There is no such thing as a myriad of anything. You can have myriad clothing styles, but that just means you're eclectic.

 

I'll second the vote for ending a sentence with a preposition. I don't care if I end up sounding as if I'm speaking Victorian English; I simply can't stand finishing sentences with "at", "with", etc.

 

 

a

 

(who sometimes screws up the preposition thing...)

 

 

myriad |ˈmirēəd| poetic/literary

noun

1 a countless or extremely great number : networks connecting a myriad of computers.

2 (chiefly in classical history) a unit of ten thousand.

adjective

countless or extremely great in number : the myriad lights of the city.

• having countless or very many elements or aspects : the myriad political scene.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (sense 2 of the noun) : via late Latin from Greek murias, muriad-, from murioi ‘10,000.’

USAGE Myriad is derived from a Greek noun and adjective meaning ‘ten thousand’. It was first used in English as a noun in reference to a great but indefinite number. The adjectival sense of ‘countless, innumerable’ appeared much later. In modern English, use of myriad as a noun and adjective are equally standard and correct, despite the fact that some traditionalists consider the adjective as the only acceptable use of the word.

Edited February 21, 2010 by Suzanne in ABQ

[Suzanne in ABQ]

The whole dropping the first syllable in "pizza" thing. I don't know who started it but an appropriate punishment for him (it's got to be a him) in h*** would be to write "there are two syllables in pizza" on a blackboard for all eternity...

 

 

I've honestly never heard anyone drop the first syllable in pizza. Do they just say "tsa"? (Let's go get a tsa?)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

You *do* know where they get the "r" in warsh, right?

 

 

 

From the libary! :D

 

In FebUary?

[Suzanne in ABQ]

 

-"Chester drawers" instead of "chest of drawers"

 

-

 

 

Yes! I was shopping for a used chest of drawers a couple of months ago, and came across many listings in Craigslist advertising Chester Drawers. I refused to even look at them! I just couldn't get myself to do business with the person who placed the ad.

 

Snobby? Probably. I honestly hope they sold their chester drawers. I just didn't want to buy them. :)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Preventative. It should be preventive.

 

preventative |prēˈventətiv|

adjective & noun

another term for preventive .

DERIVATIVES

preventatively adverb

USAGE See usage at preventive .

[Liz CA]

YES!!!

 

First I couldn't think of any until I read "My bad.

This makes no sense grammatically or any other way.

Oh, and I like throw "gifted" out there, as in "I gifted my sister with flowers."

 

Aaaarrrggghhh.

[Miss Sherry]

"Whatever" said in an arrogant tone. :tongue_smilie:

[Miss Sherry]

Yes! I was shopping for a used chest of drawers a couple of months ago, and came across many listings in Craigslist advertising Chester Drawers. I refused to even look at them! I just couldn't get myself to do business with the person who placed the ad.

 

Snobby? Probably. I honestly hope they sold their chester drawers. I just didn't want to buy them. :)

:lol: That sounds funny to me. Maybe it was a typing error.

[Liz CA]

:lol: That sounds funny to me. Maybe it was a typing error.

 

I had to read the entire explanation to understand "Chester Drawers." :lol:

[Miss Sherry]

"Cookie" sounds like "Kooky" when I say it, so my family makes fun of me. Just try saying "cookie" while your nose is completely pinched shut and you'll see it's a bit awkward to say. I am usually plugged up from allergies. I have to put some effort into saying "cookie" so it's one of my least favorite words. :banghead: :blushing:

[Liz CA]

Just the thought of someone asking to borrow your vulva...oh my goodness

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Miss Sherry]

"Put on your big girl panties"

 

To me it sounds snobbish,condescending, AND tacky. I never like seeing it on message boards. :huh::glare:

[Miss Sherry]

Oh, I agree!!! This drives myself nuts :D Seriously, though, some people we know quite well who serve in a public speaking capacity, do this all.the.time. And every time I hear it, I have to dissect the sentence to assure myself that it is indeed incorrect. :tongue_smilie:

This drives myself nuts :D That is so funny. Doesn't that just make you want to get ran over. :auto::lol: :lol::lol:

[Miss Sherry]

I had a teacher that would answer with "It is what it is" when he didn't want to talk about or he just didn't know the answer to a question from a student. :banghead: Well, I guess we understand now because he said "It is what it is." :cursing:

[nd293]

Fart(I need a cringe smiley) we call it a bottom burp. :lol:

 

That's hilarious - we do exactly the same thing, although only with ds, it somehow never came up enough with dd!

[Peela]

I will never admit any words that bother me because my dh would be sure to use them as frequently as possible. Around here, toilet humour is considered the highest form of humour. Farting is comedy.

My dh is dyslexic and often messes up the beautiful English language by saying words back to front. But if I correct him- and I just can't help it sometimes- he will be sure to do it on purpose next time :) I think he was put on the earth to humble me :)

[kalanamak]

Pretty, as it "I am pretty much done with the cleaning."

[Merry]

I can't believe that no one has brought up the substitution of resemble for resent ie I resemble his attitude. That does not make any sense. How could anyone mistake a word of three syllables for a word of two? And they end with a different sound?

[bearnpurple]

It drives me insane to hear people talk with the same acronyms as they text! BFF and LOL give me a break....maybe they should be part of the line...."so easy a caveman can do it"... :)

[Julie in CA]

Just the thought of someone asking to borrow your vulva...oh my goodness

Or even worse, the neighbor lady in the driveway washing her vulva. :eek: :svengo: