Between you and I...

[podga]

This thread's probably been done before, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the more recent ones, so here goes: What's your pet peeve in grammar or word usage, the one that makes you want to reach out and slap someone (preferably the writer and editor, who should really know better)?

For me, it's the apparent inability of certain individuals to figure out whether they should be using "I" or "me" in a sentence.

People! It's really not that difficult and there are about 200 sites that will explain it to you, if don't remember your grammar and what objects and subjects are. Until then, please, please stop over-correcting and always using "I" after "and". Just because "Wally and me went swimming" is wrong doesn't mean "Theresa sat between Wally and I" is right. It's not the conjunction "and" that determines whether you should be using one or the other. Really!

 

[BindnCufTite]

Then = Than
Well = Will
Their = there or they're
And there are plenty more.
Let's start with the basics. Learn to recognize and use the correct words.

 

[SweetMaj]

Me thinks this is funny.

 

[BindnCufTite]

Me thinks this is funny.

Me thinks I agree with you

 

[Carnevil9]

"Could care less" always burns me up. So does "One in the same."

Also, I recently heard someone say, "For all intensive purposes." My jaw hit the floor.

 

[PennLady]

I could go on, and have.

Waste when it should be waste.
There/their/they're confusion.
Its (poss. adj) vs. It's (contraction).
You're/your confusion.

Lack of contractions in dialogue -- it makes everyone sound so formal.

Incorrect punctuation, especially in dialogue. Drives me nuts.

 

[podga]

My jaw hit the floor.

Oh, no! Did you require intents and care?

 

[sr71plt]

"Between you and I" grates a bit, yes, especially since it's usually invoked to sound "educated." In the same vein as refering to "the author " or "we" instead of "I" in nonfiction or using "utilized" for "used." "Could care less" grates too, and is more a "just wasn't thinking" thing.

I consider most of the then/than, you/you're, there/their, it's/its, two/too/to type miscues as mostly fast typing mistakes. I guess I think of them that way because I do them a lot too, and I certainly know the difference.

The effect/affect, comprise/compose, farther/further, less/few type misidentifiers are more subtle mistakes. These are the type that jump at me the most, though.

If it's a really good story, though, I'll read through any of those with just a short "oh, well" jog.

I am finding that my own most common mistake is typing "A" rather than "I" for the personal pronoun. That's just a newly acquired eye/hand coordination bobble when typing, though. (Like automatically typing "sex" when you meant "six." )

 

[sr71plt]

I could go on, and have.

Waste when it should be waste.
There/their/they're confusion.
Its (poss. adj) vs. It's (contraction).
You're/your confusion.

Lack of contractions in dialogue -- it makes everyone sound so formal.

Incorrect punctuation, especially in dialogue. Drives me nuts.

I'm finding that I type "waste" when I meant "waist." The rain/rein/reign issue gets me too (mostly the latter two).

 

[trysail]

gerund, the This is certainly a Lost Cause, at least in the sense that very few people nowadays know what a gerund is. But just as people still use the subjunctive form without knowing the term itself– 'He insisted that she go to bed immediately'– so the gerund survives in use, although largely unrecognized. The gerund is derived from a verb, usually by adding the suffix –ing. Although remaining a verb, it acts in some respects as if it were a noun, and especially in the respect that if the action denoted is attributed to someone or something it needs to be accompanied by the possessive form. A few examples should make this clearer: it is correct to say 'We were surprised at their appearing so calm,' 'She was distressed at his leaving so suddenly,' 'I was surprised at its being so easy to do.' It would be wrong to say 'them appearing,' 'him leaving,' or 'it being.

-James Cochrane
Between You and I, A little book of bad English
Naperville, Illinois. 2004.


Cochrane, an editor employed by Penguin Books (UK), corrects the all-too frequent errors of common English usage. Want to know the difference between the proper usage of like and as? This is the place.

I can't resist one more quotation:
restaurateur The owner of a restaurant is a restaurateur, literally a "restorer." Traditionally, he promises to "restore" our spirits and our physical well-being with his excellent food and wine. Neither in English nor in French does the word restauranteur properly exist.

 

[PennLady]

I'm finding that I type "waste" when I meant "waist." The rain/rein/reign issue gets me too (mostly the latter two).

I confess to writing "reign" when I mean "rein." It's like an isolated dyslexic thing I have, and of course a spell check won't catch it. I do have editors and beta readers, but it slips through sometimes anyway. When I talk, I often say "brought" when I mean "bought," and vice versa.

I have to say that I won't click off a story when I read these things. As sr notes, it happens to everyone. It makes me wince but it won't ruin a good story. What bugs me is a story full of such errors, which to me shows some laziness in terms of getting it re-checked.

Out of all of these pet peeves, I think the one I can't stand the most is punctuation errors, especially in dialogue. It throws off the rhythm, and I keep thinking of all those books out there with proper punctuation and wondering why people can't learn via imitation.

 

[trysail]

Something is unique if it is the sole existing example of its type. The word derives from the Latin unicus, meaning "one and only." A thing can therefore be quite unique or perhaps almost unique ("This 1932 limousine version is almost unique; only three were ever made"), but it is to misuse a valuable word to say very unique, more unique, remarkably unique, etc.

-James Cochrane
Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English
Naperville, Illinois 2004.



From the dust jacket:
James Cochrane was educated at Cambridge University, UK. He has worked in publishing since joining Penguin Books UK as an editor in 1961. His previous books include Stipple, Wink and Gusset and the Chambers Dictionary Game Dictionary.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My peeve is editors who change correct grammar to incorrect grammar, or change correct spelling to incorrect spelling. "Buncombe/bunkum' comes to mind, or changing victuals to vittles, or chitterlings to chittlins. Materiel is another one, editors love to change it to materials.

 

[Kurokami]

Oh, no! Did you require intents and care?

Not bad, dude. Not bad

Personally, and this probably says a lot about the kinds of stories I read here, whenever somebody uses the word 'binds,' and they aren't referring to the act of binding something in the present tense, I start frowing. People struggle against their bonds, fellows.

Beyond that, I also dislike the misuse of quotation marks, either when the writer forgets to use them, forgets to add one at the termination of dialogue, or goes too long and puts it over regular prose instead. I don't know why that in particular bothers me, but it does.

 

[AngeloMichael]

Also, I recently heard someone say, "For all intensive purposes." My jaw hit the floor.

I recently read a professionally published book - Hawkwood and the Kings, published by Solaris and I don't think they have editors over there.

It was a good enough story but it was fully of grammatical errors and typos, but the one that was over the top was the phrase "for all intensive purposes", I couldn't believe that made it into a published book.

I know the correct usage, but I constantly make errors when my mind is going faster than my typing. You're and your, than and then, there, their, they're, its and it's, even no and know.

There's really only one error that grates on me and that's people who don't know how to spell definitely. It's not definetly or definately, or definently, it's definitely.

 

[podga]

I'm finding that I type "waste" when I meant "waist." The rain/rein/reign issue gets me too (mostly the latter two).

That happens to me too. I read somewhere that it's a common problem for people that know blind typing, something to do with muscle memory and our fingers responding to the sound rather than the 'look' of the word. I have no idea if it's true, but, hey, it works for me!

On the other hand, if one does know the difference, during the re-read one would catch some, if not all the instances where one typed the wrong word. But when I see phrases like "it was passed three o'clock" and "he walked passed me" consistently used across several different stories written by the same writer, I really have to question if he/she knows the difference. Can I still enjoy the story? Definitely, as long as the mistake doesn't completely alter the meaning of the story in a hilarious but unintended way (no, forget I just said that - often I enjoy it more in that case). But I could do without the "jogs".

 

[sr71plt]

Not bad, dude. Not bad

Personally, and this probably says a lot about the kinds of stories I read here, whenever somebody uses the word 'binds,' and they aren't referring to the act of binding something in the present tense, I start frowing. People struggle against their bonds, fellows.

Beyond that, I also dislike the misuse of quotation marks, either when the writer forgets to use them, forgets to add one at the termination of dialogue, or goes too long and puts it over regular prose instead. I don't know why that in particular bothers me, but it does.

"Bindings" works.

On missing quotation marks. I discovered (the hard way--through a book review) that I habitually drop quotation marks, usually terminal quotes in diaolgue, and that my editors weren't catching it.

So, now one of the last steps taken--both in original submission and then in cleanup of proof copy--is to run a "find" for double quotes. I always find that ones are missing. I'm doing that now for the books I edit too. I hadn't realized how easy that was to overlook.

 

[podga]

I can't resist one more quotation:
restaurateur The owner of a restaurant is a restaurateur, literally a "restorer." Traditionally, he promises to "restore" our spirits and our physical well-being with his excellent food and wine. Neither in English nor in French does the word restauranteur properly exist.

And that reminds me of another one, often found in the gay male stories: If it really was a masseuse massaging his naughty bits, he probably wouldn't be getting all hot and bothered. At least, not in a good way.

 

[sr71plt]

IThere's really only one error that grates on me and that's people who don't know how to spell definitely. It's not definetly or definately, or definently, it's definitely.

Yes, definitely. And it's a common error here on the forum--often pops up in heads.

 

[cloudy]

A friend from college days consistently uses "ideal" when she means "idea." It has the same effect on me as nails on a chalkboard.

 

[kimbalee]

I have also heard "idear" instead of idea.

I can't stand the use of "IMHO."

why would you feel the need to tell someone it is in your "honest" opinion? does that mean you are untruthful most of the time and need to clarify that this is not one of those times?

 

[Boxlicker101]

One thing that bugs me is the misuse of "Literally," as in: "I literally froze to death." People have frozen to death but, once they do, they are dead and unable to talk to somebody about it.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I have also heard "idear" instead of idea.

I can't stand the use of "IMHO."

why would you feel the need to tell someone it is in your "honest" opinion? does that mean you are untruthful most of the time and need to clarify that this is not one of those times?

I thught IMHO meant "In my humble opinion."

 

[GinaTina]

"Alot". /grinds teeth/ It's A LOT. TWO words. Unless you were going for the word "allot". In which case, you'd still be wrong.

 

[baphemetis]

I see my pet peeve everywhere. I hate it when people use apostrophe "s" to create a contraction that doesn't exist. One blaring example is "America's Got Talent". *shudder*

"America's" is possessive. It's not a contraction for "America has".

I see this use everywhere: on magazine covers, in newspapers. It drives me crazy.

It's forgivable when it's used in dialogue. People mash their words together when they speak. (It makes learning a new language a challenge.) People will say "That store's always closed!" To use "store's" in dialogue simply reflects the way people speak, but to use it in a news article... *shudder*