Grammar pet peeves

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  • IrishDaveRed
    IrishDaveRed Posts: 36 Member
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    I was s******ing away as he was standing up, proudly announcing this to the whole office.

    oops. Sorry. I had no idea. What do people in the US call the type of "tee hee" laughing one does when trying not to laugh out loud?

    surely not tittering?
  • MouthyMatthewCHANGED
    MouthyMatthewCHANGED Posts: 85
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    I was s******ing away as he was standing up, proudly announcing this to the whole office.

    oops. Sorry. I had no idea. What do people in the US call the type of "tee hee" laughing one does when trying not to laugh out loud?

    surely not tittering?

    Oh I wondered what that word was meant to be and now I know - ha ha! It seems the system is a little over-eager on guarding for certain words. Checking the Oxford English Dictionary it would seem that it's a predominantly British word that you're using, so the American algorithms possibly can't account for it and just think it's a potential racist slur (which you never intended).

    http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/s******?q=s******ing
  • MouthyMatthewCHANGED
    MouthyMatthewCHANGED Posts: 85
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    I was s******ing away as he was standing up, proudly announcing this to the whole office.

    oops. Sorry. I had no idea. What do people in the US call the type of "tee hee" laughing one does when trying not to laugh out loud?

    surely not tittering?

    Oh I wondered what that word was meant to be and now I know - ha ha! It seems the system is a little over-eager on guarding for certain words. Checking the Oxford English Dictionary it would seem that it's a predominantly British word that you're using, so the American algorithms possibly can't account for it and just think it's a potential racist slur (which you never intended).

    http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/s******?q=s******ing

    Perhaps snickering would be better for the purpose of this site :)
  • alr311
    alr311 Posts: 11
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    "could" + "have" DOES NOT = "could of" ...What the heck does "could of " mean?

    It's "could've, would've, should've"

    Not understanding why this is so hard. Do they not teach contractions in grade school English anymore?
    [/quote

    THIS!!!
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
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    Misuse of the word literally.

    It is very hot, but you are not literally melting. You are figuratively melting,

    This one drives me crazy.
  • jessilee119
    jessilee119 Posts: 444 Member
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    "...and I"

    "here's a photo of my friend and I."

    Ugh. Like nails on a chalkboard. "Here is a photo of my friend and me" is the right way.

    Confusing anxious with eager.

    "I am anxious to go to the carnival!" - I want to ask "Why the anxiety? have you never been? Something there going to scare you?"

    "I am eager to go to the carnival" - Me too! Will be fun!


    What are some of your grammar pet peeves?

    There are times where it should be "and I"...so my pet peeve would be making absolutes when a lot of grammar is anything but black and white...there are exceptions and variations to almost every rule.

    Yes there are many examples of when "and I" is correct, but there is never an exception as to when that time is.

    The cast-iron rule is this: take the other person out of the equation, and use whatever term is correct when you're on your own.

    For example:

    "I am going to the park". So, if you were going with your friend, you would say "My friend and I are going to the park". You wouldn't say "Me and my friend are going to the park", because on your own, you would never say "Me am going to the park".

    It's a rule which is always and without fail 100% accurate.

    With the initial poster's post, it would be correct to say to someone "This is a photograph of me". You should never say "This is a photograph of I", which sounds simply ridiculous anyway. And therefore, if there is someone else on that same photo, you would say "This is a photograph of my dog and me", not "This is a photo of my dog and I".

    It really is a very easy rule to follow and, once understood, makes complete sense.

    Yes I know of the rule...I just didn't have time to post something elaborate enough to get my point across. I admit I could have used better wording to make my point clear, but I thought people would understand what I meant without needing to critique me...I guess I was wrong...
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Misuse of the word literally.

    It is very hot, but you are not literally melting. You are figuratively melting,

    This one drives me crazy.

    Exactly. That literally chaps my hide.
  • obrendao
    obrendao Posts: 318
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    Spelling errors drive me crazy. Misuse of similar words do too, such as "complement" instead of "compliment," or "hole" instead of "whole." Of course, the worst is when people say "irregardless."
  • projectxreborn
    projectxreborn Posts: 204
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    Coths instead of clothes
  • projectxreborn
    projectxreborn Posts: 204
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    Ha ha I meant cloths instead of clothes
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I just saw someone post on facebook that she has "soul custody" of her children...LOL! She also used "your" instead of "you're" in the same rant....:ohwell:

    It might have been that she was angry...but just made me laugh, because this person has called herself "educated" on more than one occasion.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Spelling errors drive me crazy. Misuse of similar words do too, such as "complement" instead of "compliment," or "hole" instead of "whole." Of course, the worst is when people say "irregardless."
    how about definately instead of definitely? I see this almost every day!
  • deannajf4
    deannajf4 Posts: 223 Member
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    "...and I"

    "here's a photo of my friend and I."

    Ugh. Like nails on a chalkboard. "Here is a photo of my friend and me" is the right way.

    Confusing anxious with eager.

    "I am anxious to go to the carnival!" - I want to ask "Why the anxiety? have you never been? Something there going to scare you?"

    "I am eager to go to the carnival" - Me too! Will be fun!


    What are some of your grammar pet peeves?

    The easiest way to remember whether to use "me" or "I" is to take the other person out of the sentence. eg: "Here is a photo of me" not "here is a photo of I" BUT "My friend and I went to the park" equals: "I went to the park" NOT "me went to the park"
  • Susan_Rae_1
    Susan_Rae_1 Posts: 154 Member
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    Misuse of the word literally.

    It is very hot, but you are not literally melting. You are figuratively melting,

    This one drives me crazy.

    Exactly. That literally chaps my hide.
    :laugh: ouch!
  • jnj1013
    jnj1013 Posts: 27
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    I want to smack anyone who uses irregardless in the face.

    Also, any time I see "First Annual...." on anything it makes my eye twitch.
  • kfoster12414
    kfoster12414 Posts: 1
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    Starting a sentence with "so".
  • Getsveltefish
    Getsveltefish Posts: 1
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    using a 's to indicate plural.... as in an email I received today..."this is why I don't like the Obama's". The Obama's what? or did you mean the ObamaS. plural.

    posting "Awe" when seeing a cute picture. Did you mean "awww"?

    Than for then..."After the meeting, than I will call you."

    using "lightening" for "lightning". LightENing is what you do to your hair. Lightning is what happens in a storm. I realize this is a spelling pet peeve, but you would not believe the educated people that misuse this.
    .
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
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    Starting a sentence with "so".

    I do this ALL THE TIME on my blog. So I should stop?
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    So what?
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
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    I just saw someone post on facebook that she has "soul custody" of her children...LOL! She also used "your" instead of "you're" in the same rant....:ohwell:

    It might have been that she was angry...but just made me laugh, because this person has called herself "educated" on more than one occasion.

    Along the same lines as soul vs sole.

    Using fowl when you mean foul. I end up picturing whatever is described as fowl with wings.

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