What is your English language pet peeve?

In exasperation of being on the receiving end of this text-speak, I once remarked to an ex-woman friend who was an experienced 85-wpm typist (like me ) that in less than the time it takes her brain to work out an acceptable abbreviation she could have typed the proper word.

PS Note the EX-woman friend - she took exception to it and I've never looked back!

 

Yes, exactly.

 

Maybe for some......but as an example - "through" - "thru".....what's the big, hairy deal? If the person reading it has the reading comprehension required to understand the sentence, the 'thru' is not going to upset of confuse them simply b/c they understood what they read.

"Mts." = mountains. "Mtgs" = meetings. "Bldgs" = buildings. "Apt" = apartment. Abbreviated words have been around like forever. If someone can understand the above, why can't they understand 'thru' in place of 'through'?

Anyway, not going to argue about it b/c (because) to me, it's nit-picking and they can make their life easier, if they want to, by not reading my posts......you have a good day!

 

Touchy, or what!

 

Well, I guess I made my point.

Educated people can read whole sentences w/o the vowels......anyway, have a good one.

 

The over use of the word "usually" as and absolute instead of showing options.
ex. if a waitress or clerk say's "we usually don't do that..." I'll ask what available options
do I gave to get what I want. Usually means there are options.

 

A couple of years ago received an email that didn't have vowels and couldn't read it. I thought it was a
joke. Don't remember what it was about. I'm a college professor and quite educated.

 

Well, yeah! You're very educated.....the only thing I can figure out is you didn't really focus on it. If you had, I don't doubt the words would have come together easily for you.

Awhile back I read a large paragraph that was upside down and backwards. Bit of a challenge but did it. I like little tests like that......

 

How about "If I'da known?

 

Yeah, honestly I don't know what that means. I mean I know what the speaker means, but I don't know in to what "I'da known" breaks down.

Maybe it's I'd a-known, like "Okay, maw, I'm a-goin', " which isn't really wrong, it's just hillbilly.

 

Here in Texas we hear people say "I barely got here," meaning, "I just now got here." It's a faulty translation in to English from the Spanish/Mexican "Apenas llegué," which is actually faulty Spanish as well.

And now allow me to lecture you all in the finer points of the Thai language ....

 

smoenoe ocne siad that it is pssoible ot cmopsoe a sneatnce wtih the lttres of ervey wdor dogisnaized nad cmoptley mxdie up and it wdluo siltl be radbeale as lnog as teh ftris lteter is teh crocret lertet.

 

Pretty good! I read it fast and only stumbled once. Unfortunately it meams I often fail to see my own typographical erorrs

 

People who don't know how to use "their", "there" and "they're" appropriately lol.

"You're" and "your" too.

 

Had a friend who was born and raised in the Black Sea area until she was 8-9, then moved here. Karen said "I can't tell you how damn HARD it was to learn English! Your 3 different 'there's', your words that's spoken w/the 's' sound, but it's spelled starting w/a 'p', like psychology' and she went on and on, listing good examples of different spellings and meanings.......it was hilarious listening to her.

I understand that Mandarin Chinese is the hardest to learn, then English.

 

If this thread includes pronunciation too, it always amazes me how many individuals can't say 'nuclear', and pronounce it 'nookewler'. I mean nuclear is such an easy word to say??

 

Not to be offensive but Chinese and other oriental languages sound like tape being run backwards. On a side note my spell check doesn't recognize "runned" as a word. Is this right?

 

All of the above make me cringe.

OFF OF is probably one of the most irritating blunders, though. We don't hear that in this country so I only see it in print, but still!

 

Oh gosh .. do you mean on TV? Really? Because that's quite a significant faux pas, not usually fit for public consumption. Can't they find witnesses who can speak English?

 

they can't be educated, if they missed those fundamentals. ditto the confusion of 'then' and 'than'. how does that slip by unnoticed throughout ones' entire school years?

 

OMG. If I heard one of my kids say 'have went', I think I might enter a nunnery to self-flagellate for the remainder of my life.

 

Yeah, I suppose it does......and where does this 'runned' come from? Did I commit a typo?

Do you know what word is the most over-used in the English language?




Up.

 

I tried to use the word when I said "run backwards" and spell check listed it as an error.

 

this one is another clear sign of a failed education. it just doesn't seem possible that a child can get through 12 or 13 years of school yet STILL come out saying things like that. how are all their teachers, AND their parents, not picking it up and correcting it? Defies reason.

 

I don't know how I'd respond to that. I mean I'd understand what was intended, but I'd be very uncertain about how to word any response. One of the problems of being a 'hoighty toighty' accented English speaker is that it puts off those less blessed by parental regard for grammar and diction. Some become instantly defensive and/or startled into silence. It's quite weird.