Annoying Trends in Misuse of English

[Seymour Flops]

My pet peeve is "I could care less," which should be "I couldn't care less" to indicate that I care so little that less care is impossible. But that is an old one. Here are two more recent ones that grate on my last nerve:

1) "Congress is now ran by Republicans." No, it is now run by Republicans. "This has became a joke." No it has become a joke. "All the best men have been took." They are taken. Worse is "tooken," but you don't hear that much.

Makes as much sense as saying "The dishes have already been did."

2) "These predictions are based off the data." No they are based on the data.

It reminds me of the Karate instructor in "Napoleon Dynamite" who said "First off . . . Second off . . . "

 

[Muhammed]

I must admit, I may have been guilty of similar offenses on occasion.

 

[TheParser]

My pet peeve is "I could care less," which should be "I couldn't care less" to indicate that I care so little that less care is impossible. But that is an old one. Here are two more recent ones that grate on my last nerve:

1) "Congress is now ran by Republicans." No, it is now run by Republicans. "This has became a joke." No it has become a joke. "All the best men have been took." They are taken. Worse is "tooken," but you don't hear that much.

Makes as much sense as saying "The dishes have already been did."

2) "These predictions are based off the data." No they are based on the data.

It reminds me of the Karate instructor in "Napoleon Dynamite" who said "First off . . . Second off . . . "

It would be really, really, really nice if more people knew the difference between "it's" and "its."


"It's " (= it is) Saturday."

"I have visited China. But I forget the name of its capital."

 

[Donald H]

My pet peeve is "I could care less," which should be "I couldn't care less" to indicate that I care so little that less care is impossible. But that is an old one. Here are two more recent ones that grate on my last nerve:

1) "Congress is now ran by Republicans." No, it is now run by Republicans. "This has became a joke." No it has become a joke. "All the best men have been took." They are taken. Worse is "tooken," but you don't hear that much.

Makes as much sense as saying "The dishes have already been did."

2) "These predictions are based off the data." No they are based on the data.

It reminds me of the Karate instructor in "Napoleon Dynamite" who said "First off . . . Second off . . . "

This is an opportunity to point out the misuse of the word 'lead' (the metal), for the word 'led'.

It's a three letter word for dog's sake!

 

[Bob Blaylock]

2) "These predictions are based off the data." No they are based on the data.

Data, by the way, is a plural noun, not a mass noun, as it often is incorrectly treated. The singular form is Datum, referring to a single point of information. Data are multiple points of information.

 

[TheParser]

And even the richest and most influential people probably say, "I laid on the beach for an hour yesterday" instead of the correct "lay."

 

[okfine]

What about "a" when it should be "an?"

There is a poster on this site that does that constantly. "I'm a American" is an example.

 

[luiza]

I can forgive the details if I could see any signs of thought , rational deliberation and non bipartisan kiddy crap .

 

[buttercup]

My pet peeve is "I could care less," which should be "I couldn't care less" to indicate that I care so little that less care is impossible.

Thank you! That one's funny to me, because usually the person is completely unaware that they said the exact opposite of what they meant to say.

But the one that annoys me is: "could of" instead of "could have" or "could've."

Ah well. Like Muhammed said, I've been guilty of grammar crimes too, so I don't want to be a grammar nazi.