# A gentle grammar nudge from your friend Podkayne: "Intensive Purposes" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 6, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635 "2004-08-06T15:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/61 "2004-08-08T07:57:07Z")
One saying that would drive me insane was one of my co workers could never say ‘to be quite specific’. It would always be ‘to be quite Pacific’. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/62 "2004-08-08T15:43:11Z")
Another one that irks me is saying something is “a hard road to hoe”. There is no road that requires hoeing. It’s “a hard ROW to hoe”, which makes much more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/63 "2004-08-08T15:43:29Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > …people who misuse reflexive pronouns in bizarre fashion because they’ve picked up the (incorrect) idea that “myself” is the sophisticated way of saying “me.” I think this is related to my current pet peeve, using “I” when “me” is correct; e.g. “John gave some apples to Joe and I.” I have a number of otherwise good writers on my LiveJournal friends list who do this, and I cringe every time I see it. I can only guess that people who use this think that “I” sounds more correct, or perhaps that “me” is too casual. Wondering which to use? Take the other person out of the sentence: Would you say, “John gave some apples to I?” I certainly hope not, because that would be WRONG. Another multi-peeve: “Yay or nay?” No, it’s “yea.” “Yea, I understand what you’re saying.” No, it’s “yeah.” If everyone could get that right, I would say, “Yay!” ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/64 "2004-08-09T03:25:51Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > One saying that would drive me insane was one of my co workers could never say ‘to be quite specific’. It would always be ‘to be quite Pacific’. My Aunt Karen was a secretary whose boss made the same error. Mr. R would dictate a letter and incorporate a phrase such as “the document I pacifically requested”. Aunt Karen often wished she had the guts to ask: “Don’t you mean Atlantically, Mr. R?” Adding to the humor of the situation, the employer in question was A&P – the Great **A** tlantic **and** **P** acific Tea Company! By the way, although you can metaphorically “cut the mustard”, you do not (unless in a case analogous to the “Go passed the oak tree” scenario postulated by **SSgtBaloo** ) “pass mustard” if you succeed. Rather, you _pass muster_. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/65 "2004-08-09T04:05:15Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > As I was checking off the items on the mover’s inventory sheets as they delivered my furniture this week, I noticed that they were delivering my “chester” drawers. > > Ah, Chester, what a guy… 😃 So, what are you doing with poor Chester’s drawers? What is he wearing under his kilt? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/66 "2004-08-09T06:36:44Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Adding to the humor of the situation, the employer in question was A&P – the Great **A** tlantic **and** **P** acific Tea Company! Ahh, the good old Atlantic and Specific Tea Company! ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/67 "2004-08-09T14:52:41Z")
There’s another message board I frequent where there’s this guy who cannot spell the word “and.” I’ve read every single post he’s ever made, vainly searching for one instance of his spelling it correctly, to no avail. He spells it “an.” E.g., “I bought bread an milk an cereal an cookies.” How on earth can someone not know how to spell “and”? It can’t be a typo or momentary lapse as he’s never once spelled it right. I understand that “and” can sound like “an” if one drops the “d,” but has he never seen it written and realized that he’s been spelling it wrong? More annoyances: people who want to be “discrete” with their relationships and people who have problems that “phase” them. Doesn’t anyone read? How can people miss this kind of stuff? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/68 "2004-08-09T15:02:21Z")
> [@](#): > > While we’re at it, can we enforce some heinous penalty for: > > 1. “If you think…, you’ve got another _thing_ coming.” – Folks, it’s “think”, not “thing.” It doesn’t even make sense the other way! I realize the “right” way has some gramattical ideosyncracies of its own, but… I was going to complain about this, but there’s already been a flurry in support of “…another _thing_ coming…” (which makes perfect sense, even in the example **Q.E.D.** uses above), which I was brought up on. Quit being such a pre-Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/69 "2004-08-09T19:15:21Z")
[http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifyuhvnrthnkcmng.shtml](http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifyuhvnrthnkcmng.shtml) “If you think that, you have another think coming” means “You are mistaken and will soon have to alter your opinion”. This is now sometimes heard with “thing” in place of “think”, but “think” is the older version. Eric Partridge, in _A Dictionary of Catch Phrases_, gives the phrase as “you have another guess coming”, “US: since the 1920s, if not a decade or two earlier”. Clearly “think” is closer to “guess” than “thing” is. The OED gives a citation with “think” from 1937, and no evidence for “thing”. [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=have\*2+7&dict=A](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=have*2+7&dict=A) (informal) If someone has another think coming, they are mistaken: If you expected him to pat you on the back, you had another think coming. [http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861739855](http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861739855) “have got another think coming”: used to say that somebody is mistaken (informal) If he thinks I’m going to help him he’s got another think coming. [http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/dings.cgi?o=3001&service=en-de&query=coming](http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/dings.cgi?o=3001&service=en-de&query=coming) There seems to be an equivalent phrase in German, and I’m betting a hundred dollars it says it translates as “think coming”. German speakers? I believe this settles it. ---
**Author:** ![KarlWinslow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@KarlWinslow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlWinslow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/70 "2004-08-09T19:37:26Z")
> [@vexinvixen](#): > > I once had a boyfriend who used to say, “It’s feast or phantom.” His son told me, “It’s a doggy dog world.” I hope I’m not gonna slap my forehead when someone answers this question, but what is “it’s feast or phantom” an incorrect rendition of? ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/71 "2004-08-09T19:43:01Z")
Feast or _famine_ ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/72 "2004-08-09T19:45:43Z")
> [@KarlWinslow](#): > > I hope I’m not gonna slap my forehead when someone answers this question, but what is “it’s feast or phantom” an incorrect rendition of? Feast or famine. My personal pet peeve is one that is generally limited to the public sector: According to my current client, we just started a new Physical Year here in Florida. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/73 "2004-08-09T19:48:47Z")
**BlueKangaroo** may have gotten in first, but I added an additional comment, so there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/74 "2004-08-09T20:34:27Z")
One incorrrect spelling that I first saw about 10 years ago – and attributed to someone’s poor education – has been cropping up regularly, I’ve found, among the supposedly educated: “payed” for “paid.” **Zakalwe** reminded me that the secretary of my father, an attorney, always spoke aloud about the county’s Physical Court, despite often having to type documents referring to the Fiscal Court. This I could never figure out. ---
**Author:** ![KarlWinslow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@KarlWinslow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlWinslow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/75 "2004-08-09T21:00:37Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Feast or famine. > > My personal pet peeve is one that is generally limited to the public sector: > According to my current client, we just started a new Physical Year here in Florida. :smack: That reminds me of when someone, during the California recall election, described Schwarzenegger (probably accurately) as a social liberal and a physical conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Roscoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Captain\_Roscoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Roscoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/76 "2004-08-09T22:27:07Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > There’s another message board I frequent where there’s this guy who cannot spell the word “and.” I’ve read every single post he’s ever made, vainly searching for one instance of his spelling it correctly, to no avail. He spells it “an.” E.g., “I bought bread an milk an cereal an cookies.” My friend does this all the time, especially on message boards and in text messages etc. It’s not that she doesn’t know _how to spell_, apparently, she just likes to ‘spell how she speaks’. Whatever… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/77 "2004-08-10T13:45:32Z")
Argh! Yes! The misuse of “myself” is reaching epidemic proportions. “If you wish to discuss this further, please talk to either John or myself…” What? You want **me** to talk to **yourself**? And what form of body-swapping technology do you have that permits this? :smack: P.S. Not to flog a dead horse, but how can the people who grow up with “another thing coming” (an understandable mistake) not have a huge :smack: moment when they first hear the correct “think” form, which is listed in all major English dictionaries and which makes so much more sense? I have tried and failed to comprehend this… ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/78 "2004-08-10T14:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Roscoe] My friend does this all the time, especially on message boards and in text messages etc. It’s not that she doesn’t know _how to spell_, apparently, she just likes to ‘spell how she speaks’. /QUOTE] I cood by that if this gy speled lik this but he duznt. He spels farely wel. Wel, a good number of misteaks but overal ok. No wurs than haf the haf-illiturat pepul hoo post on mesaj bordz (not this bord, uv corse!) Its just that won word, “and.” Sometimes I want to reach through my computer and shake him. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/79 "2004-08-10T15:09:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Not to flog a dead horse, but how can the people who grow up with “another thing coming” (an understandable mistake) not have a huge moment when they first hear the correct “think” form, which is listed in all major English dictionaries and which makes so much more sense? I have tried and failed to comprehend this… Because its not a rule its an idiom. And its changing. The dictionaries may have it one way but they soon will change as the language changes. From my part of the country I have never heard the think version and I doubt I ever will. And don’t go quoting the OED at me, I don’t speak English I speak American dammit 😉 . If you don’t _think_ that language changes then you have another _thing_ coming. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635/80 "2004-08-10T15:38:12Z")
Yeah. let’s just allow anythng to fly in the language, no matter what. Some causes are completely lost, like the pronunciation of “Wednesday”, but I’m putting my foot down on “another think coming” and “naseated” meaning “sickened” and “nauseous” meaning “sickening”. What we have here is the difference in attitude that I’ve met before. Friend: Isn’t it nice to get around people who don’t care about how you or they talk? Me: NO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gentle-grammar-nudge-from-your-friend-podkayne-intensive-purposes/258635.md?page=5)