Some of these things are contagious. I hear an entire dept where I work talk about turning in their financial reports “before the end of the physical year”.
Saying “here comes the calvary!” when it’s supposed to be “cavalry”. I heard this once again on our local news, used by a clueless reporter.
Cavalry is a military unit on horseback, Calvary was a place of execution.
(Not sure if this has been mentioned… too lazy to check…)
I hate it when someone substitutes less for fewer. Yesterday, I was so happy to see someone get it right – a sign at the grocery store that read “This line if you have 8 items or fewer” – that I thanked the checkout person.
“Couldn’t care less” makes literal sense. “Could care less” does make sense too in the context above especially given the way people spoke way back when. It would make even more sense if 'could" was eliminated or replaced with “do”.
Are you saying, however, that the latter (could) is the origin of the phrase?
Was your late wife from the Philadelphia area? My mom was from around there and she also said that the little stream running through the meadow was a “crick.” But if you got a spasm in your back, that was a “creek.” The national bird was an “iggle.”
With you on your second paragraph, too. There is no such word as “alright.”
I retract my objection.
Why, dammit?! “Orient” is a word meaning “East”, so if you say “disoriented” I assume you mean you have been deported from an Eastern country, or some such. If you are confused or unsure of your surroundings, you’re “disorientated”. I put “disoriented” in the “hideous Americanisms” category :).
I like to perpetuate the mangled phrases I’ve heard. Not too many spring to mind right now except “no skin off my back” (as opposed to “nose”) and one used by a good friend of mine - “There’s no two doubts about it”, combining “no doubt about it” and “no two ways about it”.
Oh good, a chance to vent.
It’s not a hambooger for christs sake, you’re a woman nearing fifty, say it with me. Hamburger, a hambooger comes out of a pigs nose.
One I like, piece a’ slut for pizza hut. Im an ass.
Nope, “orientate” is wrong. It’s a back-formation from “orientation,” and would be akin to saying “conversate” instead of “converse.” “Orient” is a perfectly good verb, and does not need the “-ate” to make it one.
That’s my theory: that the declaration “I know not, and could care less” was in common usage–it’s somewhat idiomatic in its own right–and over time the first part fell away, to leave only “I could care less.” It makes more sense to me, than that “I could care less” sprang out of nowhere, and has NEVER made any sense.
By the way, one of my other peeves is “everyday” and “backyard” used as nouns instead of adjectives. You wear your everyday clothes every day; and you install the backyard fence in the back yard.
“My point being is…”
-FrL-
[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47]
No, it’s not forgivable. It’s = it is. Its X = the X that belongs to it. If you start allowing “it’s” as a possessive, what will we use as a contraction of “it is”? How would you read the first sentence of my post?
[QUOTE]
While I agree with your conclusion, your argument is easily answer. I would read the first sentence of your post by realizing that the sentence makes no sense if “it’s” is a possessive, so the contraction must be the intended sense of the word.
-FrL-
I agree, dear Miss Purl. Perhaps I wasn’t clear. My way of saying Wed’n’sday is a personal quirk. I say it that way because I like it, and because it’s respectful of a deity that nobody pays much fealty to anymore, not because it is correct.
I acknowledge that modern English is continuously evolving. I don’t have to like it, though. I might even drag my feet as I’m towed toward “different than.” :eek:
I usually go with “We’ll cross that bridge when we find it” from a song by Duran Duran.
You’d think, but then I realized I had been saying “uncomfterble” all these years and now have to force myself to say un-com-fort-able.
This actually never registered with me, thanks for the tip.
My pet peeves lately are “added bonus” since you’d think a bonus is already added and “What I am saying is, is that …” or “The reason why is, is because…” GAAH!!
I knew someone who insisted that “truck” must be pronounced with a proper ‘t’ sound at the beginning. She would correct people when they would say “chruck”
What was funny about this was, she herself always said “chruck,” never “truck” unless she was emphasizing that ‘t’ in order to correct someone.
I pointed this out to her, and she insisted she was saying “t’ruck,” not “chruck.” I would tell her to say it quickly in the middle of a sentence, and she would clearly and unmistakably say “chruck,” and I would point it out, and she would insist she hadn’t said “chruck” but “t’ruck.”
She actually got really mad about this. She never would acknowledge that she, like most of the rest of the english speaking world, was saying it right and that even she, in practice, knew that her supposedly preferred “t’ruck” pronunciation is wrong.
-FrL-
I never heard that one before. I would have thought they were just pausing and repeating, though on the other hand, it does sound alot like a turn of phrase I often see while grading undergrad papers: “My point being is that…”
As though there’s this thing called a “point being” that needs further explication.
Have you ever seen “The reason why is, is because…” or anything like that in writing?
-Kris
No, no, it’s “added extra bonus.”
I say “we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it” now and then with the full knowledge that it’s a play on words, mixing two common phrases for a new meaning.
Add me to the list of folks who want to kneecap those who say “supposably” and “new-kew-ler”.
That’s just silly. High time is no time for deciding! :dubious: