# Gross abuses of the English language **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991 "2003-05-13T17:11:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/21 "2003-05-13T23:45:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wyld Stallyn \* > \*\*Sorry, I was reading about nucular bombs in the liberry. \*\* Thanks for stealing my joke. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/22 "2003-05-14T00:07:01Z")
A friend of mine is always saying “In acturality” which appears to be a contraction of actual reality. To say “in actual reality” is bad enough, but to slop it all together makes me want to slap him! Then there was the one who would quite clearly enunciate “In actual fact” which is also hopelessly redundant. ---
**Author:** ![fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fish_in_the_sky)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/23 "2003-05-14T01:02:07Z")
Oh, come on. You’re all being rediculous. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/24 "2003-05-14T01:24:18Z")
How about being loathe to do something? I loath that! ---
**Author:** ![Laurasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@Laurasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laurasia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/25 "2003-05-14T01:50:16Z")
Funner…anyone who says funner makes me cringe! I just want to grab them by the shoulders and start shaking them while I scream, “THERE’S NO SUCH WORD AS FUNNER!!!” ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/26 "2003-05-14T02:18:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laurasia \* > \*\*Funner…anyone who says funner makes me cringe! I just want to grab them by the shoulders and start shaking them while I scream, “THERE’S NO SUCH WORD AS FUNNER!!!” \*\* And yet, funnily enough, there is such a word as “funnily.” Go figger… Barry ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/27 "2003-05-14T02:38:30Z")
I can’t stand the complete disregard for capitalizatation! Everywhere I look these days I see names of people/places all spelled out in lower case letters. And I don’t mean as mistakes. This is a very annoying trend. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/28 "2003-05-14T02:40:58Z")
I would just like to say that I despise the “word” _guesstimate_. It sounded dumb-ass and made-up when my third grade math teacher used it, and it causes me physical pain to hear scientists and engineers use it. You are talking to grown-ups, supposedly, and you have a choice between two perfectly respectable words. Pick one instead of sounding like a moron and making a cutesy mish-mash of them. Oh, and while I’m at it, _supposably_ and _literally_ piss me the hell off. Well, _literally_ doesn’t bother me if it’s used correctly, which is about 0.0053% of the time. I heard this little gem on the radio: “Those kids literally went through hell.” Oh, really? Were they met at the Gates of Hades by Lucifer himself? Were they subjected to tortures in a lake of fire, or was it more of a bus-tour kind of a situation? Now that we have proof of the existence of the afterlife, the worlds of philosophy, theology, and science must be all in an uproar, but strangely, I haven’t seen anything about it on the news. It must be that damned liberal media again . . . Arggghh!!! _Literally_ is not an intensfier!!! ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/29 "2003-05-14T02:55:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*My personal pet peeve is the word “crispy.” > > CRISP! > > It’s a goddamn adjective to begin with! It does not need that extra y! What’s the opposite of crispy? Softy? \*\* [crispy](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=crispy) ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/30 "2003-05-14T03:56:26Z")
amarone, you sly devil. Seriously, before you get your panties in a wad, please make sure that the word or phrase that gets your goat is in not one of the gazillions of perfectly cromulent words in the big beautiful language we use. Also, show a little tolerance for regional pronunciations and jokes. Jeebus. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/31 "2003-05-14T04:49:22Z")
Listen, I know people _use_ it. It’s just completely _unnecessary_. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/32 "2003-05-14T04:59:08Z")
I’ve just spent an hour pouring over this thread. Liberally! ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/33 "2003-05-14T06:08:07Z")
ATM machine. PIN number. Completely and totally stamp out useless repetitive redundancies! ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/34 "2003-05-14T06:48:39Z")
What’s wrong with redundant acronyms? If someone came up to me and simply said “I need your PIN,” I’d probably get confused. “PIN number” is more clear, and easier to say than “PI number.” ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/35 "2003-05-14T07:27:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*What’s wrong with redundant acronyms? If someone came up to me and simply said “I need your PIN,” I’d probably get confused. “PIN number” is more clear, and easier to say than “PI number.” \*\* I’d say that it’s precisely that redundancy that’s the problem. “I need your PIN.” “Hold on; I hafta hit the ATM.” Both seem clear to me as is without the redundant “number” or “machine” tacked on. And you’re right: “PI number” would be an abomination. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/36 "2003-05-14T08:06:10Z")
I was literally pissed off once. I can’t go into the details, but beer was involved. Lots of it. Personally, I’m bothered by the use of “like” in place of “say”. “This guy came up to me and was like, ‘what are you doing?’ and I’m like, ‘I’m waiting for my friend’ and he’s like, ‘you can’t hang around here’ and I’m like, ‘what’s your problem?’ and he’s like…” It’s bad enough to hear people talk this way, but when they start writing in this style, I’m like, that’s it. I’m also bugged by the spelling of ‘ever’ as ‘evar’. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/37 "2003-05-14T10:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*Listen, I know people _use_ it. It’s just completely _unnecessary_. \*\* But “crisp” isn’t an antonym for “soft”; “dry” might be. And there _is_ a “dryly.” 😉 To me, “crispy” just means “in a crisp-like manner,” whereas “crisp” itself means… uh… “crisp.” > [@](#): > > _originally posted by Manatee_And you’re right: “PI number” would be an abomination. :Pardon me, I’ll need your 3.1415929…" ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/38 "2003-05-14T13:40:44Z")
I know this has been harped on time and time again but it annoys me to no end: People, it’s spelled commun **est** , dammit. Just like capital **est** and, uh, thi **est** , yeah, that’s right, thi **est**. Look, if you’re going to try to convince someone about the worth of your beliefs, at least get the name right. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/39 "2003-05-14T13:42:09Z")
😕 I feel all whooshy inside… ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991/40 "2003-05-14T13:43:37Z")
I just got an email from the person who writes our newsletters. It contained this word: **strickly** And not, it’s not a typo, because the k and the t aren’t even close on the keyboard. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe a professional writer would do something like that. She needs to start using a spellchecker. ME [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-abuses-of-the-english-language/174991.md?page=3)