Definately – this all-too-common spelling error definitely annoys me
Accidently – I hope the person who types this just accidentally omits a couple of letters
Publically – People who write this should be publicly corrected
Laxadaisical – A lax pronunciation of lackadaisical
Italian is not pronounced “Eye-talian”.*
Then there’s the apostrophe. Let’s review:
An apostrophe in a singular possessive goes before the final s. Example: the boy’s book.
An apostrophe in a plural possessive GENERALLY goes after the final s. Example: the teachers’ lounge. However…
An apostrophe in a plural possessive goes BEFORE the final s i n such cases as “the children’s hour” and “the women’s pages”. Generally, you’re fine if you put the apostrophe after the last letter you’d say or write if there were no “apostrophe s” construction (“the boy book”, the children hour", etc.)
An apostrophe IS ALMOST NEVER USED TO PLURALIZE A WORD. Mr. and Mrs. Hagan are “The Hagans”, not “The Hagan’s”. They may have “three daughters”, but not “three daughter’s”. However, it is generally acceptable to refer to “the 1960’s” or “getting straight A’s”, because “1960s” could be mistaken for a model number pronounced “nineteen-sixty ess” and “straight As” would likely be perceived as a mistyping of “straight as”.
You’re is a contaction of you are. If that Buick belongs to you, though, it’s your car, and it doesn’t need an apostrophe in that situation. Similarly, it’s (it is) no secret that its means “belonging to it”, just as his means “belonging to him”.
*well, it often is, but that’s not (in my prescriptivist opinion) correct. And that little starlike mark at the beginning of this footnote is an asterisk, not an asterick or asterix.
Can someone explain why some people say Massa-TOO-setts ?
To me, this and “NUKE-YOU-LAR” are not mispronunciations or regionalisms but just outright mistakes.
U R forgetting the l8est offNse against writtN English, isn’t NE1 4 spelling out whole words B4 sending messages NE more?
This irritating chatspeak has taken over any form of real-time written communication. I can live with that, although my teeth will be ground a bit shorter. I’ve spent too much of my life trying to puzzle out these rebus-like monstrosities.
But I get it in emails, post-it notes, advertisements, and even written documents now. I’ve used the “Sorry, I can’t read idiot” line myself, but I’m trying so hard to be good.
I was going to snark about how a35362 says ‘EN-velope’, but featherlou you said it so much more nicely than I could have.
Does this mean there are people saying ‘N-Rowt’? (en route).
Lots of the locals hereabouts put new ‘flim’ (sic) in their cameras. And insist on being ‘mischiev-i-ous’ when talking about their fav-lit movie ‘hero-een’ (female hero). We get lots of fun dialectic misconbobulations in this neck of the penninsula.
The ‘mischievious’ one always gets me. I have no idea where that extra ‘i’ comes from. Same thing happens with grievous. The News-announcers do it too. On air. Repeatedly!
But I have to say i’m far from perfect, and I often make pronounciation faux pas or… what’s the plural of faux pas?
I have a dear friend who is very intelligent, but somehow missed the proper conjugation of “to drag.” Every time she says she “drug” something I cringe inwardly.
However, that’s nothing compared to the seething hatred I experience when local furniture companies advertise “bedroom suits.” Goddamn it, it’s from the French, and what the hell do you think that “e” at the end is for anyway?! Really, I just want to hunt these people down and slap them for a couple hours. I actually keep a mental list of stores I won’t shop at because of this mispronunciation. I realize it’s irrational, but I can’t help it.
I hear that all the time from the Teenage Terror and her friends:
“Jenny ran into Sally and Jenny goes, ‘Did you see Heather’s new earrings?’ And Sally goes, 'No…”
I’ll usually ask them where they went and how long it took to get there. The blank looks are priceless.
And don’t get me started on the “Me and Jenny are going to the mall.” stuff. Aaarrgghhh.
My hat is off to the bravery and dedication of our armed servicemembers. But I gotta tell ya: most I see on TV, and read on bulletin boards, talk like a bunch of robot doberman redneck bureaucrats. These folks are a lot more alike than Our Boys in 'Nam, Korea, or War Two were. You hear regional accents - two or three officially approved ones, anyway - but the way of speaking is uniform.
I’ve thought about this, and I think “he goes . . .” or “he’s like . . .” are used when the speaker knows she can’t reproduce the words verbatim, and therefore is reluctant to actually use “he said.” I don’t think there’s a legitimate verb for “he expressed this basic idea, which I’m paraphrasing.”
Oh, and for the person who wondered how people come up with “heighth,” I’m guessing they want it to match “length” and “width,” which is a natural enough impulse (but they still sound stupid).
Your analysis is borne out by a research project a classmate of mine presented to our dialectology class. Among her findings, she collected an instance in which a girl is recounting a funny incident whose humour hinged on the exact wording of what someone said. She says, “…so then he’s like – I mean, he says…”
