# Irritating Words and Word Usage **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2000, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168 "2000-12-18T17:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/41 "2000-12-19T04:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Again, a little off subject, but the names of beauty salons often make me groan. “Sheer Brilliance” or “Mane Attraction”. I guess it sort of lends itself to the business, but geez, “To Dye For”?? In the strip mall near my house, there is a beauty salon next door to a carry-out joint. As one drives by, the sign reads…Pizza Hair 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/42 "2000-12-19T05:36:10Z")
[Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com) says, quite strongly, that “I feel nauseous,” is correct. For _nauseous_ they give two definitions: 1 - causing nausea or disgust : nauseating 2 - affected with nausea or disgust They then pontificate: > [@](#): > > **usage** Those who insist that _nauseous_ can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for _nauseated_ are mistaken. They then point out that for sense 1 above, _nauseous_ is “losing ground” to _nauseating_. Kinda sounds like they’re rolling with popular usage, like **robinh** mentioned. Based on the quoted sentence, though, it seems that they’ve “rolled” pretty conclusively. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/43 "2000-12-19T05:44:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slackergirl \* > \*\*My mother just got me with “anymore” at the beginning of a sentence. “Anymore, we don’t go to the movies much…” I’ve heard her do it 3 or 4 times that I can recall and it always makes me want to rip my ears off. I have heard this a few other places too, and it seems to be popping up with greater frequency. > \*\* What’s worse is people who use “anymore” in a sentence without a negative. It has to go with a negative! To do otherwise sounds so stupid that I don’t know how people can fail to realize how wrong it is. Oh, an ex of mine was forever beginning sentences with the word “basically”. It nearly drove me mad. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/44 "2000-12-19T05:48:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maeglin \* > \*\*Any time nouns are suddenly turned into verbs. \*\* Verbing wierds language. –_Calvin (of Calvin&Hobbes), proposes turning non-verbs into verbs, in the same vein as “access”–used to be a thing, now it’s an action._ 😃 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spritle \* > \*\*Spritle has the ole “good/well” thing going on. > Spritle also has a BIG problem with “should have went”. > \ > Spritle also has a problem with “like” being used 5 or 6 times in one sentence, but that’s a bit different. \*\* It annoys Gunslinger when people refer to themselves in the third person. ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Met\_a\_Pieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simon\_Met\_a\_Pieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simon_Met_a_Pieman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/45 "2000-12-19T16:28:13Z")
The non-word conversate infuriates me. “Where is your brother at?” Why must the people that I otherwise love and care for speak so lazily? Why are there still people who insist on using prepostions to end their sentences? Irregardless is a word that never ceases to confuse and enrage me. Orientated. Once again, the English language fails me, but in this instance, it is because there are no words to describe the rage I feel when I see or hear this word. Deep cleansing breaths… It looks like another night of self medication. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/46 "2000-12-19T16:42:54Z")
Spritle (just for you, Gunner) wants to remind people that there is a difference between “burned” and “burnt”. It’s a past tense verb, adjective thing. Also, “reference” is a noun. One can not have “referenced” anything, ever. Spritle began referring to himself in the third person for two reasons: It can get him out of trouble sometimes, “I didn’t do it, Spritle did.” Spritle was laughing at Doug Williams (former QB for Warshington 🙂 Redskins) when he said on National TV, “If Doug Williams wants to play football, Doug Williams is gonna play football.” If anybody can refer to himself twice in one sentence, we all should laugh at that! The third person thing kind of stuck in fun/social situations. Spritle NEVER refers to himself in the third person anywhere other than the boards or in social groups when he has been a-drinkin’. ---
**Author:** ![FloChi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@FloChi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloChi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/47 "2000-12-19T16:59:58Z")
One that I just find incredibly funny is places (generally pubs) that have a sign saying “Come in and enjoy our interesting prices”. What are they trying to say? The signs are in English in Sweden, so there is a mistranslation going on. But at the very least they could ask a native English speaker what they think of it. There are quite a lot here. And why are there people who still insist that there is a problem with using prepositions at the end of sentences? That rule has never had majority usage. Does anyone remember that sentence that had five prepositions at the end? Something about reading a book that had been read before. ---
**Author:** ![FloChi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@FloChi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloChi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/48 "2000-12-19T17:03:03Z")
I was going to add that it is the people who at the end of the sentence the verb put that really annoy me. English doesn’t have that many rules, but putting the verb near the front of the sentence is generally one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/49 "2000-12-19T17:40:22Z")
Using “your” instead of “you’re” really bugs me. (e.g., Your 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:** [December 19, 2000, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/50 "2000-12-19T17:41:16Z")
[soapbox] The thing is, I think most of the examples provided so far have a lot to do with how words are spoken in certain cultures or parts of the country. Sure, these people might be misusing the English language, but that’s just the way they talk. You take a Southerner and put him or her in northern New Jersey and he or she will laugh at the guys saying “youse” all the time. Reverse the transplantation (!!) and the Jerseyite will laugh at the rednecks and their “y’all.” I think there are two main types of error: things that are wrong because that’s how the person speaks or writes and things that are wrong because they’re unclear or inaccurate. The latter, I believe, is the far more dangerous error - you see it in advertisements, articles, etc. The audience also figures into it all, of course - if I am talking with friends and I say “how y’all doin’?” then who cares? Maybe it’s not proper English, but my audience knows what I mean; the problem is only that I don’t look like a learned scholar. And that’s not my goal, is it? I just want them to understand me. If I’m clear, then all is right with the world. Of course, in the printed world, that’s all different - we **need** rules. And while there is no certified omniscient Authority on the English Language, we need to be self-policing. [/soapbox] I think it would be way awesome cool to see examples of things we’ve seen in print that Just Do Not Make Sense. Things that were obviously incorrect in that they weren’t accurate or were misleading. That “'s” example is very good and unfortunately prevalent. (“We have lot’s of stuff in inventory!”) BTW - the difference between **further** and **farther** is that farther suggests physical distance and further suggests metaphorical distance (any distance that cannot be measured). People who have not reached their destination must travel farther, but a discussion is continued further. (This is from “The Wordwatcher’s Guide to Good Grammar and Usage” by Morton S. Freeman, 1998, Medford Press, Medford, NJ) ---
**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:** [December 19, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/51 "2000-12-19T17:49:14Z")
That always brings to mind a quote from Winston Churchill (I think) who, when told of that nonexistant rule, said: “That is something up which I will not put.” Or was that Edwin Newman… Or was it Newman quoting Churchill… **Any** way… That rule doesn’t exist, no way, no how. It was invented years ago as a myth to scare little kids into writing decent sentences, although there are plenty of fine sentences that are written with prepositions at the end of them. (Besides, a lot of those prepositional phrases are idioms and cannot be broken up without the sentence really seeming awkward.) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/52 "2000-12-19T18:15:56Z")
My sister likes to start sentences with “I mean…” This is her verbal crutch. It makes me crazy!! Luckily, she lives 800 miles away so I don’t have to hear it daily any longer. My mother-in-law likes the word “boughten” - as in “store-boughten” I cringe and try to ignore it - it would be tacky beyond words to correct her. It amazes me coming from someone so well-read. “Basically” makes me cringe every time I hear it. “Between you and I,…” - AAAAUUUUUGH!! I’m going to stop now before I work myself into a tizzy. ---
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/53 "2000-12-19T18:26:14Z")
“Plan on” instead of “plan to”, as in “I plan on taking a vacation,” vs. “I plan to take a vacation.” “Attorney-generals” instead of “Attorneys-general”. Also, the one that REALLY pisses me off is the sportspeak use of “on” instead of “for”. “McGwire is batting .296 ON the season.” “The Vikings are 11-4 ON the season.” Some douche bag sportscaster started this about 20 years ago, and now they all do it. Tell me true - who among you has ever said, “I have a B+ average ON the semester.” ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/54 "2000-12-19T23:57:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slackergirl \* > \*\*My mother just got me with “anymore” at the beginning of a sentence. “Anymore, we don’t go to the movies much…” I’ve heard her do it 3 or 4 times that I can recall and it always makes me want to rip my ears off. I have heard this a few other places too, and it seems to be popping up with greater frequency. \*\* **slackergirl** , may I ask where you live, or where your mother is from? We were talking about this usage of “anymore” in one of my Linguistics classes, and it was used exactly like this. Nobody in the class had ever heard this usage before, and the instructor had only heard it once, about 20 years ago… We think that it can be found in Newfoundland, but we’re not sure. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![WickedAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f6c823/32.png) [@WickedAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WickedAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/55 "2000-12-20T00:15:26Z")
I get irritated the most by two completely different words spelled exactly the same. wind (air) vs. wind (twist motion) bass (fish) vs. bass (sound) tear (liquid) vs tear (rip) or the inconsistancy of the english language. Plural words for example. Sometimes you add an s (cats) others must have an i (octopi). If anyone can explain to me why abdomen turns into abdominal instead of remaining abdomenal i’d LOVE to know. ---
**Author:** ![sk8rixtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@sk8rixtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sk8rixtx)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/56 "2000-12-20T01:46:18Z")
Girls in my school say this ALL the time: “Oh… My… Gawd!!! You guuuuyyzzz!!!” Fuck off bitches. ---
**Author:** ![slackergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@slackergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slackergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/57 "2000-12-20T03:03:14Z")
**StephenG** , My mother was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her parents were from London, Kentucky and Edina, Missouri. I have heard it an old friend’s mother as well. I believe her family was also from Missouri, or to be more precise, “Mizzurrah.” I don’t think either one of them has ever been to Newfoundland. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/58 "2000-12-20T03:46:50Z")
I think the sentence FloChi meant was, “Why did you bring that book that I didn’t want to be read to out of up for?” (spoken by a child to a parent who brought the book upstairs despite the child’s lack of interest in it). By the way, if you end a sentence with a “preposition,” it isn’t a preposition, so there’s no problem. ---
**Author:** ![aztec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@aztec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aztec)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/59 "2000-12-20T17:04:42Z")
This old man at my church used several annoying mispronounciations. Example: “It’s not as cold outside as it feels, that’s because of the wind shield factory.” ---
**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:** [December 20, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168/60 "2000-12-20T17:16:16Z")
It’s still a preposition, it’s just not introductory to a prepositional phrase. It’s a dangling preposition (and we know how unseemly **those** can be!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irritating-words-and-word-usage/46168.md?page=4)