# Misused words that get on your nerves **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2002, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459 "2002-05-23T10:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Dale\_The\_Bold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/141 "2002-06-11T08:25:27Z")
Pronouncing ornery as “onry.” I got into a fight over that one once. Realtor/Realty with that bonus syllable. It’s funny how I imagine the mispronunctiation as being spelled “reality.” The last book of the Bible is Revelation. There is only one revelation in it, though it does have several components. There was a lady on a Christian message board who was offended that I said “people who say 'Revelation **s** lose credibility.” I told her whe was “too sensitive.” She tried to regain credibility by telling me I misused “too,” and that it should have one “o.” Yikes. That annoying pronunciation where the abrupt “T” sound is replace with a quick grunt for which there is no english equivalent. The empahsis is the put on the second part of the word and “Martin” becomes “Mar-In.” It’s hard to put into text, but it sounds like baby talk. I met a guy from New York who said “axe” instead of “ask.” I couldn’t understand how he could admit that he said it wrong, yet he continued to do it. That also sounds like baby talk. Prejudism? What? And I have to put in another vote for “orientate.” Ugh, that one figuratively drives me crazy. Oh, anyone ever hear “batry” for “battery?” I tink it’s one a dem Polish tings up nort. (I’m in Wisconsin). Oh, and I’ve never heard “my car needs washed.” My dad still says “they was” or “we was.” It’s O.K. though. He makes up for it by using cool phrases like “Purt-near.” ---
**Author:** ![meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@meyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meyer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/142 "2002-06-11T09:57:45Z")
What about ‘a whole nother’ - as in “That will be a whole nother ball game”. You can’t just take a word apart and stick another one in the middle! ‘Nother’ is absolutely not a real word on its own, so there is no good reason it should be masquerading as one! Also when people write ‘a lot’ as ‘alot’, which is not a word. But that doesn’t bother me as much. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/143 "2002-06-11T10:22:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dale The Bold \* > \*\* > > That annoying pronunciation where the abrupt “T” sound is replace with a quick grunt for which there is no english equivalent. The empahsis is the put on the second part of the word and “Martin” becomes “Mar-In.” It’s hard to put into text, but it sounds like baby talk. > > \*\* It’s called a glottal stop and is the curse of English in the UK, thanks to that repository of inarticulate grunting - Eastenders. My personal bugbears: Fewer vs less Spurious use of numbers that imply useful information, e.g. Weather forecasters: “There is an 10% chance of rain tomorow.” 10% of what? If I go out ten times will I be rained on once? If I go out once will I get rained on every tenth step? Does it mean that in the next 24 hours, the it will rain for 2.4 of them? Also, WHERE will it rain? On me, on the forecaster (if so, then I never need an umbrella), on the next street, on the next city, on every tenth person/street/country? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/144 "2002-06-11T13:03:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Go alien \* > \*\* > Spurious use of numbers that imply useful information, e.g. Weather forecasters: “There is an 10% chance of rain tomorow.” 10% of what? If I go out ten times will I be rained on once? If I go out once will I get rained on every tenth step? Does it mean that in the next 24 hours, the it will rain for 2.4 of them? Also, WHERE will it rain? On me, on the forecaster (if so, then I never need an umbrella), on the next street, on the next city, on every tenth person/street/country? \*\* Not sure how serious you were, but just in case it means that on 10% of the days where weather conditions we’re the same as tomorrow’s, it did rain. So there is a 10% chance that it will. At least I believe that’s the way I heard my meteorologist explain it one time. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/145 "2002-06-11T13:18:05Z")
Max, the rant wasn’t especially serious, but the point was. Saying “a 10% chance of rain” sounds more “scientific” than “a slight chance of rain”. Given the area covered by the forecast (say, half a country), does a 10% chance mean anything other than a one in ten chance of it raining on our rain detector? Which is pretty useless, IMHO. There is a strong tendency to quanitfy statements, primarily of the “there is an x% chance of y happening” type, when all the comentator is doing is to try to make them sound scientific for fake verisimilitude. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/146 "2002-06-11T16:05:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*One occasionally hears a TV newscaster say “short-lived”, sounds like “hive.” > > It’s short-_lived_, you idiot. Sounds like… uh… “lived.” \*\* Wait a minute. My dictionary lists the rhyming-with-_hived_ pronunciation as the preferred pronunciation. See also [Dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=short-lived). Matter of fact, it always vaguely bothers me when someone uses the _other_ pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/147 "2002-06-11T17:48:24Z")
“Complected.” No such word. “More” or “Most unique.” Unique is unique; there are no degrees of unique-titude. “Lie” or “Lay” mixups. “Lie” means to recline; its past tense is “lay” and perfect tense is “lain.” “Lay” means to put or set; its past tense is “Laid” and its perfect tense is also “laid.” “Lay” is a transitive verb; it must have an object. In other words, you have to “lay SOMETHING somewhere.” “Medication” for “Medicine.” And most of all I hate the incessant use of the word “Issue” for “problem” as in "we have issues with. . . " If we have a problem, say it! My skin crawls (oops, almost wrote “literally”) when I hear that euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/148 "2002-06-11T23:24:48Z")
also putting an apostrophe in a plural word: “Get your drink’s here.” (Obviously only in written form.) ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/149 "2002-06-11T23:30:29Z")
BTW, I knew a Japanese exchange student, and I mixed up lie/lay, and she actually didn’t understand what I was trying to say! Once she realized that I reversed the lie/lay thing she understood. That convinced me I should try harder to remember the difference. **Oh, yeah!** For awhile at this office in which I worked the managers would say, “If you have a question, bring it to John or **myself**.” Completely ticked me off. I can’t bring anything to **yourself, you fuck,** only **you** can bring something to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/150 "2002-06-11T23:50:54Z")
**iamthewalrus** , I was referring to usage I hear and read in everyday life. Like from the perspective of my State Farm agent. He **insure** s my car by paying me money if it gets damaged in an accident. I **ensure** it won’t get damaged by leaving it parked in the garage at all times. I guess the big difference to me is that there is a payoff of some kind when something is **insured** if/when it gets lost/damaged/stolen, while **ensure** would mean that I am doing everything possible to make sure that the payoff will never be necessary in the first place. Besides, I’ve never seen someone referred to as an **ensurance** agent. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/151 "2002-06-12T01:07:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lorenzo \* > \*\*“I could care less.” > passive voice– > “A hospital was bombed.” for “We bombed a hospital.” > \*\* Sometimes a passive voice is more appropriate depending on your level of involvement or in setting the right tone. I find it is used most often when someone wants to separate themself from the event. The car was wrecked vs I wrecked the car. Money was taken vs I took the money. It works if used right. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/152 "2002-06-12T01:16:04Z")
**Bimonthly** when what is meant is “twice per month” (similarly: **biweekly** for “twice per week”). **Blowero** , I have the same issue you have with phrases like “needs cleaned.” It’s a problem, because my wife (who was raised in Chicago FWIW) spends a lot more time with the kids than I do, and she speaks this way. Therefore I have to be very careful about how I “correct” my daughter. AND: If I had corrected every abuse of the apostrophe I’ve seen here in Kentucky, I would have been run out of state on a rail by now. ---
**Author:** ![\_etalhea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/779978/32.png) [@\_etalhea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_etalhea)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/153 "2002-06-12T03:22:50Z")
OOOOOOH! I really hate it when people get redundant with AM and PM, as in “I had to get up at 5am in the morning” **IS THERE A 5 AM ANY OTHER TIME BESIDES MORNING???** And also when they get “To” and “Too” mixed up, ahhhggghhh! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/154 "2002-06-12T04:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by glilly \* > \*\*“If you have a question, bring it to John or **myself**.” Completely ticked me off. I can’t bring anything to **yourself, you fuck,** \*\* Man, calm down… ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/155 "2002-06-12T23:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Mermaid \* > **I find it is used most often when someone wants to separate themself from the event.** That’s what annoys me, and presumbably **Lorenzo** too. His example: “A hospital was bombed.” vs. “We bombed a hospital.” If Ari is doing a press conference to tell the world that the U.S. military dropped a big bomb on a little hospital, he should say “We bombed a hospital.” because he is a part of the organization that bombed a hospital. Saying “A hospital was bombed.” adds the possibility that the U.S. isn’t responsible for it, which isn’t true in this particular made-up case. It’s about honesty. I suppose it’s not misused, but it definitely gets on my nerves. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/156 "2002-06-12T23:57:28Z")
Dan Quayle on how he got a position in the Indiana National Guard during the Vietnam War: “Phone calls were made.” Perhaps the phone dialed by itself. ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/157 "2002-06-13T01:22:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Mermaid \* > \*\* > > I find it is used most often when someone wants to separate themself from the event. \*\* There’s another; “them” and “they” are never singular, even when you want to have a neutral pronoun, and especially when you make up a word like “themself.” Too bad the lousy language doesn’t have the finest alternative to it. ---
**Author:** ![welby1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@welby1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/welby1)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/158 "2002-06-13T01:46:24Z")
I have a boss that doesn’t know the plural of mouse. Since I work in the computer industry, it’s horribly annoying to hear him say something like: “Did you order enough mouses, mices, meese, WHATEVER to go along with the computers?” He also says “Most Ricky Tick” when he wants something done fast. I pray daily that he will stub his toe. Not a regular toe stub, I’m talking a full fledged stubbing your toe in the dark on a cold morning so that it hurts for hours kind of toe stub. I’m not playing any reindeer games about this toe stub. It’ll hurt so bad that the Apocolypse looks good. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/159 "2002-06-13T03:27:01Z")
I feel better now. But I thought of another one (one that doesn’t tick me off as much): **ATM machine**. Since ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine, the extra machine is redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459/160 "2002-06-13T15:48:21Z")
much like, in computer land, “NIC card” where the ‘c’ already stands for card. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-words-that-get-on-your-nerves/110459.md?page=9)