# More language peeves **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814 "2005-04-11T17:24:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/121 "2005-04-15T04:13:25Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > I’ve always believed that “an’t” was a cognate of the dialectual “amn’t” (which I think still occurs in some places, but don’t quote me on that.) ‘Amn’t’ is still used in Ireland, both in [speech](http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/voices/atilazed/a.shtml) and in [writing](http://www.g21.net/irish59.htm). > [@BBC N. Ireland homepage](#): > > Ampta/aminta? Aren’t I? > > ‘Are not I’ makes less grammatical sense to Irish ears than ‘am not I’ so ‘aren’t I’ becomes ‘amn’t I’, though it sounds like ampta or aminta, probably because the arrangement of consonants was alien to those who had to suddenly stop speaking Irish and start speaking English and we have inherited their pronunciation. Mattie Lennon, Irish writer: ‘Amn’t I glad I wasn’t around at the time; because being a ballad-writer or scribbler of any sort was almost as hazardous as playing football for Rathnew, judging by the instructions given to Sir Henry for his rule of the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles?’ ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/122 "2005-04-15T05:04:44Z")
> [@MizQuirk](#): > > Waiting on > > when what is meant is > > waiting for > > “I’m waiting on Joe.” If you’re not a waitress/clerk/waitperson, you’re probably waiting FOR Joe. I agree. I’m curious, then, how you feel about “fixin’ to” as in, “I’m fixin’ to make me a sandwich.” And, “waiting on line” as in, “I’ve been waiting on line for theater tickets for an hour.” ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/123 "2005-04-15T05:13:19Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > \ > > - Just saw The Princess Bride today (starting a celebratory thread in CS soon) and there’s a nice bit where one of the characters is asked to recount something and he says: “Okay, I’ll explain it. No, I haven’t got time for that - I’ll summarise it.”) [nitpick] Actually, the line is: “Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.” It is spoken by the character Inigo Montoya. [/nitpick] One of my favorite movies of all time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/124 "2005-04-15T05:24:09Z")
**Margey** , you have made it your mission in life to correct me. Welcome to the Dope! Join the other 50,000 members!! Not bad from memory, though, especially for someone no longer in the first flush of youth. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/125 "2005-04-15T05:31:29Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > **Margey** , you have made it your mission in life to correct me. > > Welcome to the Dope! Join the other 50,000 members!! > > Not bad from memory, though, especially for someone no longer in the first flush of youth. Sorry, it’s genetic. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/126 "2005-04-15T12:18:06Z")
> [@davmilasav](#): > > Not sure if this fits but my bugaboo is “forté” being used to mean “strong point.” > > The word is “fort.” As in Fort Knox, Fort Pitt or Fort Duquesne. Why do you think they call them “forts?” > > “Forté” means “loud,” you knob. The "e’’ on the end is silent. It’s a French word. Deal with it. I think you are getting confused. The musical term “forte” meaning “loud” comes from _Italian_, not French, and it sure as heck doesn’t have an accent. It doesn’t need to, as Italian sounds a final “e” anyway. See the [Usage Note](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=forte). Regarding **niche** , is “nitch” really the standard pronunciation in US English? In the UK you’d surely get corrected if you pronounced it any way other than “neesh”. A particular bugbear of mine is the “off one’s own back” instead of “off one’s own bat”, meaning to do something of one’s own accord or without outside help. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/127 "2005-04-15T13:10:51Z")
[Irregardless](http://www.irregardless.com/), they’ve always served excellent food. I get **so** frustrated at having to repeatedly explain in GQ that “proper English” is neither a misnomer nor an arrant imposition of Establishment rules on one’s freedom of speech, but simply the system, within descriptive English grammar, that describes the standard usage for formal writings. Just as, if you say “Me talk pretty some day,” you’d better be under age four or David Sedaris, the phrasings that are totally proper and expected in colloquial speech are not the ones that are appropriately used in formal writing. It’s not that they’re **wrong** ; it’s that they’re out of place. Just as you are quite welcome to masturbate; there’s nothing immoral about it. But it’s not the recommended thing to be doing as you’re presented to Queen Elizabeth. It may not be immoral, but it is definitely out of place! Some of our in-family colloquialisms derive from odd stuff said by folks like **Beware of Doug** ’s Mama Doug, though: Thanks to a TV show Barb saw which we have forgotten everything about but the one phrase, “Aw, the poor little mutt!” (of a kitten, as I recall), any small child or young animal looking or behaving cutely is a “mutt” (said affectionately) and a child hamming it up for the amusement of adults is “being mutty.” An 11-year-old neighbor who adopted us years ago contributed “pisketti,” “refrigetator,” and the first meal of the day, “brefix.” Another teen clowning around contributed the enunciated- **gh** form, where “Right. Turn out the light.” becomes “Ridgit [slant-rhymes with “rivet”]. Turn out the lidgit [as in “and Myers”].” And our sarcastic putdown of the latest teen fad is the overemphasized vowel implicit in the spelling “kewl.” (We keep enough of our youth to say approvingly, “Hey that’s cool” of something we find likeable, but a news report “The latest trend among teenage girls is to shave their heads and wear overalls with no undergarments” gets a drawn-out, sarcastic “Kewwwwwwwwl” from us.) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/128 "2005-04-15T13:28:12Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > I get **so** frustrated at having to repeatedly explain in GQ that “proper English” is neither a misnomer nor an arrant imposition of Establishment rules on one’s freedom of speech, but simply the system, within descriptive English grammar, that describes the standard usage for formal writings. While I agree with the sentiment, I’ve started shying away from using the word “Proper,” as people get all hung up on its connotations. On the one hand, I could figure that was their problem, that they misunderstood what it meant for something to be Proper English–but on the other hand, considering it their problem would cut directly against what I consider to be competent language usage. My rule, as I’ve stated before, is that yer talkin good if yer communicatin yer ideas effectively. There’s an addendum to that: if people are getting irritated by the words you use, then you’re probably NOT communicating effectively, inasmuch as you usually don’t want to be irritating people. So, while from a theoretical perspective I’ll defend “irregardless,” “nukulur,” and “ain’t,” I’ll happily recognize that on many occasions you ought not use such language–that using such language will be counterproductive. But I don’t like to say that it’ll be improper, because it leads the ignorant to believe I’m saying that it’s intrinsically incorrect. And that means I’m not communicating effectively. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814/129 "2005-04-15T16:41:29Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Another teen clowning around contributed the enunciated- **gh** form, where “Right. Turn out the light.” becomes “Ridgit [slant-rhymes with “rivet”]. Turn out the lidgit [as in “and Myers”].” I wonder if this teen was related to my grandmother, who always referred to the Isle of Wight (that’s pronounced “white”) as the “Izzle of Widget”. Hell, maybe that’s where Snoop Dogg got the “izzle” from… 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-language-peeves/298814.md?page=6)