I have e-mailed writers to thank them for correct usage of chaise longue.
These are my everyday shoes. I wear them every day.
That one bothers me too, as does trooper/trouper. Also, “dinning” room.
It’s “just deserts,” dammit. Not butterscotch pudding.
Every time I see “woah” I say WHOA! and slam on my metaphorical (not literal) brakes.
I blame elementary school drills for this, as it spent a few turns on our spelling tests. My simple rule of thumb was that every word on a spelling test was a single word. So when the teacher had us spell “a lot,” I figured spelling test words are single words so: “alot.” It took a couple of years to unlearn that.
Of course that doesn’t excuse those that merely substitute “allot.”
Now, I sometimes need to double check myself on “alright” (agreement/okay) vs. “all right” (everything’s correct) and “already” (now) vs. “all ready” (everything’s prepared).
-DF
I don’t ever screw up “continuous(ly)” vs. “continual(ly).”
Baseball**:** The great American pastime.
Kneel before the mighty colon!
Does this count?
I know more than a few people who express holding a long vowel in word something like this:
*Sweetttttttttttttttttt! *
This makes me laugh, as WOAH is a radio station in Akron.
I don’t like that either.
Would you please tell Bioware to learn the difference? I think every game of theirs I have played has gotten this wrong.
This drives me crazy, too. “Mash potatoes” and “whip cream” annoy me far more than they should.
I loved the book Good Omens, but this little… er… “convention” drove me up a wall.
Look, I understand you’re trying to evoke a particular British dialect, but you can do so just as well by using the 've contraction. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. Heck, as far as I’m concerned couldn’t’ve is just fine, too.
Couldn’t of, on the other hand, makes the anti-christ cry.
Mmm, no you can’t, really. Obviously, dialects vary, but in many there is a clear audible difference between “could’ve” and “could of”. Which is precisely why he does it.
Concur - it’s used quite deliberately for effect. (He uses a few of the other things people have mentioned here, for the same reasons)
“Say it, don’t spray it” would be my response.
I used to work for a wonderful guy, who was sharp, but not great with grammar. He wrote up a flyer promoting a particular payment plan that would save video renters about 20%. At the end of the page, he wanted to emphasize the customers’ savings - “NOW that’s a deal!”
Pisses me off when I see this music series…
Joe
Well, that too, but how many Americans cook Indian food?
I don’t know. How many other countries do you think of as part of “the west”?
I think that “alright” is still nonstandard, and “all right” is the standard spelling for all usages.
I pronounce “could’ve” and “could of” identically. What dialects pronounce them distinctly?