I am not talking about* et al. *or et cetera or habeus corpus or ante bellum.
Second only to armchair experts (aka chronic Googlers), THIS irritates me:
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Logical fallacy + poor grammar + factual errors + “ad hominem” to prove your point that someone is arguing against you just because they don’t like you. Hey, jackass, sometimes you’re just wrong.
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Misuse of a common Latin term. Forgivable, but it’s just one of those “things” that bugs me…kind of like when people type “ya’ll” or say “irregardless”.
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Any Latin word (often italicized!) in a poorly written argument on a message board that has been thrown in to give you credence.
:smack:
Tu quoque
reductio ad absurdum
ab origine - I saw this actually misused on another board recently.
Modus operandi - somehow saying “MO” incorrectly isn’t as annoying as spelling that shit out and using it as a noun.
non sequitur used as a tactic to irritate instead of debate
persona non grata when talking about socioeconomic status
I do use “ad nauseum” when I’m feeling sarcastic or trying to convey a certain feeling, but I’ve seen so many poor arguments infused with smatterings of Latin that I’m now afraid to use any of these terms I learned in my academic career. Sheesh. Talk about poisoning a language.
Since teh invenshun of teh intarwebs I’m more likely to say, “That is a logical fallacy” and then explain why.
I understand the use of foreign language is supposed to make you appear intelligent and educated, but I hate it when people use any old Latin term to sound “smarter”. And you know they’re Googling that shit.
I’m not a language jerk. I do teach English and I do study linguistics, but I’m really laid back when it comes to conversational English. I don’t know several languages. I’m just a baby in graduate school. I consulted my CMS manual all throughout undergrad and now it’s useless. This rant is about people who abuse and dilute the meaning of words borrowed from a dead language.
No, wait. One more thing. When talking about history, you don’t need to italicize words such as conquistadors,* mestizo*, or hacienda. This is not an eighth grade vocabulary lesson.
An italicized word can also imply an accent - something that is rarely used correctly. So unless you need to differentiate the English from the non-English, happen to be writing literature or are discussing a specific word, it’s not necessary.
Just…stop…stop hurting America, you ignoramus you.
Misuse of e.g., i.e., and in lieu of are not outright atrocities but you should always double-check when writing an academic paper. See also: affect/effect and lie/lay.
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