NO! NO, YOU STUPID TIT! Where did you get that word?! STOP USING IT!

[Cranky_Hermit]

Matchka-YES! YES! YES! I feel so much better now…

[Cranky_Hermit]

Matchka-

Irregardless bugs me.
Nucular makes me want to kill.

YES! YES! YES! I feel so much better now…

[Cranky_Hermit]

How about “I couldn’t phantom what he meant”?

[lissener]

Here’s a list of my peeviest peeves:
[ul][li]“Epitome” means representation, not peak. [/li][li]The whole comprises the parts; the parts compose the whole. Therefore, the whole is NEVER comprised of the parts. [/li][li]The only way one can feel badly is if, say, your fingertips are numb; otherwise one feels bad. [/li][li]“Myriad” is an adjective, not a noun. [/li][li]Red is a different color FROM, not THAN, blue. [/li][li]“Penultimate” means the second to last, not the last. [/li][li]If you ever say “nucular” or “orientate” around me, I’m likely to end up jailed on assault charges.[/ul]Less peevy, but still sometimes cringeworthy, especially if my blood sugar is low:[ul][]Whence “obligated”? Whatever happened to “obliged”?[/li][li]See above, re: “utilize” instead of “use.”[/li][li]“Begs the question” does not mean what you think it means.[/li][li]Please don’t say “heighth,” or rhyme “length” or “strength” with “Nth.”[/li][li]It’s not “jive,” it’s “jibe.” Look it up if you need to.[/li][]And don’t get me STARTED on “imply” and “infer.”[/ul]

[Archergal]

*Originally posted by lissener *
Here’s a list of my peeviest peeves:
“Epitome” means representation, not peak.

People who use it to mean “peak” are probably thinking of the Merriam Webster second definition: a typical or ideal example (emphasis mine.)

The whole comprises the parts; the parts compose the whole. Therefore, the whole is NEVER comprised of the parts.

Merriam-Webster again: “to be made up of <a vast installation, comprising fifty buildings.>” Interestingly, M-W goes on to say:

[synonyms]COMPOSE, CONSTITUTE <a misconception as to what comprises a literary generation – William Styron> <about 8 percent of our military forces are comprised of women – Jimmy Carter>
usage Although it has been in use since the late 18th century, sense 3 is still attacked as wrong. Why it has been singled out is not clear, but until comparatively recent times it was found chiefly in scientific or technical writing rather than belles lettres. Our current evidence shows a slight shift in usage: sense 3 is somewhat more frequent in recent literary use than the earlier senses. You should be aware, however, that if you use sense 3 you may be subject to criticism for doing so, and you may want to choose a safer synonym such as compose or make up. (emphasis mine)

“Myriad” is an adjective, not a noun.

Actually, it’s both a noun and an adjective.

No arguments with the rest of the list though.

[jimpatro]

The thing that gets me about mis-chee-vee-us and eck-set-uh-ruh is that so many people use these pronunciations, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them show up in Webster’s.
I might just explode!

[Shade]

“Begs the question” does not mean what you think it means.

Nitpick: Well, I think it does mean what I think it means, but I know what you mean. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

[Manduck]

I once took some technical training where the instructor pronounced “delimited” as “deliminated”.

[Aholibah]

It’s been around a good, long time, and is apparently pretty darn acceptable, just not so much on this side of the pond. Personally, it makes me cringe, but it doesn’t make me suspect imbecility on the part of its user since I know (and am willing to assume that its user knows, although that’s probably wildly optimistic of me) that it’s not a wretched ignorant back-formation like ‘conversate.’

World Wide Words: Orientated versus oriented

[urban1a]

‘on line’, as in ‘I was standing on line …’.
This has always bugged me. You are NOT standing on line (unless there is a line painted on the ground), you are standing IN LINE.

I think this started in the east, but it’s getting more commonplace.

Bob

[AmbushBug]

*Originally posted by lissener *
One of my pet peeves is when someone uses “utilize” when “use” is a perfectly good (if more and more underutilized) word.

Something wrong with underused? :dubious:

[matt_mcl]

use -> utilize -> I’m thinking the next one will be “utilizate.” You know, to go with “utilization.”

[Dinaroozie]

A guy I know, in an attempt to chat up a girl at a high school dance, told her that she was ravishable. I thought that was a fairly good effort.

Also, I intend to use the word ‘utilizate’ as often as possible from now on.

Finally (penultimately, one might say), I should acknowledge that this is fantastic:

Courtesy of lightingtool:
A young man from out in the country earned a full ride to Harvard. Upon reaching the campus, he became disorientated by the tall buildings and confusing grounds, so he asked a passing senior, “Can you tell me where the library’s at?” The senior responded, in a very haughty tone, “Here at Harvard, we don’t end sentences with prepositions.” The young man responded, "Oh, right, sorry. Can you tell me where the library’s at, asshole?"

~ Isaac

[FriarTed]

I can’t believe no one’s mentioned (either a real Bushism or a SNL-Bushism)…
Strategery.

[percypercy]

So you’re going to have a problem with my mother and her lovely arraignments of flowers, right?
-Lil

[Hosayf]

My US History teacher last year used to always talk about calvary in the Civil War. He was one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, but that really bugged me for some reason.

[Matchka]

Heh…I alwas get this image of a band of horse-mounted soldiers crucifying the wild Indians.

[Captain_Carrot]

“Its going to be great!”
“It’s floor is dirty…”
“Your very rude, you know?”
“You’re sister is on the phone.”

GAAAHH! “Its” is genitive, as in showing possession! “It’s” means “it is”! “Your” means “of you” or “belonging to you”! “You’re” means “you are”!

This has been dwalin’s grammar rant for the day™.

[Matchka]

C’mon, dwalin,

Have a go a: their, they’re & there!

[Coldfire]

*Originally posted by amarinth *
**Chances are, if there is a need to choose between “me” and “myself” the correct choice word is “me.” Even “I” would be a better stab in the dark than:

<snip>John and myself will take charge.**

In this case, “myself” would not have to be replaced by “me”, but by “I”, right? It’s “I will take charge”, so it’s also “John and I will take charge”.

Carry on. Don’t mind myself.