# People who just can't quite use the right word **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654 "2005-02-24T06:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/61 "2005-02-25T22:23:44Z")
> [@Nordic](#): > > I very commonly hear people say, when something doesn’t make sense, “That doesn’t jive.” > > My SO, when he plans to try a different approach to a problem, says he’s “going to take another tact.” Ah, I know someone who commonly says “tact” rather than “tack.” Drives me nuts. So, are you a particularly nautical person, given that you chose “jibe” and “tack” to complain about? > [@Tenar](#): > > Maybe it would help if you told her that a cayman is a big lizard. In english, it’s spelled caiman, and it’s a crocodilian, not a lizard. (Yes, I know that the island was mistakenly named for lizards, and not by english speakers; I’m just sayin’) > [@](#): > > Like others here, I absolutely LOATHE it when people who hope to make themselves look smarter than they are misuse “apropos”… Oh! I was one of those people. Thank you, thank you, I have looked up apropos and will endeavour to use it correctly from now on. (Err, actually I wasn’t trying to make myself look smarter than I am, I just like odd or less-common words) ---
**Author:** ![Sevo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sevo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/62 "2005-02-25T22:47:44Z")
> [@Little Bird](#): > > That word, I do not think it means what you think it means… > _Happy Snoopy dance that I said it first!_ ☹ I just found this thread, and I was reading through it and thinking…“I can’t believe no one has said it! It’s right THERE…waiting…” Darn you, **Little Bird**! One that I just heard this morning, that KILLS me, is “I just finished orien_ta_ting her…” That’s just _wrong_. But the one that makes me truly homicidal, each and every time I hear it, (and this again is a pronunciation thing as opposed to a malapropism) is when someone pronouces the word “Jaguar” as “Jag-wire”. There’s no frelling “I” in the word jaguar! Stop saying it that way (as in Monday night NFL announcers saying, “Well, the Jacksonville Jag-wires…” I should like to pit them for that.) Those ignoranuses think they’re so smart. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/63 "2005-02-25T23:07:55Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > People who think the name Craig is pronounced “Creg”. Er, how _is_ it pronounced, then? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/64 "2005-02-26T00:01:12Z")
> [@Tenar](#): > > Maybe it would help if you told her that [a cayman is a big lizard.](http://www.caribbean.com.au/caribbeanbound/destinations/default.asp?id=10&dest=CAYMAN%20ISLANDS%5B/url) Actually, a cayman (usually spelled “caiman”) is a crocodilian, very similar in appearance to an alligator. _Not_ a lizard. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/65 "2005-02-26T00:14:43Z")
I hate: spaded (We had our cat spaded.) drownded (he drownded in the lake.) funner (it’s funner in math class than in English class.) Those are my top three for today. I saw a sign advertising a “dust to dawn light” today. I knew someone who got PA stuck in his head and used it to mean PR (public relations) Anytime he could get his picture in the paper or whatever, he’d say that was “some good PA.” This has now become a family joke and we all say it that way. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/66 "2005-02-26T00:19:20Z")
I just remembered another one. My roommate was telling me about how she was learning about 12-tone scales or some blahblahblah in her music theory, and how they had to fill out matrices. And then she showed me her homework and said, “And this is one such matrice.” I didn’t say anything. A couple minutes later she said “matrice” again and I had to remind her that the singular of “matrices” is “matrix”. She knew that, and I was kind of being a buttwipe for correcting her, but she’s really easygoing about stuff like that and she laughed about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/67 "2005-02-26T00:40:58Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I wish that by now people would have learned that “phenomena” is plural and “phenomena” is singular. But no. > > And saying “incidences” when one means “incidents” is inexcusable. And “criteria” are plural. “Criterion” is singular. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/68 "2005-02-26T01:10:03Z")
The one I still get a kick out of was way back in high school. A friend’s class was going to do a mock trial. My friend raised her hand and said, “I want to be the prostituting attorney!” ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/69 "2005-02-26T09:03:00Z")
This is more a written then a spoken one, since they’re homphonic, but “take the reigns” is one that bugs me everytime I read it, and it seems to be spreading: it’s “reins”, damn it! Reins! ---
**Author:** ![dearissues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@dearissues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dearissues)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/70 "2005-02-26T10:24:03Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > I live about 30 minutes away from you and I came to point out all kinds of regional mispronounciations… (snip) I didn’t even think of those things because I’ve gotten so used to them, and they don’t bug me as much. Other things I hear but didn’t think of (but correct people for hourly at work): “I seen…” “We was…” “I don’t have none.” Etc, etc, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/71 "2005-02-26T10:46:01Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > This is more a written then a spoken one, since they’re homphonic, but “take the reigns” is one that bugs me everytime I read it, and it seems to be spreading: it’s “reins”, damn it! Reins! What the hell does this have to do with gays?!? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/72 "2005-02-26T17:05:58Z")
> [@Farmwoman](#): > > What the hell does this have to do with gays?!? > 😉 See, since we’re talking about proper English usage we are, by implication, referring to the Queen’s English. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/73 "2005-02-26T20:10:15Z")
> [@c\_carol](#): > > Er, how _is_ it pronounced, then? As it’s spelt. The “ai” is as in “bait” so: Cray-g ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/74 "2005-02-26T23:35:32Z")
‘Obviate’ is another word which letters-to-the-Editor often get wrong. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/75 "2005-02-27T02:23:42Z")
> [@dearissues](#): > > I didn’t even think of those things because I’ve gotten so used to them, and they don’t bug me as much. Other things I hear but didn’t think of (but correct people for hourly at work): > > “I seen…” > “We was…” > “I don’t have none.” > > Etc, etc, etc… I know a highly educated fellow who says “should have went” and “should have did” ALL the time. Honestly. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/76 "2005-02-27T02:48:29Z")
Sweetie pronounces “iron” and “salmon” as they’re spelled. I’ve corrected him once, and then let it drop. English is not his parents’ first language, and he grew up hearing them pronounced wrong. I figure I can forgive him for that. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/77 "2005-02-27T02:49:19Z")
My 45-year-old coworker still hasn’t figured out that the phrase is “as soon as possible” and not “soonest possible.” I kind of blame that one on the fact that he’s worked with people for whom English is a second language since 1988, but it still makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/78 "2005-02-27T15:23:00Z")
It’s been mentioned before in this thread: people who say ‘pacific’ instead of ‘specific’. How, HOW can a person not tell the difference? That one drives me absolutely mad. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/79 "2005-02-27T15:53:04Z")
My boss keeps using infer when he means imply. It is making me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/80 "2005-02-27T17:05:20Z")
When I was in Greece, our tourguide constantly referred to the Trojans as the “Troyans.” It was really quite funny for those of us who knew the correct manner of saying the word. However, my little brother somehow became convinced that “Troyan” was the correct pronunciation, and this was further reinforced when he was forced to read A Midsummer Night’s Dream (My good Lysander/I swear to thee/by Cupid’s strongest bow/by his best arrow with the golden head/by the simplicity of Venus’s doves/by that which knitteth souls and prospers love/and by that fire which burned the Carthage queen/when false **Troyan** under sail was seen…)\*. This discrepency was discovered when he had to write a report about something dealing with Troy, and my mother proofread his paper. \*That should be about right. I typed it from memory [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654.md?page=5)