# 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:** 5
**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 28, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/81 "2005-02-28T06:47:48Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > See, since we’re talking about proper English usage we are, by implication, referring to the Queen’s English. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/82 "2005-02-28T07:53:01Z")
“Could of” and “should of” really bug me. I know _many_ people who use “should have went” and it bothers me every time. I used to have a math teacher who would always use the term “parenthesee.” As in, “put a parenthesee on the left side of that equation.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/83 "2005-02-28T08:24:28Z")
Then we have those oh so clever and witty people who _ **guesstimate**._ (Sometimes I wish murder was legal) ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/84 "2005-02-28T08:41:20Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > “Could of” and “should of” really bug me. I know _many_ people who use “should have went” and it bothers me every time. > > I used to have a math teacher who would always use the term “parenthesee.” As in, “put a parenthesee on the left side of that equation.” :smack: I know people, who really should know better, who think that testee is the singular of testes. “After the boy underwent an orchidectomy, he was left with only one testee.” ---
**Author:** ![Pensandfeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Pensandfeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pensandfeathers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/85 "2005-02-28T08:55:20Z")
> [@c\_carol](#): > > Er, how _is_ it pronounced, then? You pronounce the _ai_ in Craig like you would in Paige. I guess whether or not there’s an ‘e’ at the end doesn’t matter. At least I think thats it. It’s one of those subtle things I don’t pay attention to…then again, my name isn’t Craig. ---
**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 28, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/86 "2005-02-28T15:24:36Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Then we have those oh so clever and witty people who _ **guesstimate**._ (Sometimes I wish murder was legal) I never “guesstimate.” I just make SWAGs. ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/87 "2005-02-28T17:52:16Z")
My old boss would give us pep talks every so often: “Do you guys know what kinetic energy is? Kinetic energy is like when you have a book on the edge of a table and the gravity is pulling on that book and it is just about to fall. That book has high kinetic energy. I’m so excited for this company right now because I can feel that we have so much kinetic energy…” **ssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…** This was the same place where my manager insisted that helium was a highly explosive gas. Another manager would use “irregardless” when I’m sure “regardless” would have sufficed. He was a cool guy, and I could never quite tell if he was seriously using it or if he was being funny. Then again, I sometimes use incorrect words/phrases on purpose. It amuses me, for example, to use the phrase “just as worse” to mean “just as bad, if not worse”. “Whatever, dude. You hate Taco Bell, but McDonalds is just as worse!” ---
**Author:** ![Peyton\_Farquhar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Peyton\_Farquhar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peyton_Farquhar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/88 "2005-02-28T23:12:45Z")
> [@NoPretentiousCodename](#): > > I sometimes use incorrect words/phrases on purpose. It amuses me, for example, to use the phrase “just as worse” to mean “just as bad, if not worse” I assume that “irregardless”, like “same difference” and “perish forbid” was originally meant to be funny, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/89 "2005-02-28T23:22:14Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > People who think the name Craig is pronounced “Creg”. Er… it is. At least, here, it is. With an “e” as in “egg”. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/90 "2005-02-28T23:24:59Z")
\ Sorry, didn’t see the second page. But it’s still pronounced the same. ---
**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 28, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/91 "2005-02-28T23:46:33Z")
My rule of thumb on pronouncing names is to say it the way the named person says it. If someone introduces himself to me and pronounces his name “kregg,” that’s how I’ll say it. If he pronounces it “kraygg,” I’ll say it that way. So far, every single Craig that I’ve met has pronounced his name “kregg.” ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/92 "2005-02-28T23:50:45Z")
My mother does this a LOT. “Shell” for “shelf,” for example. Comedy gold, unless you have to listen to her 24/7. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/93 "2005-03-01T00:35:22Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > “Could of” and “should of” really bug me. I know _many_ people who use “should have went” and it bothers me every time. > > I used to have a math teacher who would always use the term “parenthesee.” As in, “put a parenthesee on the left side of that equation.” :smack: Oh God, my students in college write “could of,” “should of,” and “would of” constantly! :mad: They’re just writing what they hear instead of thinking about the fact that it makes no sense when written out. **Bites When Provoked** : People saying “pacific” when they mean “specific” is just plain intellectual laziness. It offends me even more than ignorance! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/94 "2005-03-01T00:37:19Z")
Oh, and here’s another one from my little college darlings that is getting all over my last nerve: Attempting to say or write “nowadays” but coming up with the following instead: now n days now a days now and days nowdays etc. They could just write “now” or “today,” don’t you think? Or is that just too simple? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/95 "2005-03-01T00:40:20Z")
Penultimate. It is quite rare to meet someone who actually knows how to use it. No, folks, it does _not_ mean something that’s really good. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/96 "2005-03-01T00:57:05Z")
“Flaunt” for “flout”. “Illusive” for “elusive”. “Diffuse” for “defuse”. > [@vivalostwages](#): > > PhenomenON Doo Dooooo Doo Doo Doo… ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/97 "2005-03-01T01:43:28Z")
Student last week kept referring to the World Trade Center destruction as “7-11.” Oh yes he did. ---
**Author:** ![MRirian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@MRirian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MRirian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/98 "2005-03-01T02:29:12Z")
I have a friend who pronounces “bra” “brawl.” I have another friend who says “shot at gunpoint.” Yet another friend of mine _insists_ that “elaborate” simply means to talk. About anything. She actually said to me once “You need to elaborate more.” “On what,” I said. “You just need to elaborate more. It means you need to conversate more. See, you didn’t think I’d know a word like that, did you?” The woman I live with is always using the word “immaculant.” It’s like, her favorite word. I don’t have the heart to tell her it’s not one. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/99 "2005-03-01T03:52:25Z")
I once had a boy friend tell me he liked it when my hair was all [tressled](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=trestle). I just laughed and laughed and explained to him he probably meant [tousled](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=tousled) as he was refering to when it got messy. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654/100 "2005-03-01T04:44:13Z")
I could fill a page with these, and many of my pet peeves have been covered already, but: \*Write me \*instead of _write to me_ _In back of_ instead of \*behind \* _In tact_ instead of _intact_ _On tract_ instead of _on track_ \*Loose \*instead of \*lose \* _Per say_ instead of \*per se \* \*Flouride \*instead of _fluoride_ \*Ensure \*instead of \*insure \*(and vice versa) \*Cretin \* pronounced _cretan_ \*Router \* pronounced _rooter_ \*Roof \*pronounced \*roff \* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-just-cant-quite-use-the-right-word/291654.md?page=6)