I not positive, but I believe it’s the honest-to-goodness British English version of ‘oriented’. Similar to the British “aluminium” vs. the American “aluminum”.
Which is why when someone uses the wrong form of my first name, I find it intensely annoying. I have one of those first names that people easily use a common nickname for, but which I don’t use or encourage in others, so when you keep calling me by it, it keeps pissing me off.
I remember having to do that in, I believe, 2nd grade. We had to make nameplates for our desks for St. Patrick’s Day, with a “Mc” or on “O’” stuck in front of our last names. I seem to recall thinking it silly even then.
I always thought the “tan” in “suntan” was a reference to leather tanning, not the color. After all, we also say “sunburn”, not “sunred”. And if somebody “tans your hide”, you don’t turn “tan”.
Most of mine have already been added.
There are a few that I see on various boards (including this one) that make my teeth itch.
Loose (or loosing) instead of lose (or losing). I know it’s counterintuitive with the longer sounding ‘o’ in the latter but it is still wrong.
‘Then’ when ‘than’ is meant. The phrase “Bigger then Texas” makes no sense at all.
“Precious Snowflake” even the OP used this. It’s dismissive. If your first response is calling someone names, I wonder how valid your argument could be.
Along with the precious snowflake, I was reading a blog by a college professor where she’d call self-esteem, self of steam, in what I can only assume is a dig at her students’ writing ability. At any rate, I decided anyone who purposefully uses that spelling is a dick and not worth reading.
Just reading that once in your post is grating. Ad hominem attacks do more damage to the speaker than the target, IMO.
expiry
Never saw this abomination before the internet. What, taking the time to write out expiration is too hard?
I’m on your team. Also, quit referring to human beings in the workplace as “resources”; call them people.
One I’ve seen used on here that seems a little too cutesy-poo is when somebody asks for a “Linky?” I don’t know how often that’s actually used, but it bugs me.
I remember having a teacher who would say “Alls you’ve got to do…” when telling somebody how to do something.
Hiddy for hideous. Hiddy is like an annoying brat. Hideous is a perfectly wonderful word. Why do people have to turn it into something cringe worthy?
Brain Fart. What a disgusting and vile word.
Expiry - I see this on passports, hadn’t noticed which country. Now I’ll be looking. I check new hire documents where I work, in the dreaded Human Resources, which someone just mentioned. We are just a commodity to be used. Wasn’t it called Personnel a few decades ago?
I guess it depends whether you consider people to be resources or whether you think you should hire them so the government doesn’t have to.
I hate when people refer to the 17th of March as Patty’s Day
Who the eff is Patty?!
Presumably someone who’s not a mental case rapist murder?
What for, that would be Scottish, Mac is the Irish version. Jaysus next ye’ll be telling me ye were drinking whisky!
I know, right? And I’m already Scottish on my mother’s side - Mom’s maiden name was “McKinley”. Shoulda gone with that.
I do not like “like us on Facebook.” In fact, I despise it.
And isn’t it time we stopped saying “www” and “dot com” when giving a website? Don’t people know it after twenty years??
Sorry, but “expiration” is clearly the abomination here.
Similarly, what is this trend for taking perfectly good words, then replacing them with a weird back-formation from an inflected form, thus adding syllables that do precisely nothing.
If you’ve been visited by a burglar, you’ve been burgled, not “burglarized”. If you’re having a conversation, you’re conversing, not “conversating”.
I have three:
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Masonary for masonry. There are no such things as masonary screws!
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Then for than. I like Coke better then Pepsi. NO! NO! NO!
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Over use of actually. Watch any DIY show: every other word is actually. We’re actually going to use hardwood floors. The bank actually is raising your rates. They are actually going to tear out your old cabinets.
“good on you.”
Makes no sense, but I’m hearing it more and more.