Thursday, May 24, 2012

Word Peeves: SPILL!

HI GUYS. AS I WAS pondering what to write, my Inbox alerted me to the latest post by HuffPost contributor, Zoe Triska. Titled, "The Phrase That Makes You Sound Like A Loser," it is a sure bet and will likely get scads of hits and comments. 

Ms. Triska is all about words and pop culture. Fun stuff, but relevant stuff too. And the feedback she receives is often more informative than the post itself. 

We can all relate to the overuse of the words, "like," or "WHATev-ver," (and a roll of the eyes and a stomp of the foot).  How about the terms, "Just sayin'" or "I'm SO over him/it"? 

Well there is balance in everything, right? We should use care when judging others over their lexical misuse and lighten up our Grammar Nazi tendencies. We need to see the context behind the message and think back to the days when we were young and naive and uneducated. (I still am on many things.) 

But we'll save the high road for later, okay? Right now, I'm wondering, what are your Communication Peeves? Overused words? Erroneous idioms? Superfluous sentences?  Please share. Let's have some fun. 

~*~ I'll start ~*~
  • Revert back: is oh so redundant.
  • Self-pity is a loathsome term. It's a symptom of something deeper. Always!
  • Hearing, "No problem" when you thank someone. How about "you're welcome" or "glad to help"? 
  • "A group of individuals" No kidding, I saw this in writing once. (It still makes me laugh.) 
  • "Besides" and "Anyways" these just crack me up. Why add that 's' on the end? It ain't proper. 
  • "You know" or "I don't know" used as filler when speaking. I'm guilty of this. Silence would be better.
  • "The thing is, is..." is more humorous reduncancy. 
  • "Alright." This is not proper. It's all right--two words! But already is okay. :) 
  • Rather than saying "goodbye" someone says, "Have a good one." A good what? I got over that after I grew up.  

So, now it's your turn. Do tell. 

10 comments:

  1. There are two words that come out of my own mouth much more often than I would like them to: Cool and Awesome. Sometimes used when speaking to waiters or servicepeople, instead of simply saying "thank you." And I have been guilty of using No problem instead of you're welcome too.

    With others, I'm more often bothered by grammar mistakes in print than I am by hearing what people say in person.

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  2. I'm with Alison on the in print errata driving me up the wall, because it is usually done by one who should know better.
    Some verbal slips have a lot of personality, often enhancing that of the speaker. I would hate to see those go away.
    Overused words and phrases, some of which you mention, are just annoying.
    Many pundits in the media fill every empty space with repetitions of the first word of whatever they are going to say next. That one sends me to the off button every time. Let's face it: I'm a cranky language snob.

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  3. My biggest pet peeve? Typos.

    True confessions... I have unfriended on Facebook and unfollowed on blogger... 'writers' who don't know how to spell.

    PS: The response 'no problem' also makes me a little batty. :)

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  4. I've gotten over several but "supposebly" instead of supposedly makes me cringe...and the misuse of "your welcome"...arggh it is you are welcome or you're welcome. I'll think about it and add others I remember...

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  5. I have more trouble with incorrect word usage in print, also. I don't get too upset about it, but it does bother me.

    One of the funniest things I've recently seen in print was on a blog (that doesn't even exist anymore, I don't think--it was a relative's blog) and instead of saying that humans are different from dogs because they have opposable thumbs, she said they had "imposable thumbs."

    I'm tired of seeing "Just saying." And I'm guilty of this one--I say "That's cool" too much.

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  6. Oh, and "my bad"--so sick of hearing that one!

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  7. Ya, right comes to mind. My first choice was My bad, but that one was mentioned.

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  8. I hate utilize. I simply fail to see what meaning it conveys that is not adequately expressed by use. To me it aspires to some kind of professionalism or technical expertise and seems pretentious.

    I also mourn how you're is being overcome by your. And it's espresso not expresso.

    Oh I feel so much better now! Thanks for the therapy session Gracie.

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  9. Yes! When someone responds with "No problem" after I thank them it irritates me to no end.

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  10. Irregardless kills me!!! 'Should of' instead of 'should have', any writing starting with 'Hello, my name is...', proper nouns that aren't capitalized, ... I taught writing, English for 10 years before being Shang Hai'd into science. I make my students answer everything in a complete sentence. :o) They're so tortured!!!

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