Go ahead and split those infinitives.
Go ahead and split those infinitives.
TL;DW
I'm paid a decent amount of money to write about technical things for living. When I'm off the clock, I couldn't care less (when people say could care less I assume they shouldn't have made it past middle school) about ensuring everything is spot on.
One of my biggest annoyances is "completely destroyed." As opposed to partially destroyed? "Completely destroyed" is redundant. Or people using 1st Annual instead of Inaugural. I could go on, but I won't.
But I'm having my first cocktail since I had my surgery while we (mostly the better half) sift through finding a funny movie to watch.
I’m with you on first annual. Don’t. :)
Do people use "first annual" as a serious thing? I just assumed that it was phrased that way as a joke since it's nonsensical.
I also enjoy expressing relief when someone says that something was "decimated". Whew! 90% of it is fine, that's not so bad, right?
In reply to z31maniac :
I've read (lots) of military action reports, unit history, etc... Partially destroyed is a thing, especially with the military. Because of said readings, it doesn't even register on the "you cant say that" meter.
However, people trying to say N.A.C.A. the same way we say NASA, irks me to no end. Its is, and always has been "en-aye-see-aye" not "nack-ah."
You guys are nit picking. Someone on the priuschat forum must be using a talk to text without any grammar check or something like that. Trying to read what he posts just gives me a headache. It would be a good test for AI, to take his post and make it comprehendable. And yes I know comprehendable is not a word but at least you get my drift.
Is the "T" in often silent?
Yes it annoys me to to read bad grammer bad spelling bad punctuation and sentence run on but I usually ignore it because the perpetrater is likely a creton and I can always figure out what their saying but what really annoys me is the scolds that beleive they must point those things out to the rest of us who of coarse know better. 😁
Except this: “When the man for the McDonalds asked and had the mayonnaise and the employee when and the put on the side burger and not when how when the picture was taken it was mayonnaise and the McDonalds”
In reply to Gary :
That meme hurt.
In reply to Appleseed :
We must humbly thank Pete for messing with our minds with that epic gem. Actually, it should live forever in infamy for causing irreparable distress among us. (Thank you Pete 😆).
David S. Wallens said:I’m with you on first annual. Don’t. :)
Well, it does imply that the intention is for there to be a second one next year. So I'll let it pass.
My mother, the English teacher, had much to say about qualifiers being attached to "unique".
"As he completed the penultimate lap and victoriously received the well-deserved checkered flag."
People use this one incorrectly all the time—to the point that the meaning has stretched to include that way of using it. Still, I get a little pain whenever people do.
Gary said:"As he completed the penultimate lap and victoriously received the well-deserved checkered flag."
Most tracks you have to do an in-lap, so yes, you get the checkered on the penultimate one. F1 at Spa is an exception. :)
To me, "first annual" means "this is the first event but we plan on doing it every year". That's different than "inaugural" which just says it's the first one but nothing about the schedule for when the next one is expected.
We have these threads every year or so. The forum falls into two groups. Those that could care less, and those that couldn't.
Of all the things in the world that could be worried about, grammar is near the bottom of my list. Especially in forum posts. I probably murder the English language when speaking informally. I do the same here occasionally. I do use Grammarly to keep some of you from pulling your hair out. I guess you could say I could care less as well.
As long as I can figure out what the writer is trying to say, it's good enough for me. I don't really care if the spelling is correct or if the dots and such are where they belong. They can partially or even completely destroy the English language and I won't even wince.
If I can't figure it out, I scroll past without comment.
Yeah, bad grammar bugs me. But the real trigger for me is apostrophes. Or rather the misuse of apostrophes. By my reckoning, the new rule is "when in doubt, apostrophe".
People using effect and affect wrong always stands out to me, especially in their edge-use cases. It happens all the time.
In reply to Sarah Young :
Particularly bad is when you hear people in the media use it incorrectly. It's your berkeleying job to speak, how can you not know that?
All these complaints coming from the people who routinely say I feel like, when what they really mean is I think. That one took a long time, but it's finally invaded this country and... the media. You people drive me to drink.
In reply to Sarah Young :
"Jerry-rigged" is like that. It's jury not jerry, as in to temporarily fix something (originally sailing rigging) using found or limited materials. It also has nothing to do with a court of law. My former boss, who was an arrogant bully and thought he was the smartest man in every room, used to say "jerry-rigged" all the time. I found the idiocy ironic and intentionally never corrected him.
I've noticed people now saying verse rather than versus, as in Ford verse Ferrari. I can understand effect/affect and maybe even then/than, but verse? Like in a song?
Because my profession involves technical/professional writing occasionally, I have a long list of grammar mistakes that annoy me when I encounter them. I'm sure I say and write things that make me sound like a moron to real writers, but along with the above: supposofly/supposably, intensive purposes (I read an article today containing that one), irregardless, "prolly" (probably), ending a sentence with at - "where's the dog at?" - I can't help but cringe. That's another one Cringe is a verb not an adjective. A noun is not "so cringe". And if there was any doubt, yes, I am a curmudgeon.
Argggh! I can't stay away from this kind of thread. In kinda the same vein, recent finds on Marketplace included both an "Arm wa" and a "Chester drawers". And yes, it was two different sellers. My English Teacher mother rolls in her grave...
I'm here for the "biweekly" argument.
914Driver said:Is the "T" in often silent?
No
People trolling the internwebs when I believe thay are axually trawling said space.
In reply to TravisTheHuman :
A pet peeve of mine, as well.
I’d like to add that I love working with Sarah on grammar issues–and, really, anything related to what we do. She takes it seriously and has pride in the product. We also have our own style guide plus a list of banned words and phrases.
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