Saturday, December 11, 2010

I should have been an English teacher

We all have pet peeves, and some of us are more easily annoyed by them than others.  I googled (I love that "google" is now considered a verb) "pet peeve" and learned the following:

Pet peeve is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to him or her, to a greater degree than others may find it. (A key aspect of a pet peeve is that it may well seem acceptable to others.)   First usage was around 1919 and derived from the 14th-century word 'peevish,' meaning ornery or ill-tempered. 

According to multiple sources, the five most common pet peeves are:
  • Bad drivers
  • Stereotyping
  • People who talk during movies
  • Not replacing the toilet paper roll
  • Rudeness
I won't lie, all of these things annoy me - to an extent.  The pet peeve of mine that tops all others, though, is poor grammar.  This used to be limited to emails, text messages and the occasional poor conversationalist.  However, now thanks to Facebook, Myspace and the wonderful blogging world, grammatical errors seem to be in my face 24/7.

We're all used to the most common mistakes:  confusing you're and your or they're, there and their.    I can generally overlook these, although it takes a bit of effort.  Other mistakes drive me up the wall - the way nails on a chalkboard does most people. 

The biggest annoyances? 
  • Text-talk  (Ex: ur, wtf, omg, idk, lmao, stfu, gtg, brb, ily)
  • Using numbers in the place of words/letters, intentionally mispelling words and/or using a single letter in the place of a word (Ex:  It was gr8 2 c u last nite!)
  • Should of or could of;  the proper grammar would be should have or could have (also commonly mistaken in this manner are would, may, must and might).
  • Good instead of well  (Ex:  He played good.)
  • Seen when saw should be used  (Ex:  I seen Mike at the mall.)
  • Alot - should be two separate words:  a lot.  What bothers me about this phrase is that 'a lot' is a piece of property, although it's generally accepted as a synonym for "much" or "a great amount."
  • Are instead of our  (Ex:  We need to bring are chairs to the park.
  • "I could care less."  What they mean to say is, "I could not care less."
  • Using then and than incorrectly (Ex:  I have more money then you.  Wrong!)
  • Using to instead of too or two (Ex:  It's way to cold outside.)
  • Confusing its and it's (similar to the they're/their/there and you're/your fiasco) -  its is possessive; it's means "it is."
  • Confusing affect and effect (Ex:  A cold can affect the sound of your voice, while an effect of cold medicine might be sleepiness.)
I could go on for hours, but I'm quite sure I've droned on long enough.  

I feel much better now.

10 comments:

  1. I am SO guilty of using OMG and LOL...a lot. :)

    I was just telling Boyfriend the other day how I ABSOLUTELY hate when people say "Where are you at?" or "Where did you find that at?" or "Where is it at?" Get what I'm saying? Why must they add 'at'? Drives me insane.

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  2. Jess, you're a woman after my own heart! I hate text-talk, and I honestly don't understand how it's faster than typing out the original phrase. I just don't think that way I guess (I'm alright with that).

    "A lot" is my biggest pet peeve. For sure. If you haven't seen this, I hope you get a kick out of it!
    http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

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  3. JM - I understand completely!
    Brandi - That post was hilarious. I'll think of that every time I see "alot" now!

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  4. GULP...I'm afraid to type now without a copy editor...let me go close down my blog :-) Wait did I say that write? I dunno wtf Imma gonna do now... :-) Here's my all time favorite...an incident report "I got mad cause the man treated me like I was STOOPED" !!!

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  5. I'm usually pretty good with my grammar when speaking or writing, but I must confess I use text talk a great deal! I do always feel like correcting people's facebooks status' though :)

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  6. Dad, you're a riot. You're lucky I adore you. P.S. I hope you appreciate me leaving that comment up, aka leaving those awful typos on my blog. It's torture.

    Nicole, Facebook is the worst - especially since so many of my younger cousin's friends are my "friends" as well. They type like this:

    "Heyy youu guyss I luvvvvvv myy TRUUUU FRIENDDD Joee becuzzzz hee iss soo AWSUMMM omglolroflmaoily!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3"

    Ugh.

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  7. awwww...i'm guilty of typing 'lol' a lot.
    And I do tend to say 'gonna' on a daily basis :O)

    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  8. Ugh. One more reason you and I are internet twins!

    I hate, hate, hate the way people talk on the internet! It makes me crazy! Everything you listed and then some. And, seriously, is it too hard to use a spell check?

    Naida- I actually don't mind when people use the "made up" words: gonna, wanna, ya know? Especially on the internet; writing that way conveys a certain "tone" and I don't mind it as long as it "fits."

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  9. I am so glad someone else thinks of these! My friends hate it when I correct them from saying "these ones" or "those ones!!" Please just say "those" or "these." What about people saying "whole entire?"

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  10. I would totally become an English teacher if I could stand the standardized testing.

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