Thread: English Pet Peeves & Common Mistakes

There are a number of pet peeves out there and I am amazed to find how few of them are used on this forum. However, it might be useful to some to start a thread about the more common peeves so people are aware of them. These pet peeves can be verbal or written and anyone is welcome to post their own personal ones.

If someone on the Russian side is willing to, maybe the Russian version of this thread could be started as well. There has to be a number of common errors people make when speaking or writing in Russian which just annoy you to death!

If you are not familiar with the term "pet peeve" it is ...

Originally Posted by Wiki [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_peeve

Pet peeve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url]] a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it. Examples may be poor table manners, sloppy kitchen hygiene, smoking, grammatical errors in written passages, inconsiderate driving or lazy co-workers, and loud gum smacking.

This article is VERY long however it covers a number of English words which are used incorrectly.

My mother's biggest pet peeve is a verbal one. When she is on the phone and is then placed on hold and the person comes back on the line an says, "What was your name again?" Her name did not change while she was on hold. It is still the same as when she gave it to the person before she was placed on hold. My mom will respond, "My name was and still is...." This always confuses the poor person.

"...about 8 percent of our military forces are comprised of women."

Isn't, by any chance, "be comprised of" anybody's pet peeve? There are people who vehemently disagree with such (common) usage of "comprise", but they may be just "evil linguists-prescriptivists", for all I know.

Originally Posted by E-learner

"...about 8 percent of our military forces are comprised of women."

Isn't, by any chance, "be comprised of" anybody's pet peeve? There are people who vehemently disagree with such (common) usage of "comprise", but they may be just "evil linguists-prescriptivists", for all I know.

it's a dry, official sounding phrase; I wouldn't call it a pet peeve though.

"What it is, is..."

As in: "Ma'am, what the problem with your engine is, is the starter's busted."

Non-US people would probably never make this one. But it's rampant in Arizona. And cringeworthy. =)

I'll donate my old English teachers personal favorite, "and also." As in, this is an annoying habit, and also not very logical. And and also are duplicative. Pick one she would shout (literally, it's quite a vivid memory) She was also driven crazy by double negatives in a sentence (which Russian allows). "I haven't never owed nothing to no one" Remember kids in English, as in math two negative equal a positive.

Originally Posted by sarah37

by double negatives in a sentence (which Russian allows). "I haven't never owed nothing to no one" Remember kids in English, as in math two negative equal a positive.

'I haven't ever owed anything to anyone' means "Я никогда никому ничего не был должен". And there's only one negative word: не. It's the only negative word in Russian. Things like ничего, никто, никому etc. are not negative; they act as negative words, so to say. At the same time they never go without the не in a sentence. You may say how about cases like this: - Что ты здесь делаешь? - Ничего. - What are you doing here? - Nothing. There's no single не in the answer. There's actually is one, but it's omitted. The full sentence is 'Я ничего здесь не делаю'. A double negative occurs when two не are used: Я не мог не показать ему, как он выглядит в зеркале. I couldn't help showing him his reflection in the mirror. Maybe there are some other cases when a double negative occurs, but I can't remember them.

"I haven't never owed nothing to no one"

Does this sentence mean something sensible? (Am I correct saying that?) If yes, I'm curious to know what it is.

Remember kids in English, as in math two negative equal a positive.

So it does in Russian.

So i and my friends were chatting yesterday in G.Ch. and we faced this grammatical issue, however we kinda pass it by a semi-misinterpretation.
So i think it does worth a little time to check these links for anyone who is anxious to know. [ and specially iCake (Who's about to become a professional English speaker) and Medved ! ]

- http://www.grammarerrors.com/grammar/arent-iam-i-not/
- http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/in...ic=5041.0;wap2

Also any comment on it would be appreciated!

Originally Posted by MISSFOXYSWEETCHERRY

So i and my friends were chatting yesterday in G.Ch. and we faced this grammatical issue, however we kinda pass it by a semi-misinterpretation.
So i think it does worth a little time to check these links for anyone who is anxious to know. [ and specially iCake (Who's about to become a professional English speaker) and Medved ! ]

- aren’t I/am I not
- Which is correct " am I not/ain't I" or "aren't I"?

Also any comment on it would be appreciated!

I can suggest a little trick.

The one web page implies this idea, though. Just switch the two words at the beginning of the question/phrase (i.e. the contracted interrogative fragment) and if it makes sense, then it's correct form or usage.

E.g. I’m going with you on vacation, am I not? (so do the switch: "I am not" - *I am). Therefore, it's correct.

English speakers are always trying to make shortcuts in speech and although, it's an attempt at efficiency (to say the same thing in less words), it is often considered incorrect grammar. People are also using slang and eventually get into bad habits and form. But, it sounds 'better' ('difficult to explain).

Common Errors in English Usage

Originally Posted by Lampada

Common Errors in English Usage

This is a great site. You can get a free text version as well. Thanks for finding it. I've sent the link to my girls and some of their friends as they are all studying for college enterance exams.

04. is bizarre, following the wrong -> right format from the other entries. "You've got another thing coming" is correct!
24. "Hone in" is perfectly useful in the same sense, just from a different angle. As in, to hone in an edge (of a blade), as in, to make a highly accurate approach to something.
"Sorta" is cheating, it's just a slur of speech, just as it isn't incorrect to say something like "Me'n' my dad...".
Pedantry is fun!

"Old Timers'"

Everybody shut up
Everyone listen up
Hey, hey, hey... hey, hey, hey... hey, hey, hey

If you can't write in the proper way
If you don't know how to conjugate
Maybe you flunked that class, and maybe now you find
That people mock you online
Everybody wise up

Okay, now here's the deal... I'll try to educate ya
Gonna familiarize you with the nomenclature
You'll learn the definitions of nouns and prepositions
Literacy's your mission

And that's why I think it's a good time
To learn some grammar
Now, did I stammer? Work on that grammar
You should know when
It's "less" or it's "fewer"
Like people who were never raised in a sewer
I hate these word crimes
Like "I could care less"
That means you do care, at least a little
Don't be a moron
You better slow down and use the right pronoun
Show the world you're no clown

Say you've got an I-T followed by apostrophe S
Now, what does that mean?
You would not use "it's" in this case as a possessive (no, no, no)
It's a contraction (yeah, yeah, yeah)
What's a contraction?
Well it's the shortening of a word or group of words by omission of a sound or letter

Okay, now here's some notes
Syntax you're always mangling
No "x" in espresso
Your participle's dangling
But I don't want your drama
If you really wanna, leave out that Oxford comma

Just keep in mind that be, see, are, you
Are words not letters
Get it together, use your spell checker
You should never
Write words using numbers
Unless you're seven, or your name is Prince
I hate these word crimes
You really need a full-time proofreader
You dumb mouth-breather
Well, you should hire
Some cunning linguist
To help you distinguish what is proper English

One thing I ask of you
Time to learn your homophones is past due
Learn to diagram a sentence too
Always say "to whom"; don't ever say "to who"
And listen up when I tell you this
I hope you never use quotation marks for emphasis
You finished second grade, I hope you can tell
If you're doing good or doing well
Better figure out the difference
Irony is not coincidence
And I thought that you'd gotten it through your skull
'Bout what's figurative and what's literal
Oh, but just now you said
You "literally couldn't get out of bed"
That really makes me wanna literally
Smack a crowbar upside your stupid head

I read your e-mail
It's quite apparent your grammar's errant
You're incoherent
Saw your blog post
It's really fantastic
That was sarcastic... 'cause you write like a spastic
I hate these word crimes
Your prose is dopey
Think you should only write in emoji
Oh, you're a lost cause
Go back to pre-school, get out of the gene pool
Try your best to not drool

Never mind, I give up
Really now, I give up

Do you ACTUALLY Know English?

Do you ACTUALLY Know English?

You're the Grammar Hammer! 16/16
That's a surprise, actually.
I think this test is only relevant for native speakers, who speak by heart, not by rules.
But it was interesting.

GrammarErrors.com: Top English Grammar Mistakes

Common Grammar Errors

10 Easily Confused Sets of Words and Phrases Explained - English Lessons in Brighton

English Pronunciation

The Chaos by Dr Gerard Nolst Trenité

British English?