Offshoot from grammar post

[sweetbasil]

These are misused words that I hear quite often. I seem to remember reading something like this here before. Maybe it's just especially bad in Texas, but all too often I hear things like:

*expecially
*whelp instead of welts (you have unweaned puppies all over your body after playing paintball?!)
*mute instead of moot point
*expresso

Are there words like this that drive you nuts?

[jojo2324]

I hear expresso a lot. Also, Old Timer's Disease...Instead of Alzheimer's.

[s_gosney]

I hear expresso, expecially, and axe instead of ask. I guess people around here have problems pronouncing the letter s. My old boss always says "pacific" instead of "specific". Now that will drive a person nuts! :)

[aguinn]

i had a boss who would say "libary" for library... so strange (and annoying!).

;)amy
proud momma to aidan

[trumansmom]

Sit and set drive me nuts! And of course, it's one of DH's most common errors!!


Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[Momof3Labs]

My mom says "overhalls" instead of overalls - aaarrrgh!

[brubeck]

Well the other night Amy and I were watching planes in the sky and she asked where they were going. I told her they were going to land in San Francisco. So she replied, "They're going home to San Fran-schizo!" and looked so pleased with herself when I started laughing my head off...

Does that count? And more importantly, do I have a submission for Parents magazine? :)

Edited to add:

Oh yeah, the original topic of the post. My MIL is a big fan of warsh. As in, "Let's warsh the clothes!". And I remember being drilled as a kid not to say Febuary or li-berry instead of February and library. So when I hear those now it drives me nuts.

[bluej]

"San Fran-schizo"

LOL! Is that Amy's Snoop Dogg's version of San Francisco? Sounds pretty close to San Franshizzle (that's my best guess at what Snoop Dogg would call it!).

[mamahill]

ree-luh-tor instead of REALTOR

kin-ee-garten instead of KINDERGARTEN

And DH, gotta love him, says 'Supposebly.' AAAAAAARGH!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

the one that drives me bonkers is "prolly" for "probably". Especially in writing.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[bluej]

My extended family (not my immediate IL's, but relatives of theirs) shorten it even more to 'pry' as in "I'll pry go to the mall tomorrow." When I read/hear 'pry' I cringe.

[mharling]

* Probaly instead of probably
* Melk for milk
* Pellows for pillows

Mary
Lane 4/6/03

[hobey]

Using effect when you should use affect and vice-versa
Nucular instead of nuclear
And people who make up words by stringing together random roots...I had a coworker who did this

Raquel
Nathan's Mom 12/19/03

[kransden]

I had a roomate from England in college. We stopped in a small town in TX while traveling to get a bite to eat. She asked for some water. The waitress was very puzzled and didn't understand. So I translated that she wanted some wad (like gum) -er. I told my roomate that she forgot there was a D in water in the south. :)


Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[jd11365]

Valentime's Day
Flustrated for frustrated

DH sometimes does it because he knows it drives me nuts! Everyone's a comedian!

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[Rachels]

Nucular for nuclear just makes me want to scream. It's nu-cle-ar. NUCLEAR. And I'm in agreement about prolly. What's with THAT?

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[peanut4us]

A texas-ism that I HATE! Misuse of when and whenever... people constantly say things like "blah blah happened to me, whenever I was a kid." And they don't mean it happened many times. They mean that it happened one time WHEN they were a kid! All the time! It drives me insane.

And the worst writing error that I've seen is "then" and "than" mix ups. Honestly, the first time I saw it, I thought it was a joke. I mean who could confuse those???? Sigh. Language snobs. Isn't it great to be one!

[mamicka]

Irregardless instead of regardless.

[lisaE]

The double "is".

For instance, people love to say, "The problem is, is that..."

Listen for it- you will notice it a lot. It drives me absolutely insane.

[abigailsmom]

my husband and his family says worter instead of water. I mean... come on... W-A-T-E-R... when did that become worter!!!!!!!!!

[luvbeinmama]

My big one is "I could care less" when they really mean "I could NOT care less"

Nucular always gets me. My mom & dad say warsh for wash and I had to correct DS the other day (urgh!).

Another one (especially around DS), is blending an ending T with a beginning Y. As in, I'll getcha one. GET & YOU... are TWO words!!! How am I supposed to teach DS proper pronunciation if everyone fails to prounounce things!!! Argh!!

[papal]

heehee.. i totally do that!

[papal]

Yes, this happens to me on a daily basis. I have now learnt to say wa-der.
I find (warning: huge generalization here), that a lot of times in America, people have a hard time understanding other accents. After fighting it for a while, I have decided that it is best to go with the flow. So wa-der, ph-encil (instead of pencil), an-tie instead of an-tee etc etc etc.

[JElaineB]

My mom says "stub-brin" for stubborn and "Ill-annoys" for Illinois. I've corrected her about Illinois but I've never said anything about "stubborn".

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I just one on another board tonight . . .

"peaked" in place of "piqued"
Something piques your interest, it doesn't peak your interest.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[jojo2324]

The wash/warsh thing reminded me of drawer/draw. Was that mentioned already? I had a teacher in 7th grade who labeled things: window, chalkboard, etc. (Um, lady, if by 7th grade I don't know what a WINDOW is, I shouldn't be in 7th grade.)

Anyway, she called drawers "draws." And labeled the drawer "draw." I didn't have it in me to say anything, but I was absolutely shocked.

[kijip]

I second the affect/effect thing.....

Also:

"propone"- it is NOT a word just because proponent is.

"Warshington"

[jec2]

My mom is master of these, but here are those she uses often. She will often say pin instead of pen and for some reason, she seems to pronounce Chicago with an "R" so she says, "Chircago."

[barbarhow]

Oh thank you! This is my pet peeve and I wondered if anyone else would post it.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[Raidra]

My husband just told me that he used the word "sadoequinecrophilia" the other day.. in other words, loving to beat a dead horse.. or thereabouts. I thought that was rather funny. :D

[mamicka]

Where do you hear phencil? Just curious.

[C99]

>*expecially

This isn't just Texas. I used to work with a guy who (as he let everyone know) had his MBA from Northwestern University and he would say expecially in meetings. It drove me nuts!

My latest grammar pet peeve is the use of less, when fewer is meant. My MIL says "boughten" instead of "bought." She also says "warsh." I think the latter is funny, but the "boughten" drives me nuts!

[C99]

>* Melk for milk
>* Pellows for pillows

These are such Illinoisian pronunciations!

[Meatball Mommie]

I totally hate "irregardless" too, drives me crazy and I hear it all the time! My biggest one is "Massa-too-setts" for Massachusetts. We lived in GA for 5 yrs and they said it like that all the time. Drove DH nuts!

[lisaE]

I thought of a couple more...

"Orientated" or "Disorientated". OK, just because orientation is a word...

The improper use of "Myself". Sue and myself... blah blah blah.

These drive me crazy!