Grammar mistakes that irk you

This is always brought up, usually inside a general "what irks you?" thread, but what the hey.

To anyone that is going to say different dialects or national standards are "mistakes", I am going to kick you in the gut in advance, because you're not being funny.

Alright, so we have the obvious and usual mixing-up of your/you're and there/their/they're, as well as general spelling mistakes that are eyesores.

One of mine is when people write "never mind" as "nevermind". It's two damn words, people. It's a shortening of "never you mind". Let's think through this logically. "Never" means "not ever", and to "mind" something is to concern yourself with it or pay attention to it. So telling someone to "never mind" is telling them not to pay attention to it.

TWO WORDS, PEOPLE.

Same thing with "a lot" and "alot".
You don't write "abunch". A "lot" is a large amount. If you have "a lot" of something, you have a large amount of it. Two words.

A third is the mispronunciation of "et cetera". People see "etc." and say "ecksetra". Gah, that irritates me. "Etc." is short for two words, "et cetera" (it can also be one word). It's pronounced "ett setterra" (or "ett settra"). There is nothing that makes an "x" sound.

Another thing that irritates me is when people have a million exclamation points.
I'm unaware of how grammatically correct it is, but I'm fine with writing "?!" at something that may be both a question and an exclamation. In humorous contexts, I'm also okay with having two or three exclamation points (but never in serious writing). But when people do THIS!!!!!!!!!!! it just pisses me off.

Also, by my rules alone, never ever have two question marks in a row.
"This??" doesn't work, but "This?!?" or "This?!" or "This!!" can, to me, if you're going for humor, like a comic strip.

i try not to let semantics have much sway over my opinions. unless the gist of the text is compromised in the process (and i hardly see how nevermind vs. never mind is jeopardizing anybody's understanding of a statement), i find little quarrel with grammatical inconsistencies.

who says what is and isn't grammatically correct? colloquialisms and formal exchanges alike are purely subjective. there is no physical law of semantics.

Edit: apologies for how "Ancient Chinese Secret" that came across, it's just how i really feel.

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

A third is the mispronunciation of "et cetera". People see "etc." and say "ecksetra". Gah, that irritates me. "Etc." is short for two words, "et cetera" (it can also be one word). It's pronounced "ett setterra" (or "ett settra"). There is nothing that makes an "x" sound.

People pronounce it like that? You're joshin' me.

Originally Posted by Shmeh

i try not to let semantics have much sway over my opinions. unless the gist of the text is compromised in the process (and i hardly see how nevermind vs. never mind is jeopardizing anybody's understanding of a statement), i find little quarrel with grammatical inconsistencies.

who says what is and isn't grammatically correct? colloquialisms and formal exchanges alike are purely subjective. there is no physical law of semantics.

Edit: apologies for how "Ancient Chinese Secret" that came across, it's just how i really feel.

No, the things I listed generally don't inhibit your understanding of something, but this thread is simply about grammar mistakes (as defined by whatever official sources they even come from) that get on your nerves. It's a pet peeve thread.

Originally Posted by Francois Dillinger

People pronounce it like that? You're joshin' me.

True story.
All the damn time.

I am more annoyed by words that do not exist or are used in the wrong way such as towards, irregardless, and pristine.

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

True story.
All the damn time.

Well. You say tomato they say potato.

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

No, the things I listed generally don't inhibit your understanding of something, but this thread is simply about grammar mistakes (as defined by whatever official sources they even come from) that get on your nerves. It's a pet peeve thread.

That's what I had originally surmised. I figured that irked was a good way to describe something you were annoyed by.

What I found when I opened the thread was a full-on rant.

I understand though, I suppose.

Originally Posted by Captain Ivan

I am more annoyed by words that do not exist or are used in the wrong way such as towards, irregardless, and pristine.

I'm unaware of how people misuse "pristine", and "towards" is in the dictionary as "near" or "in the direction of", so it's become interchangeable with "toward". Of course, cultural boundaries are probably going to make this thread difficult.

Originally Posted by Francois Dillinger

Well. You say tomato they say potato.

Apparently.


Speaking of misusing words, "legit". I HATE when people use it as an adverb. For instance, "I was legit the best one there".
Gah.

Originally Posted by Shmeh

That's what I had originally surmised. I figured that irked was a good way to describe something you were annoyed by.

What I found when I opened the thread was a full-on rant.

Then you're taking this too seriously.
It's fun to complain loudly about things that annoy you.

When people have to use to use the last latter of a word twice. An example is "textt". Also, I can't stand it when people don't use proper capitalization and punctuation.

And this.

SocialInterview.com asked me "What was your first impression of Mr. Guy? Did it change?"
I answered: "idkk i llikedd herr.. not rlyy?? ahhaa!"

Taken straight from Facebook.

I'm a grammatical failure half of the time so people's talkin don't bother me too much. And I have never heard anyone say legit other that askin if it is a legit reason or somethin.

Originally Posted by Pikachu

When people have to use to use the last latter of a word twice. An example is "textt". Also, I can't stand it when people don't use proper capitalization and punctuation.

And this.


Taken straight from Facebook.

You just reminded me of how people repeat the wrong letters.
"Over nine thousand" is a prime example that everyone's seen. How's it usually written?
"OVER NINE THOUSSSSSANNNNND!!"

But if you listen to the voice clip, what does he stretch? "NINE THOOOOOOUSAAAAAAND!!"
He doesn't stretch the S sound.

Most consonants physically can't be stretched out, so when people repeat letters like "t" or "g" when screaming, it's just stupid. There are some exceptions, like "s" and "n", though, but in that particular example, those are not what he stretched anyway.

Originally Posted by 13th

I'm a grammatical failure half of the time so people's talkin don't bother me too much. And I have never heard anyone say legit other that askin if it is a legit reason or somethin.

You would be horrified of the dialect around here.

SOunds like it from the way you talk bout it.

It really depends on it. I sometimes make that mistake, but it is only if I am typing fast and I don't really notice it. And if I do notice it and if any of my friends do that, I always correct them to make them a bit smarter.

I really hate it when people use prepositions after asking the question "where."
"Where's it at? Where are you going to? It makes me want to scream.

Hey Ton...I've just remembered something. You once had a go at me for being irritated by something that was apparently pointless. It was when I was pointing out Northern Hemisphere bias, and trying to raise people's awareness about it:

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

Oh, God.
Oh, God.

I hate hate hate when people get irritated by stupid things like this.
For crud's sake, it usually just happens because people are so used to it. It is absolutely harmless. Say I think about calling someone who lives on the other side of the US.
I'd probably forget about the time zone difference and end up calling them at a bad time. Whoops. Is that really something to get steamed about? Really, people just... astound me at times like this.

Also, it's summer in UTC, so therefore it's summer on the Internet.

Just pointing this out.

I don't want to bring up the argument again, but I have to say this - even though I'm a self-confessed Grammar Nazi myself, what is a genuine cause for concern for one person just seems like a stupidly pointless thing to worry about for another.

I think this is another one of those instances.

Meh, im not a grammar champion on the internet. Most of the time it's intentional, my laziness. I dont capitalize some stuff and i dont put apostrophes in places they should go, simply because i dont care that much. I used to have a bad habit of elipsies overuse. I dont do that anymore but it was tough to break. Most people dont seem to be too bothered by my grammar mistakes i guess. Atleast no one really says anything.

The only ones that bother me are the text speak. I use some internet shorthand but some really confuses me. I dont like abbreviating everything. Also I noticed my spelling isnt as stellar as it was years ago. :|

Originally Posted by Astarael

Hey Ton...I've just remembered something. You once had a go at me for being irritated by something that was apparently pointless. It was when I was pointing out Northern Hemisphere bias, and trying to raise people's awareness about it:



Just pointing this out.

I don't want to bring up the argument again, but I have to say this - even though I'm a self-confessed Grammar Nazi myself, what is a genuine cause for concern for one person just seems like a stupidly pointless thing to worry about for another.

I think this is another one of those instances.

That, however, you touted (or it at least came off) as serious. To me, the notion of "hemisphere bias" was just astoundingly stupid. Here, I'm not saying at all that this is serious. I mean, I'm all for people learning proper grammar, but this is just about stupid things people do that irritate you.
If that was what yours was supposed to be, it didn't come off the right way to me at all, mostly because it seemed pretentious and unreasonable (expecting people to keep other regions and hemispheres in mind all the time when they talk about time/date, et cetera).

EDIT: Another example I used in that thread was expecting everyone to call football "soccer" just because that's what it's called in the US. If you don't call it "soccer" and think of us too, you're not being "aware" enough.

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

That, however, you touted (or it at least came off) as serious. To me, the notion of "hemisphere bias" was just astoundingly stupid. Here, I'm not saying at all that this is serious. I mean, I'm all for people learning proper grammar, but this is just about stupid things people do that irritate you.
If that was what yours was supposed to be, it didn't come off the right way to me at all, mostly because it seemed pretentious and unreasonable (expecting people to keep other regions and hemispheres in mind all the time when they talk about time/date, et cetera).

Not at all. I don't expect people to keep that sort of stuff in mind all the time any more than I expect them to be perfect at grammar. It's just when official things like awards (on a global forum) are also hemisphere biased that it indeed irritates me - no doubt, you'd be annoyed too (using your own pet peeve) if you saw something like "The ZU Awerd for best member goes too..."

Also, to many people, insisting that people should have perfect grammar is also pretentious and unreasonable. Grammar mistakes do irritate me somewhat, but not enough to rant about it - after all, it is rather pointless, if they're just in people's posts.

Originally Posted by Astarael

Not at all. I don't expect people to keep that sort of stuff in mind all the time any more than I expect them to be perfect at grammar. It's just when official things like awards (on a global forum) are also hemisphere biased that it indeed irritates me - no doubt, you'd be annoyed too (using your own pet peeve) if you saw something like "The ZU Awerd for best member goes too..."

To be honest, not really. I'd probably laugh at them.
And also to be honest, I wouldn't have given a flying fig if they called it the "winter awards". The hell does it matter? It's like people that are always complaining about anything that's not politically correct. Now THAT gets on my nerves.

Also, to many people, insisting that people should have perfect grammar is also pretentious and unreasonable.

Quote me and show me where I insisted that everyone have perfect grammar.

Grammar mistakes do irritate me somewhat, but not enough to rant about it - after all, it is rather pointless, if they're just in people's posts.

The point of this thread and my "rant" went so far over your head it's not even funny.

When people say "your" when "you're" is supposed to be there. Or the other way around.

*facedesk*

GET IT RIGHT PEOPLE.

Sometimes, when I see it on Facebook, I wanna scream. It gets on my nerves too easily. I admit I used to be like this, then I realized my mistake.