Your single biggest grammar pet peeve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"On accident" instead of "by accident."

"On my period" kind of bugs me, though it probably shouldn't.

That bugs me as well and is a legitimate peeve.

Yes, strange preposition usage!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When people put a qualifier with “unique”, which means one of a kind so it cannot be compared. It is incorrect to say very unique or a little unique or less unique. It’s just unique.

Also forte is pronounced without the e, like fort.

I thought it was pronounced "for-tay"

Only by rubes or Italians.

According to Merriam-Webster, both pronunciations are correct.

DP. Yes, now both pronunciations are correct but that’s only because people so commonly mispronounced it as fort-ay for so many years that the incorrect pronunciation became accepted. This happens often…people mess up a word so much that it becomes the common parlance and is actually eventually accepted into the lexicon.

In all of the old Jane Austen movies by BBC they say “piano fortay” - so what say you about that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towels "need washed" or the baby's diaper "needs changed." I understand this is a regionalism but it sounds so uneducated.

Where do you hear this? Trying to remember if it's a baltimore thing

I don’t think it’s a Baltimore thing. I never heard it until I moved to D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"On accident" instead of "by accident."

"On my period" kind of bugs me, though it probably shouldn't.

That bugs me as well and is a legitimate peeve.

Ha! It bothers me too. My daughter and her friends all say “on my period.” My generation and region said “having my period.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When people put a qualifier with “unique”, which means one of a kind so it cannot be compared. It is incorrect to say very unique or a little unique or less unique. It’s just unique.

Also forte is pronounced without the e, like fort.

I thought it was pronounced "for-tay"

Only by rubes or Italians.

According to Merriam-Webster, both pronunciations are correct.

DP. Yes, now both pronunciations are correct but that’s only because people so commonly mispronounced it as fort-ay for so many years that the incorrect pronunciation became accepted. This happens often…people mess up a word so much that it becomes the common parlance and is actually eventually accepted into the lexicon.

They're saying "pianoforte," which is what pianos were first called. Then the term got shortened with frequent use.

It's like "motorcar." Use the whole thing now and you sound ridiculous.

"Fortay" = "loud"
"Fort" = "strength"

In all of the old Jane Austen movies by BBC they say “piano fortay” - so what say you about that?

[Anonymous]

Oxford comma forever!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you sitting "at"? Where's that "at"?

cannot deal.

My mom would say “Before the at” if we asked a question ending in the word at. I can hear her in my mind whenever I hear someone do this now.

My family would say, “Right between the A and the T on Preposition Street.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towels "need washed" or the baby's diaper "needs changed." I understand this is a regionalism but it sounds so uneducated.

It's a PA thing (central and western, specifically). I agree that it's annoying, though I recently learned that particular construction is based on German grammar rules. Given the influence of German immigrants on PA, that's not surprising.

Generations later it’s not really an excuse for people who can’t speak German.

Ich kanne Deutsch sprechen. OK für mich, richtig?

If you’re saying “needs washed” your English needs work. It’s not brag worthy.

*IT IS ENGLISH.* Dialects are fully recognized as valid expressions of English language. In New Orleans, people say “make groceries” because it comes from the French “faire.” It is DIFFERENT than how other places would say “get groceries” or “buy groceries” but it is not wrong and their English doesn’t “need work.” Different dialects, such as AAVE, have their own grammatical and syntactical patterns that are valid and recognized as their own forms of English.

Paradoxically, despite your insistence only one of speaking sounds intelligent or acceptable, the more you double down on this claim that standardized English is the “only” English, the less intelligent you sound. Go research this , it’s actually very interesting.

First of all for those who are so passionate about the German influence that's not even correct. It's Scots-Irish.

Second, if you know better, you should do better. The rest of the country doesn't find "needs warshed" cute.

I didn't say it wasn't English, but outside of the very specific region it is non-standard. And we aren't in Pennsylvania right now.

Ok, keep doubling down on your misunderstanding of linguistics and just refuse to accept new information. That is of course how most intelligent people operate.

This is a grammar pet peeve thread. You must be lost.

[Anonymous]

My pet peeves are usually about words being used incorrectly. Wary/weary. Loath/loathe.

I also despise “I’s” as in “it is my husband and I’s anniversary today.”

I tend to agree with the PP about regionalisms being less about “bad” grammar and more about nonstandard usage. Those don’t bug me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if it's incorrect or not, but it sure grates on my nerves when people say "get a coffee" or "grab a coffee." It should be "get a cup of coffee" or "grab a cup of coffee."

Ok, that's overly pedantic imo. And I'm plenty pedantic as a rule!

No, this drives me crazy, too. Totally legitimate gripe.

Seems redundant. You don’t need to say “would you like a cup of coffee or a cup of tea?” When you can say “would you like coffee or tea?” It is known that you will get just a cup of a hot beverage.

DP here. It’s the “a” in “get a coffee” that grates IMO. You can just say get coffee. It also annoys me when people say “a Starbucks.”

Ah i see. It’s just a short cut if they are including the article but dropping the “cup of.” Not as egregious as some of these examples. Or as bad as “her and her sister are getting a coffee.”

It is terrible and absolutely grating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:less and fewer
And not putting punctuation inside quotation marks such as:

He called this flower a "buttercup." <--- correct
He called this flower a buttercup". <----- inccorrect *unless you're from England.

They only use a single, double quote in England? Who knew?

Funny. I'm old and grew up in the south and was taught the incorrect version. We also were taught gray was grey and color was spelled colour.

Np, I have a habit of spelling words using British grammar, too (colour, cancelled, aesthetic, flavour, etc.), and I don't know where it stems from. I chalked it up as possibly being British in a past life.

I chalk it up to you being pretentious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towels "need washed" or the baby's diaper "needs changed." I understand this is a regionalism but it sounds so uneducated.

It's a PA thing (central and western, specifically). I agree that it's annoying, though I recently learned that particular construction is based on German grammar rules. Given the influence of German immigrants on PA, that's not surprising.

Generations later it’s not really an excuse for people who can’t speak German.

Ich kanne Deutsch sprechen. OK für mich, richtig?

If you’re saying “needs washed” your English needs work. It’s not brag worthy.

*IT IS ENGLISH.* Dialects are fully recognized as valid expressions of English language. In New Orleans, people say “make groceries” because it comes from the French “faire.” It is DIFFERENT than how other places would say “get groceries” or “buy groceries” but it is not wrong and their English doesn’t “need work.” Different dialects, such as AAVE, have their own grammatical and syntactical patterns that are valid and recognized as their own forms of English.

Paradoxically, despite your insistence only one of speaking sounds intelligent or acceptable, the more you double down on this claim that standardized English is the “only” English, the less intelligent you sound. Go research this , it’s actually very interesting.

First of all for those who are so passionate about the German influence that's not even correct. It's Scots-Irish.

Second, if you know better, you should do better. The rest of the country doesn't find "needs warshed" cute.

I didn't say it wasn't English, but outside of the very specific region it is non-standard. And we aren't in Pennsylvania right now.

Ok, keep doubling down on your misunderstanding of linguistics and just refuse to accept new information. That is of course how most intelligent people operate.

This is a grammar pet peeve thread. You must be lost.

No, I’m not. There’s a huge difference in saying “it bugs me when people use “should have” (which IS incorrect) and someone just saying regional dialects are wrong and incorrect because it isn’t how THEY speak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towels "need washed" or the baby's diaper "needs changed." I understand this is a regionalism but it sounds so uneducated.

It's a PA thing (central and western, specifically). I agree that it's annoying, though I recently learned that particular construction is based on German grammar rules. Given the influence of German immigrants on PA, that's not surprising.

Generations later it’s not really an excuse for people who can’t speak German.

Ich kanne Deutsch sprechen. OK für mich, richtig?

If you’re saying “needs washed” your English needs work. It’s not brag worthy.

*IT IS ENGLISH.* Dialects are fully recognized as valid expressions of English language. In New Orleans, people say “make groceries” because it comes from the French “faire.” It is DIFFERENT than how other places would say “get groceries” or “buy groceries” but it is not wrong and their English doesn’t “need work.” Different dialects, such as AAVE, have their own grammatical and syntactical patterns that are valid and recognized as their own forms of English.

Paradoxically, despite your insistence only one of speaking sounds intelligent or acceptable, the more you double down on this claim that standardized English is the “only” English, the less intelligent you sound. Go research this , it’s actually very interesting.

First of all for those who are so passionate about the German influence that's not even correct. It's Scots-Irish.

Second, if you know better, you should do better. The rest of the country doesn't find "needs warshed" cute.

I didn't say it wasn't English, but outside of the very specific region it is non-standard. And we aren't in Pennsylvania right now.

Ok, keep doubling down on your misunderstanding of linguistics and just refuse to accept new information. That is of course how most intelligent people operate.

This is a grammar pet peeve thread. You must be lost.

No, I’m not. There’s a huge difference in saying “it bugs me when people use “should have” (which IS incorrect) and someone just saying regional dialects are wrong and incorrect because it isn’t how THEY speak.

*should of

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towels "need washed" or the baby's diaper "needs changed." I understand this is a regionalism but it sounds so uneducated.

It's a PA thing (central and western, specifically). I agree that it's annoying, though I recently learned that particular construction is based on German grammar rules. Given the influence of German immigrants on PA, that's not surprising.

Generations later it’s not really an excuse for people who can’t speak German.

Ich kanne Deutsch sprechen. OK für mich, richtig?

If you’re saying “needs washed” your English needs work. It’s not brag worthy.

*IT IS ENGLISH.* Dialects are fully recognized as valid expressions of English language. In New Orleans, people say “make groceries” because it comes from the French “faire.” It is DIFFERENT than how other places would say “get groceries” or “buy groceries” but it is not wrong and their English doesn’t “need work.” Different dialects, such as AAVE, have their own grammatical and syntactical patterns that are valid and recognized as their own forms of English.

Paradoxically, despite your insistence only one of speaking sounds intelligent or acceptable, the more you double down on this claim that standardized English is the “only” English, the less intelligent you sound. Go research this , it’s actually very interesting.

First of all for those who are so passionate about the German influence that's not even correct. It's Scots-Irish.

Second, if you know better, you should do better. The rest of the country doesn't find "needs warshed" cute.

I didn't say it wasn't English, but outside of the very specific region it is non-standard. And we aren't in Pennsylvania right now.

Ok, keep doubling down on your misunderstanding of linguistics and just refuse to accept new information. That is of course how most intelligent people operate.

This is a grammar pet peeve thread. You must be lost.

No, I’m not. There’s a huge difference in saying “it bugs me when people use “should have” (which IS incorrect) and someone just saying regional dialects are wrong and incorrect because it isn’t how THEY speak.

Needs washed is NOT correct. Get over it. Just because a few people in a region do it doesn't make it proper grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"On accident" instead of "by accident."

"On my period" kind of bugs me, though it probably shouldn't.

That bugs me as well and is a legitimate peeve.

Ha! It bothers me too. My daughter and her friends all say “on my period.” My generation and region said “having my period.”

Even worse is "on my cycle," meaning they have their period. You're always on your cycle. That's the point of a cycle.