Your single biggest grammar pet peeve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who don’t know how to use periods. I have many well educated friends (physicians!) who communicate in one? long run on sentence.

I had such a great day Bryce and I decided to go to the park to have a picnic and feed the birds we saw bluebirds hummingbirds and even a bald eagle

🧐

No, that's called texting. Using grammar in text messages shows your age.

[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

Absolutely a Baltimore thing. I am in a meeting right now outside Baltimore and the meeting minutes say something “needs cleaned.” First time I ever heard that was when I started working here.

[Anonymous]

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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?

Forte existed before the pianoforte that. It means play louder than typical.

[Anonymous]

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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.

When can we start fining people for this abuse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

When can we start fining people for this abuse?

Do they needs fined?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

When can we start fining people for this abuse?

Do they needs fined?

How else will they get edjucated?

[Anonymous]

What? I have never heard anyone pronounce forté as fort. How long has this been going on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Using I instead of me: "Beth went to the party with Sarah and I."

YES!! thank you.

[Anonymous]

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.

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

Absolutely a Baltimore thing. I am in a meeting right now outside Baltimore and the meeting minutes say something “needs cleaned.” First time I ever heard that was when I started working here.

No, I grew up in and around Baltimore and never ever heard it. You might be hearing transplants to the area.

[Anonymous]

Addicting instead of addictive. When did this become a thing?
Also, anyways instead of anyway.

[Anonymous]

"Should of," "could of," "must of" in place of should have/could have/must have. I've seen college grads write like this and it is truly shocking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What? I have never heard anyone pronounce forté as fort. How long has this been going on?

I'm with you. Assumed we must be talking about different words. Grammar is not my forte (for-tay) so wasn't putting up a fight.

[Anonymous]

Less versus fewer drives me bananas.
Lay, laid, lain. But I'm the pet peeve. I have no idea which one to use when I go to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What? I have never heard anyone pronounce forté as fort. How long has this been going on?

The e is accented so you know it's silent and not long a. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? I have never heard anyone pronounce forté as fort. How long has this been going on?

The e is accented so you know it's silent and not long a. /s

You are giving out misinformation. A simple Google search on pronunciation would end this silly argument.