I hate to read “Circle drive” instead of circular drive [does it really make a complete circle?]
Or “hot water heater” – The correct term is water heater. [If the water is already hot, you do not need to heat it. If you do heat it, then it is a reheater.]
When people say ATM machine or PIN number, it drives me nuts! The M means machine, the N means number, so what they are really saying is automatic teller machine machine, and personal identification number number.
It’s not John Hopkins University…. it’s Johns Hopkins University….yes, the guy had an “S” at the end of his first name.
Moet and Chandon – Moet is Dutch, Chandon is French. You do pronounce the “t” in MOet but not the “N” in Chandon. You can tell Moet is a Dutch word because of the funny little double dots on top of the “e.”
A little off topic, but…
“The stars have truly alligned…”
“I’ll even pay for your home to be appraised.”
That Hayes Barnard guy who is ruining people’s lives with his option ARM radio ads drives me absolutely insane. And his exaggerated inflection is so annoying.
What's with all this talk about mis-using the english language. I think most of us "could care less."
Seriously, that's my personal favorite… don't you mean you "couldn't care less?" Otherwise, you must care to some extent in order to be able to care less.
There’s a few blogs out there where you can’t post edits after the fact (luckily Piggington isn’t one of them) and we all know the sinking feeling you get when you “reply all” instead of “reply.”
The instant of time when one is gripped by a “sick/sinking” feeling; specifically derived from the realization that they have just pushed “send/submit” without proof reading.
I call them ignoseconds. It used be part of some comedian’s routine and it represents the precise moment in time when you’re closing the door of your car and you realize you just locked your keys in it.
I’ve been coming to this site for months, and this is the best topic ever! My wife calls me the “Pronunciation Nazi” because just about every issue mentioned above sets me off.
Novice 1027 you rock!! My biggest pet peeve of all of these mentioned above is “orientated” instead of oriented.
2 others:
1) lacks-adaisical for lackadaisical
(It’s not “lacks”, like “Hey dude, I’m lacks (relax)…”
2) supposebly for supposedly
My old boss did that!! And for someone with a freakin’ MBA, I expect more. That drove me insane.
Perry, you must have got that from the senators at the Hearings last week. I swear, at least one of them kept saying “amortirized” or something wacky like that…
