Who's A Pedant?

[BadPoison]

I have to stop here before I start foaming at the mouth and ripping out my hair.

Post a pic!

[Wechtlein Uns]

you know what I say regularly in debate and conversation? The conjunction, "insofaras" Yes, that's right, I use that as a WORD[/i]. ONE WORD.

Ex: It's not likely for them to leave a piece of dog shit on your door, insofaras you haven't pissed 'em off yet.

AHAHAHAHLAHA! You have NOTHING!!! NOOTHIIING!!!!  

[Whitney]

4w, bu7 w|-|y?

j00 n33d 70 l1gh73n up, d00d.  

[BadPoison]

btw, itz 1337 speak

[Wechtlein Uns]

84d p0|50n,

g37 0ff 0ur |<453, 4nd |11 g|v3 j00 4 |<3g.  

[McQ]

I'm a pedant, I freely admit it! Especially when it comes to spelling and grammar.

The use of the correct word for a given situation bothers me greatly ... for instance the misuse of "affect" & "effect".

What obvious spelling and or grammar howlers bug you?

AFTERTHOUGHT: Or other pedantry!

Kyu

There are so many that bug me, it's hard to list them! For some reason, I notice that on the internet, people seem to spell the word definitely wrong. I see a lot of definately. That drives me insane, mostly because it's used a lot and misspelled the same way by so many people. It's almost as if the misspelling has become the accepted way of spelling the word.

I do not like SMS language.

Of course, there's a difference between the occasional typo and constant incorrect usage of language. I make typos all the time. I'll probably see some in this post after I hit the send button!  

I have a tendency to overuse the passive voice in written communication. That's what my college English professors told me.

In the time leading up to and during "The Millennium", I couldn't believe the number of times I saw the word millennium misspelled!

My biggest peeve has been the idiotic pronunciation of the word nuclear by a certain White House chimp. I mean, he's the guy with the ability to use them, but he can't even say the word right! Agh!

[McQ]

Oh! I thought of another big one. The mutilation of the meaning of the word, literally. People constantly use it as if it is the word, figuratively.

Example: Let's say you see an athlete run the 100 meter dash in 9.8 seconds. Someone will inevitably describe the runner as "literally on fire", because he was so fast.  :brick:  

Also, does anyone ever use the word, moot correctly? Or decimate? Look them up. Moot, when used as an adjective (which is how it is most often used), does NOT mean something is beyond debating. It means just the opposite! That something IS open to debate. Everyone uses it to means a subject is closed to debate.

And in Merriam-Webster's On Line Dictionary, you have to get to the third definition of the word decimate to see the meaning that is constantly used today. Decimate's primary meaning is to reduce by one tenth.

[BadPoison]

84d p0|50n,

g37 0ff 0ur |<453, 4nd |11 g|v3 j00 4 |<3g.  

 ph|_|c|<  j00  $h|+  h0|_3

[Tom62]

I like the English language, but I'm not a pedant. As a foreigner, I try to not to make any typo's and get the grammar right. My main "mistake" is that I mix-up  British English and American English. I prefer for example the British spelling of words, like colour instead of color, because that was the [correct] spelling that I learned at school. On the other hand, I'm more familiar with American words (like f.i. truck instead of lorry) and American slang, because I read more American than British books and watch more American than British TV-Series and movies. The main problem that we foreigners have is with English language is the word order. That makes us so incomprehensible (and funny) for native speakers. For example, a simple sentence like: "We are washing the cat" becomes in German-English "We are the cat washing". Even more difficult is the common use of pseudo English words in the foreign language. Just guess what these German-English sentences means: "The DJane left her handy in her car" and "The oldtimer was so drunk, that he spilled his food over the pullunder of the talkmaster" .

But, the English language can be confusing for us foreigners as well. English is a rage in Germany - the height of fashion, except that many people don't understand it or, even worse, misunderstand it. Even such straightforward lines like "Come in and find out," for a chain of perfume stores, can be dodgy. When people were asked what that slogan means, they thought it meant, "Come in, but then go back out again." or "You can go in, but it is difficult to find the exit". Study after study has indicated that many Germans don't understand English slogans in advertisements. The Vodafone slogan "Make the Most of Now" has weird associations with fruit juice ("Most") for many Germans. "Welcome to the Beck's Experience" didn't work so well because many thought the last word meant "experiment." The grand prize for slipshod slogans, though, goes to German television station Sat1, which used the catchphrase "Powered by Emotion." This was taken by many to be a modern version of "Kraft durch Freude," the Nazi party's leisure organization, often translated into English as "strength through joy." Oops!

[Kyuuketsuki]

Also, does anyone ever use the word, moot correctly? Or decimate? Look them up. Moot, when used as an adjective (which is how it is most often used), does NOT mean something is beyond debating. It means just the opposite! That something IS open to debate. Everyone uses it to means a subject is closed to debate.

Moot as in the way they use it in "Lord Of The Rings" (Entmoot ... a meeting of the Ent to discuss justice, strategy etc.)?

Yeah "decimate" derives from the Romans where, when a campaign had gone badly, as a punishment legions would be "decimated" i..e every tenth man pulled out of rank and killed as a lesson to other soldiers.

TBH I don't think it's a bad thing that the meaning of words can change (evolve) as it makes the language more flexible, i just object to people using words wrong ... ignorance I guess.

Besides it's not even hard to do it right ... I use both a word processor (Office 2007) and the British English dictionary add-on for Firefox which, though it doesn't ensure correct grammar, helps me to get things right.

Kyu

[Kyuuketsuki]

84d p0|50n,

g37 0ff 0ur |<453, 4nd |11 g|v3 j00 4 |<3g.  

Kyu

[Wechtlein Uns]

84d p0|50n,

g37 0ff 0ur |<453, 4nd |11 g|v3 j00 4 |<3g.

Kyu

lol. Ok, I'm sorry...  
you know a word you don't here any more? "prattle". You don't hear it. ftw?

[BadPoison]

lol. Ok, I'm sorry...  
you know a word you don't here any more? "prattle". You don't hear it. ftw?

[Kyuuketsuki]

I could easily learn to hate you too :cool:

It was a joke on my part ... I've left a forum in the past because there was too much text speech but that was the norm there, I know people were mucking about here ... er ... at least I think they were  

you know a word you don't here any more? "prattle". You don't hear it. ftw?

Not much I agree but you do hear it ... I've used it on occasion particularly to my kids both of whom seem to possess the ability to take incessantly without saying a great deal (at least about anything I understand). Mind you, I see it as a very English word and you're US aren't you? I wouldn't expect it to be used as much in America.

Kyu

[Wechtlein Uns]

for some reason, I'm actually more accustomed to certain british words than american english. Because I read a lot of old works, probably why.