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(from most to least annoying)

  • "Could care less"
  • "Seen." incorrectly using the past perfect tense of "see" -- without the word "have" -- instead of using the simple past tense. ("I seen him yesterday")
  • "literally" instead of "virtually" or "figuratively," or as an intensifier for statements that themselves are metaphorical or figurative.
  • mixing up To/Too/Two
  • improper use of double negatives ("I don't need no help")
  • anyways, anywheres, everywheres, nowheres, and somewheres
  • using "good" instead of "well" ("I write good")
  • definately
  • using an apostrophe to pluralize a word that ends in a vowel (tomato's, potato's, et cetera)
  • "eck-setera"
  • "eck-scape"
  • "eck-specially"
  • "axe" instead of "ask"
  • "could of" and "would of"
  • mixing up You're/Your
  • mixing up They're/There/Their
  • the use -- and often massive overuse -- of ellipsis as a pause. Its use is to denote the fact that something has been omitted from a quotation
  • "heighth" instead of "height"
  • "alls" (it usually only appears as the first word in a sentence)
  • "cumf-ter-bull"
  • not using "whom" when applicable. (I always -- very quietly -- make an M sound)
  • mixing up "then" and "than"
  • expresso (I work in a coffee shop)
  • whip cream
  • the use of "enormity" instead of enormousness.
  • affect vs. effect
  • The word "forte" -- as in something an individual is especially good at -- is pronounced "fort," not "for-tay." The most annoying aspect of this one is not the mistake itself but the fact that I have literally NEVER heard it used correctly.
  • "Where are you at?" (and unnecessary and/or sentence-ending prepositions in general)
  • Irregardless
  • jewlery ("jew-luh-ree") instead of jewelry ("jew-uhl-ree"). "Jewlry" -- with only two syllables -- is acceptable, I suppose.
  • It's vs Its -- using an apostrophe when "it" is possesive pronoun is unnecessary.
  • mis-pluralizing terms that have reversed noun-adjective syntax by adding an S to the adjective. ("coup d'états" instead of "coups d'état," "brother-in-laws" instead of "brothers-in-law," "attorney generals" instead of "attorneys general")
  • using panini as a singular noun when it it plural. (panino is singular). Also, because I work in a coffee shop, biscotti instead of biscotto.
aug 29 2010 ∞
may 19 2012 +