# Incurable misspellings...



## KenOC

...that we see again and again. "Peaked my interest" is one. There are others.


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## CnC Bartok

Tow the line?
Escape goat?
Bowl in a China shop?
Straight from the gecko? Or should that be ghetto?

At least I always get Stanisław Skrowaczewski's name right, though....


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## Room2201974

O bouy, this will Shirley bee my favourite thread!


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## Strange Magic

Its is it's greatest enemy.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

I'm from Norway...
You cannot come from nowhere...


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## Totenfeier

The most unfortunate one I see on the rise in the US is "wallah."

No, it's not an Islamic prayer. Try to guess what it is, if you don't already know.

Barbarism at its worst.


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## Taggart

We tend to watch DVD's with subtitles - the vocals are often overlaid with music or sound effects - and homonyms seem to give them problems - things like guilding the lily.(sic)



Totenfeier said:


> The most unfortunate one I see on the rise in the US is "wallah."
> 
> No, it's not an Islamic prayer. Try to guess what it is, if you don't already know.
> 
> Barbarism at its worst.


I presume it's not being used as a synonym for worker as in punkah wallah?


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## Strange Magic

........irregardless........

"presently" as a synonym for "currently".


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## starthrower

"definately" is definitely the number one misspelled word I see from online posters.


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## senza sordino

I don't know if this is relevent, but I'm always spelling relavant incorrectly.


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## Becca

starthrower said:


> "definately" is definitely the number one misspelled word I see from online posters.


Absotively, posilutely.


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## Manxfeeder

I heard a young lady refer to the horse of a dilemma. I thought that was funny, but it does make sense.


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## Manxfeeder

starthrower said:


> "definately" is definitely the number one misspelled word I see from online posters.


I think every English class in every high school in America should put the correct spelling of that word on the blackboard every day for the entire school year.


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## starthrower

Manxfeeder said:


> I think every English class in every high school in America should put the correct spelling of that word on the blackboard every day for the entire school year.


Just learn the root word which is finite. But I don't care what the words may be, you can always tell the readers from the semi-illiterate. The latter have trouble with relatively easily spelled words.


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## elgar's ghost

My spelling is usually fine - if I do misspell a word when I'm typing it gets underscored in red anyway, so it's a cinch to correct. It's certain aspects of grammar which I can't quite get my head around - i.e. when to use a dash, colon or semi colon when I need to break a sentence up.


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## Krummhorn

When I was a supervising editor on WikiAnswers the most common error was with "does" and "dose"; they would write the latter meaning the former every time.


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## starthrower

Krummhorn said:


> When I was a supervising editor on WikiAnswers the most common error was with "does" and "dose"; they would write the latter meaning the former every time.


Must be that e before s except after o rule, huh?


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## Larkenfield

I just hate it when the s’s are left out of the spelling of Mississippi.  Does anyone use Grammarly for spellcheck? I couldn’t do without it.


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## Strange Magic

I love banana's! I love apostrophe's and insert them before every terminal "s" signifying plurality.

I also like mailboxes that say "The Smith's" and not "The Smiths".


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## LezLee

Prevalent at this time of year is my pet hate of ‘Brussel’ sprouts! 

I once saw a wonderful notice outside a shoe shop in Sheffield which read: ‘More ladie’s boot’s and soxes downstair’s’
Also last year in a Cornish café window, a professionally printed menu featuring ‘gateaux’s’


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## Roger Knox

Totenfeier said:


> No, it's not an Islamic prayer. Try to guess what it is, if you don't already know.


Mite it bee "Wallet?"


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## Roger Knox

"Complementary" when "complimentary" is meant, e.g. complimentary appetizer.


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## CnC Bartok

Stationery stationary.

Pens, pencils, reams of paper, and staplers that stay still?

Or is it?


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## Luchesi

A Poem

I have a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye cannot sea
When eye stike a quay, right a word
I weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar wright
It shows me strait away.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two late
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely, rarely grate.
I've run this poem threw it
I'm shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Sauce Unknown


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## KenOC

I’m irritated at the rule about possessives of proper nouns that end in “s”, for instance “Brahms’s 1st Symphony“ when it would be simpler just to write “Brahms’ “

Similarly, Dave Barry once proposed an “e” tax, to discourage snooty placenames like “A Candy Shoppe” or “Estates at Vista Pointe” (probably in reality a trailer park).


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## senza sordino

Luchesi said:


> A Poem
> 
> I have a spelling chequer
> It came with my pea sea
> It plainly marques four my revue
> Miss steaks eye cannot sea
> When eye stike a quay, right a word
> I weight four it two say
> Weather eye am wrong oar wright
> It shows me strait away.
> As soon as a mist ache is maid
> It nose bee fore two late
> And eye can put the error rite
> Its rarely, rarely grate.
> I've run this poem threw it
> I'm shore your pleased two no
> Its letter perfect in it's weigh
> My chequer tolled me sew.
> 
> Sauce Unknown


Eye fawned this tuff two reed.


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## LezLee

KenOC said:


> I'm irritated at the rule about possessives of proper nouns that end in "s", for instance "Brahms's 1st Symphony" when it would be simpler just to write "Brahms' "
> 
> Similarly, Dave Barry once proposed an "e" tax, to discourage snooty placenames like "A Candy Shoppe" or "Estates at Vista Pointe" (probably in reality a trailer park).


In the UK we do often but not always use just Brahms'. I didn't realise terms like 'Shoppe' were used in the USA! Here they're not 'snooty', they're pseudo 'Olde Worlde', the worst and most prevalent being 'fayre' which is used indiscriminately for festive food, fairgrounds or jumble sales. Aarrgghh!
Then there are American spellings - we all know about aluminium/aluminum but I've only recently noticed 'curb' instead of 'kerb'. At first I thought it was a simple mistake but it seems curb is always used for the edge of a pavement/sidewalk. Do you ever use 'curb' meaning to cut short?


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## LezLee

Robert Pickett said:


> Stationery stationary.
> 
> Pens, pencils, reams of paper, and staplers that stay still?
> 
> Or is it?


That's easy. StationEry - E is for envelope


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## Totenfeier

In regard to "wallah":

Think French.

Oui.

But I try to not let it phase me.


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## LezLee

Totenfeier said:


> In regard to "wallah":
> 
> Think French.
> 
> Oui.
> 
> But I try to not let it phase me.


Voilá? ...........


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## senza sordino

LezLee said:


> In the UK we do often but not always use just Brahms'. I didn't realise terms like 'Shoppe' were used in the USA! Here they're not 'snooty', they're pseudo 'Olde Worlde', the worst and most prevalent being 'fayre' which is used indiscriminately for festive food, fairgrounds or jumble sales. Aarrgghh!
> Then there are American spellings - we all know about aluminium/aluminum but I've only recently noticed 'curb' instead of 'kerb'. At first I thought it was a simple mistake but it seems curb is always used for the edge of a pavement/sidewalk. Do you ever use 'curb' meaning to cut short?


We do use curb for the edge of a pavement and curb to cut short (Curb Your Enthusiasm). We also spell the wheels of the car and fatigued the same way - tire. As in "A man who runs in front of a car gets tired" (and "the man who runs behind a car gets exhausted").

We Canadians have a strange hybrid of American and English spelling. Colour, tire, curb, theatre etc.

As I tell my students, "I didn't invent this language, I just use it (and abuse it) fairly well"


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## Ingélou

Luchesi said:


> A Poem
> 
> I have a spelling chequer
> It came with my pea sea
> It plainly marques four my revue
> Miss steaks eye cannot sea
> When eye stike a quay, right a word
> I weight four it two say
> Weather eye am wrong oar wright
> It shows me strait away.
> As soon as a mist ache is maid
> It nose bee fore two late
> And eye can put the error rite
> Its rarely, rarely grate.
> I've run this poem threw it
> I'm shore your pleased two no
> Its letter perfect in it's weigh
> My chequer tolled me sew.
> 
> Sauce Unknown


I can't resist this limerick, told me by my history teacher, that revels in the quirks of English spelling -

The Lady Matilda de Belvoir
Was such a persistent decelvoir
That the Abbot of Leicester,
Although he confeicester,
Would seldom, if ever, belelvoir.


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## KenOC

LezLee said:


> ...I've only recently noticed 'curb' instead of 'kerb'. At first I thought it was a simple mistake but it seems curb is always used for the edge of a pavement/sidewalk. Do you ever use 'curb' meaning to cut short?


As in, "Curb thy voice, thou impious fish"? Seriously, "curb" is seldom used in the sense of "to cut short." I've never seen the word "kerb" in this country at all. Most roads have curbs and gutters on both sides.


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## Totenfeier

LezLee said:


> Voilá? ...........


Mais oui. I'm a gentle sort, as a general rule, but doesn't this make you desire to seize (sieze, there's another one) your blade and begin slaying without let or hindrance?


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## LezLee

I’ve never come across a problem with it here. I think French is taught at some stage in most British schools, though we are notoriously rubbish at foreign languages! At my grammar school (high school?) in the 1950s we all learnt French and either Latin or German. Greek was available in 6th form. My mum learnt Spanish at what was called a Commercial school as a lot of girls in Liverpool went to work in shipping offices and Spanish was very useful for trade with South America.


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## Roger Knox

Luchesi said:


> A Poem
> 
> I have a spelling chequer
> It came with my pea sea
> It plainly marques four my revue
> Miss steaks eye cannot sea
> When eye stike a quay, right a word
> I weight four it two say
> Weather eye am wrong oar wright
> It shows me strait away.
> As soon as a mist ache is maid
> It nose bee fore two late
> And eye can put the error rite
> Its rarely, rarely grate.
> I've run this poem threw it
> I'm shore your pleased two no
> Its letter perfect in it's weigh
> My chequer tolled me sew.
> 
> Sauce Unknown


After spell-checking the underlined words were caught. . .

A Poem (after MS Word Spell and Grammar Check)

I have a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye cannot sea
When eye stick a quay, right a word
I weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong or wright
It shows me straight away.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two late
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely, rarely grate.
I've run this poem threw it
I'm shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in its weigh
My chequer told me sew.

Sauce Unknown


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## Dorsetmike

I learnt French too, gave up latin as soon as could, had a 2 week exchange visit in '49, stoped overnight in Paris en route to and from Megéve; Used what was left of my French in Cyprus with the RAF during the "Suez crisis" we had some French squadrons there too and we got along with "Franglais". I didn't pick up much of the local language when in Egypt, apart from a few cuss words. In Singapore it seemed as though just about everybody spoke English, the population was mixed Malay and Chinese plus a fair number of Brits and other Commonwealth armed forces.


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## Botschaft




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## Totenfeier

Larkenfield said:


> I just hate it when the s's are left out of the spelling of Mississippi.  Does anyone use Grammarly for spellcheck? I couldn't do without it.


Back in the mid-twentieth century, when my mother was in school, they gave her a mnemonic for Mississippi that she would trot out occasionally:

M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-humpback-humpback-i.

Not sure how that helped, but she sure remembered it!


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## Pyotr

The problem with this thread is that we have a bunch of ignorant people here who are trying to pass themselfs off as intellectuals.


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## senza sordino

Pyotr said:


> The problem with this thread is that we have a bunch of ignorant people here who are trying to pass themselfs off as intellectuals.


Shirley your jocking, my on line altar eagle takes a fence to this.


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## Gordontrek

"Would of" instead of "would have." Mother of GOD that grates on my nerves. Especially since I usually find it in thoroughly cringeworthy left-wing political arguments.


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## DaveM

Gordontrek said:


> "Would of" instead of "would have." Mother of GOD that grates on my nerves. Especially since I usually find it in thoroughly cringeworthy left-wing political arguments.


So, right-wingers are typically linguistic mental giants?


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## David Phillips

Two howlers when I marked children's books for a living:

A quadruped with spines was called an 'EJOG', and in a piece of nativity description, 'a golden angel appeared to the shepherds and said, "ARISE!" But the 'I' in 'arise' was left out.


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## Tikoo Tuba

Very intellegint we are .


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## Larkenfield

He who spells poorly does a potential felon maak. Be not a cacographer hoisted with one’s own petard.
:tiphat: 

More importantly, how does Dorothy end up being a “Dot” and Robert “Bob”. It defies all rational explanation even if it can be traced back to the Battle of Hastings. The world has apparently slipped on a banana peel.


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## KenOC

Larkenfield said:


> He who spells poorly does a potential felon maak. Be not a cacography hoisted with one's own petard.:tiphat:


Amazon seems not to carry petards! But it does have this.


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## geralmar

"Wanna"

As in, "I wanna go home". Not a word; a lazy barbarism. What particularly irritates me is when it appears in movie subtitles-- I usually watch English-language movies with the subtitles turned on. Often it appears on the screen when the actor is clearly enunciating, "want to". It seems to be a personal obsession, however; when I've posted on other websites it's usually suggested that I get a life.


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## geralmar

Trouper/trooper

Not too many months ago I read a newspaper feature article that referred to a sick baby as a "real trooper". Well; maybe in a few years... .


OK; and many years ago I read a wire service article about the recent discovery of a royal Egyptian mummy found buried in "a solid gold esophagus".


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## CnC Bartok

Not necessarily a spelling issue, but I do get exceptionally annoyed with the word "vunerable", as heard so frequently on television these days.

It's "vu*L*nerable", and the f%*king L is not silent, you ignorant peasant.....

Sorry, it's another thing that properly embarks my paridae.


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## LezLee

Pyotr said:


> The problem with this thread is that we have a bunch of ignorant people here who are trying to pass themselfs off as intellectuals.


...Themselves....


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## LezLee

Not spelling but misuse - ‘momentarily’ means briefly, as in ‘He momentarily forgot where he was’, NOT ‘soon’ as in ‘I’ll see you momentarily’.


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## Larkenfield

Not exactly a misspelling but colloquial: “wan’” for “want”

Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)
Harry Belafonte

Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
---
Me wanna go home too!


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## LezLee

.....................


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## Tikoo Tuba

Mi chi'ld iz punishd fo'r ri'teen fo'netiklee . Pleez ubolish punishment . O'ka ?


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## geralmar

Primer

A small book for teaching children to read is for no discernible reason pronounced, "primmer".


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## LezLee

geralmar said:


> Primer
> 
> A small book for teaching children to read is for no discernible reason pronounced, "primmer".


Not here it isn't!


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## eugeneonagain

LezLee said:


> Not spelling but misuse - 'momentarily' means briefly, as in 'He momentarily forgot where he was', NOT 'soon' as in 'I'll see you momentarily'.


My word! This one really gets on my nerves. I may have mentioned a friend of mine in Kansas and his relatives (though they actually hail from Texas) used 'momentarily' in this way. 
According to the Chambers dictionary (a very fine dictionary) the particular _N. Amer _usage is listed as "at any moment" and as such I can see why this would/could be interpreted as 'at some moment in time'. It is, however, a bit of a stretch to 'soon'.


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## KarlHeinz

'I could care less'. Not as powerful as 'I couldn't care less' now is it?


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## Guest

My pet hate is when people say,, 'would of' , instead of , 'would have!'

Drives me nuts.


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## LezLee

I hate extra words inserted for no reason:

The both of you.
Off of.


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## elgar's ghost

Or double negatives such as 'I ain't done nothing' - usually heard on police documentaries during the arrest procedure.


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## Highwayman

KarlHeinz said:


> 'I could care less'. Not as powerful as 'I couldn't care less' now is it?


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## KenOC

Redundancies. "It's raining outside." And where did you expect it to rain?

"Plans for the future"
"Past history"

"The wind is blowing." If there's wind, of course it's blowing. "It's windy" will do.


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## LezLee

Unnecessary deaths - what deaths are necessary?
Innocent victims - what is a guilty victim?
Safe haven - can a haven be unsafe?


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## KenOC

Confusions: "Incoherent" is the opposite of "coherent," but "inflammable" means the same as "flammable." There are quite a few other examples.


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## LezLee

KenOC said:


> Confusions: "Incoherent" is the opposite of "coherent," but "inflammable" means the same as "flammable." There are quite a few other examples.


Another one of those is 'cleave' which means to split or sever, but also to cling, adhere, or stick fast to.


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## jegreenwood

poco a poco said:


> My pet hate is when people say,, 'would of' , instead of , 'would have!'
> 
> Drives me nuts.


Say or write? 'Would've' is an acceptable contraction of 'would have' and sound virtually the same as 'would of.'


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## jegreenwood

elgars ghost said:


> My spelling is usually fine - if I do misspell a word when I'm typing it gets underscored in red anyway, so it's a cinch to correct. It's certain aspects of grammar which I can't quite get my head around - i.e. when to use a dash, colon or semi colon when I need to break a sentence up.


I taught SAT reading and writing for several years as a volunteer. (The SAT is an exam used for college admission.) The grammar rules were hard and fast. I quickly realized that in everyday writing I often violated them. And I continue to do so. I just want my sentence to be understood as intended. I often hear the sentence in my head as I write and punctuate accordingly.

(The semi-colon might be an exception. I use it almost only as taught, as a substitute for ", and" or a period to join two complete sentences.)

Also, in response to another comment, when writing something that allows me some literary freedom - from drama (I'm an amateur) to a legal brief (I was not) - I think about the rhythm of my sentences. Do they flow trippingly on the tongue?  Sometimes that means adding a word or two. More often it means deleting a word or two or reorganizing the sentence.

Finally, with respect to the above quote, it's, "that I can't quite get my head around."

https://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/which-vs-that 

(Feel free to correct the grammar in my post.)


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## LezLee

My husband learnt Spanish at school. His teacher used to try to explain why something was correct by placing his hand on his heart and saying: “I feel it here”. 
Works for me!


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## LezLee

I’ve just seen an advert for a fridge which is said to ‘keep food fresher for longer’. There’s no way food can be fresher than when you acquired it.

Other pet annoyances:
Hot/cold temperatures. Temperatures can’t be hot or cold, they can only be from low to high.
Similarly you can’t have a cheap or expensive price. You’re not buying a price, you’re buying an item which can be cheap or expensive. Prices are high or low.
This also applies to fares which also can’t be cheap or expensive, it’s the journey you’re paying for.


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## Merl

None of these are as annoying as "I gave it 110%" or people saying "I seen it". Grrrr!


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## Strange Magic

Not a misspelling, but nonetheless--Bertrand Russell found the following sentence puzzling: "I thought your yacht was larger than it is."

https://www.pdcnet.org/eps/content/eps_2016_0050_0004_0021_0031


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## CnC Bartok

LezLee said:


> Unnecessary deaths - what deaths are necessary?
> Innocent victims - what is a guilty victim?
> Safe haven - can a haven be unsafe?


1) You've obviously never considered penning an episode of Midsomer Murders.
2) We're all guilty of something. So in reality, what is an innocent victim?
3) Ask the crew of the Rainbow Warrior, Auckland 1985...

:devil:


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## geralmar

Long ago in a military journalism class we were instructed to never write "midair collision" because air doesn't have a middle. Actually, "air collision" should be sufficient in the event the collision did not occur on the ground.


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## Larkenfield

poco a poco said:


> My pet hate is when people say,, 'would of' , instead of , 'would have!'
> 
> Drives me nuts.


If using voice dictation for texting, if one says "would have", it often comes out as "would of" and then it's sometimes left that way when the person may know better. On the other hand, some think that "would of" is correct!


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## senza sordino

Not a misspelling, but isn't is amazing how much people don't know the difference between many and much?


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## geralmar

senza sordino said:


> Not a misspelling, but isn't is amazing how much people don't know the difference between many and much?


Or "literally" and "figuratively". It's more than a pet peeve: I've had to ask clarification more than once, forcing an uncomfortable grammar lesson.

Which reminds me of a newspaper cartoon I read years ago:

Scene: secretarial job interview.

He: "How's your grammar?"
She: "She's fine. How's yours?"


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## Totenfeier

geralmar said:


> Long ago in a military journalism class we were instructed to never write "midair collision" because air doesn't have a middle. Actually, "air collision" should be sufficient in the event the collision did not occur on the ground.


In the same vein, George Carlin took issue with "near miss," as in "the two planes experienced a near-miss during the flight." He said, "That's a near-HIT, gang!"


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## geralmar

Totenfeier said:


> In the same vein, George Carlin took issue with "near miss," as in "the two planes experienced a near-miss during the flight." He said, "That's a near-HIT, gang!"


Confusing. I've interpreted "near miss" as an actual hit, as in "I nearly missed the target".


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## EdwardBast

I was in the passenger's seat of a truck driven by a neighbor, helping another neighbor, Hanns, to move. Hanns was leading the way in another vehicle. Seeing he was taking the wrong exit I said: "Hanns is lost, that's the wrong exit." The other neighbor, who was driving, said: "Oh no, Hanns knows this area like the back of his head." He thought that was the actual expression.


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## geralmar

LezLee said:


> I've just seen an advert for a fridge which is said to 'keep food fresher for longer'. There's no way food can be fresher than when you acquired it.
> 
> Other pet annoyances:
> Hot/cold temperatures. Temperatures can't be hot or cold, they can only be from low to high.
> Similarly you can't have a cheap or expensive price. You're not buying a price, you're buying an item which can be cheap or expensive. Prices are high or low.
> This also applies to fares which also can't be cheap or expensive, it's the journey you're paying for.


I'm always amused when I see or hear: "At this price these won't last long ".


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## geralmar

EdwardBast said:


> I was in the passenger's seat of a truck driven by a neighbor, helping another neighbor, Hanns, to move. Hanns was leading the way in another vehicle. Seeing he was taking the wrong exit I said: "Hanns is lost, that's the wrong exit." The other neighbor, who was driving, said: "Oh no, Hanns knows this area like the back of his head." He thought that was the actual expression.


I was once giving directions to my friend, who was driving.

Me: "Turn left".
He: "Left?"
Me: "Right".

So he turned right; we crossed two lanes of traffic and wound up stuck on a concrete traffic island.


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## Guest

There's a member of this forum who consistently spells "with" as "whit."


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## LezLee

Amount/number

I hate it when people say ‘amount of people’.
‘Number’ is for things that can be counted, so it’s number of people, dogs, books, but amount of sugar, paint, etc.


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## LezLee

Kontrapunctus said:


> There's a member of this forum who consistently spells "with" as "whit."


Yes, but many forum members don't have English as their first language so I think we should make allowances.


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## CnC Bartok

LezLee said:


> Amount/number
> 
> I hate it when people say 'amount of people'.
> 'Number' is for things that can be counted, so it's number of people, dogs, books, but amount of sugar, paint, etc.


Amount actually is a correct scientific term. It relates to the number of entities in a (physical) substance, and is equal to 6.022 X 10 exp 23. The unit Is one Mole.

Thus it is possible to discuss the amount of people. The amount of people in the UK, for example, is approximately 9.96 X 10 exp -17 moles of people.

:tiphat:

I will happily confess that this is not a _usual_ use of the term....


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## Guest

LezLee said:


> Yes, but many forum members don't have English as their first language so I think we should make allowances.


I don't think that's situation in this case.


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## KenOC

CnC Bartok said:


> The amount of people in the UK, for example, is approximately 9.96 X 10 exp -17 moles of people.:tiphat:


Now that peaks my interest.


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## CnC Bartok

KenOC said:


> Now that peaks my interest.


Don't you bloody start! It's "peeks my interest", shirley?


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## senza sordino

geralmar said:


> I was once giving directions to my friend, who was driving.
> 
> Me: "Turn left".
> He: "Left?"
> Me: "Right".
> 
> So he turned right; we crossed two lanes of traffic and wound up stuck on a concrete traffic island.


This reminds me of the confusion my students have with right side up and upside down.


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## Totenfeier

CnC Bartok said:


> Don't you bloody start! It's "peeks my interest", shirley?


"And don't call me Shirley."


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## LezLee

CnC Bartok said:


> Amount actually is a correct scientific term. It relates to the number of entities in a (physical) substance, and is equal to 6.022 X 10 exp 23. The unit Is one Mole.
> 
> Thus it is possible to discuss the amount of people. The amount of people in the UK, for example, is approximately 9.96 X 10 exp -17 moles of people.
> 
> :tiphat:
> 
> I will happily confess that this is not a _usual_ use of the term....


Bloody scientists...


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## geralmar

CnC Bartok said:


> Don't you bloody start! It's "peeks my interest", shirley?


Uh... "piques" my interest?


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## CnC Bartok

Indeed, hence the joke!


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## geralmar

CnC Bartok said:


> Indeed, hence the joke!


Got it. Thanks.

I've always made a distinction between "squash" and "quash". A bug is squashed, while a rebellion is quashed. Not long ago I consulted an unabridged dictionary and was surprised to learn that when it comes to forcibly ending a destructive and unlawful human activity, "squash" and "quash" are interchangeable. So despite the mind's image, it is now acceptable to "squash" a rebellion or riot. If that is really true is the word "quash" even necessary?


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## LezLee

geralmar said:


> Got it. Thanks.
> 
> I've always made a distinction between "squash" and "quash". A bug is squashed, while a rebellion is quashed. Not long ago I consulted an unabridged dictionary and was surprised to learn that when it comes to forcibly ending a destructive and unlawful human activity, "squash" and "quash" are interchangeable. So despite the mind's image, it is now acceptable to "squash" a rebellion or riot. If that is really true is the word "quash" even necessary?


Yes, because 'quash' has only one meaning. You wouldn't say 'quash' a wasp or a grape, would you?


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## Larkenfield

geralmar said:


> Got it. Thanks.
> 
> I've always made a distinction between "squash" and "quash". A bug is squashed, while a rebellion is quashed. Not long ago I consulted an unabridged dictionary and was surprised to learn that when it comes to forcibly ending a destructive and unlawful human activity, "squash" and "quash" are interchangeable. So despite the mind's image, it is now acceptable to "squash" a rebellion or riot. If that is really true is the word "quash" even necessary?


The dictionary be hanged. I would never use these two words interchangeably. "Quash" is to stop an action... "Squash" is to smash an object. To "squash" a rebellion sounds ridiculous like a bunch of children using elementary language in an effort to talk about something important that's beyond their understanding. "Quash" is for grownups and situations that are far more serious than "squashing" a bug. Besides trying to define words, dictionaries sometimes make good door stops.
:scold:


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## EdwardBast

As I was hauling firewood to the back door last night I remembered how many people seem to own a device they call a "wheel barrel."


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## LezLee

My father-in-law was profoundly deaf and had never heard the word ‘pizza’ spoken. He automatically pronounced it ‘pizzer’ and was mortified when we gently put him right. There are so many new words now, both foreign and technological and it’s difficult for people who lost their hearing before these came into everyday use, even for those who can lipread.

A lot of people seem to have difficulty pronouncing foreign words even when they’ve visited the countries. There’s almost a ‘this is foreign, I can’t pronounce it’ attitude.

The most obvious one is the ubiquitous ‘Ibiza’. The proper Spanish pronunciation is ‘Ib-eeth-a’ and it’s really puzzling why people get the soft ‘th’ bit correct but spoil it by saying Eye-beetha. The letter ‘I’ is only ever pronounced ‘eye’ in English.

Next we have ‘lar-ttay’ for latte. There’s a double ‘t’ and there isn’t an ‘r, why put one in?‘
Then there’s ‘tag-lee-a-telli’ for tagliatelle. No! It’s ‘tal-yee-a-tellee’. 

Spelling - my pet hate, seen on menus everywhere, is ‘Bolognaise’. Spag.Bol is NOT French, it’s Italian and the word is ‘Bolognese’ meaning from Bologna.
Finally, still with food, the word for someone who owns/runs a restaurant is NOT a restauranteur, the word is restaurateur. 

By ‘eck, I enjoyed that :devil:


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## KenOC

This may be a good place to note the increasing use of the word "hygge" in the English language. I had no idea what it meant or how to pronounce it, so I looked it up. Turns out that hygge has recently become quite bygge!


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## Pat Fairlea

LezLee said:


> My father-in-law was profoundly deaf and had never heard the word 'pizza' spoken. He automatically pronounced it 'pizzer' and was mortified when we gently put him right. There are so many new words now, both foreign and technological and it's difficult for people who lost their hearing before these came into everyday use, even for those who can lipread.
> 
> A lot of people seem to have difficulty pronouncing foreign words even when they've visited the countries. There's almost a 'this is foreign, I can't pronounce it' attitude.
> 
> The most obvious one is the ubiquitous 'Ibiza'. The proper Spanish pronunciation is 'Ib-eeth-a' and it's really puzzling why people get the soft 'th' bit correct but spoil it by saying Eye-beetha. The letter 'I' is only ever pronounced 'eye' in English.
> 
> Next we have 'lar-ttay' for latte. There's a double 't' and there isn't an 'r, why put one in?'
> Then there's 'tag-lee-a-telli' for tagliatelle. No! It's 'tal-yee-a-tellee'.
> 
> Spelling - my pet hate, seen on menus everywhere, is 'Bolognaise'. Spag.Bol is NOT French, it's Italian and the word is 'Bolognese' meaning from Bologna.
> Finally, still with food, the word for someone who owns/runs a restaurant is NOT a restauranteur, the word is restaurateur.
> 
> By 'eck, I enjoyed that :devil:


Ibiza, Ikea, Citroen, the unwillingness of monoglot Anglophones to cope with non-English loan-words is an embarrassment. As for Pontcysyllte, words fail me!


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## LezLee

I’ve lived in Scotland for 10 years now and still have trouble understanding sometimes. Like a lot of English people, I vaguely thought there was a generic Scottish accent. The first time I went for a meal with the 6 Scottish friends I’d met on the Amazon forums, I realised they were all from different areas with distinctly different accents and if I didn’t ‘tune in’ to the first couple of sentences I was lost. Of course they all found it highly amusing!


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## Larkenfield

Hi


KenOC said:


> This may be a good place to note the increasing use of the word "hygge" in the English language. I had no idea what it meant or how to pronounce it, so I looked it up. Turns out that hygge has recently become quite bygge!


Fascinating word, Ken! I have never heard of "hygge" before, perhaps because it appears to be strongly specific in nature to Denmark and Norway. Its qualities are quite marvelous:

"_Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment_. As a cultural category with its sets of associated practices hygge has more or less the same meanings in Danish and Norwegian, but the notion is more central in Denmark than Norway."


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## KenOC

Larkenfield said:


> "_Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment_."


Kind of like something often attributed to Bruno Walter: "Gemütlichkeit is a German-language word used to convey the idea of a state or feeling of warmth, friendliness, and good cheer. Other qualities encompassed by the term include coziness, peace of mind, and a sense of belonging and well-being springing from social acceptance."


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## Larkenfield

KenOC said:


> Kind of like something often attributed to Bruno Walter: "Gemütlichkeit is a German-language word used to convey the idea of a state or feeling of warmth, friendliness, and good cheer. Other qualities encompassed by the term include coziness, peace of mind, and a sense of belonging and well-being springing from social acceptance."


Beautiful! Here's to more _gemütlichkeit_ and _hygge_ in everyday life. I wonder what music would describe these warm and convivial qualities?


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## KenOC

BTW, re Danish _hygge_: We have a friend, a young lady from Denmark, who has stayed with us a couple of times travelling home from Venezuela where her boyfriend lives. She reports that Danes are not very happy at all and are often quite dour, complaining endlessly about their circumstances. Perhaps their _hygge _is only for export!


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## LezLee

‘Collins English Dictionary named hygge the runner-up (after "Brexit") as word of the year in the UK in 2016. This followed a period during which several books focusing on hygge had been marketed in the UK, such as The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness by Marie Tourell Søderberg, and The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Living Well by Louisa Thomsen Brits’.

It’s one of those cult things everyone’s supposed to embrace, promoted by the better quality newspapers. In reality the average man/woman in the street has never heard of it, doesn’t need it and has no idea how it’s pronounced anyway.


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## geralmar

Perhaps off topic; but I had a friend who once asked if I would rather be an American (U.S.) billionaire or a British billionaire.

The correct answer is (or at least was) British because in the U.S. a billion is a thousand millions, while in Britain it is a million millions.


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## Dorsetmike

Dialect problems???????????


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## CnC Bartok

geralmar said:


> Perhaps off topic; but I had a friend who once asked if I would rather be an American (U.S.) billionaire or a British billionaire.
> 
> The correct answer is (or at least was) British because in the U.S. a billion is a thousand millions, while in Britain it is a million millions.


Yeah, except your millions of millions of British Pounds will be worth sod all in a few weeks time.......


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