Niggly little Annoyances.........

[DrTee]

Well said, drtee ... but you stole about half of my post!

 

So I'll make do with the other half. Things that bother me:

 

"pesty" (meaning pesky)

"administrate" (administer)

"give it my endorsation" (endorsement)

 

Regarding split infinitives: the origin of our ban on this beast lies in Latin grammar. The earliest English grammar texts were translations of Latin grammar texts; nobody quite tumbled to the fact that no two languages have the same grammatical structure, so traditional English grammar is based on the faulty (but unconscious) premise that Latin grammar suits English. Modern grammarians have fixed that, but nobody bothered to tell the high school English teachers, one of which I used to be :)

 

Well, in Latin the infinitive form of any verb (the "to" form, as in "to be", "to laugh", "to belch") is a single word (modern French among others works the same way), so of course in Latin there are never any split infinitives. In English you can always insert an adverb (or other gewgaw) between the "to" and the rest of the infinitive; in Latin you can't since it's easy to stick a word between two other words but really hard to put it between just one other. So since it's impossible to split an infinitive in Latin, some early grammarian figured that you must ergo never do it in English. Pretty flimsy grounds if you ask me (and flimsy even if you don't).

 

One more item: "if you will" is legit -- "will" denotes intention as well as denoting the future. This goes all the way back to the King James Bible (maybe farther). Someone says to Jesus "you can heal me if you will" and he says "I will -- you are healed" (sorry, de-"thou'd" it for simplicity's sake).

 

Oh, yeah -- one last shot. Please never tell me that "the proof is in the pudding"!

 

People still think that English is based on Latin, but the reality is that our rules of grammar prescribed in the 18th century were made up by classical scholars who imposed these rules on our language, which is in fact Germanic.

 

A good friend of mine (and co-author) was one of the authors of the top-selling grammar handbook in North America. She is no longer bothered by split infinitives, but it's something I can't let go of. I don't mark them unless the split can be averted easily by simply moving the adverb to another position ("to go boldly" instead of "to boldly go"). But I always wince a bit.

 

My biggest grammar beef has to do with pronoun case, especially in the misuse of the first person. People often use "I" when they should use "me"--and they use "myself" in all cases.

 

For a lesson:

 

I went to the store. Bob and I went to the store. (first person is subjective)

 

Bob went to the store with me. Bob went to the store with Mary and me. (first person is objective)

 

Bob wouldn't take me to the store, so I had to drive myself. (reflexive)

[cruz chic]

One more thing....a lot is 2 words.....not one. I see alot being used a lot. Folks, alot is not a word.

[Copper10-8]

People still think that English is based on Latin, but the reality is that our rules of grammar prescribed in the 18th century were made up by classical scholars who imposed these rules on our language, which is in fact Germanic.

 

A good friend of mine (and co-author) was one of the authors of the top-selling grammar handbook in North America. She is no longer bothered by split infinitives, but it's something I can't let go of. I don't mark them unless the split can be averted easily by simply moving the adverb to another position ("to go boldly" instead of "to boldly go"). But I always wince a bit.

 

My biggest grammar beef has to do with pronoun case, especially in the misuse of the first person. People often use "I" when they should use "me"--and they use "myself" in all cases.

 

For a lesson:

 

I went to the store. Bob and I went to the store. (first person is subjective)

 

Bob went to the store with me. Bob went to the store with Mary and me. (first person is objective)

 

Bob wouldn't take me to the store, so I had to drive myself. (reflexive)

 

 

Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.

(I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.)

 

[Oceanwench]

People who use "FLL" when they are referring to the lovely city of Fort Lauderdale!

FLL is the airport, not the city.

 

I don't see people saying they visited BOS. :p

[dvdfreakmc]

This one may be cold and heartless so be prepared. 3 out of 4 individuals that come up to talk with us or say Hi to my son's service dog tell us about their dog that died. It goes like this - "We had a dog named ______ that just died 2 weeks ago" or "I used to have a dog that looked just like Werin before he died" or "She is so beautiful and reminds me of ______ that died last year"

 

I get really good at, "Oh, that's so sad" or "I'm sorry to hear that". On a cruise it can get up to 20-30x per day.

 

So that's a service dog secret - finally revealed.

[Taxguy7]

I apologize -- correcting those types of errors is an addiction with me, not a choice -- far too many years as a teacher

 

BTW I love those eyeballs!

Are you my HS English teacher?:confused: Tough, but college-bound students were encoraged by older siblings to take the course from "Old Horseface".

Thank you "Horseface" and my 1st grade teacher, who taught me more about reading than my mother knew how to teach.

[Opinions]

I am most annoyed by the use of the term "DH" by some on these boards.

[Taxguy7]

My greatest pet peeve aboard ship would have to be people who speak rudely and/or dismissively to the Indonesian crew, and to the beverage staff. Honestly!:mad:

 

Another would have to be cigarette butts stuck in used coffee cups, and then left on the open decks. Ick and a half. :eek:

 

Since others have mentioned spoken language, I wonder about the declining use of the word "are." So many times speakers use the word "is" with a plural subject. Yikes.:confused:

1st pp - Agree 100%.

#2 - Absolutly!:eek: 50+ years ago I worked in the student store at the small college I attended. Sugar salidifies in coffee not finished. (Probably due to being to sweet!) Delayed getting back to the dorm if I had a night shift in the winter.:(

#3 - Yes.

[usha]

I am most annoyed by the use of the term "DH" by some on these boards.

Well, what else am I supposed to call the guy?

He's just such a "Dam Hottie"!!!:D

[Taxguy7]

The official name of the country is the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in Dutch) which has twelve provinces; those twelve are (in alphabetical order):

 

Drenthe

Flevoland (the newest one)

Friesland

Gelderland

Groningen

Limburg

Noord (North) Brabant

Noord (North) Holland

Overijssel

Utrecht

Zeeland

Zuid (South) Holland

 

Now, even though officially it's incorrect to call the Kingdom of the Netherlands "Holland", a lot of the Dutchies themselves do it, especially in athletic events. You will hear them yelling "Holland, Holland" in cheering on the "voetbal" (football/soccer) team of the Netherlands and not "Nederland, Nederland" (Dutch for the Netherlands) so it's really not that black & white but it's similar to using "England" for "the United Kingdom" (Don't tell a Scot he lives in England), and "America" for "the United States of America"

 

 

Here's some background:

 

Holland used to be an independent country. It had a "Count", its own coinage (until the 19th century), its own measuring units and time - but it gave up that independence in the 16th century, when it allied with the Northern and Southern Netherlands against the armies of the King of Spain whom at the time was officially the "Count of Holland" and ruled over this whole area. The main reasons for war were religious differences, disputes over taxes and the fact that when some cities wanted to break free, the King's army was quite brutal to civilians.

 

Eventually the Southern Netherlands gave up the fight and stayed occupied by foreign forces until 1830. That area is now called Belgium. The Northern Netherlands fought on and won. Then, along with the counties of (Holland, Drente, Groningen, Friesland, Gelderland, Zeeland and Utrecht) became a free Republic, including the occupied regions of Brabant and Limburg. All these counties (called provinces today, together with some new ones) are now called "The Kingdom of the Netherlands."

 

Today the province of Limburg still has a Governor and to say to someone from Limburg or Friesland that he or she is from Holland, is considered an insult. They are not! They consider themselves to be from the Netherlands. They even have their own language.

People from other Provinces (except North and South Holland) will perhaps not consider it a real insult, but still they're not from Holland.

 

Now, if you really want to muddy the waters, why are citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands called "Dutch?"

 

"Dutch" is actually older than "the Netherlands". Until the sixteenth century, inhabitants of the Netherlands called themselves Diets (which means "the people"). This word, pronounced "deets", was corrupted in English as "Dutch". The British continued to use the medieval name long after Netherlanders stopped using it themselves.

 

Americans tend to use the word "Dutch" not only to describe Netherlands, but also Germans. Thus, while the Holland Dutch from Michigan are true descendants of Netherlands, the Pennsylvania Dutch are actually German. (The "Dutch" in Pennsylvania Dutch almost certainly stems from the corruption of the German name for their country, Deutschland.) "To stop this confusing multiplicity of names the Netherlands Government has tried to use the words "The Netherlands' as the name for the country and "Netherlander" as the name for an inhabitant of the Netherlands. It is easy to decree such a thing, but it takes much time to suppress a time-honored word used in foreign countries".

 

Netherlanders have to deal with confusion not only about the name of their country, but about the name of their capital. Amsterdam is the official capital, but the seat of government is The Hague. The official name of The Hague is 's-Gravenhage, "the count's hedge", except nobody calls the city 's-Gravenhage, preferring Den Haag (the hedge) instead.

 

Still confused? How 'bout "cloggies?" or a "Kaaskop?"

Will you join my trivia team?:confused: PLEEZE:p

[babyher]

One thing that really fries me

when you tell someone about an illness you or a loved one has recently been diagnosed with or an operation or procedure about to be had.

 

There will always be some doom sayer who will tell you about some one they know who had the worst case scenario. No matter what the condition or procedure.

[wingit]

One more thing....a lot is 2 words.....not one. I see alot being used a lot. Folks, alot is not a word.

Thank you for pointing that out. I've used "alot" a lot because it seemed correct. I just now looked up "alot" and "lot" and understand my error. Thank you, lorekauf.

[RuthC]

My biggest grammar beef has to do with pronoun case, especially in the misuse of the first person. People often use "I" when they should use "me"--and they use "myself" in all cases.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When did "me" become a bad word? :rolleyes:

[Taxguy7]

How about "irregardless?" It's widely used, but is non-standard because it contains two negative elements. It's akin to saying, "I don't have no money."

I dont got none neither:(

[babyher]

"MY" seems to eb getting a lot of play lately.

 

Someone pointed this out to me about the TV cooking shows and now I notice they all do this.

 

" I am going to take MY onions and put them in MY frying pan and sautee them, them I am going to check on MY steaks which I have had on MY broiler for 10 minutes per side, when they are done I will brush them with MY marinade

[Taxguy7]

What about those folks with those patches behind their ears; what religion do they belong to, and why do their elders make 'em wear those patches on their vacation?

They are known as "teatotalers". Pity them.

[Copper10-8]

Will you join my trivia team?:confused: PLEEZE:p

 

Sure; just name the time (dam ship) and place!

[cands]

xxxx

[sail7seas]

This thread has taken some fun twists and turns. :D

 

 

[Taxguy7]

Or the confusion over i.e. (id est - that is) and e.g. (exempli gratia - for example).

 

Sorry I couldn't resist. If I had to suffer through 4 years of Latin then I think everyone should have the benefit of my vast (decidedly NOT;)) knowledge.

 

If it makes you feel any better I probably put the period in the wrong place and I have to admit to a tendency to capitalise far too many words, no doubt due to attending schools in England sometime during the middle of the last century. During our final high school exams I failed English Grammar and had to retake the exam. I wasn't too surprised because I never could understand some of the stupid (at least in my thinking) rules, and quite frankly at my advanced age I still don't care about them.

Valerie:D

What century?:confused:

I went to school about the same time (I think) but found a girlfriend that helped me!:D Her grade went from A to B, but mine went from B to A.:)

[jtl513]

"Debarkation" used instead of disembarkation.

 

Sounds like something you do to a dog!

I just noticed this item on another thread (talking about Carnival's satisfaction guarantee):

 

*VACATION GUARANTEE VALID ONLY IF GUEST ADVISES SHIP’S INFORMATION DESK OF ELECTION TO DEBARK AND RECEIVE PRO-RATA REFUND BEFORE THE SHIP’S ARRIVAL AT THE FIRST NON-U.S. PORT OF CALL. Refund amount will be calculated by multiplying (x) amount of cruise fare paid by guest by (y) number of unused cruise nights, divided by (z) total number of cruise nights of guest’s voyage. Refund will include the amount of an Economy fare airline ticket from port of debarkation to port of embarkation. To receive refund, guest must send copy of purchased airline ticket to the Refunds department. Refund checks will be mailed within 30 days of cruise termination. Guests paying by credit card will have the money refunded to the same card. Carnival will not be responsible for any incidental expenses of guests following debarkation.

[cands]

I just noticed this item on another thread (talking about Carnival's satisfaction guarantee):

 

*VACATION GUARANTEE VALID ONLY IF GUEST ADVISES SHIP’S INFORMATION DESK OF ELECTION TO DEBARK AND RECEIVE PRO-RATA REFUND BEFORE THE SHIP’S ARRIVAL AT THE FIRST NON-U.S. PORT OF CALL. Refund amount will be calculated by multiplying (x) amount of cruise fare paid by guest by (y) number of unused cruise nights, divided by (z) total number of cruise nights of guest’s voyage. Refund will include the amount of an Economy fare airline ticket from port of debarkation to port of embarkation. To receive refund, guest must send copy of purchased airline ticket to the Refunds department. Refund checks will be mailed within 30 days of cruise termination. Guests paying by credit card will have the money refunded to the same card. Carnival will not be responsible for any incidental expenses of guests following debarkation.

 

It doesn't make it sound any better. ;) The name of the thread is Niggly Little Annoyances. Woof Woof.

[Taxguy7]

Those passengers that when talking about anything British always seem to think they are only talking about England e.g. the English Prime Minister or English Parliament. In neither case of course do they exist, it is the British Prime Minister (who incidentally is a Scot) and the British Parliament as England doesn't have its own. I have even heard references to the English Army which of course should be called the British Army. It is also irritating to hear Queen Elizabeth 11 referred to as the Queen of England. She is the Head of State of the United Kingdoms of Britain and 15 other Commonwealth realms. England no longer has its own Queen. I could go on but I think you've got my gripe. You see I'm a Scot who lives six months in England and six months in the USA each year.

Why in England rather than Scotland?:confused:

I did not know much of what you posted above, and doubt my daughter does either after living in Surrey 5 years, during which we visited 5 (DW{sorry}more)times. (OH:eek: period outside!) Thanks for the information.

[simplelife]

I got into an interesting discussion one time with someone from the UK about the difference between being British and being English. Still not sure about that one.

 

How about the word "extraordinary?" We all know that it means "something great," but if you look at the word, "extra ordinary," who wants to be even more ordinary?

 

How many times have you heard someone mispronounce Princess Cruises' slogan: "EXcape the Ordinary?" I always thought the word was EScape.

 

BTW, can you tell I minored in English in college?

 

In the case of "extraordinary" "Extra" means "Beyond" or "Outside of" as in Extraterrestial (beyond earth) or Extramarital (outside of marriage). So extraordinary describes something that is beyond ordinary or outside of the ordinary.

[Boytjie]

One thing that really fries me

when you tell someone about an illness you or a loved one has recently been diagnosed with or an operation or procedure about to be had.

 

There will always be some doom sayer who will tell you about some one they know who had the worst case scenario. No matter what the condition or procedure.

 

Even worse, we had a family doctor that had previously had whatever you had!