Any pet peeves on English Usage

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CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years ago
Do you have a pet peeve about words commonly misused or commonly made grammatically mistakes? Or perhaps you have a question--something you are not quite sure about concerning word usage or grammar. Please let me know and I may address it in my "The Naughty Grammarian" series. Miss Grammers takes requests--who knew?
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Now let me see. I can think of two offhand, " i, um," used often in the middle of a sentence. There is a commercial (political) where someone running speaks and keeps saying "um". Plus I have read it often.
  I also often read Hubs that have capital "I" opening a sentence, but in the middle of sentences the "I" is written in lowercase. Why do they do this?
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  lisavollrathposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I have UMM disease. I say it all the time when I'm filming video lessons for my online classes, and I know exactly why I'm doing it: I'm trying to describe how to do something visual with words. It takes a second for those right brain/left brain translators to work, and that's where the umm comes in.
  
  If a politician is doing this, he's doing some creative lying.
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  BritFloridaposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Bring! I don't know if it's me being being pedantically English but 'I'm going to see my friend. Should I bring flowers?' drives me nuts.
  
  Also 'should of...', 'where's she at?' ...
  
  Plus dodgy apostrophe use. Plus stationery/stationary. Plus 'reverse back', 'ATM machine', 'RSVP please'.
  
  As you can tell, I've written about these myself - I could write a book
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  Robert Levineposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I agree; those are all unnecessarily redundant (I wrote that on purpose), like "Soup du jour of the day."
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  My friends and I have an ongoing gag regarding the Department of Redundancy Department.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you BritFlorida for the idea about redundancies. I an use that.
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  PhoenixVposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Sometimes I feel like I am going to loose my mind, if I see the misuse of the word loose.
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  This one bothers me a lot too. Thanks for mentioning it.
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  PhoenixVposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Your welcome.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  You mean "you're" welcome.
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  PhoenixVposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I was wondering when someone would catch that
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  You mean that it was on purpose?
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  While we're on the subject of lose/loose, that was a tongue-in-cheek comment about "loosing" your mind, right?
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Just reread my post. I thought I was saying "grammatical mistakes." When will I ever learn to take a minute and proof-read.
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  Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Oh yes, my biggest one is "your" being used for "you're". It befuddles that people get this wrong. The two words are completely different. "Your" is a pronoun and "you're" is a contraction for "you are".
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  MasterworksFAposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  My phone auto corrects "have" to "gave" often. This can seriously mess up the intended statement. For example, if someone asks "Do you have a hammer I can borrow?", to which I answer "I gave a hammer". I gave a hammer? So do I no longer have a hammer?
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL! That's funny. That reminds me of a common typo--"not" instead of "now." There's a huge difference between "I'm not going to do my homework" and "I'm now going to do my homework." :-)
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Keep waiting for someone to mention affect/effect, errors for both of which I find right here on HubPages almost every day.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Affect/effect errors drive me nuts.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I remember them by saying this: "Poison ivy has does not affect on me; but mosquito bites have a strange effect on my body."
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  MasterworksFAposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Adding "though" to the end of a sentence for the sole purpose of sounding cute and popular. For example, a picture of a dog with the comment "Look at those ears, though!" Though? As if someone was challenging the cuteness of the dog. Ugh.
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  Ruby Garnetposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  "These-ones" or "Those-ones". Makes me cringe every time I hear it. There is no need to use the word "ones" after those words!
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  bethperryposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I have two pet peeves:
  1. Hearing people say, "I could care less" to express the sentiment that they are without any concern over a matter or situation. Spoken this way, it implies the very contrary - that yes indeed, the person does care. To convey the desired sentiment logically, the sentence should be expressed, "I could not care less" or "I couldn't care less.", which succinctly indicates they possess no care whatsoever about the matter or situation.
  
  2. When a speaker throws an extra "s" at the end of a plural word. This is generally done because the speaker simply does not understand the rules for plural usage of words that have "s" near the end. I have actually heard people -allegedly educated people!- say things like, "I performed my breastes exam today." or "I returned the graded testes back to the students." A worse example involves a proper family name when speaking about more than one individual in the family. E.g.: "I invited the Westesses for dinner". The properly spoken sentence would be, "I invited the Wests for dinner."
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  chasmacposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Beth, I was about to post about "I could care less", but I was hesitant to because I've always suspected it must be some kind of accepted American phrase and not a mistake. It's never used in Britain, but we often hear and read "I could care less" from American sources - in movies and in writing, etc., It always sounds very strange (and very American) to us. It also sounds wrong, but the fact that it's often used by people who know how to speak and write grammatically correct English is what made me think it can't be a mistake but must be an accepted idiom. So it's actually wrong in America, too? Your post is a revelation to me as I've puzzled over this for years, lol.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Actually Beth in 1), the "could not" and the "less", both pointing to 'care', cancel each other out. What that means is instead of caring less he/she cares the same as before (or maybe more).
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  chasmacposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Examiner - I couldn't agree less lol
  As I understand it (and as it's widely understood in Britain, at least), "I couldn't care less" means I care so little that I'm unable to care even less than I do now. If I could care less, I would, but I can't because there's no lower level of caring that is humanly possible to achieve.
  
  I guess there must be a difference in how this phrase is perceived as I know you're an excellent and gramatically correct writer. So, if you use "I could care less" intentionally, it must be correct according to your (and many others') perception of it. I thought it might be just one of those Brit/ American differences, but Beth is from Tennessee, and that screws up my theory. Beth, are you sure you're not a Brit?
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  bethperryposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  No, not a Brit. But both sides of my family produced several educators, and some of them were my elementary and jr. high teachers (and oh yeah, they drilled the proper English into my head!) In fact, my oldest son is now a university English teacher.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That is how I see it too.
  He was talking to Beth Perry though.
  Is Beth also from Tn or were you just confusing us?
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  chasmacposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Maybe I misunderstood The Examiner's reply to BethPerry, but it looked like he was saying that "could care less" is correct and "couldn't care less" is wrong because "couldn't" and "less" cancel each other out and mean that someone does care (as much as, and maybe more than, before). My earlier reply to Beth (who is from Tn) was to say that, until her post, I had always assumed "could care less" to be a completely illogical but well-accepted thing that Americans consider correct. I was surprised (and pleased) to see an American say it's wrong.
  So The Examiner's reply to Beth implying that it wasn't wrong (or at least, that's what I inferred) put me back to square one. In Britain, it's a non-issue because nobody ever says "could care less" unless they're pretending to be American and say it with a fake American accent.
  So - I'd love to know once and for all: is "could care less" a phrase that American English teachers would correct in class if a student used it, or is it a phrase that the English teachers themselves would use and consider correct?
  
  Beth says it's wrong - The Examiner says it's not (I think) and now you (another Beth just to add to the confusion) agree with Beth (and 60 million Brits). As for American usage, I'm hoping the Beths have it right because, frankly, my dear, I DO give a damn
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Let us ask Catherine what her opinion on this is and see if we get a response.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  chasmac,
  Actually they are both silly phrases and I would say neither of them. I instead I would use, "I do not care."
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I have already researched this. It is "I couldn't care less." Many people in this thread have said "I could care less" is not the way to go if you want to express disinterest. Miss Grammers will put this all in a hub soon. (Lucky for me, I can edit and fix my typos and failure to proof read.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That was such a fun post. lol!
  Um, I think that it is such a common saying, that for that reason, an English teacher might not correct it. The thing is, to add to the confusion, I think it is more commonly said, "I could care less." Which is just the lazy way to say the same thing. I have always taken it as, "I could not care about the subject matter less, even if I tried." So to say, "I COULD care less." makes no sense at all.
  
  "My dog died."
  
  "I could care less."
  
  "How much less?"
  
  "Mmmm, about 5 % less."
  
  "Please don't. Care more."
  
  "OK."
  
  OR
  
  "My cat died."
  
  "I couldn't care less."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Because I hated your cat."
  
  "You're mean."
  
  See?
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  bethperryposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I think Tennessee needs less Beth's.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I guess I could move to KY.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  How about GA?
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  Vianopowerposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  When people mess up its and it's... I have a question: How do I get viewers on my blog? I started about 2 hours ago and I don't know if my hub has been published.
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  phoenixnotesposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  These drive me nuts:
  1. Where you at? I want to say "Standing behind the preposition At?"
  
  2. I got my hair DID? Really?
  
  3. Heard a journalist recently saying " reverse back" Wow
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  bondaposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Reverse back, it is like saying I will return back your book.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The Naughty Grammarian has finally done a hub on one of the pet peeves volunteered here--the misuse of "I could care less" for "I couldn't care less" plus the related issue of the confusion between uninterested and disinterested. While she was at it, she discussed a few other poorly understood idioms such as lying through one's teeth, and butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
  
  The Naughty Grammarian will be addressing your other pet peeves soon. She is still looking for your suggestions about words that are commonly confused--similar to uninterested and disinterested.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Just as a thought, perhaps the Naughty Grammarian could also do an article on grammar terms. For instance I wouldn't know a transitive verb vs. an intransitive one if they whacked me alongside the head.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  What if they each said their name first?
  
  "I am a transitive verb!" <whack>
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  It's the fact that they look like twins. The moment they moved around I'd forget who was which.
  
  Maybe if we gave them different colored t-shirts with their names on them.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That's actually a very good idea for a teaching tool. When kids are young, they could have pics on flash cards of the different parts of speech and what makes them unique represented by their appearance. It would stick with them forever.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Good idea about the terms of speech. I discussed transitive and intransitive verbs in my hub about "Lie, Lay, Laid", and then immediately forgot which was which. I'll have to think up a way to make it memorable..
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jansharesposted 10 years ago
Not using the space bar after a punctuation point:

"I love my dog.He is cuddly and cute. He barks a lot,but I love him all the same."
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Very good Jan, I forgot that one.
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  bondaposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I even see this in books published by established publishing houses.
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ChristinSposted 10 years ago
In my area, people switch saw vs. seen. I cringe when I hear people say (or read) "I seen that" GAH! you SAW it. That's my big one and it's everywhere. People speak and write it that way and it drives me nuts. I'm not sure if it's a phenomenon mostly in my area of the US (Midwest) or if it's just rampant everywhere, but nothing grates me like that.
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  lisavollrathposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I live in Texas. We have the seen/saw problem here. We also have a lot of people who are fixin' to do something, instead going to do it.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks Lisa and Christin.
  The see and seen is definitely going on my list. I'm going to have to research to see if "fixing" is just a regionalism or if it is actually wrong.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I believe that counts as a regionalism.
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goatfuryposted 10 years ago
Ellipses used as general punctuation, in the place of periods...
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  Shades-of-truthposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I admit, I do that a lot...
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  SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Me, too. I know I shouldn't, but...
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Im an "ellipser" too, but it's 'cause I'm still thinking. If I were done thinking, I would put a period... but I'm not, so you are stuck with it.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  ...I'm...an...ellipser...
  
  Seriously, I use this a bit in my novels, and have to edit them out on occasion. But sometimes...it works.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I know exactly what you mean. To me, it is not writing, it is communicating. Some ppl talk with their hands, some use expletives... I am an ellipser. However, I am seldom a winker and I would like that to be taken into account when being judged. I seldom wink, and considering how much I joke... you are all quite welcome.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL I don't wink much either (after all, why give away the punchline?)
  
  But yeah, it's communicating.
  
  My protagonist (first person of course) Willa writes and talks a lot like I do. Ellipses, parenthesis and --what are these called?
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Uh... dashes. lol IDK.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL yes, dashes. I write her the way she thinks. IMO that's good.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yeah, that's good.
  
  If I ever write a book about ppl with accents, I will simply say they have an accent. Or a heavy accent... or a barely noticeable accent. What I will not ever do is write something that looks like this.
  
  The southern man said, "I uh-gree suh. It surely hais beyun a lawng hawt summah!"
  
  Oh my word, how I hate that. After one paragraph, I want to yell at the author, "We get it! He has an accent. Now stop writing like a first grader and get on with it, you're giving me a headache."
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  Shades-of-truthposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Oh, Sed-me, I love reading books that use that type of accent graphic, for lack of a better way to state that. I read hundreds of books to my children, and they enjoyed the accent as much as I enjoy reading with one. Invariably, it brought smiles and grins to all involved.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Do you? Yeah, I remember my mom reading books like that to me. I hadn't thought of that... but I sure hate reading it myself.
  
  I read a Jan Karon book. No disrespect to her, but I just really hated that aspect of the book. I could barely get through it. I guess I already hear the accent in my head so it was just overkill.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I can see where it might work if you were reading it aloud to kids, but I hate it when authors do that. Yes, it gives me a violent headache too. I like it far better when the author uses word choice, sentence structure and rhythm to show the character's accent. For example a French character could say, "Is it not so?"
  
  I also hate when the author writes entire paragraphs in a foreign language and I have to find a language dictionary to figure out what on earth the characters are talking about.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  lol... They do that in movies a lot... speak a foreign language without subtitles. I love that. It's like they're saying, "We get that you're an above average viewer. You can understand by gestures and the filling in of blanks what the character might be saying now." I like to think they're speaking to me specifically... like maybe I'll contact all the other viewers and explain it to them.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  In movies it's not so bad. In novels, if there aren't any stage directions...argh! I have enough of an understanding of French, Spanish, German and Italian to get by with a few simple phrases, and even some more complex ones. But when the author goes overboard on this, it gets tedious. .
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bondaposted 10 years ago
How are you? I'm good. Kids like that instead of: i'm well thank you
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  goatfuryposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Actually, "good" is how you *are*, so it's correct. "Well" is how you're *doing*.
  
  "I'm good" is correct, whereas "I'm well" is not, unless you're referring to physical wellness (which you're not, typically).
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I did a Naughty Grammarian piece on Good vs. Well and Bad vs. Badly. Did you see it?
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  goatfuryposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Don't think so. Link?
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  http://catherinegiordano.hubpages.com/h … d-vs-Badly
  
  I didn't do the link because I thought maybe we are not supposed to link to our own hubs. Can anyone advise on that?
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  Jayne Lancerposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  "The only Forums you’re allowed to post links to a Hub in are the Improving Your Hub Forum and HubChallenges Forum." http://hubpages.com/faq/#forums-violations
  
  You can tell people the title of your hub on other forums and let them find it on your profile.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you for your clarification of when to use links. I knew I had seen it someplace about not putting links to hubs.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I have addressed that here. The Naughty Grammarian: Good vs. Well and Bad vs. Badly http://catherinegiordano.hubpages.com/h … d-vs-Badly
  
  I didn't understand that one myself until I researched it. When referring to feelings use "good." When referring to health use "well." If someone says, "How are you feeling" say "I'm good." If someone says, "I heard you had the flu. How are you feeling?" Say," I'm well." (But don't say "well-ly". I have to credit Iris Drake with that joke. She put it in her comment.)
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LindaSmith1posted 10 years ago
I love the posts and hub with sentences such as: How do I make you money here?

Off topic, a tad, but the funniest hub I saw yesterday went something like this: your|them|he The idiot had used an article spinner and never bothered to check their hub before they published it.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  What is an article spinner?
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Fiorenzaposted 10 years ago
Apostrophe misuse really grates with me. A lot of people have difficulty with plurals, and add apostrophes where they shouldn't be used, for example, apple's instead of apples. And the muddling up of it's (it is) with the possessive its. This worsens into people putting apostrophes in his and hers as well.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks Fiorenza. That is a good one. I'm making a note of it so I can ask The Naughty Grammarian to do a hub about it.
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  Robert Levineposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  This makes me sick also. Have these people ever read a newspaper and seen the plural of "apple" printed as "apple's"?
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lisavollrathposted 10 years ago
No capitalization, writing in all caps, and no punctuation are on my list of peeves.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks Lisa, Me too.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  You just made one Catherine. The "Me" after the comma.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yes I did. However, when one is not doing formal writing, one can be a little sloppy.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I try to avoid that anytime.
  I was just reminded of something else, when someone leaves out 1 or more words and you have to guess what they are saying.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  lisa,
  The staff themselves have written about all capitals. It supposedly means that you are mad and we are not supposed to do it.
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  lisavollrathposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  My customers tend to be on the low end of the technical knowledge scale, and I'm constantly getting emails from them in all caps. I know they don't mean to scream at me, but honestly, that's how I read those messages. I have a stock "let me tell you a secret" message regarding this, to let them know what it means to send an emails that are all in caps.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  This reminds me of an ebook I tried to read recently. The author stated he was leaving out quote marks on purpose. I managed about two pages before I gave up on the story. It drove me batty.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  When I read paperbacks by well-known authors, I can read along and come across errors of any type while I am reading. I cannot correct nor tell anyone. It is probably their editors.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  If it is a paperback that I own and I have a pen handy I correct the error just because it makes me feel good. Sometimes, if I find a lot of errors, I just lose interest in reading that book.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I haven't read very much in a while. Are editors really that bad about not catching errors? They need to hire grammar geeks like us as proofreaders!
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calculus-geometryposted 10 years ago
In written communication with non-fluent speakers of English I have to deal with what I affectionately call Yoda-esque word and clause order. I really have to read the emails three times to understand what they're saying.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Understand this I do.
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mdscogginsposted 10 years ago
Catherine it is very funny that in your question was an easily missed mistake. Possibly you can do a series on proofing and giving us some fun examples when that was not done appropriately I am joking, of course, unless that leads you into a fun direction - I have read most if not all the grammarian series and will continue to do so. Thank you for your contribution.
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CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years ago
Mds: Please don't rub it in. My failures re: proof-reading horrify me. You have a good idea there. A collection of funny proof-reading mistakes where the error changes the meaning and makes it funny. Like "Eats Shoots and Leaves, a book about grammar, where commas change the meaning to "eats, shoots, and leaves." P.S.: I'm not offended--I like people to correct me so I can fix errors. Maybe I could say I did it deliberately as a joke.
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  Lissa Clasonposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I once saw someone wearing a shirt that said "Let's eat, Grandma. Let's eat Grandma. Forgetting the comma can kill." It gave me a good laugh, but I always think carefully now about whether or not to use a comma.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Since she got run over by a reindeer, we have to do something with her, right?
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Solarasposted 10 years ago
My understanding of the English language is different then theirs. I see then and than being interchanged constantly.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yes, people get then/than wrong often. I tell my students what a difference it makes to use the correct word. For example, "I'd rather be pissed off than pissed on" is understandable, but "I'd rather be pissed off, then pissed on" is saying that after you get angry, you want someone to urinate on you next. LOL!
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  Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL - Love it!
  
  May I have your permission to use this on Facebook - that is where is most often see this transgression.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Sure, Solares! :-)
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  jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL, tru dat!
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Victoria Lynnposted 10 years ago
Your/you're, there/their/they're, to/too, it's/its, then/than, loose/lose--those drive my crazy, especially the first three. They're so basic.

Also, the use of "literally" when it doesn't mean "literally" such as in "I literally laughed my head off." Really? Did someone reattach it?

And the overuse of "epic." Everything now is epic, which makes nothing really epic.

I love grammar and have lots of grammar pet peeves. :-)
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Victoria, I did a Naughty Grammarian hub titled "Literally Awesome Hyperbole." I think you will like that one.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Victoria, I thought the examples that you gave were too basic to warrant a hub. But I think you have changed my mind. Maybe a lot of people need a lesson on them.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Oh, that sounds wonderful!!
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Read it. Commented. Loved it!
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LeslieAdrienneposted 10 years ago
Yes!!! I have plenty of pet peeves.......Arrggggh! I am so glad you are doing a series in this area. I am sure that I am going to learn some things from following it.... I am going to send you a few of my "peeves" soon.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks Leslie. I'm keeping a list of these peeves. I need ideas about what things needed to be a topic of a "lesson" I want to write hubs on all of them. Stay tuned. I'll try to get to them all.
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mdscogginsposted 10 years ago
Hi Catherine - I think you can make the best of it and truly it slipped by me anyhow. I will look forward to reading whatever you come up with
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Lionrhodposted 10 years ago
Actually here's an entire rant I wrote on the subject some time ago. All of this was inspired by ONE (count it, ONE) novel in which every single one of these came up. I nearly smashed my e-reader against the wall. http://nakedwithoutapen.blogspot.com/20 … -word.html
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SmartAndFunposted 10 years ago
I am dropping in so late to this party; I can't believe no one has already listed my pet peeve, which is lie/lay. It seems like 99% of the time it is used incorrectly, for example "I was laying on the couch."

When I hear or see that mistake, all I can think of is a person laying eggs on the couch!

In fact, I just saw that mistake today in a newly published hub which landed in my inbox. It is so common, I think it will eventually become the correct usage.

Now I'm all bent out of shape, just from thinking about it. Sheesh! I need to go lay down.
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  jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Please tell me which is correct, SmartAndFun. I did not not which was right when I wrote my latest hub so I just left "laying" in there. It didn't feel right but neither did "lieing." I never get this one right. I need to know so I can make the correction, if necessary. Thanks for bringing this one up.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  "Lying on the couch." I believe. Unless maybe if engaged in a sexual act in which case it might be "getting laid on the couch."
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  jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you, Lionrhod. Got it.
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  SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I don't think it was your hub I saw it in. Now I want to go back and check. I'm telling you, this one gets mixed up all the time.
  
  I am no English teacher, but here's my explanation. If I get any of this wrong, I hope someone with credentials will chime in and correct me:
  
  Lie is what you do to yourself, for example lie down. "I feel sick. I need to lie down." "I was lying on the couch when the doorbell rang."
  
  Lay is what you do to something else, for example, "The baby is tired. Lay her down for a nap." "I was laying tile in the kitchen when the doorbell rang."
  
  To make matters more complicated, the word "lay" is the past tense of "lie." "Yesterday I lay down on the couch" is correct, but in this case it is a form of the word "lie."
  
  The past tense of "lay" is "laid." Yesterday my chickens laid a dozen eggs."
  
  Clear as mud? I guess it is understandable how these words are so misunderstood!
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  jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you so much for that clarification and excuse my misspelling of "lying." Ugh!!! Of course I knew this at some point. If you don't use it, you lose it. It is rather complicated and easy to forget. I'm going to go and make the correction in my hub. Thanks again, SmartAndFun.
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  SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  You're welcome! My English professor grandfather would be proud if he were still alive.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Scary how many of us were raised by English profs. And how much of an impact that has through life.
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  SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yes! My dad scarred me for life when he would correct my grammar in front of my friends when I was a teenager. Looking back now, I can laugh -- but it was embarrassing and infuriating at the time!
  
  Scarred, I tell ya!
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Easiest way for me to keep it straight: People lie. Hens lay.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Great explanation! (I'm an English teacher, by the way.) :-) One of the most confusing things is the past tense of "lie" being "lay," which can also be used as present tense. I can see why people get confused.
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  SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yes, this is a great way to remember!
  
  It is a difficult one. From what I see (and hear), people almost always use "lay" instead of "lie." I predict "lie" will eventually be considered archaic and "lay" will become the correct usage. Maybe even quite soon.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Oh, surely not! I could never say "lay" instead of "lie." I even taught my dog proper grammar. He knows to "lie down," not "lay down." I don't think we should change the English language just because people don't pay attention to correct grammar. If that's the case, "I seen" will become acceptable. Yes, let's all cringe in horror now. That one grates worse than fingernails on a chalkboard!
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I'm with you Victoria.
  
  Edit to add: But then, I still cringe whenever I hear a newscaster split an infinitive, or worse, see it in the New York Times.
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  bondaposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Amen to that.
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  SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I agree! I am with you, but I don't think most people care or know the difference. I think "lay" is taking over and pushing out "lie." Put it in the same bin with "normalcy" and "conversate." Only us grammar nerds care.
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  Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I don't think "lie" will be pushed out; it just will never be used as much as "lay." "Conversate" is awful, isn't it? What's wrong with "converse"? People do the same thing with "orient," making it "orientate" instead. Odd.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Jan, It is not surprising you got it wrong. I wrote the hub "Lie, Lay, Laid" and I still need to stop and think and/or refer to it when I'm writing. I think this one is the hardest of all the "lessons" I did.
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Smart, I did a Naughty Grammarian hub on "Lie, Lay, or Laid." The reason so many people get these mixed up is because it is really hard to understand when to use each. I had to study it for quite a while to get it straight.
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SmartAndFunposted 10 years ago
And then there is "lie" as in "telling an untruth." That word has its own conjugation, separate from "lie" as in "to recline."
:0
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Shades-of-truthposted 10 years ago
Ah ain't got no izzoos wit eny uf dese dings y-all R dizcuzzin!
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Sed-meposted 10 years ago
I don't like double negatives... is that what we're discussing?
Does anyone use double positives?
(Yes, I surely do.) Would that be an example?
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ShariBerryposted 10 years ago
What irks me most is when people don't know the difference between your and you're.
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CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years ago
ecogranny: I did a Naughty Grammarian hub on "Is it affect or effect?" A lot of people mix those two up. In fact, it was my first grammar hub. I was never quite sure which one to use. Now I know. It turns out it is pretty simple to get right once you know the former is a verb and the latter is a noun.
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That's true most of the time, Catherine, but even then it can get tricky because both can be a noun, at times, just as both can be a verb. This page has a pretty good synopsis with examples: You can affect an effect (but you shouldn't effect an affect — that's acting).
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  CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  You are right. And witty
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  ecogrannyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Not I. The witty title came from the author of the page.
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Sed-meposted 10 years ago
"Alls".
Hate that one.
"Alls I need is another 5 minutes."
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Wynter Galeposted 10 years ago
The phrase "for all intensive purposes" when the person actually means "for all intents and purposes."

Also (I don't know if this applies for your topic), there is something writers sometimes do in books: beating readers over the head with something. For example, they set up a scenario where a reader can clearly see that a character is upset and then the writer puts in a sentence that says, "he was upset." I loathe that. My first response is, "obviously, do you think I'm an idiot?"
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL I agree. Equally bad is writing where the author gives you no clue what the character is feeling except for the adverb. Thanks to Nancy Drew, I did an article on adverb abuse a few years ago. http://nakedwithoutapen.blogspot.com/20 … nancy.html
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  bondaposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  the apple of my eyes, instead of the apple of my eye. do speakers use the plural because we have two eyes? I don't know.
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Emi Micheleposted 10 years ago
I think the biggest pet peeve of mine is when people switch "our" with "are" and "brought" with "bought". I don't know why that is the most common mistake with some people and it just gives me the chills every time I see or hear someone do this.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I would guess that our/are are used by people who barely have any knowledge of language or English.
  As for brought/bought my first thought is that they did not proofread that they left out the 'r'.
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Sylvia Leongposted 10 years ago
Using "comfy" instead of comfortable just drives me nuts!
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  LOL I'm comfy with comfy.
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Comfy is an adjective.
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  Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Of course "I wasn't expecting" the Comfy Chair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY
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Sed-meposted 10 years ago
Here's a little English on English spin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKdV5FvXLuI#t=186
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I really liked that alphabet song.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Crazy, huh?
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Crazy and funny but he was really good at it!
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Who knew Harry Potter was a wicked rapper. lol
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  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Right on.
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Lauren Grahamposted 10 years ago
it makes me crazy when people end their sentences with "of" or words like that. it also makes me crazy when people misuse words that do not have the same meaning, but sound similar enough to misspell the word. ex. there, their and they're and your and you're.
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blueheronposted 10 years ago
One of the ladies in our writer's club recently self published her novel. I was a little surprised to see an apostrophe error in her title. I didn't say anything. She used to be a teacher, BTW. Sometimes you can't say anything.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Aw, how awful. Poor thing. She'll be so mad when she realizes.
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rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago
When I hear 'fer' instead of 'for'. I even hear myself say it sometimes, and it drives me crazy. Another one that bothers me is when the 't' is not pronounced and it sounds like, 'cotn' instead of 'cotton'.
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  Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I was born in CA and when we moved to CT, my mom would hear me say something the way my new East coast friends would... like Mi'in instead of mitten, or mou'in, instead of mountain... She'd say (over emphasizing the T's) "It's not mi'in, it's mit-ten."
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Kathleen Cochranposted 10 years ago
Are you kidding me? On this site? I see you've gotten a few answers!

That and who. "The girl that took our order was nice." That is for things. Who is for people. "The girl who took our order was nice."

What really gets me is when you hear this misuse on the news, by supposedly professional writers!

I have many others, but this is the main one.
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Lauren Grahamposted 10 years ago
that is highly amusing. i couldn't believe i completely forgot the thing people say which annoys me most of all grammatical and syntactic infractions: People call other people 'that's instead of 'who's or 'whom's! this is completely unacceptable!
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