What are your pet peeves re English usage?

I've noticed lawyers who use Anglicized Latin will use English pronunciation, Decree Nighsigh for example, and Quasigh, but those of us with a classical education and no job-related Latinisms go for the more Italian sound, quasee. In our generation we had to pronounce Latin v as w, so it was wainie, weedee, weekee. Bit affected really. And then Catholics use an Italian 'ch' for Latin 'c', in exchelsis.

Sorry, I'm rambling; but it's quite interesting, isn't it?

Here are two that drive me absolutely batty:

She has already went.

Ackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Bring it to her.

...

A complex pattern of influences keeps the linguistic pot bubbling. Variation is everywhere. Change never stops. Language gatekeepers cannot control an ever-changing world of diversity. It's hard on them, because in the gatekeepers' world, variation means error and change means decline.

What's more, the very notion of a single standard of correctness in language is quite recent. "Correctness" is based solely on a purist's own notion of what is socially or culturally correct: if it's not in, it must be out. A language purist works from a list of exceptions to the rule, ordinary speakers follow a hierarchy of patterns that reveal analogical similarities.

http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/correct/gatekeeping/

The Verb Machine


So what is happening when someone says "I goed to the store" (instead of went), or "I brang you a glass of water"(instead of brought)? People who say these things are not simply making an arbitrary mistake.


http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/verbmachine/

Bring it to her.

Well, of course language is ever evolving... it is now possible to "grow your business", for example. That gives me the heebie-jeebies. Whoever would have thought that we would use "grow" in that manner?

This thread is about what gets to you, not whether it's right, wrong, explicable, or acceptable.

McTag -- I read an article on common errors a loooonnnnngggg time ago that said that one of the worst errors was to use a brand name as a name for product that already has a generic name, e.g., kleenex for tissues, Frigidair for refrigerator and Davenport for sofa.

The use of the word pocketbook -- which is a New England thing -- for purse, is a similiar error although there is no brand name pocketbook. I think the use of pocketbook for purse is due to a conflation of pocketbook (notebook; later soft cover book) and needlebook (a folded and stitched piece of fabric with the flannel insert to which needles are attached). I have politely but firmly clung to the word purse.

Clary,

The likelihood that anybody anywhere on the planet today is pronouncing Latin as it was spoken back when it was a living language is exceedingly low, approaching zero.

Even those with a classical education are so deeply influenced by their own native language sound system that it's impossible to capture the sound system of another language, especially a dead one. How old were you when you began the study of Latin?

Have you ever noticed how foreigners sound foreign?

These are tricky little verb pairs; take/bring, go/come and for some, they don't get the "rules" because the rules are different for their language sub-group/dialect. What seems illogical to you or me fully satisfies the logical requirements of that particular dialect/subgroup.

.... but again, our high standards may not be the standard in a couple of generations.

McTag -- I know that on your side of the pond, you use the word hoover for vaccuum cleaner and also as a verb for the act of vaccuuming, but, in America, although people do use kleenex in the same way, it is frowned upon.

JTT wrote:

These are tricky little verb pairs; take/bring, go/come and for some, they don't get the "rules" because the rules are different for their language sub-group/dialect. What seems illogical to you or me fully satisfies the logical requirements of that particular dialect/subgroup.

.... but again, our high standards may not be the standard in a couple of generations.

Well, these are our standards NOW and it bugs me when people don't bother to learn the correct way to speak our language. I'm mainly talking about native English speakers, here, ok?

I don't care what satifies people who speak a particular dialect/subgroup... I thought we were talking about our pet peeves about the usage of the English Language.

I've heard "hoover it up" on TV... likely as a joke.

JTT,
Does it never occur to you that register is important when addressing people? If you read what you have written and imagine it was addressed to you, would you not feel that it was patronising?

I am a mature person, and have studied Romance Philology in some depth. I don't choose to pontificate on these matters, because that is inappropriate for the spirit of these threads. You are using lecturer register without, seemingly, being aware that your interlocutors are not students.

Your points are blindingly obvious. But I prefer a discussion, a putting out of thoughts, to a guru-chela system, and judging by the animosity which snakes its way through this thread like a black worm, so do other posters here.

Have you ever noticed how foreigners sound foreign?

Yes. Is this a rhetorical question, and will it lead to a lecture on phonology?

I've heard "hoover it up" on TV... likely as a joke. For me it's vacuum all the way. Your cellophane and Scotch tape are the same as mine, Mame. Makes me think of the 'Uni-directional bonding strip!' from Toy Story.

Kleenex... definitely.
Biro.. which I don't say but many do. A brand of pen, right?
Bic.... a favorite brand of disposable lighter.
Webster's.... any dictionary.
Coke.... any brown soft drink.
Champagne.... any bubbly.
There's probably a list somewhere on the 'net if I "googled" it.

I suppose that marketers would love to have their brand be used in this way, even Google.