What are your pet peeves re English usage?

I'll tell you what's annoyed me today: it's the BBC, of all people, calling a programme Go4it.

I don't mind if kids want to use text style in messages to each other, but I suppose the BBC is doing it to seem trendy and up-to-the-minute, and IMHO, only succeeding in looking sad and quite pathetic.

And also, not all Brits pronounce "four" like "for"- I don't for one- and it annoys the heck out of me to see the number used like that in official messages.

Hah!

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McTag wrote:

I'll tell you what's annoyed me today: it's the BBC, of all people, calling a programme Go4it.

I don't mind if kids want to use text style in messages to each other, but I suppose the BBC is doing it to seem trendy and up-to-the-minute, and IMHO, only succeeding in looking sad and quite pathetic.

And also, not all Brits pronounce "four" like "for"- I don't for one- and it annoys the heck out of me to see the number used like that in official messages.

Hah!

y 4 u iz that? (quite proud, my first text msg)

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For me, text messaging is for people either too lazy to type out an entire word or those who are truly spelling-challeneged.

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Merry Andrew wrote:

For me, text messaging is for people either too lazy to type out an entire word or those who are truly spelling-challeneged.

I agree.

But I think this dates me.

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Steve 41oo wrote:

Hah!

y 4 u iz that? (quite proud, my first text msg)[/quote]

Adults just don't get it eh, Steve? There's no need to change the syntax. Smile

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Mame wrote:

Merry Andrew wrote:
For me, text messaging is for people either too lazy to type out an entire word or those who are truly spelling-challeneged.

I agree. But I think this dates me.

This d8s me too.

Let's hear it 4 the d8ed.

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wot r you xpectin me to say?

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well good morning Francis.

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Good morning, Steve. How are your excellent self doing?

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McTag wrote:

And also, not all Brits pronounce "four" like "for"

Y gr8 4u!

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Francis wrote:

Good morning, Steve. How are your excellent self doing?

Thank you kind sir. We are well.

(some fantastic football over the weekend. West Ham 3 Tottenham 4...unbelievable game. Also Man U beat Liverpool...just as I predicted ....well not exactly just as I predicted, they were lucky to score BUT THEY WON)

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Ok no peeves? Everybody happy?

One annoying thing you hear nowadays on the BBC is when a presenter greets a guest and she (it's usually a she) says

"And a VERY good morning to YEW"

Fi Glover does that a lot. It irritates me. And she's not the only one.

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Yes, that Glover woman irritates me too, she laughs at herself. But according to my friend Matt Harvey who is often her poet in residence on Saturday mornings, she is a very nice, bright, friendly person.

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I'm actually Fi Glover's biggest fan, she is incredibly funny and wacky and bright.

But nobody's perfect. She'd better stop saying that thing soon, or else.

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McTag wrote:

Ok no peeves? Everybody happy?

One annoying thing you hear nowadays on the BBC is when a presenter greets a guest and she (it's usually a she) says

"And a VERY good morning to YEW"

Fi Glover does that a lot. It irritates me. And she's not the only one.

(creeping in, fearing to be another burr under the saddle)

Is it the VERY that 'specially puts you off, or the YEW, or that it is on the BBC?

Yew and you are homonyms in the USA, along with ewe.

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It's because the VERY and the YEW are both unnecessary and the phrase said like that is very oleaginous and insincere-sounding. Trying too hard.

English people say "you" with a dipthong (modulated vowel?) sound of course, whereas Scots mostly do not.

It's just annoying, okay? :wink:

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Sure, McTag. Very Happy

I'm glad it wasn't (only) the pronunciation but also the delivery. I'm, of course, self-conscious since every word I speak is likely to be poorly pronounced in the UK.

On another front... Oleaginous! How icky is that? Definitely a candidate for least favorite word! Do you know that series of 10 questions (and an interesting drawing room game) which asks what are your favorite and least favorite words? I first heard these on a tv show called "Inside the Actors Studio." The host, James Lipton, (I read) adapted Bernard Pivot "Proustian questionnaire" which were apparently used on a similar interview show in France.

The ten questions are:
1 What is your favorite word?
2 What is your least favorite word?
3 What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?
4 What turns you off?
5 What is your favorite curse word?
6 What sound or noise do you love?
7 What sound or noise do you hate?
8 What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9 What profession would you not like to do?
10 If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

WikiLink

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"If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "

-"Now do you believe in me, you prat? Welcome aboard."

Laughing

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I listen to the Overseas Service of the BBC most mornings. What irritates me is that, after an interview, they'll invariably say, "Thank you very much indeed." For me, a plain "thank you" would suffice. If the interviewee was particularly forthcoming, one might add "very much." But that "indeed" just grates on my ears. It's so ingratiating.

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I agree; even thank you is redundant

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What are your pet peeves re English usage?

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