What are your pet peeves re English usage?

Speaking of Piaget reminds me of a time when the constructivism of :



in an otherwise nonpareil dissertation

should or shouldn't have been , 'one and the same person'?

I am peeved at people who think a "viscous dog" would be one that is aggressive, fierce, and ready to bite, rather than one that is glutinous, goopey, and gooey. There IS a difference between "viscous" and "vicious".
Here's one malpracticer, or many:
http://barefootrunnerslife.com/how-to-stop-viscous-dog-attacks/

Ah yes.
How many know, without much thought, the difference between "appraise" and "apprise"?

We 'd have to take a survay.





David

Have u in mind a malpractitioner ??

He might be well advised to bear arms against offensive, belligerent animals
(like a compact, 2 inch .38 revolver).





David

David says:


And what would he bear against viscous dogs, David? A sponge?

Maybe sand, for better traction.

For clarity: I was referring to small animals
about the size of dogs.

Offhand I'd say apprise is what one won at affair and appraise is when others wanly want to mischieviously borrow it for a while.

Which reminds me of the now-defunct word game competitions New York Magazine used to run on its last page every week.

One of them was "New Definitions for Familiar Words", and a winner of that was:
apostle--a package mailed in Brooklyn

Some of the competitions were compiled in a series of wonderful books which can sometimes be found in used bookstores. The first book was called "Thank You for the Giant Sea Tortoise", the title coming from a winner in the "Greeting Cards for Unlikely Occasions" competition. If you ever see one of the books, snap it up, if you're a word-lover, as you probably are if you follow this thread.

Apropos of that :


The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked
readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding,
subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
Here are the 2009 winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the
subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3.. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts
until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops
bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately,
shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the
purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the
person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra
credit.)

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all
these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes
and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido : All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter
when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n..): The frantic dance performed just
after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets
into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a
worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to
its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate
meanings for common words.
And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight
one has gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat
stomach. -

4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when
wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who
has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n.. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by
proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n.. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with
Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul
flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn
by Jewish men.

I'm only sorry that the hamsters limit us to giving just one thumbs up for a post, andrew, that one deserves three or four at least.

Andrew --

I didn't think you would mind but I stole your last two posts and put them on facebook.

Have you set your colleagues straight on accurately describing to students the meaning of "subject", POM? Imagine the ignorance of generations of "teachers" who failed to figure out this simple notion.

Mac--have you noticed the trend with southern sportsmen to use "definitely" when they mean "yes"? It must be the effect of Essex girls.

I have another one.

The use of "a red line" when it only means a temporary gesture to look good until reality intrudes.

Spelled differently.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As: great, small, pretty, white, or brown.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell,
As: slowly, quickly, badly, well.

An interesting report in the Guardian:

You're doggone tootin' there, bud. ******* A.