Jargon Pet Peeves | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Jargon Pet Peeves

Toni, you made me think of eXspresso opposed to it's proper espresso. I guess they are referring to the Dire Straits tune.
 
Synergy: Please. Either something fits or it doesn't... no need to make up silly words.

Huh? Not sure about how it relates to things fitting or not, and "synergy" may indeed be annoyingly overused/misused in Jargon Land, but it is a real word.

My dictionary gives a first use date as 1660 and defines it as "1: synergism; broadly: combined action or operation 2: a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatability of distinct business participants or elements (as resources or efforts)"

The definition for "synergism," dated 1910, is "interaction of discrete aencies (as industrial firms), agents (as drugs), or conditions such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects"
 
Oh, you all have tempted me long enough. As you can probably imagine, being an English teacher, I have all sorts of pet peeves:

"I seen"
"I have saw"-- I tell my students one should only say this if one is a caveman carpenter.
Misspelling of the word "definitely"
"Irregardless," which is not a word.
"would of," "could of," "should of" when it should be "would have," etc.
"Have you ate?"
When people cannot pronounce a long "e" sound. For instance: "That's a rill dill you got at Wal-Mart!" or "You hurt my fillings." Typically, these people also cannot pronounce a long "a" sound, e.g. "I have to check my e-mell."
"Conversate," which is not a word.
When people begin every sentence with "Basically..." You know what? I can *still* understand you if you don't break it down to the "basics" for me! ;)
"I have no ideal". Not even one? Perhaps you need some spiritual guidance! ;)
When people write "a lot" as one word.

Oh, now my brain hurts...
 
Can't believe I forgot these. They really do get under my skin.

When people say "me and (insert name)" That drives me up the wall. That one does bother me to no end. I don't know how that became expectable in culture, but to put yourself before others... It just comes across as being disrespectful, uneducated and self-centered.

Also, but not as much, when saying I or me in a sentence incorrectly. It is to easy to word this correctly. Just leave the other persons out of the sentence and that is how it is spoken.

And oddly enough, may even sound hypocritical, but when people base personality / integrity on a simple use of words. I think that is judgmental and just inconsiderate. I have learned some of the people in this world who will stand by you and try their hardest as well as stay "loyal" do not have the best vocabulary. And the ones that try, at least try and it shows they value your opinion enough to make an effort. M2C
 
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"for you and I" or "to you and I," etc. You hear it all the time in song lyrics when they're trying to make a rhyme
 
The ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) teacher side of me is here in this thread.

When my students say "He got" for "He has." :disapp:

When they use "gonna" instead of "going to" in their formal writing :scratch:
 
"Can i get a coffee/sandwich/drink" in a cafe...unless you're going to jump over the counter and pour it yourself, no you can't! You may have a coffee but you may not get one!

Ant
 
OK, if we are going to word pronunciation (or mispronunciation that I agree with RR) I defiantly have one.
"defiantly"? So passionate... ;)

Is there such a thing as a "cewp" to keep livestock in
ah...but this one's spelled "coop".

When people say "me and (insert name)" That drives me up the wall. That one does bother me to no end. I don't know how that became expectable in culture, but to put yourself before others... It just comes across as being disrespectful, uneducated and self-centered.
Did you mean "acceptable" instead of "expectable"? Also, I've never thought of this particular mis-speak as self-centered--that's a bit of a stretch for me. Most times poor grammar of this nature is simply a result of failure to learn the language properly as opposed to willful self-importance.

I guess one of the things that bugs me is people who don't use adverbs properly. "He took me serious" instead of saying the correct "seriously", or "Drive careful" instead of "carefully"...ugh...
 
hee hee Spinner beat me to pointing out the 'defiantly'... I'm surprised GrGranny hasn't swooped in and helped us out with spellings ;)

the me and whomever does sound more uneducated than self-centered... but that's because normally when someone says "me and ..." they're my brother's age (11) lol
 
Well, the "me and so-and-so" construction *does* originate from being self-centered. A child uses it because he is the most important person in his world. It doesn't occur to a child in the "me, my, mine" stage to put someone else's name first. Eventually, though, a person learns that this construction is considered improper and changes it, or unfortunately, he doesn't and forever sounds like a five-year-old. :agree:
 
Okay..........

Libarry instead of Library. Please.........

Here's one perhaps someone can help me with.

Is it "you welcome" Or should it be "you're welcome"?

Dizzy
 
OK, if we are going to word pronunciation (or mispronunciation that I agree with RR) I defiantly have one.

Tomato - us Americans and our drive to change everything.:p I just don't see why every other language that has a close pronunciation say the "a" as a short vowel. IMO it should be a short sound on the a. It was brought to Europe from South America and both of those pronunciations use the short vowel sound for the "a" when "naming" the fruit....and the vowel - consistent - vowel rule, whatever, like that is ever followed with any consistency.

Also Coupon, where in the world is the combination of "cou" pronounced "cew" or "q." Is there such a thing as a "cewp" to keep livestock in, or of a military "cew."???? Maybe if you are playing billiards at the armory.

Last (even though there are many more) the duty pronunciation. It really bothers me when people say "doody."

And on that point, if people would just pronounce things correctly there would not be nearly as many bad spellers in this world.

I definitely classify these as pet peeves, and I take it with a grain of salt, so I don't mean to sound snotty.


"You say tomato and I say tomahto" - Famous Gershwin song sung by Fred Astaire in "Shall We Dance?"

I hate it when people say "libary" instead of "library" and "fillum" instead of "film. " Another one is irregardless - no need to put ir in front of regardless since "less" already says "without."

This one really bugs me:

"Ineresting" instead of "interesting."
 
"defiantly"? So passionate... ;)
I guess one of the things that bugs me is people who don't use adverbs properly. "He took me serious" instead of saying the correct "seriously", or "Drive careful" instead of "carefully"...ugh...

I second this one! Also:

"The thing of it is" - no need for "of." Also misplaced modifiers really drive me crazy:

"When we first moved..." or "When we first got married..." It should be "When we moved at first..." or "When we got married at first..." Putting the term "first" before the subject sounds as though the event is going to happen again.
 
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