Comments on: Today’s Pet Peeves

By: Kip - http://kip@messyvegetariancook.com

Kip - http://kip@messyvegetariancook.com — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:51:29 +0000

Amusing post! My top currents are:
- effective versus affective
- irregardless
- disorientated (British)
- incorrect use of the word “literally” to literally emphasise literally everything literally 12 times per conversation. Literally.
-Greengrocers’ apostrophe (e.g. banana’s for sale). This one’s really popular in the UK, even in major publications.

Oh, and all the Brits who take the piss out of Dubya for his language, yet so many say “nucular” themselves.

And yes, I’m an expat- have to get my kicks somehow

By: Christine - http://www.bluelimemedia.com

Christine - http://www.bluelimemedia.com — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:46:01 +0000

Interesting take on use vs. utilize. Personally I think that anyone who uses the word utilize sounds like a pompous ass.
But I’ll keep your explanation in mind next time I hear it.

By: Michael -

Michael - — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:41:25 +0000

CL, I agree with you. Explaining the difference in conversation is impolite and I would never presume to do it.

I use what I believe is correct. However, for someone who is ignorant about what is the correct pronunciation to think I’m wrong, is, well, wrong.

By: CL -

CL - — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:13:38 +0000

I would argue that if correctly pronouncing a word requires further explanation of why you are pronouncing it that way to 99% of people, the incorrect pronunciation is probably the way to go.

“It’s not really his ‘fortay’”.

“It’s not really his “fort”. Yes, I said ‘fort’. ‘Forte’ derives from the French…etc etc etc”

By: Stephen -

Stephen - — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:23:15 +0000

‘Forte’ also comes from the Latin work ‘Fortis’ meaning ’strong’.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fortis#Latin