Pet Peeves

Hunter1

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-06-05 AT 11:12AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Edit: OK, I corrected a misspelling. I just knew that would happen. I'm embarrassed at how I represent my employer. Thanks for not bringing it to my attention.
marc's post reminded me about two things which I observed yesterday: In the morning a fellow did a presentation to a group of about a hundred attorneys, risk managers, and HR Directors. He was well-spoken and apparently well-versed in his subject matter. His power point presentation, which I am sure he has used a number of times before, contained a number of grammatical errors though, including misspellings, incorrect word usage, etc.

In the evening, I attended my wife's annual profit sharing meeting. A young, apparently intelligent woman representing a large investment management firm did a presentation on the employer plan. During the presentation, she misused several words repeatedly.

Now, I'll admit that I'm not the best at the King's English, but where are employees who can represent their employers in a fashion which doesn't embarrass them???

Shadowfax

Boy does this one hit home. My school teacher wife and I have always been absolute sticklers for proper grammer, in fact my wife claims she actually enjoyed diagramming all of those sentences we had to do in the 7the and 8th grades. As a consequence, my duaghter learned proper grammer and usage just by being around and being corrected - and every correction had an accompanying explanation of the rule. But, through middle school and high school I kept asking when were they going to get to the grammer - because most of my daughter's friends didn't know a verb from an adjective. I was repeatedly told they did not need to study the rules, they would learn by reading and speaking. Horsefeathers! And I have observed exactly what you have observed: these kids do not know how to speak correctly. "...But as long as they can communicate their thoughts..." What a bunch of junk. I'm for less emphasis on technology and more on basics. With proper basics, everything else will come, and come more easily.

lhill

This is one of my pet peeves, also. I think people are relying too much on spell check. One of the ones that really bugs me the most is "their" when they mean "there", as in "their are too many mistakes". We also did the home reinforcing with our daughters, and apparently it worked. One is an English teacher and the other an associate professor at a university.

Whatever

It is amazing how many resumes I get with grammatical and spelling errors.

SMace

My pet peeve is when poeple say I cain't talk right.

HRinNH

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-06-05 AT 10:21AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I've been called a 'spelling nazi' by my kids. My eldest daughter recently e-mailed her resume to me to "look over" before she sent it out. She knows my weakness and knew that I'd spit polish it for her and make her shine!

Cheryl C.

Edit: A big pet peeve of mine is when people 'dumb down' to be more liked by their peers. Why don't they just find smarter peers?

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-06-05 AT 10:08AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Nucular for nuclear. Stastistics for statistics. irregardless for regardless. Those are few of my pet peeves. And what I fine job I did of crafting those sentences.

System

Plus you have a type-o. And I have sentence fragments. And I began a sentence with a conjunction. But I didn't end my sentence with a preposition. Like 'Where' you at?'

Don D

What type-o? And isn't it typo? Type-o relates more to blood than to words, I think. I know I left out 'a' at the start of the second line, but that's an omission, not a typo. And where's your comma after plus? Another of my pet peeves is/are nitpickers.

HRCalico

I believe you were OK to use "is" - Another of my pet peeves is nitpickers. Although peeves and nitpickers are both plural, your subject is another, which is singular. I have forgotten how to diagram sentences, but I enjoyed it when I did it!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "air quotes" as a pet peeve - I'm in the camp that is cracked up by their use, though.

My peeve is improper use of apostrophes for possessive or a contraction, such as "it's engine quit" or "put the file's in the box".

I see both of these daily, and yet it took me five minutes (minute's?) to come up with those two examples.

System

Here's the typeo: you said "And what I fine job I did." I thought your first "I" was meant to be "a." Nit picky? I wasn't pickin.' I was proofing.

SMace

I can't stand the phrase, "I don't have time." What they should say is, "I have other priorities."

lhill

My former boss always said "pacific" instead of "specific", as in "Our pacific plans need to be discussed", or "can you be more pacific". He also used "indignant" for "indigent", and raised quite a few eyebrows when he referred to "the poor and indignant".

Linda

safety

My two worst pet peeves, ee's who act like children and whine all the time x:'( and barley pop shops that don't carry my favorite brand of adult beverage. x:-(

Don D

Well, not every store stocks lemon-Maalox. There's not that much call for it.

safety

You have it backwards; the lemon-Maalox is for the following morning after the adult beverage, which by the way is Icehouse.

Irregardless, I don’t have time to look at the Stastistics, but I seen it their next to the nucular plant, before I axked the salesman, who looked indignant and had trouble with his conversate, for my pacific brand of adult beverage and Sam, 'Where' you at.

mushroomHR

"I seen it" is my pet peeve. Everytime I hear someone say that I just cringe.

Parabeaglex2

He "axed" (asked) me.

"Conversate." (no such word).

I hate those.

System

Also, there's no such word as 'couth' even though one can be uncouth.

HRinNH

My friend Merriam Webster thinks that couth is a word.

System

Dang. (is that a word?) "Random House Webster's" 1991 edition does not have 'couth.' Means Mom was right!

HRinNH

Don't you just hate to admit that?

[u][url]http://www.m-w.com/[/url][/u]

Don D

Taking a separate path, what's your favorite word of all words, one you stumbled upon that you've used to confuse others over and over?

Mine is steatopygia. I stumbled across it at least 30 years ago. Then I lost it. I got so agitated at its loss I wrote Webster and one of their experts answered my letter and referred me back to it.

Hunter1

Defenestrate

POPEYE

Mine is someone using "you know" every other sentence. No, I don't know or I wouldn't have asked you the question!!

LarryC

I lost my last pet peeve when I quit smoking many years ago. Up until then, it was paper and/or apple cores in my ashtray. Now I don't have pet peeves. Now I have major problems.

I have a major problem with people who put 20' of Christmas lights on a 30' tree.

I have a major problem with black socks with shorts.

I have a major problem with dumba** people clanking there glasses with a fork at wedding receptions.

I have a major problem with weddings and their receptions.

I have a major problem with people who think their pet peeves are significant enough to call them major problems"!!!

Am I nuts or what?

HRinNH

What's wrong with 20' of lights on a 30' tree? ...and who'd bother decorating one? You'd need a freakin' ladder or hydraulic lift.

lhill

Another pet peeve of mine, and this is a biggie, are people who board an airplane, stow their carry-ons in the first bins then go to their seats in the back of the plane. That makes it impossible for those in the seats under the first bins to stow their bags anywhere near their seats. Plus, they have to swim upstream at the end of the trip to get their bags. When the plane lands the jerks of the first part push their way up the aisle, retrieve their bags, and are out of the plane.

Linda

JudyT929

Typo's or typing mistakes are a big pet peeve of mine especially their and there; and your and you're. I try to overlook these things because I have more important things to p*ss me off!
Drivers who don't use blinkers!
People who drive slow, especially when talking on their cell phones!
Drivers on the tollway who are in the toll tag only lane and they DON'T have a toll tag!
People calling me and then putting ME on hold!
People who let their dogs do their business in MY front yard and don't clean up!
People who walk in a room/building and don't bother holding the door open for the person right behind them.

I could go on and on but I think it is quite apparent that just plain "people" irritate me!

I feel much better now.

Parabeaglex2

Hi, Judy. Please hold a moment. I'll be right back. x;-)

SMace

AMEN to the blinkers! AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH