This spelling error bothers me almost as much as when people talk about “wetting their appetite.”
Posted in Day to Day, Grammar
Posted by: anneghormley | October 16, 2007
I *thought* so.
Responses
Until last year, I was convinced that it was correct to say “I poured over the text.” Now I know that “pore,” not “pour” is correct. Oops.
By: Bess on October 17, 2007
at 7:07 am
Other ones that bug me: “Peaked my interest” instead of “piqued my interest”, “take for granite” (Really? You thought it was made of granite?) instead of “for granted,” “should of” instead of “should’ve.”
By: Bethany on October 17, 2007
at 9:03 am
The “piqued/peaked” is probably one that bothers me most, other than perpetual “their/they’re/there” blunders. Verbally speaking, it would have to be when people say, “I took a pitcher” rather than “picture.” C’mon America, enunciate!
You could suppose though that people no longer know what a whetstone is.
By: Lindsey on October 17, 2007
at 9:51 am
Another pronunciation thing I find amusing (though not quite bothersome) is the Midwestern* tendency to pronounce “well” with a long “O” sound, like “wool.” In my head, I always imagine that if someone pronouncing it that way had a speech bubble, it’d look something like, “Wull.” I’m not quite sure if I’m guilty of saying it that way myself or not. I’m inclined to think I don’t, because I always notice it when other people say it, and you don’t generally notice pronunciation when it’s the same as yours. But I grew up in the Midwest, too, so maybe I do say “wull.” Someone take note, the next time I say it, and let me know, will you? It intrigues me.
*This may not be solely a Midwestern thing, but it seems like it is.
By: Bethany on October 17, 2007
at 10:17 am
To clarify, I don’t think people say it that way when talking about actual water wells, just when they’re using “well” as an interjection, as in, “Well, how the heck are you supposed to say it?”
By: Bethany on October 17, 2007
at 10:18 am
Oooh. I love word/phrase discussions! I wish I could remember the strange phrases I’ve uttered over the years, but since I can’t, I’ll share a friend’s confusion… “Chester drawers” instead of “chest of drawers.” Let’s all laugh and point. ; )
By: RT on October 17, 2007
at 2:08 pm
You’d be surprised how often I hear people say “in the essence of time,” rather than “in the interest of time.” They must be thinking of the phrase “time is of the essence.”
By: Bess on October 17, 2007
at 3:01 pm
Another commonly misused one (including by me, until about 4 years ago): “for all intensive purposes” instead of the correct “for all intents and purposes.”
By: Bethany on October 17, 2007
at 7:24 pm
Thanks, B! That was the phrase I used incorrectly as well.
By: RT on October 18, 2007
at 8:27 am
My Civics teacher used to say “far and few between” instead of “few and far between.”
By: anneghormley on October 18, 2007
at 12:11 pm
On Amazon.com, I just today read a comment where someone wrote “to guild the lily.”
By: Bess on October 18, 2007
at 1:12 pm
Lilies really should unionize, when you think about it.
“Consider the lilies of the ****** field! Or hell, take a look at Delmar here for your paradigm of hope.”
or,
“Consider the lily”
“AaaaaAAaaahhhh…”
By: Bethany on October 18, 2007
at 1:34 pm
I have a new appreciation for messed up idioms having married a man who learned English as a second language. Joe says endearing things such as, “it is on the tip of my brain” or “well, that puts a bumper on things”. It is strange to think of all the weird sayings we have in the English language and how many there are to remember if you didn’t grow up with them.
By: karen on October 18, 2007
at 4:52 pm
Bethany–where are those lily quotes from?? I SO recognize them, but can’t place where they’re from. I just remember laughing, a lot.
And here’s one that I still say, even though it really is pretty bad: whole ‘nother. Like, “He ate a whole nother box of donuts after dinner.”
By: Lindsey on October 18, 2007
at 10:29 pm
Living with a 3 year old is like living with foreign student. I told Livia to “knock it off” the other day and she then asked, “Knock what off, Mom?” And then yesterday I was talking to Jeremy about some unfortunate spills he’s recently taken on the landing of our stairs, one which broken part of a wooden trunk. Livia overheard our conversation and became very concerned about Daddy breaking the car. It took me a few minutes to figure out the “trunk” association.
By: RT on October 19, 2007
at 8:22 am
Change “broken” to “broke a” and your world will be right again.
By: RT on October 19, 2007
at 8:24 am
