Misused Words

[Harbinger]

We touched base with some of these in pet peeves, but I thought it would be great to have a thread to reference. Maybe it can help some of us.

I'll start it off with this one.

Never say you feel nauseous unless you're sure you have that effect on others. Say nauseated.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I almost forgot- To peruse a book means to read it slowly and carefully.

That one is more often used incorrectly than correctly!

[CovenantJr]

Decimate: reduce by one tenth.

It's one I was unaware of for years, but now I know about it I hear its misuse everywhere.

[Rigel]

Saying "there's a plural" of anything.

"There is" is singular. "There are" is plural.

There's a right way to do things, folks, and there're many wrong ways. For the love of sanity, pick the right way!

[lucimay]

oh! oh! finally! a thread where i can vent some of my biggest pet peeves!! WOOT!!

the first and foremost on my list is irregardless.

NO. SUCH. WORD.

okay well because of such common misusage dictionary.com has this to say about it,

Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis. Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.

the word is regardless, without regard to, having or showing no regard.

[I'm Murrin]

You ever find that inscriptionist, Luci?

[Vader]

Not sure about English, but German "evakuieren" (to evacuate) actually means "to empty something". So you shouldn't say "Thousands of people have been evacuated" unless you really mean they have been disemboweled. It's buildings or areas you evacuate and not people. However, the word has been used wrong for so long that now dictionaries allow the wrong usage.

Another thing that annoys me is the infamous "would of" instead of "would have".

[Vraith]

You ever find that inscriptionist, Luci?

Damn! Not even allowed to mess up in RPG-land?

That being said, one of mine [doesn't pop up in conversation often, but seen it enough to annoy me]
penultimate isn't the same as ultimate, or after ultimate, or even MORE ultimate. It is next to last.

[[Syl]]

eggcorns.lascribe.net/

[lucimay]

You ever find that inscriptionist, Luci?

that was creative license.

much quicker to say inscriptionist than it is to say person with inscriptiony profession.

[Vraith]

You ever find that inscriptionist, Luci?

that was creative license.

much quicker to say inscriptionist than it is to say person with inscriptiony profession.

hee hee....umm...try "scribe"

[[Syl]]

I've been a transcriptionist before, so inscriptionist looks right to me. And of all the things I've had inscribed, none were done by scribes. *shrug*

[dANdeLION]

They're, their and there. Nobody seems to know which one's the right one to use any more. I blame the school system. Clearly they're not drilling it into their students anymore; there should be rule stating that nobody graduates until they've mastered this.

[Fist and Faith]

I guess I'm not much bothered by the misuses. I remember a Barney Miller episode where a guy was arrested for defacing advertisements on, iirc, the subway because of this kind of thing. He went on and on about how terrible it is that so much of this stuff happens, much like some of you are. Heh. Dietrich said, "Irregardless, you're under arrest."

I'm more bothered by the big mispronunciation of nuclear. Especially by the freakin' potus!!

What I like, though, is the words with opposing meanings.
Cleave. Cleave it in two; or a husband and wife cleave to each other.
Inflammable. Not flamable; or able to be inflamed.

[Vraith]

I've been a transcriptionist before, so inscriptionist looks right to me. And of all the things I've had inscribed, none were done by scribes. *shrug*

Well, you don't live in a medieval or fantasy or medieval fantasy world...
and your jeweler or whatever has scribing as a skill, just not his profession.
but it was also a joke nudge wink
and you can't really rely on rules anyway...if you grow tobacco, you're just a farmer...if you have a little shop on the corner and sell it, you're a tobacconist [sp?]
And if you can spell, or cast spells, you have dozens of options, but one thing you are NOT is a spellitionist.

I mean, seriously, did I seriously misread your post?
Or literally literally?
No, seriously, it was literally ironically.

[Vraith]

What I like, though, is the words with opposing meanings.
Cleave. Cleave it in two; or a husband and wife cleave to each other.
Inflammable. Not flamable; or able to be inflamed.

Heh...I've got a slightly spooky short story I wrote that depends on opposing defs. of "cleave" and of "ward."

And: george carlin maybe? "...flammable, inflammable, or non-inflammable! For God's sake it either flams or it doesn't!"

[[Syl]]

I visit several fantasy worlds frequently (including Azeroth), but no, I live in this one... which in its own weird way, is a fantasy world. But in the context of a misused word, I just don't see inscriptionist meeting the bar.

Now, the word "hopefully" on the other hand... Pretty sure most of us are guilty of that one.

One that bugs me is "begs the question." Just because it leads you to question something, does not mean it begs the question.

[aliantha]

Doesn't bug me too much, but... there's no such word as normalcy. The correct word is normality -- which you never, ever hear.

There, they're and their bug me too. And so do to and too. These are grade school-level mistakes, fer cryin' out loud.

[Avatar]

There, they're and their bug me too. And so do to and too.

Me too.

--A

[Savor Dam]

... there's no such word as normalcy. The correct word is normality -- which you never, ever hear.

Blame that one on the first of a long string of 20th century USA Presidents (of a certain party) whose administrations were marked by influence scandals. Warren Gamaliel Harding popularized "normalcy" as part of a campaign slogan 90 years ago.

Heck, I was in middle school about 50 years later before I learned (to my chagrin) that "normalcy" was not a legitimate word.

[LaRocca]

Stephen R. Donaldson knows the difference between lightning and lightening. He and I are rare that way.