Words, People Don't Know What They Mean!

[Yvaine]

Thanks, Xikrai, for covering my lazy a**!

GRM: I love you, sweetie, but correcting my definition incorrectly and then signing off with epithets against the English language seems a bit... hypocritical. You do have decent punctuation, though, and I do appreciate the hell out of it.

Pal: As GRM and Kal mentioned, the irritant isn't so much the error itself, but the attitude behind it. So far, even the worst schools do not have books that teach grammar and spelling incorrectly. Teachers are capable of being atrociously incorrect - I have been incorrectly "corrected" by a teacher more than once (and yes, I looked it up to make sure). But I read extensively on my own, and I paid attention to proper grammar and usage, so that I wouldn't come across as an uneducated asshat. When others make a HABIT of using bad grammar, shitty spelling, the wrong homophones, and nonexistent or erratic punctuation...well, it's the literary equivalent of someone with 20 facial piercings, a tattoo of satan, and a green mohawk griping about how they shouldn't be judged by their appearance. I'd love to judge based on the quality of your ideas, but the appalling packaging just keeps getting in the way. If anyone wants their words to be taken seriously, they need to make sure they're not dressing them up like circus clowns.

As I said, though, it only gets to me when it's a HABIT. One misplaced comma or misspelling happens to the best of us.  

[Ogyshi]

I apologize if this has already been brought up, but how about the word RANDOM? It drives me nuts how people use this word. Not really, but it's pretty freaking annoying sometimes.

Say, for instance, you travel to another country and by happenstance you run into a friend of yours from back home. It is *not* random. *Random* encounters is drawing someone's name out of a hat and giving them a lottery prize. The chances of meeting someone you know through truly random means is pretty inconceivably low. Finding someone you know doesn't emphasis the randomness of the situation. At all.

The pictures you post on Facebook from your camera aren't random just because they are snapshots. They were probably all taken by you or your friends and are probably all pictures of you and your friends and your surroundings. *Not* random, but rather, very specific.

The possibilities of misuse are endless.  

[God-Raped-Me]

I will admit to being hypocritical, horribly at times. I was just pissed that I was taught wrong and didn't know enough. I never even questioned it. gonk Again sorry.

That kilo thing totally got a gonk out of me!

And yes, random seems to have replaced improbable. That or people don't know how to use improbable.  

[Yvaine]

Oh yeah, for a thing that actually makes my hands twitch with rage:
"I could care less."

burning_eyes

The actual phrase, for anyone paying goddamned attention, is: "I COULDN'T care less." If you could in fact care less than you do, that means you actually care. But if you can't even get your grammar right, I very much doubt you give two shits, good sir.
[This is a hypothetical "good sir", everyone - I am not thinking of anyone in particular. I've heard it too many times to bring any one guilty party to mind.]  

[~DR.MOOFASA~]

Taeryyn

XxDarkMalicexX

Here's a good one: Gay.

In the dictionary, it's meaning is happy. Whenever someone says, "Oh, he's just gay." Guys get so uptight about it. The expression doesn't mean they are a homosexual, it just means they are happy.

I get so irritated with that... i swear, some people need to grow up and know what some words mean. GET AN EDUCATION! stressed

To add to what GTR said, when someone says, "He's gay" or "He looks gay", (unless you're reading a text from a different time period) it's pretty much a given that they mean "homosexual".

A Gay-Straight Alliance isn't a club for happy and linear people, you know? blaugh

If someone says, "Man, that guy looks gay", I can understand why someone would be irritated. No one likes being judged on their appearance, and there's still a lot of stigma attached to being gay. It's one thing if you're publicly "out", but if you're not even gay, it's got to be worse.

The other meaning is still there (as GTR said), it's just not used to the same degree.

UGH, that one frustrates me. >_>
not even the "he looks gay" thing... i just et really annoyed when people say stuff like "oh that is SO gay!" meaning to insult someone or something. stare
...really dude? ******** off. and while you're ******** off, why don't you try to get a hold of a thesaurus and make some LGBT friends who will educate you as to why that's offensive. gonk [/rant]

i used to get really annoyed when people just threw the word "love" around like it had no deeper meaning. rolleyes all the teens and young couples who spew "i love you"s at each other without any actual thought about what that means to them and other people... was irritating. especially being on the receiving end of that meaningless catch-phrase as a teenager. usually, it meant "i wanna get in your pants". now, my response to that kind of thing would be a swift punch to the face (except for sean who not only means it but shows me how much he means it every day). <********" and other 'swear words' (i use the term loosely) get thrown around a lot too, but it doesn't bother me too much as long as it's not every other word and in public. and loud. xD

and "sweety" and "doll" and "cutie" coming from total strangers. gonk wtf, guys? how in the hell do you think i wanna hear that kind of thing from you? *grumble*

*ahem* ...the english language is a complicated and under-appreciated entity. xD i should know, i butcher it all the time. cool

EDIT/SIDENOTE:
...it's so much fun screwing with commonly used phrases and meshing them with others. biggrin like:
"he's not the brightest cookie in the tool box" (sharpest tool in the shed, smart cookie, not the brightest crayon in the box, etc) ^^ woots.
or:

"...and then, completely out of the random..."
xD ...okay, ogy? i know the word random aggrivates you when used so often and incorrectly. but people always do a double take when i say this because they're either expecting "then randomly" or "then totally out of the blue" ... lol it just amuses me so much.  

[Mukuchina Kurasu]

Yvaine

Oh yeah, for a thing that actually makes my hands twitch with rage:
"I could care less."

burning_eyes

The actual phrase, for anyone paying goddamned attention, is: "I COULDN'T care less." If you could in fact care less than you do, that means you actually care. But if you can't even get your grammar right, I very much doubt you give two shits, good sir.
[This is a hypothetical "good sir", everyone - I am not thinking of anyone in particular. I've heard it too many times to bring any one guilty party to mind.]

Yes, That is EXTREMELY annoying. I was trying to understand why people say that for so long, it just doesn't make sence.
I don't really have any that I don't think was said right now...  

[aretoo]

lizzica

I went to an A&W the other day where a sign on the register said, "Our ice cream machine is broke."

It's quite probable the ice cream machine was broke; I've yet to see any with money at all... ^_^

"they're", "their", and "there" all being used interchangeably is one of my pet peeves. That, and "its" and "it's". smile

(Oh, by the way, Tae, you made me "lol" with the club for happy and linear people...) mrgreen  

[Elcia]

Bongardo

Yvaine

Oh yeah, for a thing that actually makes my hands twitch with rage:
"I could care less."

burning_eyes

The actual phrase, for anyone paying goddamned attention, is: "I COULDN'T care less." If you could in fact care less than you do, that means you actually care. But if you can't even get your grammar right, I very much doubt you give two shits, good sir.
[This is a hypothetical "good sir", everyone - I am not thinking of anyone in particular. I've heard it too many times to bring any one guilty party to mind.]

Yes, That is EXTREMELY annoying. I was trying to understand why people say that for so long, it just doesn't make sence.
I don't really have any that I don't think was said right now...

I use the phrase quite often and I do mess it up. I think the reason is that when people talk fast things get garbled and so I know I've heard it both ways.
I generally have to think about what I am saying after I use it to be said it correctly. It's very easy to drop the n't.

It's and its is a matter of grammar not being taught in (most.. many) schools anymore. I had a strict old nun for english class for three years in a row.
Does anyone here know how to diagram a sentence? I'm rusty but I'm sure I could still do so.  

[Serious Erius]

Nun teachers still exist? o_O Wow...

That is actually kind of amazing...in an odd way I can't describe...>_>
I mean I wouldn't want to be taught by one...but yeah...

Also, about grammar and words and all that shizzle.
I usually hang out with English speaking people, so my shown grammar will never be perfect.
(Especially tenses, I mess them up sometimes, as well as proper word placement in a sentence, but I think that I'm pretty good)
As for german grammar, I'm a natural at it razz and pretty much always aced tests.
(Same with English, but seeing how I learned most of my english from actually conversing with people and studying on my own...yeah...)

I don't really care how people use words though, I can overlook some simple blunders.
I'm much more concerned about people who are INTO those blunders, I don't know how to explai nthat...but some people seem to put focus into such things, instead of appearing liek they're messing up accidentally.

Yeah...not good...

Edit: *growl* Read the rules people. No spam.
(Had to delete a post just now...)  

[Elcia]

Yes, nun teachers still exist. Granted there aren't many and you only find them at Catholic schools. I've liked pretty much everyone I have had, and by the way many of them don't dress any different so you wouldn't know just my looking at them. Unless you are observant enough to take notice of crosses and pins and such subtle things.
But don't go thinking that all nuns fit the "nun from hell" concept.
Being disciplined, wise, and fully capable of maintaining order are very different from being mean and what not.

Uhm to stay on topic, because I didn't know what it meant when I read it last night:
fastidious: very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail

A word that describes me well. ^^

 

[Serious Erius]

Elcia

But don't go thinking that all nuns fit the "nun from hell" concept.
Being disciplined, wise, and fully capable of maintaining order are very different from being mean and what not.

Well ,that's why I think it's amazing...but then again. I am kind of oldschool..and believe that values, discipline and knowledge that is spread with detailed care are very good things.
(I actually had a bit of that influence myself razz , only non religious, but still strict)

Another on topic thing for me: pulchritudinous. Characterized by or having great physical beauty and appeal.

But that would only suit me on special occasions xD
Unless people like...cute and sliiiiightly handsome more than standard manly looks crying , hehe.

Edit:
Oh to clarify...I said I didnt want to be taught by a nun...and then I said I like the strictness and all that.
Thats still both true, but with religious stuff...I always fear that there are ulterior motives ._.
I do respect the way they teach though.  

[Ogyshi]

aretoo

"they're", "their", and "there" all being used interchangeably is one of my pet peeves. That, and "its" and "it's". smile

What bugs me is that my english teacher in grade 9 actually taught me that "it's" is the proper spelling for the 3rd person possessive pro-noun. Ugh! It was a hard habit to break after that.  

[Yvaine]

Give me the name and address of that teacher, and I will get my hands on a baseball bat. stare

enucleate: [v] to remove someone's eyeballs eek

Yeah, my best friend's kid (5) got sent to the principal's office for threatening a classmate with that one. They used the spare time to look up the word so they knew exactly what to tell her mother she said.