English is Your FIRST Language??
I am really sick of seemingly intelligent people butchering the English language.
1. It is specific not pacific. You don't pacifically want something. Pacific is an ocean.
2. You don't need to double double check something. By double checking it you have already checked twice. Doing it again makes it a triple check.
3. It is supposedly, not supposably. There is a D in the word. Enunciate.
4. You are looking for something, not fer/fur something. Fur covers animals. For is pronounced like the number.
5. (For my mom....love you mommy). Perfect has a T on the end of it. Use the T. It won't hurt you.
6. You are not fixin' to do something. You're just not. Don't say it.
That's all I've got. And I ain't gonna tell ya'll again to straighten up yer language!
1. It is specific not pacific. You don't pacifically want something. Pacific is an ocean.
2. You don't need to double double check something. By double checking it you have already checked twice. Doing it again makes it a triple check.
3. It is supposedly, not supposably. There is a D in the word. Enunciate.
4. You are looking for something, not fer/fur something. Fur covers animals. For is pronounced like the number.
5. (For my mom....love you mommy). Perfect has a T on the end of it. Use the T. It won't hurt you.
6. You are not fixin' to do something. You're just not. Don't say it.
That's all I've got. And I ain't gonna tell ya'll again to straighten up yer language!
posted by Sherri at 2:34 PM
13 Comments:
And people who say "five firty" instead of "five thirty"!
And people who pronounce Italian with a hard I. As in "I would like some Eye-talian sausage on the pizza."
Oh Sherri... (our love... holds on... yeah, I know you've NEVER heard that one before.)
We Southerners cain't help sayin we're fixin t'do things. It's just how we were raised.
And for the record - it's Y'ALL!!!!!! ;-)
Happy Monday!
I know...I know. I think of you every time I write it incorrectly. I just can't stop! :)
Sherri,
Working so closely with the military, I am exposed to a number of regional dialects...all of the foibles on your list drive me nuts, too, and I've got one to add: the extra "R" that folks from Indiana seem to put into words: It's WASH, not "warsh", DAMMIT!
Several years ago, I worked with a woman who wanted us to export one of our course to Hawaii. She was one of those vivacious, cheery, positive people, and my current boss and I (after spending countless hours on the phone with her) decided that she must be tall and blonde, a cheerleader from Iowa (pardon the stereotype). When we arrived in her office in Pearl Harbor, she turned out to be a very petite, Black woman from Brooklyn. It seems that when she was in boot camp, her "shipmates" teased her mercilessly about her accent and she decided to do something about it...and in six months, she eradicated all of her bad linguistic habits.
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, it bugs me when anybody says "a'ight". It's "ALL RIGHT", for crying out loud. It EC-SPECIALLY bugs me when a white guy says it. Keep it real, Home boyee!
~Kurt
Nuts...I should really proofread my comments. Kindly disregard the typos.
~Kurt
This is not so much about mispronunciation, but more about the WRONG word, or non-existent words:
I have worked for someone who dictated correspondence containing gems like "unmeaningful" and "irregardless" and "As a point of information, you should be aware that it has come to my attention that..."
And I'd be typing, grinding my teeth and thinking SAY IT! SAY IT ALREADY and correcting correcting correcting/paring down left and right. It did WONDERS for my writing style!
Also: people who spell "definitely" as "definately" and further pronounce it as "definently."
Whew! My inner demon is temporarily mollified.
Erica, I have to say that you probably have the best vocabulary of anyone I know. I am constantly amazed at some of the words you put in your blog. You must have done great on your SATs!
Oh god, don't get me started on this stuff... I could go all day. Here are a few of my peeves:
"Needs fixed, needs done, needs cleaned." Uggh people. Don't drop the infinitive!
I worked for someone who not only used the word "irregardless" constantly but also threw in the word "impactive" on a regular basis. Hello?
Along with "Ex-specially" I often hear "Expresso". Maybe people think ESpresso is made in a jiffy! Also add "Ex-cetra" to this group. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
Preppy ~ you make me feel so inferious!
My brother once asked someone if the "eye"talian dressing that she was serving was from "Eye"taly...I've said it too a few people since, trying to make a point, but it's never as funny as when he said it.
"Irregardless" is my big pet peeve...But what really sends me into orbit is "I could care less"...umm...no, you COULDN'T care less. COULDN'T!
And BTW, "irregardless" has been added to the dictionary!! How very sad. Princess... I too thought of that inferious one. Too funny! Check out The Dilbert Newsletter for more mocking of the grammatically challenged... HILARIOUS.
Post a Comment
<< Home