A week or so ago I was surfing around on-line when I saw someone comment that they are “not so totally” anything. I had to sit back and reread this obvious slam in my direction. I am so totally sure that he so totally said that!
Okay, I admit I lean toward the valley-girl, which should be obvious because I live in Ohio. What? We have valleys!
I can understand if it bothers some people to hear the English language butchered, but nothing can be worse than my pet peeve.
A-whole-nother.
At least “so” and “totally” are words. “Nother” is not. Not unless you also have summer-teeth. You know, some ‘r’ here and some ‘r’ there. It is also optional language if you have a bathtub in your front yard.
My best friend cringes when she hears someone pronounce crayons as “crans” and we’ve actually had discussions about whether you should say “COO-pons” or “CUE-pons”. And, every time I hear my mom refer to Home “DEEP-oh” as Home “DEP-oh” I die a little inside.
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WeaselMomma
I married an Ohio Valley boy who never uses adverbs. It’s all “The dishes need done” “the house needs cleaned”. It makes me nuts! I told him that they are free and he can use all the adverbs in world without running out of cash. For his birthday I am giving him a whole box of adverbs. Hopefully he won’t hoard them.
Momo Fali
Huh. Weaselmomma, I fail to see the problem here. America needs to start talking like Ohioans and there won’t be an issue. You and your fancy adverbs!
Single Parent Dad
Unique.
And the fact that people inaccurately precede it with another word.
Shelli (wishes she was) Mrs. Burchett;)
I won’t let my kids color with “cra-yons”, I make them use “crans”.
Junk Drawer Kathy
irregardless!!!!
“ir” and “less” make it a double negative and thus not what you want to say. It’s ‘regardless’ people! And I’m incensed that my spellchecker allowed the word while typing this. OMG! My head’s gonna explode.
Oh, and want to know what I heard from a woman who would have sat on a jury with me last week? She described how her dog barked so loud and long that it went death. DEATH. Not deaf. Death. I wanted her to go on trial for butchering the language.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Tina
I, being an Ohio Valley girl also, take offense with improper compartives and superlatives. Such as funner…it’s more fun people. And hick talk just makes laugh.
Jocelyn
I’m with Kathy – irregardless.
My ex loved using that word when we were fighting. It always made him sound that much DUMBER.
It’s in the dictionary now but at least it does say “that’s stupid, it makes you sound dumb, just say regardless.”
Another word I would like to make disappear is LIKE. Like how come nowadays teenagers can’t like say a damn thing without like using 800 likes in a sentence? I like want to strangle you like every time you like say that. TOTALLY!!
Hockeyman
I so totally second what Jocelyn said. “Like” has to go if it will be used 5 times in one sentence.
melissa
like, oh my god…fer shurr…like…ginormous bugs me, like oh my god…for sure. and ain’t. and when people drop their g’s. i HATE that. and lets see…um…lots bug me.
Valerie
Theater. I say thee-A-ter, and my friend can’t stand it. She says I should say THEE-uh-ter. We’ve argued about this for years. Now, she’s a native Marylander, but also says “The house needs cleaned.” I’ve never discussed it with her, but always wondered where that came from because no other Marylanders I know do that. I think her mom’s from Pennsylvania, so maybe that’s it?
As for one of my pet peeves: I have a coworker who loves to say someone was “kicked to the curve.” UGH! I want to shake her and say CURB! It’s CURB!!!
Jamie E
Despite repeated correction-my husband consistently uses Pacific in place of specific-he’s almost 40, this is one of those rare things he does that makes me think “Hmmm, Maybe he IS a moron?” I keep telling him Pacific is an ocean.
(Not that the hubs does this) Supposably-*shudder*
Valerie
Ah Jamie–the same coworker who says curve instead of curb, also uses Pacific instead of specific. And supposably! Honestly, I really don’t like talking to her. ;o)
NukeDad
I ain’t got me no double negatives.
Ashlie- Mommycosm
When my mother in law says “wash” it comes out more like “warsh”.
the*4*of*us
makes me crazy when people say “wal-martS” there is no S people! I have known a few people to do this and it makes me nuts!
Coach J
My personal favorites are “supposebly” (there’s no “b” in there, people!) and the saying “I could care less.” Really? You COULD care less? Ugh…
FrankandMary
What bothers me? So glad you asked.
BabyMamma
Ho
BabyDaddy
Splain(unless you are in the cast of I Love Lucy)
Writing no one as noone.
Writing U for you and ur for you are in A COVER LETTER.
~Mary
DaddyKV
Zink =! Sink
Ruf =! Roof
liberry =! library
febuary =! February
wooder =! water
warsh =! wash
lets appose =! let’s suppose
chimley =! chimney
birfday =! birthday (“f” sound to reaplace any “th”)
ool =! oil
toolet =! toilet
These are just a few, but that’s a whole nother story. “)
Rachael
I’m with Coach – it bugs the CRAP out of me when people say they could care less instead of couldn’t care less. If you COULD care less, then you CARE!
I also hate irregardless. I used to work at a job where they would say ‘ongoingly’. It annoyed the crap out of me.
Tom
THANK YOU! I absolutely cannot stand to hear people say “a whole nother”. I understand the concept: take “another” and cram “whole” in there for emphasis. Sorry, Charlie – it doesn’t warsh.
One of my many pet peeves is the use of “alot” like: “oh, I do that alot of the time.”
It’s two words: A and LOT. Separated. By a space.
Thank you, again, for this forum. I feel so much better.
Anonymous
Wow. I bet most people here would cringe with Cockney Rhyming Slang.
Mind your apples and pears, dear.
AlisonH
No no no, hon, ya got it all wrong: it’s Home DESPOT.
Sarah
How about the person that sells you a house: a Realtor – not a real-a-tor.
Using “per se” when you mean “for example” (that is NOT what “per se” means).
Misuse of “I” and “me” makes me crazy. It is so easy to determine which is proper, there is no excuse.
I’m sure there are more. But oddly enough, my sensitivity is case specific: slang and creative word usage in everyday conversation doesn’t really bother me – it gets me when people are trying to be professional or using words to try to sound smart, but using them glaringly wrong.
And I admit it, I am a grammar and word usage nerd – and I only correct my immediate family members (we have ongoing family grammar police disputes, so it’s part of our family history now). I try not to cringe the rest of the time.
Sarah
Oh man, and my biggest pet peeve of all has just come to me:
“Orientated/disorientated” – those are not words. After you have had your orientation on the new job, you are now well oriented. When you spin around fast, you might feel disoriented.
Thank you. I feel better now.
Elizabeth
I have never gotten used to hearing the word party used as a verb. It just makes the user sound stupid.
And to “The 4 of us”: even better is when people say they are going to “The Wallmarts”
Sadia
I have zillions of peeves, in at least three languages, but the Big Kahuna is “The reason why is because.” Oh, that makes my head hurt.
Esther
Ahhh, sweet company, sweet company. I love that all of you get just as angry as I do over people making asses out of themselves.
My latest peeve is people adding extra words: stuffed UP animal, The Quilted TEDDY Bear, etc.
Mama Dawg
My mom says “chaferone” instead of “chaperone” and my grandmother says “Illi-NOISE” instead of “Illi-noi”. Drives me batty.
James
I’m PURDY good, but Mrs. LIAYF always corrects me when I say X-presso.
Natalie
i don’t mind most things…i just feel superior when they are said wrong and i know it. hee hee. that being said i will admit that supposably bothers me quite a bit. also my daughter says crans. i have no idea where she got it since neither my husband nor i say it that way. i don’t mind if people say funnier or more fun…just don’t say more funnier. or more better. those drive me crazy.
Kate
I just can’t get ROUTE right. It feels terribly wrong to pronounce it ‘rowt’, when I’ve grown up saying ‘root’. Maybe it’s because I’m half German? I think I’ll just stop trying to speak better English and make up some more excuses…
Oh, and it drives me crazy when people write ‘shouldn’t of’ instead of ‘shouldn’t have’. Craaazy, I tell you!
newnorth
The only thing I can think that bugs me is the word literally but that’s not because of pronunciation. She literally drove me crazy.
I like the way my friend from Maryland says home. It’s very slightly different and the best way I can describe it is a subtle and quick huOme, home. (and he tries so hard not to say it :D)
Angella
Well, there is the fact that my American friends pronounce “about” totally wrong 😉
Rachel
LOL! YES YES YES!!!
there are so many that make my skin crawl and set my teeth on edge, ‘nother’ just being one of them 😉
thanks for the giggle!
Captain Dumbass
I’m commenting quickly before my wife’s grammar/spelling sensors go off and she loses her mind telling you all the things that drive her crazy.
Pinky
dirty windshields
chewing ice
and mouth noises in general
Amy @ Milk Breath and Margaritas
Hi I'm Amy and I grew up in Ohio and now I live in Tennessee where they say "might could."
As in, "We might could do that tomorrow."
OH MY GOD!!! !^)#$&%!)$&*^)!
Gramps
You know, I very occasionally use “a-whole-nother,” and I’d never really thought about it. You’re abso-flippin’-lutely right. I’ll knock it off.
Heather
I love, love, love language idiosyncrasies! I say “instead of for” rather than just “instead of” and I have relatives from out of town who contrive to get me to say the word “bowl” as often as possible, and when I’m visiting my sister in the south, get told that people from OhiA talk to fast.
The one I can’t stand though is when my mother tries to say “croissant”. She mispronounces it every time. She also says the “t” in poT pourri.
Ashley
Hehe.
Butchering words is fun 🙂
ElizabethSheryl
“I Seen”
That phrase makes me want to commit homicide.
“I seen him at the store the other day”.
NOOOO, YOU SAW HIM. YOU SAW HIM AT THE STORE.
You’ve seen the movie Paul Blart mall cop 10 times, but you SAW Madea Goes To Prison yesterday.”
WHY IS IT SO HARD?!?
/mocking of dumb movies that are inexplicably popular
Tara R.
Using ‘ideal’ instead of ‘idea’ makes me cringe, and I HATE the word ‘irregardless.’
Hubs is a rocket scientist and gets apoplectic if someone says ‘nu-cle-ar’ instead of ‘nu-clear.’ I do it on purpose to watch him twitch.
Bee and Rose
I am a proud Circleville, Ohio girl and I lean toward the valley girl talk too! Woo hoo! Totally!
My husband pronounces wolf…wuf..ARGGGGGHHHH!
St
How did I not know we were both in Ohio?
Irregardless does bother me but I mostly enjoy the way different people talk.
Whole nother always makes me think of the guy on MAD TV. “A whole nutha level”
Julie in PA
Wow, I won’t tell you how long it took me to figure out what was wrong with the sentence “the dishes need done.” I have lived in Pennsylvania for years and apparently we don’t use adverbs here either. By the way, we don’t call our state Pennsylvania it’s PA. Take a trip to western PA once and you’ll discover a whole new language. They have made up words like “yens” as in “Are yens guys gonna go to Walmarts today?”
My pet peeves are when people use double negatives and don’t capitalize the word I. Someone else mentioned two that bother me also: the phrase “I could care less” and “I seen it,” I hate those too! Oh, and when people use the wrong to/too.
I had never even noticed the phrase “a whole nother,” now it’s going to bug me. Thanks a lot! 😉
Monica
Momo, your readers have restored my faith in humanity.
Irregardless drives me nutty, and I’m so pleased to see others feel the same way!
And I’m surprised I can’t come up with more, because I’m sure there are many…
Jill in MA
Oh, I’ve got so many, I’m sure I can’t remember them all. Here’s a few:
– irregardless
– nucular (instead of nuclear)
– improper use of myself (e.g. “If you have any questions, call Joe or myself.”)
– acrost instead of across (my husband does this and it makes me cringe)
metalia
“Irregardless” kills me. Oh, and also when people say “Tar-ZHAY” for Target, though that’s not a grammatical issue, so much as it is incredibly annoying to ME. 🙂
O My Blog!
48 comments and no one came up with the most annoying one yet!!
Di-int ex: Oh no he di-int!!
We have Nick Jr to thank for spreading this to the masses of impressionable toddlers via Dora the “I am incapable of prouncing words correctly” Explorer.
Keep it up Dora!! (and yes, I have noticed her cousins do it too)
Anonymous
I can’t believe nobody said “eXpecially”. That one kills me. Where does the “X” sound come from people?
Anonymous
I cannot stand it when people use “mines.”
“That’s mines.” “No, that’s mines!”
I correct my kids on it all day long and then some stranger walks in the room and exclaims, “Oooh boy, if these were kids were mines…”
I about want to die.
Bean
I rather like ” a-whole-nother”, as you know! It’s for emphasis! Like “La-dee-flippin’-da” (yes, I’m nearly 40 and overuse ‘like’ just a tad).
Not only “crans” for crayons, but “crowns” as well. GROSS! Hear that, Ryan Seacrest??
I have oh-so-many to name, but in the interest of time I’ll stick with one of my other top cringers … “heighth”. It’s “height”, people! Do you get your “weighth”, too?
I wonder if anyone will add “cringer” to their list.
katy
Chimeny instead of Chimney bothers me…
And liberry…
St
Julie in PA, I had to ponder that as well. After some thinking, I understand why it’s wrong but I’m still not sure how to fix it.
My sister is 30 and still says “fustrated”. It doesn’t bother me but I do hear it a lot.
kaila
I had a boyfriend that always said “reinverse” instead of “reimburse”. Drove me insane.
And it’s totally COO-pons.
Rikki
A girl I work with says “uzzz” instead of “us”. Drives me batty. As a Canadian living in Illinois, I also struggle with Chi-caa-go and everything sounding like it is being said through your nose.
Anonymous
I agree with “Bean”. HEIGHTH has to go! There is no “H” on the end people!
How ’bout I COULD CARE LESS. Don’t you really mean I COULDN’T CARE LESS?
Another “peeve”: TORE OFF (as in, “we got the whole roof tore off”) Can we utilize the past tense here and say TORN OFF?
Rebecca Anne
Wow! you kicked off a firestorm here.
I know I’m in the mix late because all my favorite irritations are already named.
Can I just say, yes, yes, that one doesn’t bother me, yes and I’m from Idaho, the land devoid of accent and creative slang.
Rebecca
Jared
Ohio language is the best! 😀
I’m a tid bit hillbilly/redneck, so you might have to excuse my severe Ohio speak. 😀
Coyote…pronounced Ki-Oat. Not Ki-yo-tee.
Creek…pronounced Crick. Not creeeek.
Racoon…the “Ra” is silent. It is just a coon.
Tire…pronouced Taar. Not Ty-er.
Wash…pronounced worsh. Not Waash.
A few other things about Ohians…
Living rooms are actually TV rooms.
Wash cloths are actually wash rags.
You have dinner about Noon and Supper in the evening. Lunch is non existant.
A big one is that…Ohioans usually end their questions with a preposition…
Where’s my coat at? Not, where is my coat?
You seen my keys around? Not, have you seen my keys?
Did you see what that bird was sittin’ on? Not, did you see where that bird was sitting?
Who’s she sitting beside? Not, who is sitting next to her?
Just a few examples… 😀
Ann in NJ
Rebecca Anne, I’m from Idaho too! And it’s not devoid of creative slang, you just have to move across the country to recognize it.
“You bet!”
(In NJ, we stand “on” line, rather than “in” line. Still can’t get used to that one, but it doesn’t annoy me.)
I just dislike people who type a similar-sounding word, which of course the spell-checker doesn’t catch, and I’m left wondering if they are ignorant or just sloppy?
Momma
My lovely husband uses quite a few words that I’m sure aren’t really words after all!
Slickery = slippery
Plogged = clogged
Fustrated = frustrated
Purdy = pretty
Crick = creek
Grudge = garage
grocery = Kroger or Giant Eagle but he never ever says grocery store!!!
But most of the time he just uses his Ohio-ness to confuse me in general conversation! Glad to know that I’m not the only who goes crazy when people just make up their own words! And I was raised in Ohio, but I’m told that I have a southern accent as soon as people find out I was born in Texas! Now, I only lived there for about 2 months, so if you can figure out how the hell I have an accent could you let me know…thanks!
Middle Aged Woman
lax-adaisical instead of lack-adaisical. If you can’t SAY the big word, don’t USE the big word. And nuke-yoo-ler, instead of noo-clee-ur. Dennis Miller said, “I don’t think you should get to have your hand on the red button if you can’t pronounce the word correctly.”
mrsmouthy
My sister moved from Seattle to Missouri and everyone thought she was putting on airs when she talked about going to the “plah-za” downtown. I don’t even know how to write their pronunciation of it!
Zerilda The Superfluous Blogger
i am plagued PLAGUED! by the pronunciation in this, the queen’s country, of “LEZURE” instead of “LEEEZURE”. but at least that’s proper here, it just bugs me.
my bigger pet peeves are the apostrophes, such as the hair dressers:
“Scissor’s and Tong’s”
AAAGHGH! if in doubt, leave it out!!!
meleah rebeccah
Um. I have the worst grammar and spelling and pronunciation issues, so I am totally choosing not to comment!
tera
I work for 911 and my callers seem hell-bent to drive me ’round the bend with their “di’nt” and “blah blah blah” (seriously, I have callers who use that phrase in every sentence…) and the term “baby daddy”. I hate that one most-most-most of all.
Mrs4444
fustrated. I find that VERY frustrating. Thanks for letting me vent 🙂
Dapoppins
I only know them when I hear them…my Mom really has the weirdest accent. And we grew up in the same town.
the planet of janet
i have an endless list… none of which i can remember now, of course.
Angie
My friend and I had these same discussions… I used to say Warsh, instead of Wash, but I guess I grew out of that. The word that she says that drives me up the wall; “Com-FORT-able” It’s cumfterble! SHEESH! Are you comfortable? Yes, I’m comfterble, thank you.
madoliv
OK, Here they are… Axed, as in “I axed my husband if he would do the dishes” – I know it’s a bit cultural, but STILL!
And…when people say they could care less. Well, if you could care less then why are you saying that? It’s COULDN”T care less!!!
Jamie E
Expressed-ly in place of especially or expressly…ergh.
LiteralDan
I made sure to go back in my feed reader to catch up on you, and am I glad I did. I’ve never heard anyone mention the “cran” pronunciation, but I tell you, I never knew there was another way to say it until my wife almost punched me in the face for the first of many times.
Now, for the sake of our kids, I try my best to say, “CRAYYYYYY-yon”. I maintain that I’m saying “craaaaaaaa’yn” but it’s just more subtle and sophisticated.
Like French, or something. Isn’t that how they created their whole language?
My personal list of language-based peeves, on the other hand, is a-whole-nother story.
Jaina
Lol, I’m still giggling over the valley girl comment. I grew up in THE valley, so I was a total valley girl. I hide it very well nowadays, but it definitely comes out when I get excited or animated about anything.
Words that annoy me…does the incorrect use of “plus” and “minus” in place of “add” or “subtract” (or vice versa) count?
Chandraleigh416
I hate when people say 'sister in laws' instead of 'sisters in law'.
Ron G.
Thank you for “A-Whole-Nother” (Or “Nuther” (as I spell it)) being your pet peeve. Glad to know I’m not the only one. I notice it all the time now. Not just people in real life, but on the news, documentaries, radio ….EVERYHWERE! I’m guessin’ people just got lazy and “…another whole…” just got too tough for most people.