it may not be a misuse exactly, but here is one that just bugs me.

it's the "as per" phrase that seems to getting used more and more.

Sounds pretentious, redundant and just a poor use of the language.
but i realize it may just be i.

oops. sincei'mbitchingaboutusesoflanguageishouldgetmygrammarrightedit
[Edited 7/18/07 8:09am]

HiinEnkelte said:

That one is annoying. Also when people go through the trouble of correctly constructing a phrase like, "The ground on which we stand," only to self-destruct by tacking on a redundant dangling preposition. Thus: "The ground on which we stand on."
[Edited 7/18/07 8:06am]

"Smart" is often used to describe people who are simply educated or knowledgeable.

"Cute" is often used to describe people who are generally attractive.

"Soccer" is often used to describe football.

"Deja Vu" is French for "already seen" and is used to refer to when a person experiences the feeling that they have seen, experienced, or been someplace before.

It doesn't mean that you see someone everywhere or can't forget about someone.

Yea Beyonce, I'm talking to you!

Know that I can't get over you
'Cause everything I see is you
And I don't want no substitute
Baby I swear it's Deja Vu
Know that I can't get over you
'Cause everything I see is you
And I don't want no substitute
Baby I swear it's Deja Vu

rushing07 said:

Spinal Tap's "Smell the Glove" album would haver sounded much better if it had been recorded in Dublin.

Lammastide said:

yup.

another one that really bugs me is the lost distinction between 'cannot' and 'can not'.

One is in the mode of necessity,
and the other is in the mode of possibility.

Example 1. I cannot afford the prince show. I'm totally broke.

Example 2. A wife says to her husband, "you can not go to my mother's birthday party this weekend, and that would be fine with me."

or: i can not cut people off in traffic, and not be a jerk. or i can.

This is really getting picky, and 'cannot' (or can't) and 'can not' are supposed to be considered interchangeable now. still bugs me, but oh well.

.
[Edited 7/18/07 9:01am]

HiinEnkelte said:

That's one I've all but totally 86ed.
[Edited 7/18/07 9:08am]

"Literally"

ever hear anyone use the word 'heighth' instead of 'height'?

Snausages

This word is COMPLETELY misused! I have heard many a man refer to his pecker as a Snausage. This is a tasty dog treat for your pet...not a pet name for your tiny love muscle...cause snausages are tiny.

If you name your pee pee is a snausage then you should not be able to find it in your naughty jungle of love. Damn snausages...

HiinEnkelte said:

YES

HiinEnkelte said:

Oh.

"Expresso".

Espresso, people. ESSSSSsssspressso.

I don't like hearing people say, "I could care less," in reference to something about which they care very little. That's wrong! Because they already care so very little, the expression is properly stated as "I couldn't care less."
[Edited 7/18/07 11:40am]

HereToRockYourWorld said:

tell it sister! Express yourself.

Lammastide said:

i could care less about the difference between the two.


No, really i could!

Lammastide said:

Oh, yeah, that one too.

I have to get off of this thread, it's stoking my misanthropy. . .

when people say insiduous instead of insidious.

"I have to get orientated to this new computer system".

Annoys the hell out of me.

HiinEnkelte said:

Me too.

HiinEnkelte said:

which is to say of course that i do care and it bugs me!


makesurei'mssuperclearedit

HiinEnkelte said:

Don't worry, you were being perfectly clear. But now you've ruined your own witty comment by overclarifying it.

another one that bugs me is the current usage of the word 'protest', which should stand as an obvious antonym to the word 'contest' (as a verb).

you hear people say they are protesting the war, which is taken to mean the same thing as protesting against the war.

to protest should (in my world anyway) always mean to speak on behalf of something, to furnish a case for a particular position. as in, oj simpson still protests his innocence.

i contest the justification of the war.
i protest the justification of the war.

these two sentences above should not mean essentially the same thing(!)

When protest is used in the above sense to express an objection I think it should be used with the preposition "against" so that one doesn't mean precisely the opposite of what one intends.
that's just me though. i know that the above is an accepted use for the meaning intended, but still though, just sayin'.

retina said:

i know i did!

but you did get it right off

Lammastide said:

We used that where I'm from. It was just a nice way of calling someone stupid.

"Same difference"

...when it should be either 'same thing' or 'NO difference'.

'would of' instead of 'would have'

ZombieKitten said:

Damn!

Lammastide said:

I had that discussion with my dad not long ago