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'.

People also misuse "schizophrenic" too often.

Although its etymology does stem from the Greek for "split mind," that split refers to mental functions that typically work together -- stimuli reception and response; cognition and belief; or formation of thought and the ability to articulate or physically act on it in an organized way, for example. Schizophrenia does not mean a split in personalities such that one person or thing has five or six entities inside of them.

What about when people say fusstrated instead of frustrated. It's like they think it's more appropriate because it's got the word fuss in it.

Also, this may be a hick Minnesota thing but my mom likes to say "you's two". Like "You's two better get along."

greenpixies said:

I like to spell that "youse"

ZombieKitten said:

So you know people that say it?

greenpixies said:

I say it even!

ZombieKitten said:

Huh. And you live in Australia. I guess it's a global thing.