We got an email from the high school yesterday. The subject: "New guidelines for out athletic events."



I want to respond, "are out athletic events, away games?"


I would hope a SCHOOL would be a bit more careful to avoid typos in its mass communications.

Just remembered more of my favorites..

"suposably" "supposaBLY?" is used instead of supposedly.

I heard a woman say "as someone who was formerly a teacher..." what? you no longer used to be a teacher? Don't you mean "as a former teacher..?"

A huge pet peeve of mine is 'irregardless.' To me, it's worse than nails on a chalkboard.

Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that “there is no such word.” There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

A word used by uneducated people intending to sound intelligent. Often, the defendant will use this word in court in an attempt to impress the judge and jury. Educated people notice and those who use this word instantly identify themselves to educated people as being uneducated. Educated people rarely correct them because it helps educated people more easily identify them if they are well groomed.

Well.... THAT was totally copied from a site on the internet. I am soooooooooo not smart!!

More on Irregardless....

Used by people who ignorantly mean to say regardless. According to webster, it is a word, but since the prefix "ir" and the suffx "less" both mean "not or with" they cancel each other out, so what you end up with is regard. When you use this to try to say you don't care about something, you end up saying that you do. Of course everyone knows what you mean to say and only a pompous,rude ******** will correct you.
Wife: "Irregardless is not a word, dummy"
Husband: "Kiss my ******** biotch! I'm still going to the strip club tonight!"

all that was copied from the Urban Dictionary.

My biggest pet peeve is people typing in text speak on forums, Facebook, emails. When I see someone type in "B4" for "before," I cringe. I want to shout, "It's BEFORE, not B4! We speak English, not bingo!"

• BlingQueenRia Said:

Sing it, sister!!

And don't forget the ever-popular viola instead of voila. It just makes me cringe when I see someone write, "...and so you adhere the embellie and viola!"

• meezerpleaser Said:

I don't even type in text-speak when I'm texting!

I had a boss, YEARS ago, give me a handwritten document to type. He had horrible handwriting, but I could usually decipher it.

He wrote "b4." For the life of me, I could NOT figure out what the heck he meant, and had to ask him.

This was eons before text-speak.

I thought it was dumb then, and still do.

Kat, thanks so much for that information. I feel like the Urban Dictionary is giving excuses for people's ignorance. Yes, I know what they mean. That doesn't mean it's okay. Given the name, it will not be a resource for Ivy League students.

The text speak makes me crazy, but it reminds me of eighth grade when I wrote in yearbooks:
2 good
+ 2 b
4 gotten

• meezerpleaser Said:

Don't forget 'walah' or 'wallah' to mean voila (where is the accent key on this keyboard?).

Drives me nuts.

How about this one which was in a work email I received today?

"We have attempted to answer Mr ******* questions of which seem to be the same ones each time. "

The author of that sentence is a huge offender and I have a difficult time not correcting every error he makes. Sometimes he is smart enough to ask me to proof things but when he strikes out on his own this is what we get.

• GMFTS Said:

That's a train wreck!

Today's offenders in my office:

Pitcher instead of picture
Relator instead of realtor

And both of those really bug me. Well, like many here, so MUCH grammar/pronunciation madness bugs me!

I just saw a storage box labeled, "button's."





Why do so many people insist on using an apostrophe in a plural word?!

I wish I had a nickel...no, a PENNY for each unnecessary apostrophe. I'd be a very rich woman and could afford all kinds of scrappy goodness!

Maybe that was button's own, personal box?

Sometimes I want to take a red pen and correct every grammar error I see, much to the delight of my high school English teacher.

Also, Android phones have a stupid Swype feature, where you slide your finger to type. Worst invention ever.