Linguistic pet peeves

[rastahomie]

People with little kids (usually boy/girl) and they refer to the girl as 'sissy' (i.e. Sister) instead of using her proper name.

Mrs. Homie is pushing 43. To this day they call her "Sis" (she has an older brother). She's used to it.

 

[DaisyJ]

I'm from the Chicago suburbs. It drives me nuts when people say Ill-i-noise. The S is silent
It also bugs me when people add an S to the end of a store name. The Jewels. WalMarts...

We call it Illinoise to be funny. Or we just say FIBs instead.

 

[mom2rtk]

Mrs. Homie is pushing 43. To this day they call her "Sis" (she has an older brother). She's used to it.

My late MIL always went by "Sis". She asked me to call her that as well. It always felt awkward.

 

[Pixiedustaway]

My late MIL always went by "Sis". She asked me to call her that as well. It always felt awkward.

My grandpa (my moms dad) called my aunt "sis". No one knows why.

 

[siskaren]

Language things that make me crazy:

>I's, as in, "Today is my husband and I's anniversary." No, "Today is my husband's and my anniversary."

Ugh, I forgot about that one!

>Then there is the whole issue of misusing apostrophes. Apostrophes are used to indicate possession or a contraction, NOT a plural.

Preach it, sister! And actually, that's another peeve of mine - not putting a comma in a sentence similar to the one I just wrote. I recently saw this on a sign outside a business that shows why they're important:

LET'S EAT GRANDMA
LET'S EAT, GRANDMA
COMMAS SAVE LIVES

>Many of the confusions previously listed: Lose/loose, weigh/weight, using of instead of have, leaving the -ed off of things (suppose/supposed, etc).

Another one I just remembered is waste/waist.

I'm from the Chicago suburbs. It drives me nuts when people say Ill-i-noise. The S is silent
It also bugs me when people add an S to the end of a store name. The Jewels. WalMarts...

Are you saying that you're hearing locals say Ill-i-noise? I don't think I ever have (fellow Chicago suburbanite).

 

[rastahomie]

Calling Missouri "Missour-uh." No one calls it that. No one.

Calling Missouri "Misery." That joke was old in 1821 (when we received statehood).

 

[mom2rtk]

Calling Missouri "Missour-uh." No one calls it that. No one.

I almost listed that one but figured everyone on the eastern side of the state would object. I thought the ones in western MO were the only ones who pronounce it "Missour-uh".

 

[leebee]

I almost listed that one but figured everyone on the eastern side of the state would object. I thought the ones in western MO were the only ones who pronounce it "Missour-uh".

My FIL is from Kansas, and he always says "Missour-uh," to the point where my husband (an upstate NY/Ohio boy) says it. OF course, my FIL also says "Warshington," but my husband better not!!

 

[mom2rtk]

My FIL is from Kansas, and he always says "Missour-uh," to the point where my husband (an upstate NY/Ohio boy) says it. OF course, my FIL also says "Warshington," but my husband better not!!

Your FIL would be very much in the minority in the KC metro area.

When politicians run for office, I can almost always tell what part of the state they are from based on how they pronounce the name of the state.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I am surprised I haven't seen my pet peeve yet.

"I could care less," when you really mean "I couldn't care less."

If you COULD care less, then the saying probably isn't appropriate.

 

[rastahomie]

I almost listed that one but figured everyone on the eastern side of the state would object. I thought the ones in western MO were the only ones who pronounce it "Missour-uh".

I've been all over this state: north, east, south, west, major cities and small towns. "Missour-uh" is not a thing.

 

[karensi]

It's more like VW-ALA

It looks like a tongue twister but it's not.

Thank you so much kimblebee, it was so helpful to be able to actually hear the pronunciation.

I just thought of another pet peeve I've been hearing lately. It's when people say "guyses" or "kidses" to indicate that they're referring to a group of guys or kids.
This is something that I've just started hearing in the last year or so.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Thank you so much kimblebee, it was so helpful to be able to actually hear the pronunciation.

I just thought of another pet peeve I've been hearing lately. It's when people say "guyses" or "kidses" to indicate that they're referring to a group of guys or kids.
This is something that I've just started hearing in the last year or so.

Is this because of possession? I don't mean demonic - I mean the possessive tense of the words guys and kids. Like "you guys' candy". Or "the kids' candy"? Now I know that the extra "ez" sound to denote possession/apostrophe is not correctly pronounced here but it could be somewhat of an excuse or understandable to say like that in that case. Example - my husband's name is Chris and if I talk about his stinky old lounge pants, I could say "Chris' lounge pants stink of old man farts" (Chris' would be pronounced "Chris-es"). See what I mean?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

People who pronounce "Reese's" (as in the peanut butter cup) "Reese eaze".

It's "Reese is". Belonging to a person named "Reese".

Rhymes with "pieces". Which is part of the reason they were named "Reese's pieces".

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Many pronunciation differences and some weird pluralizations I can chalk up to location and vernacular.

The misuse of homophones gets me, but by far and away my biggest linguistic pet peeve is that the poor word nonplus (usually as nonplussed) is so misused that almost everybody misunderstands what you're trying to say when using it correctly.

Bemused was used incorrectly so much that Merriam-Webster capitulated and wry amusement is now listed as an official definition.

 

[katie01]

I see the word "mortified" misused all the time. For instance, people will say, "I was mortified that there was a car crash involving 10 people". And I always stop and wonder why they were embarrassed when they weren't even there on the highway and had nothing to do with causing the crash, until I realize they probably meant "horrified".