Writers who put:
"Xxxxx," he thought to himself.
(or the female equivalent).
Other than in Sci-Fi, to whom else could (s)he be thinking?
YOU'RE as in YOU ARE and YOUR as in YOUR UMBRELLA.
So freakin annoying
One of my pet peeves is the improper use of the reflexive pronouns ... myself and yourself.
"How are you?"
"Fine ... and yourself?" Arrgghh ... Should be YOU!
John, Mary, and myself were at the meeting. .... Arrgghh ... John, Mary, and I ...
Another one that I just recently heard for the first time: "honing in" ... It's "homing in"! You can hone your skills but you home in a target.
Lazy speech, "like," and "init" and "ya know what I mean"
If I do understand what 'ya' mean will 'ya' go home?
Here's more on the subject of eggregious word choices. I need to rant about the use of "that" in reference to people. Unles one means "that person, as opposed to another", the proper usage is "who".
e.g. I am the person who called yesterday. NOT: I am the person that called yesterday.
"There's only three tempos: slow, medium and fast. When you get between in the cracks, ain't nuthin' happenin'." Ben Webster
MRH posted: "Orientated" (They mean oriented)
An ogden nash-like bit of doggerel comes to mind:
Those who say, "orientated"
Have misstated
And should be berated.
"There's only three tempos: slow, medium and fast. When you get between in the cracks, ain't nuthin' happenin'." Ben Webster
I just remembered my all time favourite Winston Churchill quote regarding proper English usage. In reference to the commonplace but technically incorrect practice of ending a sentence with a preposition he said:
"That is the kind of pedantic nitpicking, up with which I will not put."
“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”
― P.J. O'Rourke
double negatives, "not going nowhere" or "im not doing nothing" Grrr that annoys me lol ;)
At the top of my list is the use of third-person plural when third-person singular is correct. "When you bring your child to the sleepover, check to see that they brought their toothbrush." He or she and his or her is correct.
I have NEVER heard of a woman giving birth to an adult. Why, then, does the dialog proceed as follows?
"Congratulations! I heard that your wife gave birth. What did she have?"
"A baby girl."
I have NEVER heard of a woman giving birth to an adult. Why, then, does the dialog proceed as follows?
"Congratulations! I heard that your wife gave birth. What did she have?"
"A baby girl."
It drives me bonkers when people say things like, "It needs washed." No, it does not. "It needs washing."
"It needs turned off." No! "It needs turning off."
Damn them. At least when I use bad grammar and madey-uppy words, I usually do it on purpose, not because I'm simply incompetent (that's only one small element).
Ut incepit fidelis, sic permanet.
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"I could care less".....they mean "I COULDN'T care less."
jeet yet?? Did you eat yet???
How about "another words" when it should be "in other words". I barely notice it when somebody says that, but when I see it written, my brain hits a speed bump.
Moot point is correct. 
