OT - Sorry, but it bothers me

[Zorro]

My list of words falling into this category of misuse by typo is lengthy, but I have a few favorites to share.

It seems common for sportswriters to use reign instead of the correct rein. "Summitt turned the coaching reigns over to Warlick."​

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Peak instead of peek. Judgement instead of judgment (just one "e"). Supercede instead of supersede. (No "c." Honest.)​

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Confusion about affect/effect. This troubled me for years until I learned the simple rule: Affect is a verb, effect is a noun; the exception is that effect becomes a verb only when vigorous action is applied.​

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Lots of smart people struggle with it's and its. First, you should amputate its' painlessly from your usage practice; it's an impossible construct. Next, use it's when you want to say it is. Use its to indicate possession. "It's a pain to remember the grammar rule and its proper application."​

Enough for today. Permit a reminiscence. I once assisted an academic friend with a humungous treatise about the relationship, if any, between pornography and rape. Throughout, he had used casual when causal was called for. He remains grateful for my little bail-out job.

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When I was introducing my students to the scientific method, I was always at great pains to point out to them the difference between a "causal relationship" and a "casual relationship". And I would still get papers telling me that there was a casual relationship between, say, smoking and lung cancer.

 

[Zorro]

Can I add to the list?
It's pissed, not pist
It's a moot point, not a mute point
Cite, site and sight all have three different meanings (LOL, once a 3am finishing up on a term paper I actually typed and submitted - "Works Sighted" instead of "Works Cited". My teacher had a field day with that one!)
Frustrated, not Flustrated

"Flustrated" is a portmanteau word, meaning "frustrated and flustered."

 

[MilfordHusky]

You've all left out the one that most sets my teeth on edge -- "to try and..." instead of "to try to...". It's common usage now, but it still sounds WRONG.

That one I've heard. And maybe used.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I dated a girl from York, PA many moons ago and she related some funny quirks of language from (IIRC) the Pennsylvania Dutch.

My favorite was: "The yard needs mowed."

Very Pennsylvania. I've heard that and similar a lot.

 

[Zorro]

Very Texas, too."That JR, that boy just NEEDED killin!" But let's not get too prescriptive. Would you really like Kirk and the guys to "go boldly" rather than "to boldly go"? It just doesn't ring the same. Or Mick to sing "I can't get any satisfaction"? Or Country Joe to call his great anti-war song "The I Feel as Though I am About to Die Rag" instead of "The I Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die Rag"?

 

[tomcat]

I agree with all the OP's complaints, but the one that drives me bonkers is adding an apostrophe to pluralize something, as the OP did with the word TYPO'S, which should be typos. Please, people, stop with the plurals with an apostrophe, which is supposed to indicate possession, not plurals. A great reference on the subject is the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves."

 

[Kibitzer]

Nor do I, must be new. I do, however, remember JRRRJ's "to try and..." Youins will do well to not get me started about the PA abuses of language.

I can't vouch for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but I will make the case for the unique dialect I know well as "Pittsburghese," the precious language of my great old home tahn. There everyone cheers for the Stillers. They enjoy an occasional can of pop on a hot day after eating a sammitch. But what is rilly good is the dominant local beer -- just tell the bartender that you want an Arn City. If you are ever excessively inquisitive, you are nebby, and you must be careful when you walk on the ice ahtside, because the sidewalk may be slippy. If you patronize a restaurant on The Strip, you may hear a customer ask another person, "Jeet yet?" (Translation: "Have you eaten yet?") The response may be, "No, Joo?" ("No, did you?")

To this day I still ask my wife to "outen the light" or request my daughter to "redd up" her room.

So now all of yinz have an idea about Pittsburghese.

And someday you might shop in a big store dahntahn that is called Yinzers. Honest

 

[Woof 101]

It's ROLE model or player not ROLL

It's FAZE not PHASE

It's THREAD not TREAD

TYPO's are excused (especially without a keyboard) - sometimes they are very comical !

PS - My posts are not perfect either, but these are pet peeves and I had to vent.

And this applies from everyone from Presidents to newscasters, more of a pronunciation issue - it's nuclear that's new-kleer not new-q-ler

May you never stumble upon the football side. You would suffer cardiac detest for sure. One glimpse of an HFD post would have you reeling for days.

Obviously a die hard fan just a little twisted. This with posts that are beyond a IQ test.

 

[Icebear]

Kib, I would like to point out that no one walks on Ice. Least not without running the risk of losing a limb. Excuse me now while I red up the area.

 

[Kibitzer]

Kib, I would like to point out that no one walks on Ice. Least not without running the risk of losing a limb. Excuse me now while I red up the area.

Sorry, Padre, but true Pittsburghese calls for two d's: Redd up. And while you're at it, fasten those loose papers in a gumband!

 

[Icebear]

Sorry, Padre, but true Pittsburghese calls for two d's: Redd up. And while you're at it, fasten those loose papers in a gumband!

Apparently, one of the Ds was too tired to make it all the way to mid state because around here most often I see one D.

 

[Kibitzer]

Apparently, one of the Ds was too tired to make it all the way to mid state because around here most often I see one D.

My own recollection (two d's in redd) is reinforced by Barbara Johnstone, Professor of Rhetoric and Linguistics in the English Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Find her at something like English.CMU.edu.PittsburghSpeech. Expert testimony.

 

[Icebear]

My own recollection (two d's in redd) is reinforced by Barbara Johnstone, Professor of Rhetoric and Linguistics in the English Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Find her at something like English.CMU.edu.PittsburghSpeech. Expert testimony.

But biased by her Pittsburgh location. Quick check on the internet finds both derivations. Apparently the root maybe the English immigrants in Ontario.

 

[CCinCT]

And it's LOSE not LOOSE !

 

[Icebear]

And it's LOSE not LOOSE !

That is a TonyCism.

 

[meyers7]

And it's LOSE not LOOSE !

Although not around here. Many of us use it improperly on purpose. It goes back aways.

Another that I ran across in my travels. People who frequent the Jersey Shore, at least the southern part (lot's with vacation homes from Philly area) say "down the shore". For instance, we are going down the shore this weekend. Or it was hot down the shore last weekend.

Ex-wife's family used to have a place "down the shore".

 

[CCinCT]

My late best friend and his sister and brother-in-law introduced me to "innit".

That's Jersey City for isn't it.

Or you could take my own m'as well for might as well.