Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Really annoying things people say
106 Answers
I'll do this here instead of on another thread that made me think of it. Does it annoy you when people use words in the wrong way or use the wrong word in a sentence?
For example, my boyfriend frequently says the word "went" instead of "gone". Like, "We could have went there". It reeealllly grates on me.
For example, my boyfriend frequently says the word "went" instead of "gone". Like, "We could have went there". It reeealllly grates on me.
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There are actually eleven pronunciations of 'ough' in British speech, though there are only eight in standard English. Have a look at this passage containing them:-
The wind soughed (*) through the trees, as the rough, dough-faced Irish ploughman walked thoughtfully from Hillsborough to Lough (*) Neagh. He coughed, then hiccoughed and fell, hurting his hough (*).
The three with asterisks after them are not standard English pronunciations.
a. sough - the Scottish pronunciation of this word is ‘sooch', with the 'ch' as in 'Johann Sebastian Bach'.
b. lough - the Irish word for 'lake', which is actually pronounced the same as ‘loch' in Scotland - ‘Loch Ness Monster' etc. The ‘ch' as in ‘Bach', too.
c. hough - again, Scottish, but this time pronounced 'hock'. It means the ankle-joint (generally of an animal, so used rather ‘freely' above).
I never understand why people are happy to include the Irish word 'lough', saying there are nine ‘ough' sounds, but never consider the two Scottish pronunciations.
So...in standard English, there are 8 'oughs', but in British speech, there are 11. In the passage above, the words are pronounced: ooch, oo, uff, oh, ow, aw, e, och, off, up and ock.
The wind soughed (*) through the trees, as the rough, dough-faced Irish ploughman walked thoughtfully from Hillsborough to Lough (*) Neagh. He coughed, then hiccoughed and fell, hurting his hough (*).
The three with asterisks after them are not standard English pronunciations.
a. sough - the Scottish pronunciation of this word is ‘sooch', with the 'ch' as in 'Johann Sebastian Bach'.
b. lough - the Irish word for 'lake', which is actually pronounced the same as ‘loch' in Scotland - ‘Loch Ness Monster' etc. The ‘ch' as in ‘Bach', too.
c. hough - again, Scottish, but this time pronounced 'hock'. It means the ankle-joint (generally of an animal, so used rather ‘freely' above).
I never understand why people are happy to include the Irish word 'lough', saying there are nine ‘ough' sounds, but never consider the two Scottish pronunciations.
So...in standard English, there are 8 'oughs', but in British speech, there are 11. In the passage above, the words are pronounced: ooch, oo, uff, oh, ow, aw, e, och, off, up and ock.
Quizmonster: I like your'e post! I'ts very interesting. Wot I hate the mostest, is when people simply do'nt talk proper, don,t spell proper , and put commers before AND'S and punctuate sooooo badly that the text is almost unreadable!
Exactly how I've written this, is exactly what I hate! Still, yours is a very interesting post and made me realise just how complex our language is!
Exactly how I've written this, is exactly what I hate! Still, yours is a very interesting post and made me realise just how complex our language is!
I hate people who use the phrase "end of" to imply all has been said that's relevant and their word is final, it's usually used by a Jeremy Kyle type of person, an oral 2 finger salute.
I would also like people to differentiate between fewer and less, There are fewer people, they weigh less. Few is discrete data, ie enumerated, Less is continuous data, ie measured to a required degree of accuracy.
I would also like people to differentiate between fewer and less, There are fewer people, they weigh less. Few is discrete data, ie enumerated, Less is continuous data, ie measured to a required degree of accuracy.
"My workplace is fewer than two miles from home, so it takes a taxi fewer than ten minutes to get me there and the driver charges fewer than four pounds." Would anyone say that? I suspect not, yet miles, minutes and pounds are all countable nouns.
OK, the above example is just a little mischievous, because all three quantities concerned are considered as elements in a sequence rather than a collection of individual items. The concept of a journey of two miles is not thought of in quite the same way as a bag with two apples in it.
Nevertheless, there simply are situations which demand the demotic/idiomatic ‘less' rather than the - supposedly - correct ‘fewer'. The latter became ‘correct' only in the 18th century in any case. Prior to that, many writers used ‘less' where purists (or pedants) now demand ‘fewer'.
(cont)
OK, the above example is just a little mischievous, because all three quantities concerned are considered as elements in a sequence rather than a collection of individual items. The concept of a journey of two miles is not thought of in quite the same way as a bag with two apples in it.
Nevertheless, there simply are situations which demand the demotic/idiomatic ‘less' rather than the - supposedly - correct ‘fewer'. The latter became ‘correct' only in the 18th century in any case. Prior to that, many writers used ‘less' where purists (or pedants) now demand ‘fewer'.
(cont)
As time passes, we'll see much more of ‘less' and much less of ‘fewer', you may count on it! As an old-timer, I still differentiate between them, but I don't complain about people who choose not to... or don't know that they ‘should'. Even English examiners have been known to produce the instruction: "Write a précis of this passage in 50 words or less", never mind the supermarkets with their till-signs saying: "Ten items or less"!
It must be remembered, however, that there is a considerable difference - in terms of meaning - between a teacher telling his class: a) "Write fewer funny compositions" as opposed to: b) "Write less funny compositions." The sentence at ‘a' would mean they'd been writing too many of these and should try to cut the quantity down and ‘b' would mean the pupils were welcome to go on writing them, but the compositions should not be quite as amusing!
It must be remembered, however, that there is a considerable difference - in terms of meaning - between a teacher telling his class: a) "Write fewer funny compositions" as opposed to: b) "Write less funny compositions." The sentence at ‘a' would mean they'd been writing too many of these and should try to cut the quantity down and ‘b' would mean the pupils were welcome to go on writing them, but the compositions should not be quite as amusing!
