Sayings that really get me mad!

[keyholekatebaron]

I cringe every time anyone says "None of us is getting any younger"
Another I fail to understand is a building "raised to the ground".
Feel better now I've got that off my chest!
regards,keyhole kate.

[factor-fiction]

Regarding jalapeno/halapeno

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=jalapeno

I remember in the Falklands War TV news reporters referred to the military 'hunta' rather than 'junta'

[jd_here]

'C Dificile' pronounced as a French word, sadly too few people pronounce it properly, even the BBC are guilty!

[conewood]

@factor30. That is because it is pronounced 'hunta'.

[Ann]

How about "LESSONS WILL BE LEARNT" - Grrr -just an excuse for governments etc wriggling out of a sticky situation.

[DaisyNonna]

razed to the ground. completely obliterated.

[MarkRae]

> And there's is nothing wrong with 'almost unique'. It here are only two or three of something left on the planet, then each is almost unique. What IS wrong is 'very unique' or 'more unique'.

On the assumption that you're not joking, unique means one of a kind. It either is or it isn't...

[Bert]

Correct, I'm not joking. I can see nothing wrong with 'almost unique'. I agree things are either unique or they are not unique, and to say something is almost unique is, in effect saying that it is not unique. But it also implies that there are not many of them. You can have a colour that is almost black, can't you? You can almost get a first class degree. You can almost pass your driving test.

[emmie]

"In all honesty", when it's anything but

[MarkRae]

> Correct, I'm not joking. I can see nothing wrong with 'almost unique'. I agree things are either unique or they are not unique, and to say something is almost unique is, in effect saying that it is not unique. But it also implies that there are not many of them.

You've just contradicted yourself! Something can't be 'almost unique' - it is, as you say, either unique or not. If something is extremely rare, then that's precisely what it is - extremely rare, not almost unique.

[Bert]

Well, we might as well cut the word 'almost' out of the dictionary then, as there is clearly no need for it.
I did not contradict myself, I just disagreed with you. You can only pass or fail your driving test, but you can make lots of errors and fail comprehensively or you can make one minor error more than the allowed number, which still means you failed, but only just. So you almost passed. Just google "almost unique" and you will find plenty of authorities that agree with me. Even one that appears to agree with you (English Grammar for Dummies) then gives an example that the writer considers to be correct - 'nearly perfect'. I can see no difference in principle between 'nearly perfect', 'almost perfect', and 'almost unique'.

[Bert]

I googled "almost unique", but the search engine actually worked on "almost unique grammar".

[Sir Alec]

"Cheer up, it may never happen!" said by some eejit or other.
I'm miserable because 'it' has already happened!

[Amy90]

The one word which has lost its proper meaning is 'literally'. I cringe every time I hear chef Gary Rhodes on TV saying that 'you literally put the flour into the butter and mix. Or people who say 'I literally just got here'. Maybe they should look up the definition of the word.

[MarkRae]

^^ cf hopefully, momentarily etc

[weecalf]

Annoying to say the least .On quiz shows .The well paid presenter asking ."What would you do with the money if you won it ." Lots of people do tell what they hope to do with it .Wouldnt you just like it if someone said ."What do you do with the money you get from this prog .?