Linguistic Pet Peeves

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Okay, y'all. In spite of what some people will say, your use of language will influence what people think of you, and how intelligent and/or competent they think you are.

My current number one: You don't LOOSE your license, you lose it. (If your license is loose, you need to capture it...)

Don't even get me started on loosing YOU'RE license...

What are other some other linguistic "nails on chalkboard" for folks?

Yes. It's correct. It's just a different dialect of English. It's a modernized version of Scottish "ye aw," and American Southern English is considered a legitimate dialect of English, including the word "ain't." These are not considered 'standard English,' or acceptable for formal writing, but they are not *wrong*.

Yep. I will literally whine until the cows come home about people using incorrect language (see what I did there?) but the reality - in addition to the fact that people will judge you for your use of language - is that language is fluid.

Your use of language is influenced by the quality of your education, the language used by those around you, and your innate abilities. It's not realistic to say that every adult who has struggled to write the correct word (their/they're/there, etc) for decades is simply not trying hard enough. There are loads of different types of intellectual abilities, and sometimes language just isn't at the top of someone's list.

I used to judge people harshly based on their speech, especially "country" (rural/redneck/southern) type pronunciation and word use. One thing that helped me work on that was a classmate who was as country as it gets. She was also brilliant. Listening to her talking about concepts I didn't even understand yet gave my prejudice a pretty good kick in the pants.

So for the most part I don't really truly judge people unless their language is atrocious or they are in a position (back to the "new scheudle!" bulletin from the CNO...) where they should be held to a higher standard. I still enjoy my weekend volunteer position with the grammar police, though.

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Specializes in Psych.
Yep. I will literally whine until the cows come home about people using incorrect language (see what I did there?) but the reality - in addition to the fact that people will judge you for your use of language - is that language is fluid.

Your use of language is influenced by the quality of your education, the language used by those around you, and your innate abilities. It's not realistic to say that every adult who has struggled to write the correct word (their/they're/there, etc) for decades is simply not trying hard enough. There are loads of different types of intellectual abilities, and sometimes language just isn't at the top of someone's list.

I used to judge people harshly based on their speech, especially "country" (rural/redneck/southern) type pronunciation and word use. One thing that helped me work on that was a classmate who was as country as it gets. She was also brilliant. Listening to her talking about concepts I didn't even understand yet gave my prejudice a pretty good kick in the pants.

So for the most part I don't really truly judge people unless their language is atrocious or they are in a position (back to the "new scheudle!" bulletin from the CNO...) where they should be held to a higher standard. I still enjoy my weekend volunteer position with the grammar police, though.[/QUO

It's very enlightened of you, and I don't mean to sound pretentious. I'm sure I have my own faults and prejudices when it comes to hearing people speak, but I try to remember exactly what you said. Before becoming a nurse I majored in Linguistics and I found it fascinating that so many ways of speaking that I had been taught were 'wrong' were simply regional variations, and indeed, fluid, as you say. I have always been curious to know what number of a population speaking in any given variation for any length of time solidifies that accent or word choice as an official dialect. How many people need to be recruited [passively, I suppose] to speak a certain way before linguistic scholars designate their spoken anomaly with a formal name? Anyhow...

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Specializes in LTC & home care.
abbnurse said:
Oh, the dreaded upspeak !! I have a coworker who ALWAYS speaks this way......"So, my name is Kelly? And I'll be doing your ultrasound today? And then you will meet with Dr. Smith?"....on and on and on. 

I agree, "upspeak" is annoying, though honestly I don't hear it much.

I have several friends in the Pittsburgh area, and they do the opposite. When they ask a question, they inflect the last word downward instead of up. "Are you going swimming." "Did he call you yet." To me, it's absolutely adorable. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but it makes my visits that much more fun.

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Specializes in OB.
People in a specific region of the US bother me when they say: "That car needs washed." NO NO NO. That car needs to be washed.

I had never heard this before in my life until I met my husband, who's from the Pittsburgh area. Definitely grating. However, I love the Pittsburgh version of "y'all"---"yinz."

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Specializes in ORTHO, PCU, ED.
Y'all is not a word, or even a proper contraction.

Ah come on. Yall is so common down here in the South. No one says "Bye you all!" its "Bye yall!"

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Specializes in ORTHO, PCU, ED.

My mom always says, "Grandma...oh my...she doesn't even remember where the fridge is anymore...that 'all-timers.'" MOM IT'S ALZHEIMERS!!!

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Specializes in Peds Critical Care, Dialysis, General.

I hate to even write these....theirself or hisself. I cringe when I hear this from people with at least a high school education. I was educated at what some would consider a "backwood country school." My classmates and I had better than average grammar skills in college. That someone with any college experience uses these words is beyond belief

I can still diagram a sentence.

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My mom always says, "Grandma...oh my...she doesn't even remember where the fridge is anymore...that 'all-timers.'" MOM IT'S ALZHEIMERS!!!

LOL

I had forgotten about that one but I hear it from my mom (and others) too!

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I've never heard this from anyone else but my mom also says "torlet" for toilet.

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I hate to even write these....theirself or hisself. I cringe when I hear this from people with at least a high school education. I was educated at what some would consider a "backwood country school." My classmates and I had better than average grammar skills in college. That someone with any college experience uses these words is beyond belief

I can still diagram a sentence.

Me, too. I grew up in Appalachia, but ironically my English education was better than average. I graduated with a class of 60, and only a few went to college. We all were taught proper grammar, but the culture was oppressive.

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I've never heard this from anyone else but my mom also says "torlet" for toilet.

My husband says "commode." He never spills anything; he "wastes" it. Regionalism influences word choices and pronunciation, which I think is different from poor grammar.

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Specializes in ER.

Why is it that some people pronounce a 'th' sound at the end of the word 'height'?

Width and length end with 'th', height ends with 'ht'. And all three have inexplicable spelling! Did someone with dyslexia change the spelling of height, and it's really supposed to end with'th'?

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