Linguistic Pet Peeves

[Jedrnurse]

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?

[FurBabyMom, MSN, RN]

Irregardless. (sigh)

They're / their / there

"Ax" for ask.

I'm sure there's more...but this is it for right now.

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

When people say ax instead of ask. I...just...can't. I have heard it from Doctors and dishwashers. I could just go Lizzy Borden on them.

Also lieberry (library) and finna (about to). I love being from the south but...

[WinterLilac]

Two of my BIGGEST peeves:

"I haven't done nothing!" As in they haven't done anything. I tried explaining this to someone one time; "So if you haven't done nothing then you must have some something". Brick wall.

And using Then instead of Than. example: "I'd rather work one 16 hour shift then two 8 hour shifts". So you want to work a 32 hour shift?

Aaarreggghhhhhh why do these annoy me so muuuuccchhhhh!!!!

Also, my partner says Chimley instead of Chimney. He argued until he was blue in the face that it was the correct spelling/pronunciation. Once at a get together, he said it incorrectly then very quickly corrected himself because he looked silly. HA!

[Sage611]

These are funny! I thought of another one that bugs me, saying "death" for "deaf."

Also, saying one's a caretaker, instead of caregiver. 

[nursemcsleepy, BSN, RN]

SANT-imeters

It drives me up a wall.

[sevensonnets]

Yall is a contraction for you all, always directed to more than one person. I'd rather hear yall than You guys especially when one is referring to a group of ladies. And don't get me started on it's vs. its, and people who rehome there cat's and dog's on craigslist, when their actually for sell.

[NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN]

SO MANY.

One that hasn't been covered yet is "could of" instead of "could've" and other ways the person spells something close to what it sounds like, but the words mean totally different things. I'm even FB friends with a guy who's used "to" to mean "also" several times.

I judge differently based on context; if this is a work email or bulletin then you'd darn well not be posting a paper with one giant sentence about the new "scheudle." I don't judge message boards too much because I often post from my phone and it changes/misses things that I don't notice.

I still have a photo of the "new scheudle" bulletin.

Incorrect use of whom! Language evolves and I don't fuss about people solely using who, but if you don't know when it should be whom, for the love of Pete just say who.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

EEEEEEE!

Yes. I bought a violin because of it.

My daughter plays...the vi..o...lin! She tucks it right under her chin.

Yayyyyyy! I definitely bought the sheet music a few months ago so I could learn to sing all those amazing Abigail high notes. It's great for agitated patients. "John...John...is that you carrying ooooonnnnnn?"

I have not heard all of the Hamilton soundtrack, but I cannot imagine it's quite as fun as this one. *prepares to be slain*

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

This isn't nursing related, but I'm a classical musician and hate the phrase "it built to a crescendo." Crescendo is the word giving the performer instruction to gradually increase their volume. So something doesn't build to a crescendo...it builds in or with a crescendo, or it builds to a climax.

"Mano a mano" doesn't mean "man to man," it means "hand to hand."

I know "I could care less" was mentioned already, but that one has bugged me from the first time I ever heard it. If you could care less, then you do care. On a Charlie Brown cartoon of all places, either Lucy or Sally says "I couldn't possibly care less." That conveys the point!

"The Battle of the Bulge" was an offensive in France during WWII. It's not a struggle with obesity.

"Shell shock" isn't a huge surprise, it's what they used to call combat-related PTSD.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Oh...and "I seen" and double negatives. I grew up in a very working class rural area, and I used to hear this constantly. One triple negative even stands out: the guy said "I didn't point no fingers and nobody," when he meant "I didn't point fingers at anybody."

[Erythropoiesis]

Y'all is not a word, or even a proper contraction.

Oh yes it is, y'all! Entire states, entire communities use it regularly. Virtually all of the Southern US uses y'all and it's widely accepted. It is also in the dictionary. Just because it's your pet peeve doesn't mean that it's not a contraction, or that it's not a word. It is a word.

[sevensonnets]

Then there's bring vs. take. If your child is ill bring him to the doctor annoys the heck out of me.