Lauguage that irritates you

[Lucretia]

(Knowing me, I will make a spelling/grammatical error in this post ............)

[*] Most people bank monkey workers in Scotland have a habit of saying, for example, "The fund have went", mixing up "The funds went ..." and "the funds have gone". It's so fundamentally wrong, it makes me blood boil. Did their parents not teach them English?
[*] Text speak. In texts, and in e-mails. "Did u go to dat plc? luv u hun. ure so sexi". ARRRGHH.
[*] "That's cliche". Eh? It's "clichéd"
[*] "I could care less". " ....................??"

Things I say that annoy the hell out of my parents;

[*] "Lucy and me ..." He says "LUCY AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII !!!!"
[*] I contract "I am not" to "I amn't" - and I know it's totally wrong but it's a really crap habit I picked up as a child

[Ghost]

But U R so SeXi!1!1!

[JupiterAmy]

[*] "Lucy and me ..." He says "LUCY AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII !!!!"

I seriously hate when people over-correct this one. It's not 'Lucy and I' in all situations!

[Ghost]

The way my teacher taught me this when I was just a small child was to omit the "Lucy and" part of the sentence. If it reads correctly without the other party, then it is correct. Now they try to get us to understand whether Lucy and I are subjects or objects and Lucy really hates it when I objectify her.

[Iago]

I seriously hate when people over-correct this one. It's not 'Lucy and I' in all situations!

Yeah, I hate when people go overboard on this one, too.

While it's incorrect to say "Lucy and me went to the store," it's just an honest mistake.

But when someone says "between you and I", I want to bang their head against a wall. It's not just incorrect, they went out of their way to be incorrect because they thought "you and I" sounds educated. It's like using a big word, and then getting it wrong.

I have a friend who sometimes says "between you and I." At times like that, if you listen real carefully, you can hear the baby Jesus crying.

[Sarah]

I have many peeves of this sort but of course am finding it difficult to remember them. Still, a few spring to mind . . .

I hate it when people make the mistake illustrated in "If I would have known, I would have done something else."

I hate the mistake illustrated in "I bought that car, which I wouldn't have bought it if I'd known it was haunted."

I, too, hate "between you and I" and its siblings.

Of course I hate all the misplaced apostrophes that now litter the world.

There are scads more. In fact, it's just as well I can't think of them, because the list would be just too damn long.

P.S. I like the typo in your subject line.

[Ghost]

I want a haunted car! How do I get one???

BTW, there's a typo in your subject line too.

Damn, there's one in mine too!

[PommeVerte]

The cool thing here is that while people rant, I learn.

Please continue.

Ho but before you do, I have a question for you guys.

Since I didn't find a straight, official answer on the net, I thought "Well, that's just a perfect question for the people at the WD" (I'm still impressed by the 'third cousin twice removed' post, even though I don't remember the actual rule ).

The question:

How do you write "3 year old" in the expression "a 3-year-old document"??
- 3 year old?
- 3-year old? (that's how my colleague wrote it)
- 3-year-old? (that would be my pick)
- 3 year-old?
- other __________.

Thanks.

[bettie]

How do you write "3 year old" in the expression "a 3-year-old document"??

I'd go with your pick:

- 3-year-old? (that would be my pick)

Only I'd write out the number, so it would be three-year-old. (Strunk and White tell us to write out single digit numbers. I do as Strunk and White tell me.)

[MenleyNin]

How do you write "3 year old" in the expression "a 3-year-old document"??

When you use it as an adjective, it should be hyphenated:

"I have a three-year-old document I need to print."

When it's not used as an adjective, it should not be hyphenated:

"I have a three year old who is not potty trained."

That's how I learned it in Advanced Composition. I hope that rule still holds true!