A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter

11 Responses to A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter

1. Josh says:

   May 28, 2014 at 12:53 pm

   I'm slightly annoyed when people write "loose" for "lose".
2. Annehueser says:

   May 28, 2014 at 1:25 pm

   Fewer and less. I hate it when less is used for things that can be counted.
3. Lynn says:

   May 28, 2014 at 1:26 pm

   There, their and they're
4. Nicole Lang says:

   May 28, 2014 at 2:53 pm

   I'm blurring 'usage' and 'grammar'… The thing that bugs me most is misuse of the word 'borrow.' As in, "Will you borrow me $5?" Or "No, you can't use my calculator. I already borrowed it to Joe." Blech.
5. Bonnie McDaniel says:

   May 28, 2014 at 3:13 pm

   "Loose" for lose and "noone" for no one. Also run-on sentences. Periods and semi-colons exist for a reason, people!
6. SK Waller says:

   May 28, 2014 at 3:36 pm

   So many to choose from! It's not a grammatical thing, but I detest the way kids use the word 'random' when they mean 'spontaneous' as in, "Are you a random person?" or "My BFF is so random!"

   And I know it's perfectly legit, but I'm always bugged when people use 'that' instead of 'who' as in, "I know a girl that saw the movie." People are whos, not thats.
7. Shelomit says:

   May 28, 2014 at 3:40 pm

   "Which" used in place of "that." And both split infinitives and prepositions at the end of clauses still raise my hackles, changing usage notwithstanding.
8. Roger Owen Green says:

   May 28, 2014 at 3:46 pm

   It's the apostrophe, used willy-nilly:
   Sticking it into someone's name. It belongs to Fred Jones. It's Jone's – (shudder)
   Or close'd. (WHY?)
   Or it's when they mean its. (Almost too common to complain about.)
9. Jason says:

   May 29, 2014 at 9:43 pm

   Late to the party, but as I proofread for a living, you know I've got my opinions on the subject…

   There are so many things, some of which have already been mentioned — their, they're, there; loose vs. lose; an inability to comprehend hyphens, i.e., when you should use them, when you shouldn't use them, and why — but the one that drives me absolutely bugshit crazy — probably because I see it EVERYWHERE — is the incorrect use of "it's" when people mean "its."

   I argue this with my mother constantly, who retorts that you ALWAYS use an apostrophe to express possession, and that's how SHE was taught back in the day, and they must've CHANGED the rule in the decades since…

   Um, no, Mom… "it's" is a contraction of "it is." Always has been. Now, if only I could get that through the heads of every restaurant owner in the country

   Sigh.
10. Jason says:

    May 29, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    Oh, and on a related note, I'm annoyed by people using an apostrophe in the plural of their family name:

    "Smith's" instead of "Smiths"
11. the author says:

    May 31, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    Using interruption marks (or any other form of punctuation) to replace quotation marks. I know it's a popular way for the literati to flounce their skirts at convention, but for the reader it's tedious and annoying.

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