Words/phrases you’re very particular about

[Soubriquet]

It winds me up when people use poisonous regarding snakes. Noooo it’s venomous

If you bite it and you die it’s poison
If it bites you and you die it’s venom

“I can’t bare it…” 🤨

We still called them Alsatians in the 60's, 70's and possibly 80's and I still call them that.

I still call them Alsatians

Surely it's "aitch"? I get quietly cross when people say "haitch". Have I been wrong all my life?

Other ones for me are "on route" - just no

Also orient not orientate, and people saying they are going to "talk to" something, when clearly they mean "talk about"

Can't believe I forgot people using naughty instead of bold. You see that all the time on here.

only the more modern ones such as people saying OMG or LOL - those are not words

I dislike the recent-ish trend for saying ‘gifted’ instead of plain old given. People think it makes them sound that bit more elevated. It doesn’t.

Yes, ‘gifted’ has existed for a long time but not in the context of your Auntie Betty giving you a Yardley set for Christmas. People can be gifted opportunities and there’s corporate gifting etc.

I know it’s not going anywhere but I’ll continue to inwardly grumble.

Calling a woman ‘Karen’ to shut someone down ! Has been used today on MN as an insult towards an OP .

I applaud you for using Irish words as the standard and everything else as being incorrect!

It makes for refreshing reading on MN.

(I can never bring myself to say naughty. Feels so mícheart i mo bhéal)

I didn't know that about poisonous/venomous, thank you!

Language changes and evolves, and as I get older I think I've actually become a bit more tolerant of slang and changing usage. I think clarity is what's important really - it does annoy me when my husband uses less and fewer the wrong way round but I know what he means so try to keep my mouth shut 😁

Naughty is sexy, clearly. Using it in relation to children is gross.

"I could care less". It's "I couldn't care less".

Lay instead of lie. You lie down. You lay something else down, as when you lay the table, or birds lay eggs.

Begs the question, as mentioned by PP. The amount of time I've spent snarling at Tony Robinson for saying that on Time Team!

"I could care less". It's "I couldn't care less".

Yea that bothers me too

Yes!! This irritates me too. Loads of people at work say ‘I’ll send an invite’ and it grates every time I see it.

Quote v quotation is another one - quite recently I drafted something using the word ‘quotation’ throughout and my manager went through changing them all to ‘quote’ because ‘it sounds nicer’. NO IT DOESN’T!

I feel obliged to add the customary post “it’s another THINK coming… not thing.”

• waits for thread to explode.

Just been talking about this on two other threads today!

'Can/could I get' is very widely used in some areas when ordering coffee etc.

The verb 'to get' has more than one meaning.
When ordering coffee people use the verb 'to get' in the sense 'to receive'. This is actually a very widely used meaning of the verb, eg 'I got a text from Mary', ' I got quite a surprise'. 'Get' means 'receive' or 'have' in this sense, not 'obtain' and thus carries no implication of going round the counter to help yourself.

People in other areas aren't familiar with this usage of the verb when ordering food, but of course that unfamiliarity does not mean the phrase itself is incorrect.

Set of draws instead of drawers, or even worse Chester draws. Really annoys me.

Also, in common with a lot of people, the 'lose / loose' thing is annoying.

In my accent (kind of generic middle class West of Scotland) the sound is so different that I really just don't get how you could confuse the spellings in your head?

However, as with most things, your experience may differ / other accents are available.

Yay!!😁

The new (wrong) meaning of nonplussed. It's a great word, don't piss around with it.
I can't think of any other pacific examples.

Less vs fewer
Disinterested vs uninterested
Schedule. It should be pronounced as shedule not skedule.
Your/my/herself. Used incorrectly about 90% of the time.
Lay vs lie.

That's for starters.

How are people using nonplussed now?

Mortified to mean angry is another one.

Ect instead of etc.

“Unorganised” instead of disorganised, it just sounds wrong!

I'm not in agreement with your explanation, although I can see where you are coming from and I am well aware of, and familiar with, other uses of the verb. That does not prevent this particular usage from making me cringe.

The point I am making is that when you are asking someone to serve you with a coffee, saying 'Can I get...' means that you are asking them for permission to get it yourself.

For instance: a child needs another pencil and asks the teacher if they can leave their desk to go and fetch one. That would be 'Can I get...'. They are getting the pencil themselves.

If, on the other hand, the child is asking the teacher to give them another pencil, it should be 'Can I have...', in which case, the teacher will provide them with one.

Do you get it now?