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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be annoyed when people misuse words?

184 replies

acsec · 24/08/2013 15:46

My DH is a prime example of this. The two which annoy me most are "My thesis is..." and, usually when he is playing a computer game and dies on it "Argh! Death becomes me!"
Unless you have written a dissertation on this subject, then you mean theory and I don't think dying on a computer game makes you look especially fetching.
It winds me up so much and I have given up telling him what he actually means.

Please MN, tell me I am not suffering alone!

OP posts:
musicismylife · 29/08/2013 23:41

Muslamic..

ZebraOwl · 29/08/2013 23:43

People who think nonplussed means ambivalent. It makes me feel stabby.

InsultingBadger · 29/08/2013 23:58

My dp says 'I was only stipulating...' When he wasn't

resipsa · 30/08/2013 00:04

Less/fewer
Amount/number
Imply/infer
I/me
Effect/affect
Of/(ha)ve
Oral/verbal

I won't go on. I blame some of these howlers on too little reading. If you've just heard it used but never (or rarely) seen it written down, you guess at the spelling and get it wrong.

SomebodyBrokeThat · 30/08/2013 00:07

Immaculate manners when they mean impeccable, off the cuff for off the record. I could go on but I won't.

InsultingBadger · 30/08/2013 00:09

You've got me thinking now...

My friend always writes 'proberly' and 'his' instead of he's
Hate Chester drawers

needaholidaynow · 30/08/2013 00:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 30/08/2013 00:33

I have seen "adverse" used wrongly twice today. One of those times was on a thread on here:

"I'm not adverse to....."

Aargh!

CurlyhairedAssassin · 30/08/2013 00:39

Yes, it is to do with lack of reading. Well, reading proper literature. The misuse of certain words just seems to get more prevalent with our increased use of social media. Hence you get any illiterate Tom, Dick or Harry writing stuff that people read and absorb whether they like it or not.

bootsycollins · 30/08/2013 01:14

The most annoying one for me is when somebody says learnt but means taught.
"He learnt me to play guitar" argh! Angry

brimfullofasha · 30/08/2013 07:18

A lots of these are really annoying especially 'yourself' but some are regional. Using 'while' as in ' I work 9 while 5' is used in Yorkshire, as is 'tret' instead of 'treat'.

Doubtfuldaphne · 30/08/2013 09:02

My mil says mingey instead of stingey. It's horrible to listen to!

Feminine · 30/08/2013 09:19

Another one that makes me really cross is:

" You had better nip it in the BUTT" Confused

Heard that all the time during my American years...

Blueberryveryberry · 30/08/2013 09:48

Basically, I think he is right. Spare a thought for us forriners Wink DH had to correct me because I was using 'since' instead of 'from' Grin

cocobongo · 30/08/2013 10:11

well, what are everyone's opinions on the "shit", "shitted", "shat" debate? I think the past tense of shit is shitted (i.e. "he shitted a brick") however, that sounds a bit clunky and twee so people started saying "shat". BUT, DH says that the past tense of shit has always been shat.

I think it is similar to the hung/hanged thing- hung sounds better but hanged is grammatically correct. So shat sounds better, but shitted is grammatically correct.

MN jury- who is right?

CurlyhairedAssassin · 30/08/2013 10:11
Grin
GerundTheBehemoth · 30/08/2013 10:12

My mum used to use 'minge' as an affectionate nickname for the cat. Eventually I could bear it no longer and had to tell her what it meant.

I get annoyed by 'over-exaggerate', and 'hence why'.

Hobbes8 · 30/08/2013 10:33

I get confused by a lot of the threads on here which describe someone as 'entitled', when I think they mean someone has a misplaced sense of entitlement.

Mind you I had a panic then about whether I meant 'which' or 'that' so perhaps I should keep my pedantry to myself.

WhatWillSantaBring · 30/08/2013 10:42

cocobong - hanged/hung are slightly different. "Hung" is the past tense of "to hang (a picture on a wall)", whereas "hanged" is the past tensed of "to hang (from the gallows to put to death)". The only exception to this, I have been told, is when someone was "hung, drawn and quartered", and this is because they were deliberately not allowed to die during the hanging part. [gruesome emoticon]

The one I learnt only recently, is the difference between procrastinate (which I do a lot) and prevaricate (which I try never to do). I've used them interchangeably for many years, and I'm quite embarrassed as I no doubt will be in a few moments when I spot all the typos in my post

PixieBumbles · 30/08/2013 10:46

I hate less instead of fewer. And myself/yourself instead of me/you. I recently signed up with a distance learning company. My confirmation e-mail from them began "thank you for enrolling with ourselves". Gaaah!! I nearly e-mailed straight back to tell them that acually, I've changed my mind. I also hate "I could care less". It just doesn't make any sense.

Blueberryveryberry · 30/08/2013 12:17

Insulting I love 'chester' drawers Grin never thought of that one!

Blueberryveryberry · 30/08/2013 12:19

feminine nip it in the butt makes me think of piles, sorry.

SPBisResisting · 30/08/2013 12:26

I am loathe to join this thread but I too having noticed a lot of people saying "I could care less"
Also why are the menopausal symptoms now called "hot flashes"?

littlemog · 30/08/2013 12:53

Is 'chester drawers' what people write when they mean 'chest of drawers'?