To be Specific....

[Gossipmonster]

One of admin lady at work's favourite words is "specific" thing is she says "pacific" Every. Fucking. Time.

Another colleague (degree educated) says "she/he done" instead of "did".

I just want to scream - but feel like it's so petty I couldn't possibly say anything.

Anyone else? :)

maybe try typing "definitely"!

Yes she is the English teacher with a first from oxford or some thing like that.

The American phrase that is creeping over here is 'I could care less' rather than 'I couldn't care less'. Makes no sense, but then neither does 'cheap at half the price'.

It sets my teeth on edge when supposedly articulate reporters on BBC news refer to 'the secker-terry of state'. If the BBC is the authority on pronunciation of obscure international placenames, then they really should get basic English ones right too.

I once heard an interview with the woman who was the head of the pronunciation department at the BBC. She had a pronounced lisp. I wonder if all unusual words at the BBC are now being pronounced with a lisp.

I also heard a person who was the head of nuclear research and he said nucular.

owlcapone, youre not getting this are you? Text is both a.noun and a verb.

Text, texting, texted.

You may want to refer to a dictionary in the future.

english.stackexchange.com/questions/30166/how-to-use-text-as-a-verb

He done/she done is dialect from my neck of the woods. I'm degree educated and I say it quite often.....

Hmmm. I don't understand your argument Innogen

If we accept that 'text' can be a verb, which most people do, and if it is a regular verb, then 'I texted you' is right.

But there is also clearly nothing wrong with using 'I sent you a text', where 'sent' is the verb and 'text' is a noun. Clearly Owl doesn't like using text as a verb so prefers to get round it by using the structure she's suggested.

Where do you meet all those people who twist very common in usage words?

I agree with you waterlego. Both are right. My issue is that Owl seems to be denying the grammatical correctness of 'texted' as the past participle of the verb.

True. Owl did say 'no it isn't' in response to your post stating that the past tense is 'texted'. I disagree with her there. It appears in online dictionaries as a verb. People use it as a verb. That makes it a verb in my view. (And also a noun, of course). I just didn't really follow the ensuing argument between the two of you.

Drink local facebook selling pages are full of it,
I've never seen Chester draws, but have seen chest of draws.
Today I saw someone asking for a perent fasing pushchair. Although I'll admit that could be genuine spelling mistakes.

can't be asked.... when the saying is can't be arsed!!!!

Waterlego. To be honest with you, I'm not following it either anymore. I actually think we'd agree if we were speaking in person. I'm thinking this is just a case of miscommunication.

I can't understand why someone would use 'sent a text' (3 words) when one word exists (texted).

Completely a persons prerogative to use whatever though.

Worst/worse

Accept/except

Whyyyyyyy?!

What also gets me, is when people only use one bracket. For example)

Ugh! Is there actually a reason for this as I see it a lot

Marnie I've done that a couple of times, it either because I've forgotten that I opened brackets and forgotten to close them, or vice versa.
Mainly when I'm tired or rushing though

Or the one that is there is a typo and was never meant to be there

I think it should be bored with not bored of to whichever poster asked but I could be wrong.

I get dependent & dependant confused...any tips?

'Can I get' instead of 'Can I have' - that really grates but everyone seems to say it now.

Also 'the film is released Sunday' instead of 'on Sunday' which is something I've noticed the BBC website doing more and more often recently.

Ineed it must be where you live then...

African American English???? Is that some kind of oxymoron?

Nope, it is also known as 'Black vernacular'.

But like all dialects it should not be used in formal writing, other than for effect or to indicate code switching. And I say that as someone who can and does use Yorkshire dialect.

Also with 'US Black vernacular' (there is an argument that the UK has one, but it is also argues that it is Jafaican rather than dialect, and then there is an argument about what dialect is ..........could write a thesis on it) there is the history that it comes from when schools and most of life was segregated rather than it be a regional dialect.

The one that always makes me irrationally annoyed is 'looser' instead of 'loser'.

It's a mistake I've seen a lot. Usually when attempting to insult someone else.

'You are a looser'.

If you're going to insult someone, and you call them a looser, you are the one who looks uneducated and a twat.

Variations of 'Loosing my mind/x team are loosing etc' also wind me up.

The Your/You're thing has gotten ridiculous now, how can people not know the difference?

I have a colleague who says 'us don't do that/us do that' why not we? It makes me twitch

My mum and sister say "him" instead of "it". I wonder if its a West Country thing.