To tell you that it's "rein" not "reign".

[FlyingElbows]

Because it is and it's doing my tits in!!

Rein. Rein. Rein. Rein. Rein.

Free rein. It's an equestrian term meaning to give the horse freedom of movement.

It is NOT reign. That's what the Queen does.

It's right up there with "intensive purposes" and "doggy dog world"!!

I've noticed pacific for specific and some confusion over genuinely/generally, also bought and brought ..... ect

viques Thanks for the explanation of toe the line!

scrambled Wallah!! brilliant

Why did I put it here? Not because I'm needy or desperate but because I see it often here and I mostly read Aibu. I could have put it in the sex topic or relationships but it really would have been out of place. Perhaps Style and Beauty would have something to add? Maybe I should post it in every section on mumsnet to make sure nobody is left out? Anyway I was up before 6, there was a big spider on the ceiling which interrupted my reading of a post including the phrase "reign in" and I just thought "fuck it, that's once too often, the world needs to know. And I've just sold a very nice bridle on eBay with very nice reins so it was kind of at the forefront of my tiny mind. Is that OK? Or would you like the thread police to march me to the naughty corner where I can be suitably chastised for not being pedantic enough to select the arguably most appropriate section to post?

My favourite is 'Eh Wallah!'.

I give up. I can't figure this one out.

Such a clicky little thread

One of my team asks me for my nom de plume whenever she wants me to sign something. I've given up trying to explain it.

cheweduprope: - that's just a difference between US English and UK English, though. Americans have always used the construction "If I would have...", as far as I'm aware. You're right, it does sound cumbersome to British ears, and you might be right about it catching on over here. But it's not wrong as such, just different.

Chewed

it's supposed to be French:

et voila!

sigh!!

Et Voila chewed

i never look in pedants corner and I like this thread so I'm glad it was in AIBU

Look I've even missed a " out just to show how not pedantic I am.

No no, Lying, we don't have threads like this on PC!

We discuss how language changes, and chuckle about how much fun it will be when "could of" becomes standard and irate MNers implode with rage. We most certainly do not start threads criticising other people's use of language, or errors, and when (as can sometimes happen) people start a TAAT, they get very short shrift.

I must find a use for Eh Wallah .

'Eh Wallah!'

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wallah

Oops!

Well yes, if I want to be pedantic what about 'off of' and 'lose/loose' which makes me cringe. Let's add 'we/were/where' and 'could of' instead of 'could have'.

Standards in written and spoken English have slipped a great deal since I was at school. I believe it's because spelling/grammatical errors weren't corrected as it was felt that if whatever the child was writing made sense it didn't matter.

Sadly, this wasn't doing the child any favours when it came to being understood/not laughed at in the wider world.

I used to be an office temp and many times I had to type something which I knew was wrong. I was told that it mustn't be corrected or mentioned to them or 'they'd lose their temper'. These people had been educated to degree level - some could barely write their own names legibly and there was me with my lowly CSEs! Gritted teeth.

The pedants in pedant's corner are lovely. I posted a question there (trembling in my boots, triple-checking my post) and they answered it without any nit picking.

Yes, the thing is, is that language changes. (I've stopped counting the times I've heard that, even on Radio 4 :) )

The one that really gets to me is "ect" instead of etc.

Etc is a shortening of et cetera - the first three letters are e t c - etc!

Rant over!

Ok. I'm being dyspeptic this morning, FlyingElbows and Vintage... sorry, my post was rude.

I did read the thread and picked up some useful tips and no, you're not criticising any poster directly. I too think that some of the word usage is getting a bit out of hand but I think perhaps that the correct version is so far adrift from the morphed one that some posters might not even realise the error.

Anyway, as you were and I'll continue to lurk and pick up tips as I go...

Anyone else been noticing "I generally thought ...." when they clearly mean genuinely?

Nice to see something entertaining in AIBU for a change!

Et voila!! Obviously!

hackmum

That's kind of my point I suppose. I believe it is just as wrong in American English as it is in British English, but it's SO commonly used that people actually believe it to be right. Any [American] literature that I have found on the subject has been pretty clear that "If I would have..." is incorrect English.

I love the word 'dyspeptic' Lying!

I am now determined to use it today somehow

I'm sure some posters can happily read anything, but we're all different. Some misuses make me laugh (damp squid; doggy dog; Eh Wallah are brilliant), but some make me twitch. I wouldn't criticise any poster personally, but threads like this one make me realise I'm not alone!

Brought/bought. If you buy something, you bought it. When you bRing it home, you bRought it.

My DH and I went Christmas shopping. Not myself and my DH. Not me and my DH. Take away my DH and it makes sense to say I went. It makes no sense to say me went, or myself went. Aaarrgghhh. 😡

Per se

I wince whenever I see persay which is far more often than one might think

"The pedants in pedant's corner are lovely"

Glad to hear it paxillin.

And I was going to praise you for top use of apostrophe there. But then I thought perhaps it should be "pedants' corner"
as more than one pedant present, in conversation with one another?!

I've not checked to see what they use?

I can't believe how many people don't know the difference between brought and bought. I saw this about ten times just yesterday when reading many online reviews.
Do people really not know the difference?