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"!!

My friend says/types "mind due" rather than "mind you", it gives me the rage!

I love "You're the apple of my pie", Frowning. It actually works better than "apple of my eye" because after all, since when have eyes had apples?

"Didn't used to" is the example complained of by another poster, raven though, and that's the way I say it. I'm not saying it's correct, or a pretty construction, but that's how it is.

And talking of tenses, I find few things more enraging than historians using the present tense to describe events in the past: "You must remember that Queen Victoria is at this time in charge of a very large empire..."

No, she fucking isn't. She's been dead more than 100 years.

I luffs these threads

Surely you don't actually say the /d/ though in your "didn't used to", do you?

Doggy dog world is amazing! Thank you!

hackmum I agree most strongly - that "present historic" tense is horrific and seems to be everywhere now on Radio 4

Probably not the right thread ... but i'm going to post anyway. When people say Valentimes ...

Was that is the footballer tense as used on match of the day forever. 'So here the ball's come over and I've headed it in'

The worst is I'm like for I said. How the hell did that start?

Remember that not everyone is as well-educated as you, not everyone has English as their first language, not everyone is perfect and never makes a grammatical or stupid error.

Remember too that a lot of people are using phones to post, the "autocorrect" function is often a misnomer. My favourite on that front was it changing "no holds barred" to be "no holes barred" - the latter conveys a somewhat different meaning!

It is unreasonable (deluded even) to expect perfection with regard to spelling or grammar on an internet forum. You might see "rein" being used inappropriately on a frequent basis but remember that it is (presumably) not the same person doing it over and over again - it is lots of people making a single error with their choice of word.

(Personally I hate misused possessive apostrophe's, why can't people grasp how to use them properly?)

Great thread. 'Phased' is used instead of 'fazed' a lot on MN.

I reckon it boils down to people using words phrases they don't know the meaning of, resulting in 'eh wallah' etc. Why would you do that?!

However 'apple of my pie' is an improvement IMO on the original!

Thanks to a PP for the explaination for 'damp squib'.

I hate misused possessive apostrophe's

That would be the grocer's apostrophe.

Can I put a shout out for "for free"? It's either "free" or "for nothing".

My current favourite is "high rate" for irate.

AuntJane, you of course perfectly correct.

However, through (exceedingly!) common usage, perhaps 'for free' has become acceptable?

*are

That would be the grocer's apostrophe.

Ah yes, "Carrot's 50p" - how on earth did a carrot acquire its wealth?

The (too) common use of 'loose' instead of 'lose' irritates me, especially when I see it used by people who should know better.

Someone on my town's Facebook group asked where the best "bom fire" was a few weeks ago....

I have to try out "Your the apple of my pie" on my DC (DC already plural no need for extra s?!)
I'm always looking for something nice to say to them. Hope they appreciate it!

Oh yes, and "you're" obviously. Damn

Literally.

I have a friend who 'literally' dies on a regular basis. It's very annoying!