To invite the grammar and language pedants to share their pet peeves?

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AIBU to feel annoyed when I see people say Slither instead of sliver? It was even in a book I read recently. A slither of cake. No! That makes no sense, unless the cake’s been trodden into the carpet!

Also see: step foot in instead of set foot in

There’s plenty of others but those will do for now.

Exactly. We're saying that it's annoying when people write "on route" when they mean "en route". The poster was just playing when they said "on route" would possibly be acceptable if they were on their way on Route 66.

No

Bring back the Sub-editor!

Much missed

A pet hate of the late, great Sir Terry Wogan

Battle away and please explain for those of us educated when grammar was not taught.

Okay cool sorry. Makes sense and agree!

My personal pet peeve is ending a sentence in a preposition.

"disinterested" means neutral or impartial - "interest" here is used in the same sense as in e.g. "conflict of interests"

"uninterested" means not taking an interest in something - "interest" here refers more to curiosity/attention

Re ending with a preposition, I think this rule is based on Latin (which doesn't permit this) and is now outdated. There's no point tying yourself in knots trying to avoid it, especially if the meaning is clear.

Churchill is supposed to have satirised this (in response to an overzealous editor) with "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.” He might not have actually said that, but it does illustrate the problem!

This misunderstanding of what "get" means crops up every time there is one of these "let's show our superiority in the use of the English language" threads.

There is nothing wrong with "can I get" unless you want to quibble with the can/may distinction, which will probably be gone in a few years anyway. "Get" means "come to have or hold (something); receive." It does not have some sort of built in reflexive. To ask someone "can I get" can mean "can I receive".

Actually, the "not interested/uninterested" meaning of disinterested is older than the "impartial" meaning of the word going back as far as 1600 or so. It shifted sometime later, and grammarians began to insist on a distinction between the two. The meaning is now shifting back. "Dis" and "un" mean essentially the same thing. It's different meanings of "interest" that keep the distinction alive.

It could have been 'She told myself and Benny to go' so be grateful for small mercies!

Yes, it's mad how words evolve. And given the gradual transition to visual imagery for communication, for all we know, in 50 years' time "interest" (to mean emotional engagement) might be superseded by something like a thumbs-up icon! I am sort of joking. I think...

Saying United States or United Kingdom without The in front of it.

Less when it should be Fewer.

When speaking failing to pronounce 'the' as 'thee' before a vowel. Over sss ing saying words as if they have w in them - lots of this in ads.

Over sss ing saying words as if they have w in them - lots of this in ads.

I can't quite work this one out, can you give an example?

Scottish usage, surely?

I used to have a boss who would email me to ask, "May yourself attend this meeting", generally I liked him which is why I didn't beat him round the head with my laptop 😤but it nearly killed me every time.

More recently... In the last week I have listened to a podcast where the host talked about how someone became exacerbated by someone else's behaviour. And a few days later, another podcast where the host explained how doing something had exasperated the situation. DON'T HAVE A PODCAST IF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT SIMILAR-SOUNDING WORDS ARE NOT IN FACT INTERCHANGEABLE IN MEANING.

I've not read all the pages so have no idea if anyone else has posted people writing ect for etc? See so many teachers do it too!

The sss ing or the w?

I'd suggest watching a few ads between shows on tv and you will probably hear it.

The w thing is an estuary accent variant that's crept in recently all over the place. The sss ing is something I pick up on because we were taught to speak clearly at drama school regardless of whatever accent and a common pitfall to avoid is smooshing s's together especially if there was s in the middle and at the end of a word.

TV ads have some very odd pronunciation these days. There's a Nutella ad where the chap says 'criminess' which has to be the most out there pronunciation of creaminess 🤣

I don't watch telly, which is why I am still a bit mystified! 😂 but I will watch out for this...

Edited to add: did you mean to say "Over sss ing OR saying words as if they have w in them - lots of this in ads"?

I've remembered another pronunciation one from an ad. There's definitely one where they say 'PC's' as if it rhymes with faeces.

You mean like "pieces"?

Yeah I would never correct anyone nor do I think it’s wrong it’s just a pet peeve.

Should of. That really annoys me.

The meaning is now shifting back. "Dis" and "un" mean essentially the same thing. It's different meanings of "interest" that keep the distinction alive.

That’s interesting. However there must be occasions when a sentence could have two meanings.

“He was uninterested in the outcome of the competition”
”She was disinterested in the outcome of the competition”

I am more than happy to be corrected - and I realise language evolves - but there could be a misunderstanding in the second sentence as she could either be impartial to the outcome because she was happy for either contestant to win, or she could have no curiosity about the result of the competition.

Mine is 'one of the only.' It is either the only, or not. Disproportionately irritated by this.