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

[AlertCat]

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.

Cut and dry is also correct.

"Why does “cut and dry” persist? It may have been reinforced in the early 18th century, when smokers began referring to tobacco as “cut and dry.” As the OED says, “cut and dry” was a noun phrase used elliptically to mean “cut and dried tobacco.”

It always irritates me when some supposed grammar pedant on an American TV show (looking at you Sheldon Cooper) brings these so-called grammar rules up.

I just think- no YOU are the ignorant one here. English isn't a Latin based language. It literally doesn't matter.

i agree..it’s not uncommon to hear it now but I would argue that current ( arguably ‘incorrect’) use is because people don’t recognise the standard form ‘ cut and dried’.

The Grammarphobia quote you presented has to drag out a singular example from the seventeenth century, so, yes, I’d still argue that it would not be used in formal contemporary English…🙄

Imply vs infer...

😂I had a laugh at that because "from the Latin" has been said to justify a lot on this thread.
The Grammarphobia blog also cites earliest uses of cut and dry'd, so I'd argue your point is irrelevant.

I've heard "cut and dry" more often than "cut and dried" fwiw.

Yes, en route is correct. On route is not.

AFAIk it was 18thC grammarians who decreed that because a Latin infinitive, cannot be split - and Latin was to them a perfect language - you should not therefore split an English one.
Which is clearly bollocks.

I blame Steve Wright In The Afternoon.

He brought this Americanism into British English through his shows that were plagarised heavily influenced by US radio.

And "shop the collection" is a perfectly acceptable, originally American usage.

It's interesting to note what people feel is allowable or not.

The oat biscuits I make now and then (exceedingly moreish BTW) are baked just once, for max 10 minutes. And the recipe calls them biscuits, not cookies.

@MasterBeth
I don't like it, which is stylistic, but I can, grudgingly, accept it. What bugs me is whether or not "shop" is a verb or whether it's a noun which became a verb, like "medal" in sports commentary...

When it suddenly started appearing in promotions over here (UK) I just assumed it was a more aggressive way of saying "browse the collection". It felt like a pathetic attempt to make me subconsciously believe I was going to buy something. So I don't like it.

Also, when I grew up people "made" decisions. Now everyone "takes' them. Again, more aggressive. I missed that meeting! I don't like that either.

Yeah me too but it’s still wrong fwiw

Really?? As in ‘ she medalled ‘they have been medalled ‘ etc???? Would be really interested in that usage

Really?? As in ‘ she medalled ‘they have been medalled ‘ etc???? Would be really interested in that usage.

Yes, it was used frequently in the last Olympics - I’m not sure when it started. I dislike it but I guess it’s here to stay.

@mrpenny ,
Exactly that! The first time I heard it was "he medalled in Beijing"...

Ah, Ok. Interesting…hadn’t heard that!

Are you happy with "shopping" and "shopper"? Both of which imply the existence of "shop" as a verb.

But "verbing" of nouns has always been a feature of English. Do you butter your bread? Do you salt your food? Do you mail a package? Do you text a friend? Do you google a subject?

As for shop, yes, it is a verb, especially in American English. In fact a British usage that always sounds odd to my American ears is "doing the weekly shop." The noun "shop" in American English almost always means the place where the shopping occurs.

and I shop for food once a week...

Yay or nay
Hit and miss

What about them? Apart from yea?

There’s a word I can’t remember for these words in Latin, nouns that act like verbs. Maybe gerunds? Any Latin people out there?

It’s hit or miss; you can’t hit and miss.

Ah yes, thanks 👍🏻