REIN in, it's effing REIN in!!!

[CallmeAngelina]

Am I the only one who is being driven mad by the number of people on MN who write "reign in?" It seems standard practice now, (and don't start me on practise/practice!) so is it one of those things that people are now going to attempt to justify as being OK?
Come on, you lovely pedants. Make me feel better about this, as I'm fighting the urge not to scream at posters on other threads

I might start a list of these to drum in to DD in a few years when she has to do English and verbal reasoning in the 11+ 😄

Conversely, @LizziesTwin, 'his' for 'he's' is another popular one.

When I started teaching, I would often get absence notes saying "Waynetta was off has she as been poorly..."
The letter H was sparsely used in speech so maybe that was the reason (charitable).

I didn't think 'Eliza Dolittle' overcompensation on 'haitches' was a real thing!

@LizziesTwin My phone keeps putting random apostrophes in words, drives me mad!

Long hair down passed my shoulders

Payed instead of paid

Backwards, meaning a person or area that is not as advanced as some other person or area.

I suppose it's because people have got backward and backwoods conflated.

People did used to talk about a backward child, didn't they? Nowadays the preferred term would be something like mild learning disability or child experiencing global developmental delay.

Gosh, some people still use it: www.psychologydiscussion.net/child-psychology/how-to-educate-a-backward-child-psychology/2621

Someone is chocking on the thread below this one

Always seeing: “I/he/she/we seen”

No, you bloody well SAW 😡

@bluebluezoo I particularly enjoyed that - chocks away!

I know we have far far far more serious things to worry about ...so apologies for this ..and please correct me if I am wrong but ...

... surely it's "stay at home"?

"Upmost" in place of "utmost". Quite understandable really but I always notice it.

I also mentally correct "less" in place of "fewer" (even though I know this is no longer deemed incorrect).

"Who" instead of "whom"

Oh! And not so much on MN but in life generally: "yourself" used as anything other than a reflexive pronoun. I guess it can sound a little more polite, less pointed than "you".

Disclaimer: I frequently make mistakes myself.

Oh and of course, the classic, "literally" (when obviously speaking figuratively).

"Yay or nay."

It's YEA! Not "yay"! "Yay" is "an exclamation that signals joy or happiness" not an old fashioned way of saying "yes"!

See also "peaked my interest", no it PIQUED your interest.

I disagree with a PP who said "rein in" would be misunderstood by most people because it's a horsey thing - that sounds a bit like the depressing idea that correct grammar and usage is somehow elitist. It really isn't.

Ooooh I DETEST a discrete/discreet error

There is always someone who doesn't know the difference between lie down and lay down, if nothing else has been an irritant for a bit.

‘ I disagree with a PP who said "rein in" would be misunderstood by most people because it's a horsey thing - that sounds a bit like the depressing idea that correct grammar and usage is somehow elitist. It really isn't.’

Until widespread use of motorised vehicles, most people knew ‘horsey’ stuff as horse drawn vehicles were the norm.

Disinterested meaning uninterested.

I think the battle's been lost, though.

I think the reign/rein battle has been lost - ‘free reign’ and ‘reign it in’ are everywhere. ‘Free reign’ at least makes some kind of sense, but ‘reign it in’? confused]

The worst/worse blunder seems to be increasing and is hugely irritating.

Yay or nay used to annoy me but now I feel the expression has updated itself!

Have recently had strong words with DH about the tenets - not tenants - of a belief system.

And breath... I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE! BREATH RHYMES WITH SETH. YOU MEAN BREATHE TO RHYME WITH SEETHE, WHICH IS WHAT I AM DOING NOW, YOU ANNOYING PRAT.

Soar and sore. Also affect and effect being used incorrectly grinds my gears.

My line manager talks about “setting a president” and “when this comes to fruitition”. Drives me mad!

The coronavirus has led to me seeing lots more examples of people who can't spell 'allowed'. I assumed it was a speech input mistake. But a lot of shops have hand written signs saying they'll reopen as soon as 'aloud'.