Words that people commonly use incorrectly ...

["Roger"]

He copied off of my test.

"He copied off my test" suggests that he took the teachers copy and Xeroxed it and then passed it out to his friends or the class.

 

[pjrose]

He copied off of my test.

"He copied off my test" suggests that he took the teachers copy and Xeroxed it and then passed it out to his friends or the class.

Hmmm.....depends on who "he" is, I guess.
I believe I've heard "copy off" in the context of making photocopies.

To my daughter, the original example means that another student (he) cheated and copied answers from her test.

I would say "from" rather than "off"

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

He copied off of my test.

Yes, Roger. "Off of" makes sense. I also forgot that "copy off" can mean the same things as photocopying.

Of course, this would all be avoided if the first person simply said "he copied my answer".

 

[pjrose]

Yes, Roger. "Off of" makes sense. I also forgot that "copy off" can mean the same things as photocopying.

Of course, this would all be avoided if the first person simply said "he copied my answer".

I don't like the sound of "off of." I don't have any grammar books handy, but it sounds ungrammatical to me.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Crescendo.

Outside its musical performance-direction context, the Italian word crescendo is used wrong oftener than it's used right.

That is, crescendo means keep getting louder, as from piano (soft) or pianissimo (very soft) up to mezzo forte (moderately loud) or forte (loud) or fortissimo (very loud) or even fortississimo (extremely loud).

The opposite of crescendo is diminuendo -- i.e., keep getting softer in sound volume.

Yet many writers are unable to keep themselves from using crescendo to mean a state of great loudness, rather than its correct meaning of becoming louder. Examples . . .

The fighter-bomber's jet engines reached a thundering crescendo as the attack plane accelerated to take-off speed.​

(Better: The fighter-bomber's jet engines crescendoed to thunder as the attack plane accelerated to take-off speed.)

The fans' cheers & whistles grew to a roaring crescendo as the home team scored the winning goal.
(Better: The fans' cheers & whistles crescendoed to a mighty roar as the home team scored the winning goal.)​

You get the idea.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[KarenLK]

My pet peeve is the word diocese.
In my book, the singular should be pronounced dye -o- sis and the plural should be dye - o- sieze.
Here in my neck of the woods, everyone, including some of the important diocesan people, say the plural pronunciation when referring to the local diocese, singular.

 

[RichM]

Along similar lines:

It bugs me when people call one die "dice".

Also, just ( or just ) by itself is a "parenthesis". Only when there are both ( and ) does it make "parentheses".

At work, I argue all the time about whether revenue contributes to participations (royalties payable) and people say that means it's "participatable" and I keep pointing out there's no such word - it's "participable".

I also prefer "indices" over "indexes" but both are technically acceptable.

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[isisdave]

I was brought up short (another interesting expression, BTW) today by the sentence "It (a gift card) spends like cash." I always thought I had to do the spending.

 

[Kozman]

Me vs. I

I constantly hear people say for example....Bill and me went to the store rather than Bill and I went to the store.

 

[shugga]

I don't know if these count, but I hate ... gonna for going to and haffta for have to!!

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Am O. K. With Informal Contractions In Informal Conversation.

I don't know if these count, but I hate ... gonna for going to and haffta for have to!!

What about gotta & gotcha ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Passepartout]

And who'da thunk?

Jim Ricks

 

[AwayWeGo]

Who Would Have ?

And who'da thunk?

Or, as I customarily render it, who'd a-thunk ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[topcop400]

"Your invited" or "Your the best".........drives me crazy.

Also, the word "party" is a noun.........not a verb.

 

[topcop400]

Whenever someone says they want to "aks" me something I always say "No, I will not permit you to axe me, whip me, or bludgeon me." I'm just funny that way.

 

[swift]

Ok, I guess I will chime in here. My pet peeve in my house is the use of the words "What Ever!" Especially when done with the rolling eyes.

 

[AwayWeGo]

The Voice Of The Younger Generation ?

My pet peeve in my house is the use of the words "What Ever!" Especially when done with the rolling eyes.

And even more especially when those rolling eyeballs are in the eyesockets of adolescents ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[swift]

And even more especially when those rolling eyeballs are in the eyesockets of adolescents ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Or husbands!!

 

[pjrose]

Whenever someone says they want to "aks" me something I always say "No, I will not permit you to axe me, whip me, or bludgeon me."

I'll bet the person doesn't get your point, and just stares blankly at you.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Flying Commas.

Somebody came out with a book about apostrophes.

Who'd a-thunk ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Whussup With Semicolons.

Whoa !

Somebody wrote an article about semicolons.

Who'd a-thunk that ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Jbart74]

Which day is it?

I see 'Wensday,' 'Wednsday,' and, my personal favorite, 'Whensday' a fair bit.

 

[vivalour]

I just can't get used to the use of use to.

 

[pjrose]

ju-ler-y

use to

prolly (probably)

 

[John Cummings]

I see the following many times:

looser instead of loser. i.e. He was the looser of that race.
boarder instead of border. i.e. The boarder between the US and Mexico.