Grammar and language issues that drive you utterly berserk - Pet peeves

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"I'm in my [insipid bullshit thing] arch."

Firstly, stop with this phrasing. You sound like you're mainlining Twitter every day. Secondly, it's ARC. It's fucking ARC. You know the big yellow M at your local McDonald's? Those things are called The Golden Arches because there's a big goddamned ARCH that you're looking at.
 
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Preferred Penne said:
"Mentee" is used by people who can't spell "protege".
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Different thing. Mentee may be a neologism, but protégé(e) implies a particular and intense/shepherded interest in a person’s future - and in the world of arranged corporate mentorships, the support/ promotion doesn’t necessarily have applicability outside a particular program’s terms. Further (and a very secondary point), using “protegé(e)” somewhat implies that the senior person is in a position of real power and achievement, whereas in a more common modern “mentorship” scenario (arranged or organic), they’re not always able or willing to do so - they mentor but when time shifts…it depends.

Agree the term is faux and annoying, but “mentee” does, I guess, bring a symmetry and is easily understood [by the illiterates, lol].

All that said, this discussion made me realize that I have subconsciously avoided saying the word “mentee.”

AnOminous said:
So substitute three words for one. No thanks. Maybe you should go back to 1375 and explain that point, though. I'm sure the centuries of contrary authority will immediately evaporate.
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“They” is fine as an indeterminate reference, but other than how I just did it, it requires a plural verb!

And screw “themself.” Maybe it was used in the 15th century, but li-ter-al-ly no one using it today (outside of professors of Medieval Literature trying to engage the class) was using it prior to 2016.
 
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Friend of Dorothy Parker said:
“They” is fine as an indeterminate reference, but other than how I just did it, it requires a plural verb!
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Tbh the only reason I'd actually use it is if I really just absolutely had to avoid offending some gender retard because reasons but to express resentment at it at the same time. Unless they actually did prefer "they," then I'd avoid pronouns entirely. They might pick up on it but there's pretty much not a damn thing they could do about it in any sane environment, and I avoid insane environments (other than this site).

Oh, and if a style manual required it since I'm actually being paid specifically to write shit that is consistent with a style manual, because I'm a whore.
 
polaris_VII said:
Omitting the words "do" or "are" (probably more than that) when asking a question:
  • "Why Ganges water filthy?"
  • "Why white people hate India?"
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Omitting auxiliary verbs is common for ESL speakers. It's still annoying, you're right.

What annoys me is I do not know when to use "from," "to," or "at" in a sentence.
 
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A strange phenomenon I've observed over the last 10 years or so: people forgot the word "worse", and have substituted "worst". E.g. "it was worst than ever before", "it's getting worst".

And it's not ESL people. Have you ever heard people speak your own language before? What causes people to think that's grammatically correct?
 
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SouthernBitchBob said:
A strange phenomenon I've observed over the last 10 years or so: people forgot the word "worse", and have substituted "worst". E.g. "it was worst than ever before", "it's getting worst".

And it's not ESL people. Have you ever heard people speak your own language before? What causes people to think that's grammatically correct?
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This is one that I was going to post too. It drives me up the wall. Some others that make me reach for a gun:

  • I've seen a LOT of is the misuse of "where" when people mean "were." I do hear it spoken occasionally which shocks me every (rare) time that it happens, but it's mostly an online written thing.

  • Half of people online do not even seem to even know of the word "aisle." As in: "Grab me a loaf of bread from aisle 2" or "I'm reaching across the political aisle." An "isle" is an island.
 
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People pronouncing the name "Stephen" like "Steven." A ph always makes an f sound, not a v sound. You wouldn't pronounce the feminine version of the name like "Stevanie," so why do it for the masculine version?!
 
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