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Pastimes : Common Errors in (American)English

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To: The Philosopher who wrote (60)	6/10/1999 1:49:00 PM
From: Scott Wheeler	Read Replies (3) of 228

My pet grammatical peeves: "Loose" for "lose". Don't loose your money at the track. [Loose only your lose change.] "Reticent" for "hesitant" ["Reticent" does not mean circumspect, reluctant, hesitant or squeamish. It means tight-lipped (or at least of few words). "Impact" as a verb [aughhhhhhhhhh....!!] [ Anecdotally attributed to cardiologist Michael DeBakey ]. "Hemorrhage" is not a verb. Use "bleed". "Absolutely" for "yes" [Now standard TV announcer Ameringlische - hey, who needs verbs?]: "Hot in the valley today - eighty-three degrees!" "A big win for the Giants - details at eleven" "Large parade downtown this evening" "IBM in talks with Oracle Friday" Double subjunctive: "I would have [or worse, "I would of" ] bought the suit if I would have [instead of "if I had"] known the price was going to double. Or "I wished I would have..." for "I wish I would have..." ANY use of "in terms of" [augghhhhhhh!! ] These dodos might as well announce, "Hi, I'm stupid, but want to attempt to sound even stupider by using hackneyed and pretentious phrases that will leave nothing to chance and positively identify me as (well, a dodo!)". [I suppose apologies to flightless birds everywhere are now in order.] "Due to" for "Because of" - [Note that "due to" should modify a verb phrase...correct usage: "The high pollen count is due to those bloomin' acacias!" Even nicer: "Allergy season is upon us, owing to those abundant acacia pollens". "ie" instead of "i.e.," (and dangit, don't leave out that comma!] ...more as I remember them! Scott

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