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Words or phrases that annoy you (even if you can't explain why) . . .
- Thread starter usagora
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This isn't a word that annoys me, as much as it's one I've never seen: acter.
Was that a typo in the document I was looking through, or is "acter" a real word? If so, how does it differ from "actor?"
Was that a typo in the document I was looking through, or is "acter" a real word? If so, how does it differ from "actor?"
Typo or not? I suspect it depends on how it was used in the document you were looking at, but the word "acter" does refer to a play with a specific number of acts; a "one acter" would be an example
The word stood alone, in a bulleted list. It was supposedly used as a noun, not like your example, a one-acter. It just was "acter." Just, uh... like that. Acter.
And it wasn't supposed to have a char before it?
I know occasionally I might have gone back in a document to do something like correct capitalisation and inadvertently remove several letters at the start of the word. (I hope I usually notice and it really was minor case of finger trouble.)
Possibly an accidental deletion of "char" in "character," I never considered that.
What did the context of the sentence, or paragraph, where this mutilation appeared, suggest?
That it was a mis-spelling of "actor", or an amputation of "character"?
Here:
Also, I just noticed the misspelling of "too" as "to," but that's beside the point.
Ouch.
That "too"......wince.
It may be beside the point, but it sets my teeth on edge, and, also, (and yes, this is a judgment) will ensure that I take the writer, and the text/tweet/post, whatever, a lot less seriously.
I can still recall the exercises we learnt - and wrote out - and were then asked to compose and write sentences for ourselves containing all of these words (stuff along the lines of "Two bags are too many when I am going to school") so that we were able to demonstrate that we understood the (quite significant) differences between these terms - and were clearly able to distinguish between and were able to use them correctly when writing or speaking - when I was around six or seven years of age in primary school.
Painful.
Well, given the context, I can only assume that this is a mis-spelling of "actor".
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What set my teeth on edge immediately was reading "What is the ask?" There is a perfectly good word out here, "question," which IMHO needs to be used rather than trying to turn "ask" into a noun.... I loathe seeing or hearing that! And this was before I got to the misspelling of "too."
Agreeing with SS here: based on this and looking at the context of the entire document my guess is that the writer, either out of carelessness or sheer ignorance misspelled "actor."
Agreeing with SS here: based on this and looking at the context of the entire document my guess is that the writer, either out of carelessness or sheer ignorance misspelled "actor."
Subscale; especially when uttered by a Netflix executive.
Oh, gosh, yes: "What is the ask"? Agree with you completely.
What an absolute linguistic horror, especially when - as you have correctly pointed out - the perfectly good noun 'question' already exists, a word which fulfils this function more than adequately.
A selection:
"Off of". What's wrong with "from"? It's shorter and better and not the single most ugly construct in colloquial English.
"We apologize for the inconvenience": The sure sign of an insincere pseudo-apology.
"Going forward...": Can you go backward in time? No? Then that expression is a waste of time.
"...go ahead and...": Waste of time.
"Anyways": It's "anyway".
"Theatre", "Centre" instead of Theater, Center etc.: The French pronounce the "re" at the end like "re", so that's cool for them, but it's silly in English, since you're just unsuccessfully trying to appear sophisticated and it's pronounced "er" at the end of the word.
"Awesome/amazing": These have been ridden into the ground for the next 500 years by overuse and have lost all meaning. Just use any other word. "Great" or "fantastic" are okay.
"Off of". What's wrong with "from"? It's shorter and better and not the single most ugly construct in colloquial English.
"We apologize for the inconvenience": The sure sign of an insincere pseudo-apology.
"Going forward...": Can you go backward in time? No? Then that expression is a waste of time.
"...go ahead and...": Waste of time.
"Anyways": It's "anyway".
"Theatre", "Centre" instead of Theater, Center etc.: The French pronounce the "re" at the end like "re", so that's cool for them, but it's silly in English, since you're just unsuccessfully trying to appear sophisticated and it's pronounced "er" at the end of the word.
"Awesome/amazing": These have been ridden into the ground for the next 500 years by overuse and have lost all meaning. Just use any other word. "Great" or "fantastic" are okay.
Code:
grep 'acter$' bigWordList.txt
abstracter
azotobacter
campylobacter
character
compacter
exacter
impacter
multicharacter
noncharacter
subtracterAlthough nobody asked, it was the first thing I thought of.
My personal favorite: campylobacter. Especially if pronounced as "campy lobe actor".
Depends on the context. An example?
I agree.
I never use that, and I agree, it's bad.
I don't mind that.
I might've already said this, but that is a regional thing. I say "anyways," probably because of the part of the U.S. that I grew up in.
Theatre, centre, metre... those are non-U.S. spellings that are perfectly legitimate. In fact, when I was younger, I was in a habit of spelling "center" as "centre." Although it is perfectly legitimate outside the U.S. I still prefer how it looks.
Fine.
The way replies work here makes quoting this weird, so I'll tell you what I'm referring to.
"Off of": Context doesn't matter, it's always gross. "Based off of", "Making money off of", What is this off of?" - Yuck.
"Anyways": Not finding anything about regional differences, only that it's wrong. Do you have any sources? And sorry that you've already said what you have said before, but I didn't want to read through and retain 75+ pages before I posted.
"Theatre/Centre": My point is not these are wrong outside of the U.S., but that they're silly. This is a thread about personal opinions. I think they're dumb because I personally think it's dumb when languages do not pronounce words as they're written, and particularly if they're doing it needlessly so. If it must be spelled this way, then people should just say (phonetically) "Sen-truh" or "Thee-e-truh". English is bad enough at this as it is. The reason spelling bees aren't popular in any other languages I'm aware of is that in most languages, everything is pronounced as written and vice-versa.
Ahhh... gotcha. Yes, I agree.
idk then, that's something my parents/teachers have said in the past... that "anyways" is regional. I have no proof though.
"Anyways" isn't not the worst anyway. I raise you "irregardless"
.Completely agree. We can often read sentences where the word "of" should simply be removed and, if anything, it makes the sentence clearer.
I try and avoid using the construction "try and". Why don't I just say or write "I try to avoid..."? Use of "and" where "to" seems more appropriate is very common. What I really hate about it is that I keep doing it myself, and then have to go back and change it. Oh drat! "... go back to change it".
Ignoring any ending -character, ones you have already included, and using a source that includes many "odd' spellings:
Acetobacter
Achromobacter
Aerobacter
amebobacter
Amoebobacter
amylobacter
Aplanobacter
Arthrobacter
attracter
audacter
Azotobacter
caracter
climacter
compacter
contracter
counteracter
detracter
distracter
halobacter
Helicobacter
Heliobacter
Lacter
manafacter
manufacter
myxobacter
Nitrobacter
one-acter
phylacter
Protominobacter
protracter
racter
Schacter
None helps with the original question!
The interjection "LIKE", when being (ab)used in every single sentence.
Yes, "off of" sounds grim.
I suspect that it started with transposing "off" for "from" (as in "take it off" rather than "take it from", and then - the extra (and entirely redundant) "of" was added to provide some sort of supposed clarity).
Anyway, I agree completely that "from" is far better, as well as more precise.
Agree absolutely.
The very expression reeks of corporate insincerity, - a rote apology, delivered under compulsion, little else - and invariably fails to inject any sense of true contrition when delivered.
Agreed.
That expression is one of my pet peeves.
What is wrong with "in future"?
Yes, but it does have its place in speech.
Agreed, but @rm5 explained (many pages ago, certainly a great many posts ago), that this is how it is pronounced where he comes from.
However, having said that, I would argue that while pronunciation is one thing, the written word is another. When written, it should (to my mind), appear as "anyway".
I'm not American, and these were the spellings I was taught and grew up with.
In any case, on the page, in writing, to my mind, (and you will prise "theatre" from my cold, dead, hands) "theatre", or "centre" just look better, and more elegant.
I take your point about how frequent use (or overuse) devalues words, but I'm not sure that I agree with your examples.
Actually, I tend to put this down to a sort of verbal 'inflation' in the vocabulary of expressing awe, delight, wonder, and excellence, the need to use words that carry a sort of currency of cultural power to describe these sensations, as the words that used to be used to describe these sensations have become devalued, through overuse and familiarity, or are not seen as culturally carrying sufficient verbal weight any longer.
Oddly enough, in my experience, in the British Isles, the adjective "great" has become devalued as it has been used so often; that is why (that, and the pervasive influence of US culture and language through movies, TV, the online world, etc) words borrowed from the US - because they are less common, used less frequently, - and, perhaps, are more fashionable - and thus, carry more heft, or weight, in speech and writing, - tend to become used instead.
Precisely because "awesome" is used rarely in my world (real rather than online), I find that it delivers real heft when used in an appropriate context.
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I have always heard and used the expression "bored with...." These days I notice a lot of people saying or writing "bored of....." Interesting, as the words "with" and "of" are not interchangeable. Using "of" rather than "with" just doesn't seem right to me.
Yet, there is also the expression "tired of....." People don't say or write "tired with....", though. Now I'm wondering if some are thinking that "tired of....." and "bored of....." mean the same thing? They don't, really. I guess this is why English its considered such a difficult and complex language, as there are little subtleties in usage that can trip up the unwary.
Yet, there is also the expression "tired of....." People don't say or write "tired with....", though. Now I'm wondering if some are thinking that "tired of....." and "bored of....." mean the same thing? They don't, really. I guess this is why English its considered such a difficult and complex language, as there are little subtleties in usage that can trip up the unwary.