Things Americans Say Wrong
Yes, the title is intentional.
Please take the following grains of salt before criticizing the list too harshly:
- I am an American citizen (naturalized), and thus a proud American.
- I have no formal training in linguistics.
- These are just some personal pet peeves, so don't get your panties in a bunch.
| a whole other... | Not "a whole 'nother..." |
| abercrombie | Not "ambercrombie" |
| across | Not "acrost" or "acrossed" |
| addictive | Not "addicting," when used as an adjective. |
| all I did was... | Not "all's I did was..." |
| all of a sudden... | Not "all of the sudden..." |
| alumni | This is often mistaken as the singular form of itself. The correct form is alumnus for singular masculine, alumna for singular feminine, alumnae for plural feminine, and alumni for masculine or generic plural. |
| Alzheimer's disease (ALTS-heim-ers) | Not "old-timer's disease" |
| Antarctica | Not "Antartica" |
| anticlimactic | Not "anticlimatic" |
| anyway | Not "anyways" |
| as best as you can | Not "as best you can" (pronoun may vary). Even more appropriate would be "as well as you can." |
| as long as | Not "so long as" |
| as opposed to | Not "as oppose to." This one is fairly subtle, since even in the correct pronunciation, the "d" is almost inaudible. However, many people do indeed consciously and audibly omit the "d." |
| ask | Not "axe." |
| asterisk (AS-te-risk) | Not "asterix" (AS-te-riks). This error is made frequently by low-ranking office employees or people who are beginning to learn computer terminology. |
| beck and call | Not "beckon call" |
| better than the last | Sometimes, to express pleasure toward something, someone might incorrectly say, "every day is better than the next," or "every bite is tastier than the next," and so on. If you think about this carefully, you'll realize that these are actually negative statements. When a person says, "every day is better than the next," it is equivalent to saying, "every day is worse than the previous." The person is essentially implying that every day since the beginning has been getting progressively worse. The correct phrase, therefore, should be, "every day is better than the last." |
| biceps | Not "bicep." The singular of biceps is still biceps. |
| boisterous | Not "voice-terous" |
| bystander | Not "by-standard" |
| calculate | Not "caculate." |
| cavalry | Not "calvary." Of course, if you're referring to the place outside of Jerusalem, then you're fine. |
| card sharp | Not "card shark." A reader contributes: "When someone is good at shooting pool or playing cards, they are sharp. Therefore, they are a 'pool sharp' or a 'card sharp.' They are not sharks as in 'pool sharks' or 'card sharks.'" |
| chipotle (chi-POT-lay) | Everyone seems to have their own pronunciation of this word. Most commonly, however, people mispronounce it by saying "chipolte" (chi-POL-tay), or "chipote" (chi-PO-tay), omitting the "l" altogether, or even "chipottle" (rhymes with "bottle"). The word itself has its origins in the Aztec language Nahuatl, where the "tl" sound was very common. It is derived from the words chil (chile), and pochilli (to smoke). |
| comeuppance | Not "comeuppins" |
| comfortable | Not "comfterble" |
| couldn't care less | Not "could care less." When you think about it, to say "I could care less" really means that you actually do care about something, and it's possible for you to care less about it. It is more appropriate to say "I couldn't care less" to indicate that you have reached the rock bottom of carelessness about something. |
| Darth Vader | Not "Dark Vader"! Yes, I've seriously heard people say that! |
| data | The word data is plural. Therefore it is inappropriate to use a phrase like "this data." It is more appropriate to say "these data." The singular form of the word is datum. |
| daylight saving time | Not "daylight savings time" |
| drivel | Not "dribble." Dribble is what one does with a basketball. Drivel is childish or nonsensical language. |
| drowned | Not "drownded" |
| enormity | The word enormity refers to excessive evil or wickedness. It does not, however, refer to general excessive size. For that, the preferred term would be enormousness. |
| espresso | Not "expresso." I mean, come on. |
| et cetera | Not "exetera." Commonly abbreviated "etc.," this is literally the Latin words et, meaning "and," and cetera, meaning "the rest." When spelled out, this is two words, not one. |
| exact revenge | Not "extract revenge." |
| exclamation mark | Not "exclamation point." Do you ever say "question point"? |
| fateful day | Not "faithful day" |
| February (FEB-roo-a-ry) | Not "Feb'uary" (FEB-yoo-a-ry). |
| founder | Not "flounder." Founder is what a ship does when it collides with something and sinks in the water. Flounder is a kind of fish. |
| for all intents and purposes | Not "for all intensive purposes" |
| hair's breadth | Some believe that this metaphor is actually "hare's breath." |
| heart-rending | Not "heart-rendering" |
| height | Not "heighth" |
| hertz | This applies to the singular form of the unit, which is still hertz. Some people mistakenly say, "1 hert." |
| horseradish | Not "horsh-radish" |
| I'd just as soon... | Not "I'd just assume..." An example phrase might be, "I'd just as soon not go to the park today." |
| I'm not sure | Not "I'm not for sure" |
| I've seen | Not "I seen" |
| in other words | Not "another words" |
| infinitesimal | Not "infintesimal" |
| instant messaging | Not "instant messenging" |
| integral | Not "intregal" |
| inverse square law | Not "invert square law" |
| jewelry | Not "jewlery" |
| jury rig | Not "jerry rig" |
| kielbasa (kil-BA-sa) | For some reason, this is commonly mispronounced "kielbasi" (kil-BA-see) |
| lackadaisical | Not "laxadaisical" |
| laundromat | Not "laundrymat" |
| let it be | Not "leave it be" |
| library | Not "libery" |
| lie / lay | These two are a constant source of confusion. Here are some correct uses of the words, so pay close attention: Lie down, Sally. Are you lying down? I lay there when Frank entered the room. I had lain there all morning. Lay those papers on my desk. You laid down the precious jewels with care. Our hens had laid many eggs that week. One of them is laying an egg right now. |
| literature | Not "litature" |
| mano a mano | In Spanish, this literally means "hand to hand." However, many Americans incorrectly pronounce it as "mano y mano," which would mean "hand and hand." |
| mayonnaise | Not "man-aise" |
| memento | Not "momento" |
| menstruation | Not "menstration" |
| mischievous (MIS-chee-vus) | Not "mischievious" (mis-CHEE-vee-us). |
| moot point | Not "mute point" |
| myrrh / mirth | Myrrh is an aromatic gift brought by the Three Kings for Jesus from the Christian folk myth. Mirth means amusement, as expressed in laughter. |
| nauseated | Not "nauseous." A reader contributes: "Too often I hear people who are sick to their stomach say “I am nauseous” rather than “I am nauseated.” Saying “I am nauseous” means that I cause OTHERS to feel sick to THEIR stomachs." |
| nuclear (NEW-clee-ar) | Often disgustingly mispronounced as "nucular" (NOO-kyoo-lar). I still cringe when remembering George W. Bush say "nucular" in his speeches. |
| nunchucks | Not "numchucks." A reader contributes: "Nunchaku is technically correct. However in English usage it is acceptable to use nunchucks, but not in Martial Arts usage or Japanese." |
| off | Not "off of," as in "get off me" or "peel the sticker off the box." |
| olfactory | Not "old factory" |
| on one hand... | Not "on the one hand..." |
| one and the same | Not "one in the same" |
| orangutan | Not "orangutang" |
| parenthesis | One of these "(" is a parenthesis (as opposed to parentheses, which is plural) |
| phenomenon | The word phenomena is plural. Therefore it is inappropriate to use phenomena when speaking of a single phenomenon. |
| picture | Not "pi'ture" |
| pieces and parts | Not "pieces parts." For some reason, this is catching on at an alarming rate. |
| powers that be | Not "powers to be" |
| prescription | Not "perscription" |
| pronunciation | Not "pronounciation" |
| realty/realtor | Not "real-a-ty" / "real-a-tor" |
| regardless | Not "irregardless" |
| relevant | Not "revelant" |
| repercussions | Not "reprocussions" |
| rhombus | Not "rhumbus" |
| sacrilegious | Not "sacreligious." It has nothing to do with "religion." |
| sherbet | Not "sherbert" |
| sidetracked | Not "sidetracted" |
| statute of limitations | Not "statue of limitations." To quote Jerry Seinfeld, "Fine, it's a sculpture of limitations!" |
| strength | Not "strenth" |
| supposedly | Not "supposably" |
| take for granted | Not "take for granite" |
| that's not fair | Not "that's no fair" |
| touch base with... | Not "touch bases with..." |
| triathlon | Not "triathalon." Also applies to biathlon, tetrathlon, pentathlon, etc. Even the word athlete is sometimes mispronounced "ath-a-lete." |
| utmost | Not "upmost" |
| verbiage | Not "verbage" |
| vertebra | The word vertebrae is plural and should not be used as the singular. |
| vice versa | Not "vice-a-versa." |
| voluptuous | Not "volumptuous" |
| warranty | Not "warrantee." It should not sound like "guarantee." |
| where are you? | Not "where are you at?" and certainly not "where you at?" |
| width | Not "wi'th" |
| would have | Not "would of" |
| wreak havoc | Not "wreck havoc" |
| yin/yang | Not "ying/yang" |
April 30th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Australians can be just as bad with their grammar (and pronunciation of Australian Standard English). As a teacher I always cringed when my students would say to me, "I seen you at the shops." The reason why I ended up at this site was because I noticed a blog writer had written, "... better than the next," and I read it over and over again thinking that perhaps I had read it incorrectly. Good to know I hadn't. And having met many Americans, it drives me insane when they say, "I could care less." I'd always think, "Well then, you clearly do care!" But as I said, each version of English across the globe have impurities according to their own context. American Standard English can not be compared to Standard English or Australian Standard English, etc. (as a teenager I used to write "ect" because of the exact reason mentioned above, the way I said it - glad I learnt not to). Good article, I enjoyed it.
May 1st, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Actually, since you do not have any formal training in linguistics, I should explain something to you.
Ask vs. Axe. Many African Americans actually do say "axe" and we are all well aware of it, but can not pronounce it, just as many Japanese (what I am) can literally NOT hear the difference between R & L, and also find it almost impossible to pronounce them independently.
However, saying something one way, does not mean we do not know how it's said by everyone else. What prevents most people from saying ask instead of axe is actually how the hard palate is shaped. Many African Americans say "axe" because of the shape of their palate.. not because they don't know it's "ask" or that they're stupid.. but because some African Americans are actually physically incapable of forming that sound due to the shape of their palate. Now if it's a Caucasian person with no African ancestry to give them a chance of having a similarly shaped palate, then okay, I would totally get it being a pet peeve then.. lol.
Don't believe it.. ask a person who does have formal training in linguistics.
May 1st, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Wait, how is it possible that "lookit" is not a part of this list? O__O That one drives me insane!
May 1st, 2012 at 5:01 pm
藤島明輝子,
That's very interesting (regarding "axe")! Out of curiosity, could you provide a reference for the notion that black people's pronunciation of "ask" is due to a physical difference in their palate? My cursory Google search hasn't turned up any academic substantiation for this.
May 16th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
I too challenge 藤島明輝子 to bring forth some unbiased information regarding the `african-american palate`.
May 19th, 2012 at 5:49 am
藤島明輝子 says he (she?) is Japanese but when I googled-translated the name it came back as Chinese. "Hmpf, Iknew it!", says I unto myself (as I always do when my very-much-undeserved overinflated ego tells me I'm the only smart guy around) "A 'tard in one respect... a 'tard in all respects." BUT, then I read 藤島明輝子's next post on "lookit" and quickly realized this lad (lass?) is an unsung genius and to be doubted.
May 19th, 2012 at 5:54 am
藤島明輝子 says he (she?) is Japanese but when I googled-translated the name it came back as Chinese. "Hmpf, Iknew it!", says I unto myself (as I always do when my very-much-undeserved overinflated ego tells me I'm the only smart guy around) "A 'tard in one respect... a 'tard in all respects." BUT, then I read 藤島明輝子's next post on "lookit" and quickly realized this lad (lass?) is an unsung genius and *NOT* to be doubted. (THE POST MAKES MORE SENSE WHEN I INCLUDE ALL THE INTENDED WORDS...damn crystal meth is kicking my ass)
May 21st, 2012 at 2:15 pm
You missed off Herbs. It has an H.
May 21st, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Oh, and Craig is pronounced Krayg - not Krag or Kreg.