This is a list of my personal pet peeves regarding people’s pronunciation of certain phrases here in the States. Note that this is not making fun of regional accents or speech impediments. Instead, these are true misunderstandings of what each phrase is supposed to be.
| 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. |
| based on | Not “based off of” |
| 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” |
| 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.” |
| fateful day | Not “faithful day” |
| 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.” |
| wheelbarrow | Not “wheel barrel” |
| 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” |
I really can’t stand it when people say “Real” when it should be “Really” like for example “The traffic is real bad in town”. I guess its a little bit of a gettho thing that encoraged by the media. The other one I hate that seems to have launched into genreal English around the same time as social media is “Haten”, “Some fools are haten on me on twitter”. Finally the worst for me is when people get them/their and was/were mixed e.g “We was at the party with them people from school”. I don’t mind when people clearly from the gettho speak like this, its part of the culture. I just can’t understand when middleclass kids start speaking like that
The reason why people either do not use some words or they use shortened words, is purely due to laziness.
In almost all cases of “strange” English, laziness is the culprit.
In Australia, one of my pet hates about TV is the use of the word “unmissable”. Also, most advertisements about “homeware” seem to think that a plural exists – “homewares”.
It’s incredibly disappointing to announce that Australian media presenters are amongst the worst English speakers. It appears that they are following the American method of converting Irregular Verbs into Regular Verbs.
Examples are as follows (irregular to regular);
pled – pleaded.
learnt – learned.
spelt – spelled.
earnt – earned.
smelt – smelled.
etc.
Also, the pluralisation of mass nouns is excessive & incorrect.
E.g. He had 3 surgeries on his heart.
Correctly spoken, “He had 3 lots of surgery on his heart” or “He had 3 surgical procedures on his heart.”
In any case, more brain cells are required to speak in English. Exercising the brain leads to smart thinkers.
You’re just spending too much time around dumb people. Americans who know how to speak do not speak this way. Almost all of the things you’ve listed here are also things that irritate me. (I’m American)
I’ve just read your list, and I came across the word ‘enormousness’. after looking up the meaning of enormity, it does say that it means ‘great in size or scale’, wich is what you said it didn’t mean. so, your word, ‘enormousness’, does not actually exist. at least, not in the Oxford English Dictionary, it doesn’t.
and to use ‘enormousness’ to mean enormity (as in the size and scale meaning), would be incorrect English.
Carelessness? You mean lack of caring, surely, or uncaring? And ‘as best you can’ is correct. ‘As best as you can’ certainly isn’t grammatically correct. Some of this was fun but I couldn’t read beyond d….
When did “verbal” come to mean VOCAL? For example, “I explained to them verbally how to say it”. Perhaps it’s just counterproductive to think through the real meanings of the words in a statement we’re about to make? ‘Verbal’ is an adverb form of ‘verb’. In no way, shape or form does it imply a vocalized thought.
I would include “First of all” not “First off”. First off what? First off the starting block? No, its first of all, as in a list of several things. First of all, you are an idiot. Second of all of my points, you’re a dolt. Third of all my arguments against your intelligence, you have obviously suffered brain damage at some point.
We Have A New Person Here Who Says Important Wrong, A Lot, And It Drives Me Nuts. She Says Impoordant. Some Times It Sounds Like She Drops The N Also. Ugh!
News Person. This SIte Is Not Typing Right.
We Have A News Person Here Who Says Important Wrong, A Lot, And It Drives Me Nuts. She Says Impoordant. Some Times It Sounds Like She Drops The N Also. Ugh!