Things Americans Say Wrong
Yes, the title is intentional.
| a whole other… | Not “a whole ‘nother…” |
| abercrombie | Not “ambercrombie” |
| across | Not “acrost” or “acrossed” |
| addictive | Not “addicting” |
| 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. |
| 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.” |
| how many feet are in a mile? | Not “how many feet in a mile?” (Units may vary) |
| 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” |
| 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” |
| 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 | Not “myrth” |
| 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” |
| olfactory | Not “old factory” |
| on one hand… | Not “on the one hand…” |
| one and the same | Not “one in the same” |
| orangutan | Not “orangutang” |
| oriented | Not “orientated” |
| 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” |
| 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” |
| tact | Not “tack” |
| 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” |
| 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” |
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
How about ‘Amercican’ as the word that describes the language they speak. I live in Germany and I hear Americans say ‘wow, that is the same as in American’ when they discuss German words.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Hurrah!! One of my pet peeves has been the addition of an “s” to the word
“all”. (Alls I know, alls you do, etc.) Thank you for putting it in your
list. Another pet peeve (yes, I know I’m picky) is the improper use of
the word “comprise” when what people really mean is “compose”. Apparently
some people, even professional journalists, think using “comprise” sounds
more sophisticated than “commpose”. How often do we read that something
is “comprised of”? In proper usage, if one can substitute the word
“include” for “comprise” it is being used correctly. For example it would
be correct to say, “The library comprises many works of fiction”. It is
very often teamed with “of”, as in “comprised of” when what is meant is
“composed of”.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Please forgive the typos in my previous post. I know I should have proof
read it better. I know that there is only one m in compose and there are
other mistakes as well. I am not the best typist in the world so I extend
my apologies to anyone as picky as I who dwells on typing mistakes.
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Nice, I like it, I personally had no idea our cousins on the other side of the pond had corrupted our language quite so much. I honestly though that it only spread as far as incorrect spelling for the purpose of gaining economic advantage over the British (by Webster’s own admission I might add).
p.s. You do realise that you spelt realise as ‘realize’ don’t you? lol…
June 30th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I came here because I wanted to vent about people who say “dribble” when they mean “drivel,” and found lots of others mispronunciations that bother me! Another one that you’ve NOT included is “Voila!”. Lots of people say “WALLA” (or something similar) and think they’re sounding smart when they’re actually accentuating their ignorance.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
And don’t forget “furmiliar” instead of familiar… or “turbin” instead of turbine.
Excellent post. I’m glad I came across it.
July 7th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Another one for your collection:
“George and Me went to the store”
Or
“Me and George went to the store”
July 30th, 2009 at 12:44 am
don’t like the way americans talk? don’t talk to any of them. problem solved.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:23 am
There is a move afoot to ‘Americanise’ the English language (or should that be ‘Americanize?’ Beware – They have the clout to do it! When people like Richard Feynman say things like “..if four out of five people spell ‘friend’ wrong, maybe we should change the way we spell ‘friend’” – then it’s time to worry!
September 7th, 2009 at 2:00 am
These two have become unavoidable in recent years:
‘then’ instead of ‘than’:
“I have more marbles then he does.”
‘of’ instead of ‘have’:
“I would of won.”
It’s one thing to think your country is getting stupider by the day; quite another to be flogged with proof of this every time you read.
September 13th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Not necessarily “stupider” maybe sloppier when listening, speaking writing and thinking is more accurate. “Stupider” by the day would result from religiously burying your nose in The Sun, The Star or The Mirror following The Spice Girls and the escapades of royalty while snubbing the USA………..just joking with you.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
The Term cardshark and poolshark ARE NOT wrong. They refer to cardsharps and poolsharps WHO ARE SWINDLERS, pretending to be much less skilled than they are. They make a living preying on others. Thus the term shark is used to replace the term sharp in such cases since it denotes that the people in question are predators.
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
dude,
given that english is a language of few rules and thousands of exceptions, I’d expect the problem you illustrate above to get worse before it starts getting better, especially as it continues to morph into the one world language.
Incidentally, people do not ‘axe’ a question, they ‘aks’ it – having learned from their demographic peers a simple childish mistake of swapped consonants that has, like some darwinian mutation [ala ebonics], taken on a life of its own. Like my little 4 year old nephew brags about starting ’spree-cool’ this fall….
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Snakeoil said “The Term cardshark and poolshark ARE NOT wrong. They refer to cardsharps and poolsharps WHO ARE SWINDLERS, pretending to be much less skilled than they are.”
I was just going to point that out, but you beat me to it.
Also, when people say “Analyze this data” they are referring to a singular collection of data as a whole. Perhaps it would be better to say “Analyze this collection of data”, but since they are typically referenced as a collection, that might be considered redundant. I suppose it may just be a result of streamlining language to better fit the information age.
If we’re going to get technical, the English language in its “pure” form is a mess to begin with, filled with plenty of inconsistent rules and exceptions. It’s been constantly morphing for hundreds of years, so carefully guarding what’s already there is somewhat pointless. I do agree that it’s good to know and use the proper spelling and pronunciation of words, but there’s little wrong with having new words derived from others. What’s wrong with words like “exclamation point”, that are widely used and make perfect sense? It’s a point, otherwise known as a period, with a mark above it used to indicate exclamation. Just because there’s another term for the same thing doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t be used.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I think you missed one
Different than instead of different FROM
October 10th, 2009 at 1:40 am
In the past few years the term “wreak havoc” has been adopted by newscasters and other semi-literates–in that way that some terms catch the fancy of speakers who really don’t know nor think about their meaning. As a result I often hear the clinker “wreaked havoc.” I confess but the dimmest hope that the next generation will unearth the knowledge that the past tense and past participle of “wreak” is “wrought.”
October 10th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Oh, dear! I just wrote “really” when I meant “in fact” or “in reality.”
October 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am
It’s “duct tape”, not “duck tape”. However there is actually a brand of duct tape called “Duck Tape” with a registered trademark name. So unless one is specifically referring to that brand of duct tape, one should say “duct tape”.
Isn’t it odd that sometimes brand names come along with the common misspellings we’ve always been warned against using?
October 24th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Yeah and don’t forget tap – it’s not a ‘faucet,’ and its alluminium not ‘alluminhum’ but don’t get me started on what americans say wrong.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Yeah. That “I could care less” thing has always bothered the shit out of me!!!
October 30th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Wow. Really? This person must not have been American. Half of those words… WE SAY THEM EXACTLY THE SAME WAY!!! How about you come to America and see how we talk instead of talking smack about us??? i don’t like the way you guys talk but I’m not on here saying things about you guys!
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:09 am
“As though”, not “as if”
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:36 am
When speaking about a year or circa, there should not be an apostrophe before the “s” i.e. 1950s (not 1950’s). No possession going on here.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 am
“The reason is that…”, not “the reason is because…”
This is addictive!” I love this “venting” site!! Thank you.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
As an American I found many of these examples to be incorrect as far as being widely used by Americans. Some really are mispronunciations, but many of these I’ve never heard before, so they can’t possibly be quite that big of a problem among American English speakers. Others are simply a matter of accent depending on where you happen to live within the USA. But of course this should be expected just as people from India speak English with all kinds of peculiarities due to their accent. I think what is important education-wise is if we spell the word correctly even if we may happen to say it with a bit of a drawl. Another to add to the list would be the use of the word “chat” as in “chat me” or “I’m chatting him”. Although incorrect, I think its become its own word.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Nice compilation. However I’d consider removing enormity, as Princeton’s WordWeb does have it as “Vastness of size or extent.”
November 26th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
What about “named for” instead of “named after”? e.g. “he was named for his grandfather”?
Also, “his name is called John” instead of “his name is John” or “he is called John”.
December 6th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
What kind of people nit-pick on such trivial issues as these? I’m embarassed for you all. On that note, I am embarassed for myself for reading through this site. What a waste of time…
P.S.
“Stupider” is NOT a word and I would think that people commenting on a site that is complaining about words that people say wrong would be a little less ignorant.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Erin,
Apparently you think that manners are a waste of time, too. I would never come up to you and tell you that what you do is a waste of time (unless you’re a Jehovah’s Witness).
Hey, if you don’t think “stupider” is a word, then you’re an even bigger prescriptivist (and hypocrite) than I am!
Well done, and thanks for visiting!
December 25th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
please add to the list … when americans say one years old…. i thought one is singular so adding an S to the word would mean the child is more than one… it irks me to hear both black and white americans say this… also anyways…. what the hell is anyways…anyway folks that’s the word…
December 28th, 2009 at 2:29 am
As someone who was educated in the “proper” use of English, I do notice when people make the “mistakes” that are listed here. However, the prevalence of these alternative uses of the language is not due to American stupidity (basic statistics will show a standard bell curve of various measures of intelligence in any society); instead, these differences should be expected to occur with any language that is used by peoples of different geographic, socio-economic, educational, and cultural backgrounds.
It’s fine that everyone has his or her own opinion on what is correct… but please don’t impose your value judgments on those people whose use of the language differs from your own merely because of their different upbringings and life circumstances.
January 4th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I hear the word “almost” mispronounced as “o-most” quite often. Another common mispronunciation not on this list is the word “forward”, which many people pronounce “foward” (i.e. without the first “r”).
January 12th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
To Erin:
I advise that you read a little more. If you check any standard dictionary or, say, the last five hundred years of English literature, you’ll find that people use “stupider” as the comparative of “stupid” all the time. Yep, it’s true–and it will remain true even if you continue typing capital letters to say it isn’t.
Your pal,
Pat
January 15th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
As an American, I recognize a lot of these…I’ve heard most of them on the radio or the TV and have seen quite a few in print, but I’ve also heard many of them being used by friends of various ages. I’m even guilty of murdering quite a few words or whole phrases in those ways, even though I try very hard not to. Self-correcting is very difficult after doing it for many years. Most of the time, a problem word is pronounced both ways within just a couple sentences–I think part of the problem is that the proper pronunciation just doesn’t sound right with the rest of the words and mispronoucing it just sounds better. Don’t ask me how that’s supposed to make any sense, but it does in my head and it happens quite often.
Part of my problem is just the way I speak, where some letters are said so softly, they might as well not be there. I suppose that would be accent-related, but since I live in the Pacific NW, I don’t really have one (that I can hear). And then part of it is just being immersed in the culture, exposed to what I am, whatever the source may be. We live in a digital age, after all, and it is impossible not to be affected by it. There are always going to be the “hur, hur, hur”ing idiots that think it’s hilarious to “axe” someone a question…that will never go away.
I’ve always struggled with the “then” and “than”, although I think the enforced science classes may have mostly fixed that. “Effect” and “affect” are another pair that drives me crazy trying to correct myself, as well as “composite”…I pronounce it both “com-POS-ite” and “COM-pos-ite”. I’ve given up on that one. I do laugh when I hear people say “irregardless” because they’re missing the point.
To be perfectly honest, the Alzheimer’s one shouldn’t even be up there because even though it’s a very serious and horrible condition (to call it a disease implies a cure and I don’t think they’ve come up with one yet), it’s always been a standing joke in my family to call it “old-timer’s” because usually old people get it. Granted, if either of my parents wound up starting down that path, I wouldn’t find it funny at all, but the point is, it’s funny NOW.
For the most part, I’m willing to cut people some slack when it comes to how they speak because the reality of it is, we all speak with different accents and we have all learned from different sources. If we botch the occasional word, who cares? To err is human. Ignore it and teach kids the right way. Where it really counts is what we write down…no one wants to read a butchered parody of English (British or American) that is more than a paragraph long. My eyes would probbably bleed. Our print sources should be where we are the most unforgiving, with public speakers (TV anchors, politicians, religious wackos, etc., etc., etc.) being a good second. If we have to see it or hear it, it should at least be correct.
Also, I think we can ALL agree that Baby Bush was a godawful speaker with horrible pronounciation and that we never, ever, ever want to hear from him again.
It’s “you’re” for “you are”, not “your”. You have no idea how many times I want to smack someone upside the head whenever I see that on a forum. Web lingo and l33t speak are really doing a number on English.
January 15th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
And yay for walls of text! Sorry about that.
January 16th, 2010 at 7:40 am
While I agree with quite a few of the mispronunciations you cannot call a colloquial phrase incorrect; because it is just that, a colloquial phrase. In part, some reasons for the change of phrases is regional, but language evolves so quickly that it is hard to pinpoint exactly why things change. Also, you consider some alternate pronunciations incorrect when, in fact, they are acceptable differences.
January 16th, 2010 at 7:43 am
Also, even though data is the known and accepted plural of data, no one would ever say ‘these data’. Even if it technically more correct from an academic point of view every rule has exceptions.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
One things that really bugs me – some Americans pronounce the word ’second’ as ’secENT’. What is that about?!
Also, why pronounce the word ‘herbs’ as ‘erbs’? There is nothing wrong with that ‘h’, use it!
Oh, and one more:
Nissan (as in the make of car) – pronouncing it ‘Neeesahn’ – it’s like nails on a chalkboard!
January 20th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Here in Canada, we like to say, regarding the American slang, that ‘we are two countries separated by a common language’.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Basically, there’s English, and then there’s American – with all the differences in spelling, pronounciation and vocabulary it can easily be viewed as a separate language – examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
faucet tap
diaper nappy
pants trousers (pants are what you wear underneath)
sidewalk pavement
egg plant aubergine
chips crisps
fries chips
hood (car) bonnet
trunk (car) boot
aluminum aluminium
restroom toilet (seriously, how much ‘rest’ are you getting in there?)
and as for spelling…
AMERICAN ENGLISH
color colour
check cheque
tires (car) tyres
center centre
mustache moustache
-ize -ise
donut doughnut
gray grey
obviously these lists could go on…
January 24th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Saying “orangutang” for orangutan is not incorrect. It’s a perfectly fine alternate pronunciation. Don’t take my word for it, check a few dictionaries.
January 24th, 2010 at 8:31 am
John says: “Oh, and one more:
Nissan (as in the make of car) – pronouncing it ‘Neeesahn’ – it’s like nails on a chalkboard!”
I don’t understand. How do YOU pronounce that word?
February 6th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
I have a good one to add to the list: prerogative. It’s ‘prerogative’, not ‘perogative’ as I hear so many people pronounce it.
Also the meaning has more to do with precedence and superiority than about choice. I hear people say ‘perogative’ as a substitute for the word choice, so both the pronunication and the meaning are off there.