Bad Metaphors and Cliches, and Other Writing Blunders

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Forum -> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections -> The Imamother Writing Club

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LiLIsraeli

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 2:08 pm

theoneandonly wrote:

I've been seeing this one a lot lately, for some reason, and it really bothers me:
discreet/discrete

This!

enneamom

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 2:12 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

enneamom wrote:

Just saw this, and came to post it here: Smile

"First come, first serve"

IOW, if you're there fist, you have to serve everyone else? No thanks, I think I'll just come late. Or maybe it's referring to tennis?

Just to be snarky....you asked for it Tongue Out

Maybe I was testing you? LOL

I'm telling you, this thread must be giving my writing an ayin hara... Rolling Eyes

zaq

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 2:40 pm

de_goldy wrote:

I see these ones everywhere and they drive me crazy:

loose weight

I could care less

Loose weight: flab unconfined. Even less attractive than firm fat.

amother

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 2:47 pm

Anonymous because my friends all know that the errors below irk the daylights out of me:

There is no such word as wala or walla. It is the French 'voila' which means "here it is". Also, the words dido or didow do not exist. You probably mean "ditto". Ditto means "I feel or think the same way you do". It comes from the latin 'dictus' which means "already said".

Usage errors always bother me but none more than these!

crl

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 3:23 pm

I saw this on a Jewish blog once, and thought it was hilarious:

A pregnant woman walks into a pizza place and says to the cashier "Can you deliver me?"

enneamom

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 3:29 pm

crl wrote:

I saw this on a Jewish blog once, and thought it was hilarious:

A pregnant woman walks into a pizza place and says to the cashier "Can you deliver me?"

tsiggelle

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 3:47 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

amother wrote:

de_goldy wrote:

I see these ones everywhere and they drive me crazy:

loose weight

I could care less

What's wrong with it?

*gleefully pouncing*

It should be "I couldn't care less."

As in, "I couldn't care less what she thinks of me!"

My level of caring is at ZERO, so I am incapable of giving it further consideration.

When you say, "I could care less", that means you DO care about it. On a scale of 0-10, maybe your CARE LEVEL is at 1, or 3, or 9 -- but you could care less.

____

A few more manglings of the English language that drive me insane:

"Anyways"
"Irregardless"

what shall I say in place (or is that instead?) of irregardless? (I don't remember ever using that word, but I am curious to know)

tsiggelle

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 3:47 pm

agreer wrote:

I "could of" or "should of" done something... Argh!

what is the correct word?

iluvy

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 3:49 pm

It should be "regardless" and "should have."

This thread is so cathartic!

MaBelleVie

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 3:49 pm

Regardless. Irregardless is not a word.

mommy27

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 4:00 pm

could have and should have become the contractions could've and should've and then are misspelled to be could of and should of. So in speaking, there's really no problem (unless you're really fussy about what you're allowed to make into contractions), just in writing them wrong.

tsiggelle

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 4:03 pm

thank you

actually, I read the words " should of " as " should have" LOL

that was my mistake

hadasa

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 4:19 pm

amother wrote:

AFAIK, "walla" is Arabic and has nothing to do with the French "voila"

de_goldy

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 4:26 pm

Another one I see all over this site:

"Make due" (should be "make do")

enneamom

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 5:54 pm

OK ladies, let's leave this site alone, shall we? That wasn't my intention with this thread, but that doesn't matter as much as the fact that we're creating self-conscious and critical dynamics here.

So pretty please, pick on non-imamother mistakes only, friends. Or if you must, at least don't mention that the mistake is from this site. Thankee kindly! Very Happy

chani8

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 6:04 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

Regardless. Irregardless is not a word.

MiriamWebster

Quote:

Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that “there is no such word.” There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

chani8

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 6:11 pm

Oh, enneamom, I was only joking about the self-consciousness.

To keep it rolling: I keep catching myself typing 'but' instead of 'by' and when I go to correct it, I type 'buy' and even though it seems wrong, I can't figure out why.

Oh, and just what is wrong with, "my in-laws gave a present to my dh and I."? And where do I put the question mark on that question? The question mark is supposed to be inside the quotes at the end of a sentence. But the quote is not a question.

So many questions...so little time. Mostly because it's way past my bed time. (Is bed time one word or two?) Ugh.

chani8

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 6:13 pm

Quote:

This thread is so cathartic!

If you're into pain. Very Happy

de_goldy

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 6:31 pm

chani8 wrote:

Oh, and just what is wrong with, "my in-laws gave a present to my dh and I."?

It should be "My in-laws gave a present to me and my wife/my wife and me." Better yet would be "My in-laws gave me and my wife a present.""

sequoia

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 6:37 pm

Chani, the rule is, take out the other person. "My in-laws gave a present to... I?" No, of course not. "My in-laws gave a present to me."

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