Common grammar and usage errors

12/22/04 | Self

[georgiadevildog]

I am starting a grammar thread at the behest of Xenalyte and TheMom. Post your most irritating pet peeves of grammar or usage here.

[TerP26]

I have drunk 8 beers. It just doesn't sound right.

[arthurus]

loose/lose

[arthurus]

"To eggs is two many too eat"

"To eggs is two much too eat"

[arthurus]

cents, scents, sense, since

Since only fits in this progression in some parts of the South where all four words are pronounced "sints" or "see-ints."

[arthurus]

What in the hell is a "looser"

One who releases could be called a looser.

[arthurus]

"Here, here" as a gesture of agreement to the comments of another, I don't know which to use.

How about "Hear here!!"?

It's "Hear! hear!" and is a command to listen to what the speaker has said.

[arthurus]

if it wasn't for them

If it weren't for them...

[arthurus]

medal, metal, meddle, mettle

Three of these, at least, come from the same root and have essentially the same meaning. Meddle is different.

[arthurus]

Actually, either is correct, depending on whether you refer to the two individual eggs or to the single meal composed of the eggs.

[rwfromkansas]

Using commas between two independent clauses (instead of semicolons).

Writing "irregardless."



If anybody has a problem with using sentence fragments, like I did in this post, tough.

[arthurus]

For a proper dictionarỳou have to go back to Webster's Second International. Throw out the Third. It enshrines any word or usage that has been published twice or is known to the editors to have been spoken ten or a dozen times.

[escapefromboston]

Ef it WUZZEN'T fo' dem...

[arthurus]

The act of conspiring together is redundant. Conspiring is not an activity accomplished alone.

[arthurus]

All y'all = everybody

Yall and allayall are my preferred constructions because "yall" hereabouts is not used with any sense that it is a contraction. It is simply the correct second person plural pronoun. Allayall indicates everyone in the group spoken to and is more congruent with the actual spoken term.

[cynicom]

Is there a TRASH section this could be placed under?

[rwfromkansas]

Who and whom

Who is SUBJECTIVE
Whom is OBJECTIVE

Using the two terms properly is not difficult.

Just isolate the phrase/clause using who or whom and replace who or whom with a name, such as "Bob." Then, say it as a sentence, which often requires changing the word order. If Bob is subjective, use who. If objective, use whom.

Example:

I wonder who is going to the party.

Next step:

I wonder Bob is going to the party.

Isolate: "Bob is going to the party."

Since Bob is the subject there, it should be who.

Next example:

You are dating whom?

In sentence form, it stays the same....you are dating whom.

You are dating Bob.

Thus, since Bob is objective, we use "whom."

[rwfromkansas]

There is one reporter for my college newspaper who makes the same mistake all the time. I constantly have to fix the errors.

[rwfromkansas]

Good catches. I am sure I heard those before, but I still make the mistakes.

IIRC, datum is singular for data.

Collective nouns can be tricky as well.

[arthurus]

Are you guys ready to orderThis is a Yankee misusage. The correct is "Are yall ready to order?" and it iscertainly more euphonious, especially when spoken by a female waitcreature from Birmingham or Hattiesburg.

[rwfromkansas]

Well, that rule is rarely taught these days.

Grammar evolves, and much like the split infinitive, it is becoming acceptable, even to teachers, to use an article at the beginning of some sentences.

I do not use it often, but I do sometimes when I want to emphasize a point. Contrary to what some say, a strong "and" at the beginning of a sentence actually strengthens it by tying the sentences together more effectively.

One should not use "and" at the beginning sentence often, but if you write a column, I see nothing lazy about using it once or twice. Such usage actually can strengthen your writing, not weaken it. But, the word must be used carefully and sparingly to introduce sentences.