I want to start using "Too right! and Bloody this or that."
In my short 62 years on this earth I have NEVER read an article where a journalist or heard a TV Talking Head use the proper past tense of the word “dive.”
The writers always writes “dove” as in “They dove into the water;” and the Talking Heads always say: “dove” with a long “o” as in “They dove into the water.”
“D-o-v-e” is abird.
The past tense of “dive” is “dived.”
I dive, you dive, he/she/it dives
We dive, you dive, they dive
I dived, you dived, he/she/it dived,
We dived, you dived, they dived
I have dived, you have dived, he/she/it has dived,
We have dived, you have dived, they have dived
I will have dived, you will have dived, he/she/it will have dived,
We will have dived, you will have dived, they will have dived
“I dive every day at the pool at the Boys’ Club.”
“I dived three times this week at the Boys’ Club.”
“I have dived at several pools in the local area.”
“By the time my competitive diving career ends, I will have dived 14 years.”
I think I’m correct.
English Majors: Dive in!
“There was a near miss in the skies...”
Did the planes almost collide but did not? Then it would be a near-hit. Or, the planes missed each other, but not “near miss”
Commentate and coronate.
Or maybe I should say they irritATE the hell outa me!
Anyway, commentators don't commentate. They comment. And kings don't get coronated. They get crowned!
Then, another current verbal crime that irritates me no end is the constant repitition on TV news of the term humanitarian crisis:
For example, a crisis like the current "ethnic cleansing" of Christians in the Middle East is an absolutely terrible happening, a disaster of Biblical proportions. How on earth can anybody with even a tiny bit of logical ability in his brain describe it as humanitarian? The term is really a ne plus ultra case of oxymoronism.
“I could care less..”
It should be “I couldn’t care less.” Saying one “could care less” leads us to believe that they do care even a little and thus could care less.
How about: “irregardless?” I wince every time I hear the word used.
“Hot water heater” If it’s already hot there is no reason to heat it. I have never taken a drink at the cold water cooler.
comprehensive
strategy
epic
On versus upon
Personally, I hate it when people let little things like this bother them.
Words ending in “ist” need an “s” to make them plural. So many times, even on FR, I’ve seen, “Those feminist are ruining this country.” “We have to get all those terrorist,” etc.
Forbidding the ending of a sentence with a preposition. I obey it in my writing, but don’t understand it.
“Axe” instead of “ask”
Overuse of the word “it” in its non-possessive form (i.e., “it rained today” vs. “the weather was rainy today”; “it is a long drive to my house” vs. “the drive to my house is long”).
Overuse of the passive tense (i.e., “the man was killed by the bull” vs. “the bull killed the man.”
‘Have went’ has consumed modern English like the Blob. Its advance was sudden and swift compared to most devolutions of the language.
‘Have gone’ is the helper-verb construction. ‘Went’ must stand alone.
‘I shoulda went to the store.’ I despair every time I hear it.
“Viola” instead of “voila.”
“Should of”, “could of”, “would of”.
“I could care less” instead of “I couldn’t care less.”
Misuse of apostrophes, which seems universal these days
(”Open on Sunday’s”, etc....even “The Taylor’s”, “The Thompson’s”).
When Hussein speaks, he says *ta*, instead of enunciating *to*. Seems this is becoming quite common. GRRR!
Maybe this is what happens when you talk while chewing gum.
Hell, being an English teacher in this day and age is painful. Everywhere I look I see gross errors in every imaginable form. I fear I will go insane before it is all over.
Expressions like those below annoy me:
‘I seen’ instead of ‘I saw’
‘They drug’ instead of ‘they dragged’
This grates on me more than the rest. Our language has devolved into a lazy mess.