Making the Curmudge cringe.....

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:19 pm

Yeah..... and 'inquiry' instead of 'enquiry'.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:26 pm

This is an American English vs. British English difference, almost exclusively.

Brits distinguish between the two:

A question or series of questions, is an "enquiry". A formal investigation is an "inquiry".

Americans use "inquiry" for both.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:50 pm

Then there is the ubiquitous "sleep with" that means most everything but!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:08 pm

You mean, "sleeping with da fishes" means...

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:27 pm

"Nuthink" gets on my goat (or is that "gote"?)

lyle_from_minneapolis · Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:39 pm

Does it "literally" get your goat? Why do we refer to literature when we literally mean "in reality"?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:40 pm

Literature? "Literal" means (literally, of course) "by the letter, or better, "letter by letter".

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:20 pm

How about affect and effect. I see that misused a lot.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:24 am

Here's an all-time biggest offender:

When to use the apostrophe.

It's used in two cases: To indicate possession, and to show contraction. NEVER to pluralize a noun, whether proper or common.

Example: Paul's mind isn't what it used to be.

Paul's (his) mind isn't (is not) what it used to be.

There are folk's who will use it everytime there's an "s" at the end of a word.

Every day I see thing's like this, and examples like the mailbox that says, "THE SMITH'S". I think to myself, "The Smith's WHAT?"

Oh, The Smith's mailbox!!

Question: Are there any exceptions to this nearly-absolute rule?

Then there the numeric contractions that feature the apostrophe, as in '66 for "1966" (the apostrophe replaces the two numbers, which are understood from context to be the most recent occurrence of the year in question).

But I see people saying " 66' " instead. (spacing added for clarity.) This means "66 foot" or "66 feet".

Those Who Missed The Capitalization Exercises in Second Grade Often Play It Safe By Capitalizing Everything. You Often See This In Ebay Listings. I once had a business partner with an MBA, who would do this. He also wrote about "Drackular". He meant "Dracula".

A last favorite, and one that's used so often it almost makes it into the Oxford: "Hobbiest" (for "hobbyist").

This one makes me think, er, "hobby, hobbier, hobbiest?"

How would you pluralize "Corvette Indy" (the name of a show car that made the round in the late 1980s)? This one even had GM Marketing stumped...

lyle_from_minneapolis · Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:08 am

Now, see, I learned something. I was dead wrong on Literal.

Now, Drackular...outside of being a wild name for a band, "going all Drackular" could be a term for getting really angry, or wanting to suck blood in a bad way.

That apostrophe is the crux of the biscuit.

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:33 am

Corvinds?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:43 am

You have a gift for language, Sheena!

But, no cigar this time, I'm afraid...

Hint: the pluralization of this car's name is not a contraction.

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:49 am

Corvette Indy models. (add the whole pluralized word "models")

...Dean

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:33 am

Or Corvette Indy cars?

lyle_from_minneapolis · Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:37 am

Paul's probably getting at Corvettes Indy.

Sort of like Attorneys General, or Sons of...well, you know.