#50193
12/17/2001 6:41 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I know we've had similar threads in the past, but I thought it would be fun -- nay, cathartic -- to go through the litany again.
What inspired this was Richard Lederer's appearance on NPR radio's Sunday newsprogram, All Things Considered; the same Lederer who entertained some of us AWADers last week with his wit and wisdom, peppered with puns and nonsense.
One of the peeves brought up by a caller is one we've discussed before: the usage of "decimate" to mean "obliterate," rather than "to kill one in ten." Lederer allowed as how language changes hi Faldage & tsuwm! and he'd feel pretty silly saying something like "We had an infestation of gypsy moths in the back yard but I'm relieved to say they only decimated my fruit trees."
Bring 'em on! What are some of y'all's pet peeves?
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#50194
12/17/2001 6:49 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The use of acronyms for which a translation is not readily available.
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#50195
12/17/2001 6:59 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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We had an infestation of gypsy moths in the back yard but I'm relieved to say they only decimated my fruit trees.
It should perhaps be noted that if the gypsy moths decimated Mr. Lederer's fruit trees in the manner of the original definition of the word (in Latin, I might add) they would have killed ten percent of the trees and shipped the other ninety percent off to other orchards.
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#50196
12/17/2001 7:40 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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What are some of y'all's pet peeves?Well, though I feel badly to say this, Anna and Faldage, I perhaps have less pet peeves than both of you. Edit: ps to Anna and Helen: well, I had to find a pair somewhere to make reference to the misuse of "both", where the proper word is "each". 
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#50197
12/17/2001 7:47 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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keiva, David and Besty are my new bestist friends, since yesterday-- so you leave them alone!
meanwhile, someone else was peevish today--- this is from the NYtimes Metropolitan Diary-- and since i know some of you hate to visit the site.. i have copied it here.. its not really word related.. but it is about pet peeves
MY PET PEEVE
I have this pet, his name is PEEVE,
I've asked him several times to leave.
He says, "I'll go, I will, I swear,"
but he's not going anywhere.
Perhaps you've had the chance to meet —
he walks quite slowly down the street,
and stomps his feet down as he walks,
yelling in a phone, he talks.
He rarely says "thank you," never "please."
He disregards R.S.V.P.'s.
He likes to tell how much he earns
and doesn't signal when he turns.
He gets close when he's in line,
thinks 10 percent for tip is fine.
When the bill comes, he runs to hide.
He wears sunglasses while inside.
If you see Peeve playing with his hair
Or barking "Who's this?" into the phone,
Please tell him to use the right side of the stair
And for goodness' sake, to leave me alone.
Martha E. Stewart
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#50198
12/17/2001 7:55 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Martha E. StewartGeez, Helen, you'd think Martha would be content sticking to her empire of chintz and soufflés. and thanks for that remark - I don't like to engage a lawyer unless absolutely necessary 
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#50199
12/17/2001 8:02 PM
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Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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http://f2.org/humour/language/nonsense.html#Cumberbunce makes the point in its last two lines: I thought all people understood
The difference 'twixt 'might' and 'could'!to which I would add I wish all folks would understand
The difference 'twixt 'may' and 'can'!
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#50200
12/17/2001 8:02 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Is the phrase pet peeve.
Well, that and people who drive as though I weren't the only person on the road, but that goes without saying.
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#50201
12/17/2001 8:14 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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what really get my goat, is when people fail to stop talking, when i am trying to interupt!
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#50202
12/17/2001 10:47 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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People who drive as though the speed limit is the recommended minimum speed. Where are the police when I'm driving sane and the other guys aren't?
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#50203
12/17/2001 11:49 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Oh, Anna! You were so slick with that 'engage', I almost missed your first one: Martha Stewart, the Empress of chintz. I love it! Kudos, kiddo!
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#50204
12/18/2001 4:32 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618 |
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#50205
12/18/2001 5:39 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
The tautological repetition of unnecessary words.
stales
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#50206
12/18/2001 5:40 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
The frivolou's use of apostrophe's.
stales
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#50207
12/18/2001 5:45 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Using quotes rather than an exclamation mark to place emphasis on a written word really makes me "mad".
stales
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#50208
12/18/2001 5:47 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 866 |
"Pour speeling in public doccuments or on SIGN'S"
stales
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#50209
12/18/2001 5:51 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 866 |
AWADer's that take 5 post's to boost there post count when "one would have doen".
stales
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#50210
12/18/2001 6:12 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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regarding stales' last:  I have just now earned my MD degree: Master of Dittography. Trust me, Stales, if the intent was to pad, I could be a great deal more thorough by other means!
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#50211
12/18/2001 6:57 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Keiva - I was only being self critical
stales
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#50212
12/18/2001 11:26 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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the misuse of "both", where the proper word is "each".
A) I gotta go along with the ASp on either rather than each
and
2) Both would not be incorrect if you meant ...than both of us put together.
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#50213
12/18/2001 11:33 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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quotes rather than an exclamation mark to place emphasis on a written word
I hope! you're not suggesting placing "exclamation" marks in the middle! of a sentence!, "stales". "Exclamation" marks at the "ends" of sentences don't let you know! which word is being "emphasized"!
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#50214
12/18/2001 1:28 PM
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Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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I was only being self criticalno, you did better: you were self-illustrative! What a lustrous post!
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#50215
12/18/2001 1:38 PM
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Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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A) I gotta go along with the ASp on either rather than eachI completely agree that "you gotta go along with the ASP." You are a wise man there. now as to the second part of your sentence... 2) Both would not be incorrect if you meant ...precisely: the choice betwwen the two conveys a subtle difference in meaning.
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#50216
12/18/2001 5:35 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Two pet peeves come to mind immediately:
Using a sentence with the constructions "neither-or" rather than "either-or" or "neither-nor". I will, though, say that I can't remember either seeing nor hearing "either-nor". That would probably be the very last words I heard before the fatal stroke.
Using I, she, he, etc. in prepositional phrases where me, her, or him is correct. I have been known to call newscasters and "caster"gate them for this unforgiveable lapse.
TEd
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#50217
12/18/2001 5:56 PM
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Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Give they hell, TEd!
Edit: They think they're big cheeses, but they're really only small potatoes.
Mere common taters.
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#50218
12/18/2001 6:16 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Give they hell, TEd!
Ye said it, Keiva!
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#50219
12/18/2001 11:04 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Boredom.
Repetition is the whetstone of functionality
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#50220
12/18/2001 11:21 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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The following list of peeves, from Gilbert & Sullivan, seems worth the verticality. For the MIDI file, see http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/mikado/html/none_be_missed.htmlThere's the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs--
All people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs--
All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat--
All persons who in shaking hands, shake hands with you like that--
And all third persons who on spoiling tête-à -têtes insist--
They'd none of 'em be missed--they'd none of 'em be missed! (CHORUS)
There's the banjo serenader, and the others of his race,*
And the piano-organist--I've got him on the list!
And the people who eat peppermint and puff it in your face,
They never would be miss'd--they never would be miss'd!
Then the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own;
And the lady from the provinces, who dresses like a guy,
And who "doesn't think she dances, but would rather like to try";
And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist--
I don't think she'd be missed--I'm sure she'd not he missed! (CHORUS)
And that Nisi Prius nuisance, who just now is rather rife,
The Judicial humorist--I've got him on the list!
All funny fellows, comic men, and clowns of private life--
They'd none of 'em be missed--they'd none of 'em be missed.
And apologetic statesmen of a compromising kind,
Such as--What d'ye call him--Thing'em-bob, and likewise--Never-mind,
And 'St--'st--'st--and What's-his-name, and also You-know-who--
The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you.
But it really doesn't matter whom you put upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed--they'd none of 'em be missed! (CHORUS)-------- * this is the modernized version; the original was "nigger serenader".
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#50221
12/18/2001 11:52 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Further to: ...quotes rather than an exclamation mark to place emphasis on a written word...
There seems to be a school of signwriting here in WA that espouses this. It's not uncommon to see signs saying "STOP" or "SALE" or Avoid the XMas rush - buy "NOW"
It p***es me off so much that I wonder if I'm turning into just another old cranky guy! Probably
......I remember when I was young......
stales
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#50222
12/19/2001 2:17 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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#50223
12/19/2001 2:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
addict
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addict
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Speaking of Public Radio and pet peeves, I was just going to post about this, but it fits in here so well. The meteorologist on Vermont Public Radio has the fingernails-across-a-chalkboard habit of pronouncing "across" with a slight "t" at the end of it, as in "snow and freezing rain spreading acrosst northern Vermont tonight." It tends to be elided when followed by a "t" sound, though ("across the Green Mountains"). He also says "so to say" instead of "so to speak." These are not common liguistic quirks here in Vermont, and I was wondering if one could pinpoint them to a regional dialect. He doesn't have an indentifiable accent (to me anyway), but that "acrosst" just drives me batty.
I also hate the it's/its thing and the rampant use of apostrophe's (but I still feel a little funny using CDs instead of CD's), but who doesnt.
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#50224
12/19/2001 3:40 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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and "regarding" the overuse of *odd* bits of emPHAsis, we never see "any" of that around *here! 
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#50225
12/19/2001 5:13 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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pet peeves!? now you've got me started - in no particular order: 2. irregardless 3. wreck havoc [for wreak] 4. your/you're (its/it's, their/they're) 5. flustrated [conflating frustrated/flustered] 6. to/too/two 7. excessive anthimeria (i.e., verbing of nouns) 8. orientate 9. (see previous post) 10. "in no particular order" 11. unnecessary apostrophes (e.g., CD's :) 12. misuse of linguistic terms by supposed experts; e.g., Lederer listing "cleave" as a contronym 13. excessive and pedantic sesquipedalian verbiage 14. verbage/verbiage 15. confusing 'i.e.' and 'e.g.' . . 17. mute/moot [it's a mute point] . . . 37. excessive use of the ellipsis
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#50226
12/19/2001 5:22 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
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OH! OH! OH! I remember another one.
The people who hold up two fingers with each hand as they say quote unquote. Even when quote unquote is not necessary which is pretty much all the time.
A former boss of mine used to do that. This guy could start bloviating at the drop of a paper clip. I searched and searched until I found an Energizer bunny that actually worked. It went around in circles banging on its pink drum.
Whenever Bill would start in one of us would start the damned bunny running around. I came to work one morning to find the bunny stomped into plastic shards at the entrance to my cubicle. Did I mention that Bill was a tad passive-aggressive?
Of course there was the time one of us got the batteries in backwards. That bunny kept coming and coming.
TEd
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#50227
12/19/2001 6:16 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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#50228
12/19/2001 6:24 PM
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Posts: 10,542
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max, you did note that I chose to leave off a number one(1.) at this point in time? (oops, there's number 16.)
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#50229
12/19/2001 6:41 PM
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Posts: 2,605
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13. excessive and pedantic sesquipedalian verbiage
honorificabilitudinity -- as in Lederer
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#50230
12/19/2001 11:25 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
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Here's another one: *claiming...
...in no particular order:
...yet numbering the "list".
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#50231
12/20/2001 7:59 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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I loathe the lack of ability some people show in making verbs and nouns agree in terms of number, particularly in the third person. A typical sense would be "Let the customer make his selection and then get them to choose their prize." I also get driven insane by people who wilfully misuse "less" and "fewer". I'm driven even crazier by people who then spend considerable amounts of time trying to justify their misuse ... Note that I got two peeves for one post here, stales old son!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#50232
12/20/2001 1:01 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328 |
Misquotation or things taken out of context tend to annoy me. As an example, the ubiquitous Money is the root of all evil for The love of money is the root of all evil.
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