Grammar Pet Peeves: 4th Of July 2011 Edition (PHOTOS)

It's 4th of July weekend (pretty much) and we are thinking about the same things as you are: hotdogs, hamburgers, beach, pool, sun and, most of all, relaxation.

In honor of our favorite summer holiday, we've put together a compilation of some Independence Day-themed grammar pet peeves.

Did we miss any of YOUR grammar pet peeves? Let us know in the comments!

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"Me" vs. "I"

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The fireworks scared my sister and me. BUT My sister and I were scared by the fireworks.

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The fireworks scared my sister and me.

BUT

My sister and I were scared by the fireworks.

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John David Redux said on 3 Sunday 2011 pm31 11:42 pm: No, it's not a colloquialism. It's just incorrect.

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This Grammar Pet Peeve

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...I've confused those That's MY grammar pet peeve!

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Comments

[Pisces Perri]

02:07 PM on 07/23/2011

"Supposedly" vs. "supposably": "Supposedly, there is going to be a meeting about the fact that there is no such word as 'supposably'."
"Asked" vs. "axed": "I asked the gentleman, 'Who axed these people to death?'"
"He pulled a 180" vs. "He pulled a 360": "Realizing that 'He pulled a 360' meant that he did the same exact thing, he finally pulled a 180 and stopped using the wrong terminology."

[danielle 353]

10:51 AM on 07/21/2011

OK, I'll ask... when do you use "lit" vs. "lighted"? I always read lighted, and I want it to read lit. Help!

[iluvmaps]

10:40 AM on 07/21/2011

"Menistration" - It's your body and it happens to you every month, you ought to know what it's called!

[Michael Willhoite]

08:58 AM on 07/20/2011

I used to know a woman who said things like "Me and her went [somewhere]. I swear it almost made my ears bleed. She had clearly never been taught objective vs. nominative.

[sfcat]

06:08 AM on 07/20/2011

OMG, can't believe they skipped its vs. it's. i see it used incorrectly all over the place now!!!

[iluvmaps]

10:12 AM on 07/21/2011

I hate that too! It seems like the slideshow just covered verbal mistakes, not written ones.

[judgecurran]

08:31 PM on 07/10/2011

My favorite peeve is the converse pair compose vs comprise: The United States comprises fifty states; fifty states compose The United States.

[cranei]

01:08 PM on 07/10/2011

Worse than " The REASON WHY" is "The reason WHY...is BECAUSE..."

[Wendy Swerdlow Pederson]

09:25 AM on 07/09/2011

The whole "I" vs "me" thing can get confusing, in part due to the old grammar police from grade school who would preach "and I, never and me!" The rule is actually that you use which ever version you would use if you were referring only to yourself. You would not say "The fireworks scared I" or "Me was scared by the fireworks".

[Madeleine Tormey McBride]

02:59 PM on 07/15/2011

The word "myself" is also used in place of "me." As though saying "me" is somehow egotistical! "I bought a car for the family and myself." It seems that even news anchors, who I expect to use proper grammar, are guilty of this!

[sebenton]

01:26 PM on 07/08/2011

They're vs. their vs. there and your vs. you're. Seriously.

[bonheur]

01:21 PM on 07/08/2011

I have several more to add (wrong version first, correct version in parentheses): I laid down. (Correct: I lay down.) I'm laying here relaxing. (Correct: I'm lying here relaxing.) This phenomena interests me. (Correct: This phenomenon interests me.) There was lots of people. (Correct: There were lots of people.) There's other ways to do it. (Correct: There are other ways to do it.) We drove further today. (Correct: We drove farther today.) We're farther along with this project. (Correct: We're further along with this project.) I wish he would have come. (Correct: I wish he had come.) I wish I was there with you. (I wish I were there with you.) Kid's clothing (correct: Kids' clothing) Don't worry about that, we'll take care of it. (Correct: Don't worry about that; we'll take care of it.)

[Oceras]

03:51 PM on 07/07/2011

I would guess that a lot of these grammatical "gaffes" have a longer history than you might imagine."The Power of Babel" by John McWhorter is useful in this regard, and fun.

I do get taken aback by 'less/fewer' and "unique/very unique", but that's because I learned the difference as a child. In many situations I think I/me is a lost cause. In any event, I've never misunderstood someone who uses them incorrectly.

[Jim VokounRobinson]

12:14 PM on 07/07/2011

In regards to this past Monday, Colin and me were watching some very unique fireworks. This is the reason why we feel so nauseated today. Irregardless, we wish there were less of them. Next year we’ll sit further away. Next year we’ll bring the smaller cooler so we can sit further away. We only need a few pepsi’s inside of the cooler anyways.

[Michael Willhoite]

09:01 AM on 07/20/2011

Shame on you! And thanks for the laugh.

[iluvmaps]

10:20 AM on 07/21/2011

correction, "we wish there WAS less of them"

even better!

[Jim VokounRobinson]

10:30 AM on 07/21/2011

Ye gods! How dare I use subjunctive mood!! I could not agree more! :)

[EuroRant1]

10:11 PM on 07/05/2011

Shortly after arriving in Europe 20 years ago a few brave colleagues pulled me aside and made me aware that my grammar/communication skills were very lacking. I remember that I wasn't as embarrassed as I was relieved to learn that I didn't have a personal hygiene problem, they weren't all deaf and they understood English quite well ... just not what I was passing off as English.

The average American studying/working abroad learns this soon after arriving. With the exception of the UK, Germany and France most Europeans fluently speak two to three foreign languages besides their own mother-tongue so they aren't stupid.
Some simple rules for the average American traveller is to avoid using colloquial terms and any type of slang.
Avoid using the word "like" more than twice in any sentence.
Avoid "he/she/we goes" when you mean: he/she/we said.
Avoid "he/she went" when you mean: he/she said.
Avoid "he/she turns to me" when you mean: he/she said to me.
Speak slowly, clearly and use only the words necessary to be understood.

Whenever new colleagues arrive here, I record them and tell them to write down every single word they uttered in one sentence of that recording. It's an eye opener. They learn that what took them 30 to 40 words could have been said using only 10 to 15 words.
Moral: living abroad will improve your English and grammar very quickly.

[Aaron Calhoun]

03:11 PM on 07/05/2011

In regard to "In regard to"...why not simply "regarding"?

[Aaron Calhoun]

03:09 PM on 07/05/2011

The slide describing the supposed difference between "nauseous" and "nauseated" is wrong....one of the main definitions of "nauseous" is "affected with nausea or disgust"...in fact, from the Merriam-Webster website itself comes this clarification of the use of "nauseous" / "nauseated":

"Definition of NAUSEOUS

1: causing nausea or disgust : nauseating
2: affected with nausea or disgust

Usage Discussion of NAUSEOUS

Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous in sense 1 is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseous in sense 2."

[Aaron Calhoun]

03:21 PM on 07/05/2011

And here's some info on less vs. fewer, which I agree in certain instances is problematically used, but the idea that less can *only* be properly used with non-quantifiable nouns is a bit extreme...from the Merriam-Webster site:

"The traditional view is that less applies to matters of degree, value, or amount and modifies collective nouns, mass nouns, or nouns denoting an abstract whole while fewer applies to matters of number and modifies plural nouns. Less has been used to modify plural nouns since the days of King Alfred and the usage, though roundly decried, appears to be increasing. Less is more likely than fewer to modify plural nouns when distances, sums of money, and a few fixed phrases are involved and as likely as fewer to modify periods of time ."