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Pet Peeves

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Fjones said:
Okay, I am calling you out on this one, only because you seem like someone who appreciates the English language and wants to see it used correctly.


"i saw a person type starberry the other day. they meant strawberry."

This is one of the most common mistakes in the language, and one that I find very frustrating. "They" refers to multiple people. But writers constantly use it to refer to "a person" or "someone." This is just wrong.

There are numerous ways to avoid this problem, which I will go into if anyone cares enough to request it by sending me a private message.

This is NOT just a matter of being fussy or pedantic; sometimes a written statement can become ambiguous or just incomprehensible if this mistake is made.

Edit: Here is an easy example: "A person kicked dirt on the players. They got upset."

Who got upset? The players? That is what the sentence says. But, if the sentence were written by a writer who uses "they" to refer to "a person," the writer may have actually been saying that the person who kicked dirt was the one who was upset.

Additional Edit: Notice how the problem is avoided in the previous sentence. The bolded and underlined "the writer" is often erroneously replaced with "they" simply because the sex of the writer is unknown.
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yeah, i knew i did it wrong when i typed it. i thought about it immediately after, and left it.

lol
 
I don't mind if people showboat, as long as they showboat by lifting the weight quietly and with good form. Some grunting is acceptable, as long as it is proportional to the task. But the people who showboat by slamming the weights, or worse, by shouting "YAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH" with every rep, are really annoying.
 
arsey said:
yeah, i knew i did it wrong when i typed it. i thought about it immediately after, and left it.

lol
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:) It was more for the benefit of others than for you; I figured you were aware of it.

But, here is another pet peeve:

Why doesn't English have male, female, and neutral pronouns, like other languages do? Then we wouldn't have this problem.

Though, those different pronouns made foreign languages more difficult to learn, and I am not sure we want to make English more difficult to learn than it already is.
 
Fjones said:
Okay, I am calling you out on this one, only because you seem like someone who appreciates the English language and wants to see it used correctly.


"i saw a person type starberry the other day. they meant strawberry."

This is one of the most common mistakes in the language, and one that I find very frustrating. "They" refers to multiple people. But writers constantly use it to refer to "a person" or "someone." This is just wrong.
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Being a journalism major, I have edited constant exercises on this mistake, however, I am more annoyed by the solution than by having to correct it.

If I am writing something formal, I will, of course, write the statements correctly, however, on message boards and informal writings, I think it is almost more readable to just write it incorrectly. I hate filling my sentences with "one (as a noun)," "a person," and even worse "he or she" when you
have to be politically correct.


Which, by the way is another pet peeve--political correctness that is.
 
I agree with you xxkcxx that the solution is as annoying than the problem.

I don't care about political correctness though, so I just pick one. I have no problem saying, "Someone left an umbrella on the bus and he is really going to regret it if it rains."

The politically correct folks can always go with "she" in place of "he."

I do agree with you that in informal writing, it isn't really a problem for people to just use "they" incorrectly, as long as meaning isn't lost. The problem is, the typical writer might not be aware of the times when the misuse makes the sentence confusing or ambiguous.
 
Last thought before I go out for the night:

A pet peeve of mine:

Misuse of "your" and "you're."

I don't expecteveryone to write at a ph.D level, but come on, these two words are not difficult.

your: used to assign possession to something, as in, "it is YOUR book, it is YOUR fault, what is YOUR problem," etc.

You're: use as a contraction of "you" and "are." the apostrophe signifies the combination and removal of the letter "a."

If you want to say "You are," as in "You are a moron," or "you are going to regret this," the option you want is "you're."
 
When people say : "Can I ask you a question?"
WTF.
I don't get it. Fucking clearly I am not going to say 'no, you can't ask me a question'
8)
 
claire22 said:
When people say : "Can I ask you a question?"
WTF.
I don't get it. Fucking clearly I am not going to say 'no, you can't ask me a question'
8)
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Hahahaha, I always say this. Although it's usually more along the lines of "I have a question" or "Can I ask you a personal question?" It drives my best friend insane (I actually said it twice this evening with my boy...)

It's usually because I have an uncomfortable question to ask that I'm scared to ask but know I really need to and so am stalling... and also to show that the question is important/needs time to be discussed. :(
 
  • People who get into the turning lane, then when the light turns green to turn they don't move. Wait for the green light to go AHEAD. Just get in the other fucking lane and don't hold up people who actually need to turn ya cunts.
  • People who drive under the speed limit. I am a naturally fast driver, but for fucks sake if you don't speed up I will ram into you.
  • People who just sit there after the light turns green, like they have nothing better to do except watch the pretty colors change.
  • People who ignore the "merge" signs until they get up to the end and they expect someone to let them in.
  • People who will not take responsibility for their own lives and situations.
  • Silly programmes about how to deal with naughty little kids made by people who assume that parents have loads of time on their hands when all these little brats need is to be given a few hard slaps on their backside and made to stay in their room for an hour.
  • Calling up the bank/phone company and being left on hold for half on hour even though apparently my 'call is important to them'.
  • people say "No offence, but..." or "I'm sorry, but..." when it's clear they are insulting/offending someone
  • Text language & wrong spelling/grammar in general
  • Girls who find it necessary to squeal, kiss, hug and jump up and down whenever they see each other, even if it's just a minute interval in between. For fucks sake - a little hello is just as good. Grr.
  • People who decide to stand on the right side of an esculator. FUCKING MOVE TO THE LEFT!
  • don't even get me started on tantrum throwing kids in shops
  • Kids in general. I am mean and dislike them greatly. I work in a supermarket and they constantly cry about not getting a fucking lollipop. Whinge whinge whinge.
  • Customers @ work who chuck tantys at 30 years old. Today had a man scream at me ( I am a manager) about our incomptency. Literally scream.
  • Couples that have been together 5 minutes saying 'they are the one, I love them' :|
  • Mosquitos. Insects in general.
  • Ridiculously expensive items that people buy and do not use.
  • Teens who go around pretending to be all hard and talking like twats. A charmer at work was explaining how she 'was seriously like gonna stab 'em right there and then ma mates had to hold me back man I was goin crazy bro fucking swear to god man'
  • Tarty chicks.
  • Media sluts.

That's enough for today :)
 
mrs_mia_wallace said:
Not being a functional and solid human being is one of the defining factors for being diagnosed with an addiction/disorder :\
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But that doesn't mean you can just sit back and not try to better yourself because of the diagnosis. The whole reason they have therapy is because of the idea that you can change.

I'm sick of people (and loved ones who do it for them) who live their lives being assholes and then saying "well, I'm a junkie" or "it's not my fault--I have bipolar."

Mental health diagnoses should not give people cart blanche to do what they want no matter who it hurts.
 
that is true, but some people blame all their bad behavior on the fact that they have a disorder, without trying to help themselves
 
eon_blue said:
I was wondering the same thing...that's like saying you get peeved when a person with a broken leg won't stop limping around :\
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arsey said:
that is true, but some people blame all their bad behavior on the fact that they have a disorder, without trying to help themselves
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Right.

Which is why I added a few posts up:

But that doesn't mean you can just sit back and not try to better yourself because of the diagnosis. The whole reason they have therapy is because of the idea that you can change.

I'm sick of people (and loved ones who do it for them) who live their lives being assholes and then saying "well, I'm a junkie" or "it's not my fault--I have bipolar."

Mental health diagnoses should not give people cart blanche to do what they want no matter who it hurts.
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IMO, it is more like getting peeve that a person with a broken leg uses his broken leg as an excuse to not get up from the couch for the entire 6 weeks it takes to heal and rings a bell at everybody to signify he would like a soda and if someone does not come within 3 seconds of the bell ring he threatens to kill himself.
 
people who arent black who think saying black is racist...i live in a mostly white town,so most of my friends over here are white.like if theyre talkin about someone whos black before they say "this black guy" the always add "not to be racist,but..." in front of it....i mean seriously i go around sayin nigga all the time,you really think i give a shit if you say '"black"?

and people who know i have Crip friends in my old neighborhood so whenever they see me in the hall or something they deepen their voice to "sound black" and say some bullshit like "YO WASSUP MY CRIP HOMIE G???" really,shut the fuck up,you sound like a retard...

god,i hate this town...
 
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