Verbal pet peeves....

[T Bone]

Okay, post 'em up! I've got about a million, but I'll leave some for the rest of you.

"Nominal". It does NOT mean minimal, as it is often used. It means "named", or specified. "For a nominal fee" means it is a set fee, does not necessarily mean it is insignificant!
A note on nominal, I just Googled it, and it seems Google does in fact state one meaning as "very small; far below the real value or cost". A typical case of how when a word is used incorrectly by enough people for long enough, it's meaning begins to be changed. Merriam Webster however (considered far more valid a source than Google on the subject by me) has no such definition. There.


"Etc", wrongly pronounced "Excetera" by so many. It is written as et cetera (two words, Latin in origin). There is NO X!!! (I blame this one on the pain reliever Excedrin, which advertised heavily in the 60s/70s).

Nuclear. It is not pronounced "nucular", there is only one u in there. Had a US President who said it that way fer cryin' out loud! I work in nuclear power plants, and often hear it said incorrectly even by high ups (occasionally plant managers!). I have a friend in his 70s who says it wrong, swears he can't hear the difference.

Does anyone still say "Libary", or did we finally kill that little gem?

Should've, would've, could've... they are contractions with the word "have", and are not correctly written "should of, would of or could of". Okay, that one is more written than verbal.

Enough from me, whatchyagot?

[MHe225]

.... can I aks something ......?

[T Bone]

.... can I aks something ......?

Axe away... lol!

[Statius]

expresso.

[Teeritz]

T-Bone, I can never understand what's so difficult about pronouncing 'nuclear'. Maybe you could tell the higher-ups to say the words 'new' and 'clear' in rapid succession.

Your list of verbal pet peeves is pretty on the money. I'll add 'pacific' used instead of 'specific'. Next person that says to me; "Can you be more pacific?", I'm going to probably reply "While some men are islands, no man is an Ocean."

And I HATE it when someone pronounces the word 'ask' like 'arks' (Australian accented spelling) or 'axe' (for those of you reading from The States).*

Oh, I've been doing library studies for the last few years and there are still one or two people (in my class) who pronounce it 'libary'. They'll be my supervisor one day.


*took me so long to write my reply that some others beat me to it.

[Der Amf]

I pronounce it LIE (as in not standing or sitting) BRIE (as in not Camenbert) and I have very little problem with that.

[crownpuller]

The letter H is pronounced aitch, NOT Haitch !

[crownpuller]

"Etc", wrongly pronounced "Excetera" by so many. It is written as et cetera (two words, Latin in origin). There is NO X!!! (I blame this one on the pain reliever Excedrin, which advertised heavily in the 60s/70s).

[Statius]

Champagne. As we all know, it should be pronounced Sean Penn. Or, if you're a continental, champagnyah.

[Teeritz]

I pronounce it LIE (as in not standing or sitting) BRIE (as in not Camenbert) and I have very little problem with that.

That's cool, but I hear too many people pronounce it 'lieberry'.