SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  What's Your Deal!    Common expressions that are wrong (or we think are wrong).
Page 1 2 3 4 
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Common expressions that are wrong (or we think are wrong). Login/Join 
Freethinker
Picture of sigfreund
posted
This isn’t a complaint, but the section police might believe it is and become annoyed that it’s in the wrong place elsewhere, so here it is.

Are there expressions people use that you believe are wrong or use incorrect words, even if you know what they mean? A couple for me:

“To try and” do something rather than “to try to” do it. The first expression is probably more common in America than the latter, and even appears in formally-edited writing. It just doesn’t seem right to me, though.

“He must of” done something rather than “he must have” done it. I attribute the common use of the first to people’s hearing the spoken contraction, “He must’ve” and understanding it as “must of.”

What are yours?

(This question is more about expressions used by normal people, not gun fanatics [ Wink ] who are concerned about clip versus magazines, and those sorts of specialized terms.)




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Unmanned Writer
Picture of LS1 GTO
posted Hide Post
Any phrase or sentence using "irregardless."







Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



Only in an insane world are the sane considered insane.


The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime


 
Posts: 14020 | Location: It was Lat: 33.xxxx Lon: 44.xxxx now it's CA :( | Registered: March 22, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Is it inflammable or flammable?
 
Posts: 1169 | Location: NE Indiana  | Registered: January 20, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Striker in waiting
Picture of BurtonRW
posted Hide Post
Waiting or standing on line (wrong) vs. in line (correct).

-Rob




I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888

A=A
 
Posts: 16263 | Location: Maryland, AA Co. | Registered: March 16, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of PowerSurge
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Any phrase or sentence using "irregardless."


That one kills me.

Another is “take and do....”.


———————————————
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1
 
Posts: 3955 | Location: Northeast Georgia | Registered: November 18, 2017Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Leatherneck
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:


I think I use the first example interchangeable but got try to makes more sense.

As for the second one must of is actually must’ve, a contraction of must have(though perhaps not a grammatically proper one).

https://grammarist.com/eggcorns/must-of/




“Everybody wants a Sig in the sheets but a Glock on the streets.” -bionic218 04-02-2014
 
Posts: 15249 | Location: Florida | Registered: May 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Frangas non Flectes
Picture of P220 Smudge
posted Hide Post
The second example in the OP drives me absolutely up the wall. Same with “should of” instead of “should’ve” or “should have.” Words have meaning.


______________________________________________
Carthago delenda est
 
Posts: 17059 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by tsmccull:

Is it inflammable or flammable?
Yes.

It's combustible, too.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30545 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
Picture of egregore
posted Hide Post
Turning up missing. An oxymoron.
 
Posts: 27834 | Location: Johnson City/Elizabethton, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of PowerSurge
posted Hide Post
He dindu nuffin.


———————————————
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1
 
Posts: 3955 | Location: Northeast Georgia | Registered: November 18, 2017Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Referred back.

Put it up. (Southern for putting something away)
 
Posts: 17177 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
paradox in a box
Picture of frayedends
posted Hide Post
The most obvious one to me, that absolutely drives me batshit crazy is "could care less" instead of "couldn't care less".




These go to eleven.
 
Posts: 12407 | Location: Westminster, MA | Registered: November 14, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too soon old,
Too late smart
posted Hide Post
Starting a thread with "So". Just drop it,it adds nothing to the substance of your post and no doubt is ungrammatical.


_______________________________________

NRA Life Member
Member Isaac Walton League

I wouldn't let anyone do to me what I've done to myself
 
Posts: 1487 | Location: NoVa | Registered: March 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
Picture of 12131
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:
“He must of” done something rather than “he must have” done it. I attribute the common use of the first to people’s hearing the spoken contraction, “He must’ve” and understanding it as “must of.”

What are yours?

(This question is more about expressions used by normal people, not gun fanatics [ Wink ] who are concerned about clip versus magazines, and those sorts of specialized terms.)

Oh yes, that, and the incorrect use of "fitment", are the two biggest pet peeves of mine. How often do you see folks talk about barrel fitment? Really embarrassing.


Q






 
Posts: 26203 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not really from Vienna
Picture of arfmel
posted Hide Post
“Bring” vs “take”
 
Posts: 26852 | Location: Jerkwater, Texas | Registered: January 30, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by egregore:

Turning up missing. An oxymoron.
Woke up dead.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30545 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Eating, sleeping and boinking. Everything else is just Filler.
Picture of terma-nator
posted Hide Post
"No problem" instead of "You're welcome" in response to "Thank you".




I love it here!



My Gun collection:
Too many to list. Lets just say that the zombies should look elsewhere.
 
Posts: 1671 | Location: Back in the good 'ol U.S.A. (South Fla) | Registered: April 08, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The cake is a lie!
Picture of Nismo
posted Hide Post
"I could care less".
 
Posts: 7415 | Location: CA | Registered: April 08, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Pyker
posted Hide Post
'Towing the line', when they mean 'toeing the line'

'Ironically' when they mean 'coincidentally'

'Playing Devil's Advocate' when they mean 'for the sake of debate'

'Begging the question' when they mean 'raising the question'
 
Posts: 2763 | Location: Lake Country, Minnesota | Registered: September 06, 2019Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
posted Hide Post
Double negatives:
  • I didn't steal nothing (I stole something)
  • I don't have nobody to mow my lawn. (I have somebody to mow my lawn)
  • This gem is not uncommon. (This gem is common)
  • I can't barely see where I am going in this fog. (I can see where I am going in this fog)
  • Ain't no sunshine when she's gone (there is sunshine when she is gone)


    The character Anthony on Blue Bloods uses double negatives all the time and there are not infrequently jokes about it at his expense Wink



    Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

    DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
  •  
    Posts: 23099 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
      Powered by Social Strata Page 1 2 3 4  
     

    SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  What's Your Deal!    Common expressions that are wrong (or we think are wrong).

    © SIGforum 2024