Thank you for your continuing submissions of your pet peeves and other weird things you see and hear! Today, I present ten more of them. Please keep them coming for future posts (and my amusement). But don’t worry. Next week, we will get back to more instructional/informational posts. But the peeves will be back soon.
Here are ten for this week:
- On BBC (don’t know if it was radio or television): ” . . . sit moments away from . . .” You can sit feet away from, and you can be moments away from — but can you sit moments away from? I think not.
- The old “I could care less” is apparently still around. Let’s think this through. If you could care less, that means you do care some. If you care some, you wouldn’t be saying this in the first place. I couldn’t care less emphasizes that you don’t care at all and is the correct idiom.
- There is often confusion between different than and different from. Which is it? Which preposition to use is a common issue in English, especially to those who are not native speakers. It is different from. Than implies comparison (taller than . . .) and different does not really imply a comparison.
- Momentarily is a tricky word. I am quite sure I have used it incorrectly. It certainly sounds as if it should mean “soon” or “in a moment.” However, its actual meaning is “for a very short time”: She momentarily forget her speech.
- Same goes for presently. It seems as if it should mean “now” or “at present.” However, it means soon: I am sure she will arrive presently.
- This one is likely regional: pronouncing didn’t as did-dent (I have heard it pronounced dint, which is a peeve of mine) and important as impor-dent.
- Sit and set are a verb duo much like lay and lie, in that one verb is transitive (takes a direct object) and one is intransitive (does not take a direct object). Lay takes a direct object; lie does not. Set takes a direct object; sit does not. However, sit and set, because of the conjugations in other tenses, is not as complicated as lay and lie (thank goodness): I sit on the chair. Please set the salad on the table. Not I was setting there.
- Like could of, should of, and would of, someone wrote to me about must of, also written as must’ve. It is must have.
- None. Is is singular or plural? According to what I have read, it is either, but usually singular. It is singular, when it means “not one of.” However, I cannot think of an example when it either (1) doesn’t mean “not one of” or (2) it isn’t obviously singular anyway. So, I don’t know when I would use a plural verb with it. Perhaps it can be plural (and take a plural verb) when there is a plural noun in a prepositional phrase following it. However, it still means “not one of”: None of the babies was crying during the movie OR None of the babies were crying during the movie. I would say was: Not one of the babies was crying during the movie. In a sentence like None of the cake is left, it is obviously singular because cake is singular and none doesn’t mean “not one of” here. Your thoughts?
- Anyways is not a word. Same for anywheres, somewheres, nowheres, etc. Take off the s.
As an aside, last night I was watching the news and I heard the commentator say, “But that is a whole nother story.” We all say it. Since when did nother become a word? Can we call it a split word — rather than a split infinitive? The word another is split and a whole is put in the middle. Like a doughnut.
Happy Earth Day! And keep those grammar, punctuation, pronunciation, usage, and oddities coming in!
You do not appear to understand the difference between British and American English. “I could care less” is an Americanism which stems from the inability in U.S. pronunciation to be able to hear the “n”, and dropping the “t”, which is why “I can” and “I can’t” sound almost identical when spoken by an American. In British English, “can” and “can’t” are pronounced differently, the “a” being elongated in “can’t” so there is no danger of the two being confused, either in written or spoken English.
I know there are some differences between the two “Englishes” and I certainly believe that I could care less is an Americanism, but I really think most people I saying I could care less because that is what they think it is.
I finally got my sisters to stop saying “anyways”, but I can’s seem to stop “funnest”.
I used to work with a teacher who (jokingly) said that anyways was the plural of anyway! And I always wonder when I hear educated people say “funnest” whether they know it isn’t a word and are just “joking.”
So many times, from literate people, I’ve seen, “He was suppose to go” that I begin to question my understanding that the correct way to write this is: “He was supposed to go.”
Your response, oh, grammar diva??? 🙂
You are correct. It is supposed to. And (plug!) that common mistake is in my new book, which I am in the process of writing: The Best Little Dictionary of Confused Words and Malapropisms.
Re “None of the babies was crying during the movie OR None of the babies were crying during the movie.”:
The subject in each sentence is “none,” which means “not one.” The prepositional phrase “of the babies” simply modifies the singular subject “none.” Therefore, the verb should be “was.”
Do you agree?
I do agree, but there are those who don’t.
I’d be one to step in and say “yes” and “no” 🙂 In the sense that I wouldn’t necessarily subscribe 100% to Diane’s note that “None of” = “Not one of” because I reckon there is a difference in emphasis.
None of the babies were crying during the movie = statement of fact: “it’s true that none of them were/was crying”;
Not one of = the change in emphasis is this: “You see? It’s true: there’s the proof that the (film/music/whatever) wasn’t a scary thing for them because … not one of them was crying.
As to the singular/plural point I think that it depends on the context as per the above distinction:
– if the writer wants to state a fact, then: “None were”;
– if instead s/he wants to make a point, then to dive the point home, you need a singular: “Not one of the babies WAS”. Why? Simply because to make the emphasis, it’s pertinent to underline that not (even) one was …
Not sure if this is clear but it’s nearly my bedtime here in Venice – buona notte a tutti.
Ivor
Thank you for the comment. I do understand it, but I am not sure if I agree. I don’t think emphasis determines the singular or plural, although I understand the singular being emphasized, I don’t agree that the plural can be used otherwise.
What about single collective nouns? None of the family were present at the opening…..
Good question! Well, you can’t really substitute “not one of” there — not one of the family?? You would need “not one of the family members” in which case I would use singular. Family, as a collective can be either singular or plural depending on whether you are referring to the family as a whole, or its individual members. Here, it is really impossible to differentiate. I would use singular. Anyone? Opinions? Thanks for the puzzling question!
I have even seen this in print “try and (verb)” Either the speaker (writer) is going to try to do something, or is going to do it. It makes no sense to imply both. I believe the correct phrasing is try TO do something.
By the way, I have been performing a one-woman show that I wrote, and looking to find a suitable venue in Petaluma. You do live in Petaluma, don’t you? Just thought you’d like to know.
Thanks for the comment. I deal with try and (incorrect) versus try to (correct) in my very first book — and yes, I do live in Petaluma, so thanks for the info. Have you tried the Arts Center?