Lord only knows that the English Language, in all its magisterial glory, can be a stone bitch to deal with, but I have completely lost sympathy with its too abundant victims.
How many times in the last year have I seen someone "pouring" over difficult subject material? Too damn many. The root word is "pore", so when you study hard, you are "poring". How hard can it be?
Another tooth-gnasher, trying to "reign in" an unwanted trend or activity. I've seen it in freaking Newsweek, folks. THIS is journalistic accreditation in action? It should be "reining in", as with cowboys and their horsies.
Drifting around the net, I've seen "taking hold of the reigns of power", "reins of terror", and "her reining majesty".
Grrrr. That last sounds like a B&D club.
Worst of the lot, in my book, is the loss of the distinction between "jibe" and "jive".
One detective might say to another, "The facts just don't jibe, Joe." and he would be perfectly correct to do so. What he wouldn't say is "Y'know Friday, this whole thing just doesn't jive".
You want jive? Think Barbara Billingsley translating in "Airplane". "I speak Jive."
"Sheee-it!" equals "Golly!", remember?
Or, more technically: Jive
NOUN: Jazz or swing music.
The jargon of jazz musicians and enthusiasts.
Slang: Deceptive, nonsensical, or glib talk: "the sexist, locker-room jive of men boasting and bonding".
VERB: jived , jiv·ing , jives
VERB:To play or dance to jive music.
Slang:To talk nonsense; to kid.
To talk or chat: "You just jive in one big group, putting each other on, trying to top the last line".
VERB: Slang
To cajole or mislead.
ADJECTIVE:Slang
Misleading; phony.
It's got absolutely nothing to do with "jibe". They just sound alike. Kind of.
It's rather like confusing "cache" and "cachet".
posted by Justin on 02.25.05 at 02:01 PM
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Comments
Or how about "tow the line." Where's the pugilistic sense in that? Or "the line was taunt." You taunt somebody but lines are taut.
I've all but given up on the homonyms, though I've finally found a good explanation for those who don't understand that "it's" is not possessive: the use of 's to denote possession is only used with proper nouns such as Justin. "Its" is in company with "his" and "hers." He, him, his; she, her, hers; it, it, its. Of course, they don't *teach* grammar anymore; I have a friend who teaches remedial seventh grade and though she teaches grammar, she has to explain to them "subject" and "verb." They are nowhere near "preposition" or "dependent clause."
Sorry about the 'cache,' guys, I should have said 'meme' or something, but I was in a hurry to get some cachet from the bank before it closed...um, I mean get some cache...to buy a potatoe...oh, never mind...
Hope I'm not overdrawn on the cachet, or my social life will suffer big-time...
Navel and naval -- all these little navels with sailor hats setting out to sea.
And the ever popular capital and capitol. When someone rides through the capitol of the country, does someone go after with a mop cleaning?
Then there's the unspeakable your instead of you're...
P.
Portia · February 25, 2005 04:57 PM
Your to rite Portia!
Nice save,Mr. Bee.
Barbara, perhaps one day we shall see "a tough roe to ho". I imagine it would be a lurid tale of marketing problems in the sturgeon sex-trade.
Lurking in the shadows, we might catch a glimpse of the sinister sturgeon crime lord and caviar pimp known as Uncle "Milty"...
Forgive me.
So, how about those fellas who tell you the main tenants of their philosophy?
J. Case · February 25, 2005 06:37 PM
A mute point is part of a "mute testimony", and therefore, inarguably, part of a Jacques Cousteau TV special.
J. Case · February 25, 2005 06:43 PM
There's a website cataloguing these now, at . Enjoy!
Aaron Davies · February 25, 2005 11:17 PM
Two of my favorites are "renown" instead of "renowned".
EssEm · February 26, 2005 12:54 PM
With this post you are dividing people into two discrete groups. Is that any way to be discreet?
BTW, your old stationery has been stationary for too long sir!
J.C.'s former personal secretary · February 26, 2005 06:07 PM
One that really gripes me, because I'm obnoxious, is the use of "flounder" for "founder". I know I can't win.
But horses and boats founder, the latter becoming undirectable and batted about by waves. What does a flounder do? It flounders around on the bottom of the sea doing what it wants and should.
J. Peden · February 28, 2005 02:12 AM
That last comment sounds like Eric wrote it. His style.
My own personal pet peeve linguistically is when people think "literally" means figuratively. What word, then, are we supposed to use to mean literally? As in: "I know the Bible is the Word of God because every word in it is literally true." The style of that.
I don't know the bearded guy too well, but if that is all he says then I would suppose that "it's" is the proper spelling... unless there's some context I'm not aware of.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
Or how about "tow the line." Where's the pugilistic sense in that? Or "the line was taunt." You taunt somebody but lines are taut.
I've all but given up on the homonyms, though I've finally found a good explanation for those who don't understand that "it's" is not possessive: the use of 's to denote possession is only used with proper nouns such as Justin. "Its" is in company with "his" and "hers." He, him, his; she, her, hers; it, it, its. Of course, they don't *teach* grammar anymore; I have a friend who teaches remedial seventh grade and though she teaches grammar, she has to explain to them "subject" and "verb." They are nowhere near "preposition" or "dependent clause."