Language usage that annoys you

[Tomás]

I am not native in E. But I hate this way of using the default language:

Code: Select all

gdafternoon n welcome bk :)
gdmorn chief....sakshi needed some guidance as she is stuck on xxx...will u kindly allow her 2 bug u for couple of mins pls :)
Oliver frm DU has responded bk sayin cud b a config/instln mistake
cud u possible guide the folks on this here? or let wait 4 DU 2 come bk on this?


Native English speaker here; really hate that. Nobody in my workplace would write an email like that.

[Chung]

The phrase: '...at this moment in time'.

Why specify that a unit of time is found....in time.
Where else would you expect to find a unit of time? In the fridge? Under the bed?
Why not just say '...at this moment' and leave it that?
Or possibly change it to '....at this point in time' if you really have to say more.
Maybe it's just me that finds this annoying, and perhaps my preference for concise language can make me an obsessional nitpicker.

Rant over

Ah yes. Empty precision. This is about as enlightening (and grating to my senses) as encountering something like "red in color" (as opposed to *"red in shape"?) or "in the month of December" (as opposed to *"in the season of December"?) outside poetry or song where meter counts too.

[YtownPolyglot]

Yes! I'm glad you know what I'm talking about
Any idea why it's used like that? Is "I sit/I'm sitting" seen as too formal?

I do think a level of formality is involved here. For example, if I got up to pop to the loo quickly on the train, and upon my return noticed someone about to take my seat (let's assume my belongings were there - perhaps I'm in Finland ) provided the person was around my age, I am likely to say: "Oh, excuse me, I'm sat there". Whereas if the person was perhaps middle aged, I would be more likely to say something like: " Excuse me, I'm sitting there."

Same if I am at university and a friend text me to ask where to look for me in the lecture hall. I would more than likely reply with "I'm sat by the window". Whereas if the professor for some reason wanted to know the same thing, I would reply with "I'm sitting by the window".

Judging by the replies, it would appear this is different for everyone. I am from the South East of England, however, and I think I read someone from up North has the same/similar usage which makes me think it might not be entirely regional.

In Canadian and US English, we are more likely to use some sort of construction with "seated" or "sitting."
For example: Excuse me, I was sitting there. (Please don't sit where I left my newspaper.)
The waiter will seat you when a table is available.
I'm sitting next to a redhead. (Neither formal nor informal; it's just that it would never occur to many of us to say it any other way.)

[Serpent]

Ah yes. Empty precision. This is about as enlightening (and grating to my senses) as encountering something like "red in color" (as opposed to *"red in shape"?) or "in the month of December" (as opposed to *"in the season of December"?) outside poetry or song where meter counts too.

or essays etc with a required word/page count

[solocricket]

Ooooh I hate the word "gift" as a verb. Like, "I gifted her the book for Christmas." It's become really popular in the last couple of years (at least in the U.S.) and it drives me insane. "Give" expresses the exact same thing without having to make something up....

[Tomás]

"Disenfranchised" sounds wrong to me. Say "disfranchised". Why add the unnecessary syllable?

[galaxyrocker]

"Disenfranchised" sounds wrong to me. Say "disfranchised". Why add the unnecessary syllable?

Because it's composed of dis- and enfranchise, not dis- and franchise. Franchise exists in my dialect, certainly, but only as it relates to fast-food franchises and such.


As to "gift" being used as a verb, it's uncommon but not wrong in my idiolect, and actually has a shade more meaning than "give". If you want to make the argument it's the same, why don't we drop the use of the color "navy" since it's just blue?

[Dylan95]

I don't mind mistakes made in my own language. If people are native speakers and make terrible mistakes than it's simply funny and if they are foreigners, who am I to judge?

However, it pisses me off when people make mistakes in my target language. Keeps me second guessing myself and throws me off.

[Tomás]

"Disenfranchised" sounds wrong to me. Say "disfranchised". Why add the unnecessary syllable?

Because it's composed of dis- and enfranchise, not dis- and franchise.

That is incorrect. "Disfranchise" is the original term; "disenfranchise" has subsequently been accepted as a substitute.

[galaxyrocker]

"Disenfranchised" sounds wrong to me. Say "disfranchised". Why add the unnecessary syllable?

Because it's composed of dis- and enfranchise, not dis- and franchise.

That is incorrect. "Disfranchise" is the original term; "disenfranchise" has subsequently been accepted as a substitute.

Whether you believe it or not that is the etymology 1 2. Whether or not "disfranchise" was the original term, the new one simply was formed by "adding a syllable". And, besides, "disenfranchise" as been around since 1640, hardly a "short" period of time, and I would wager it's the more common of the two.