When I hear someone around me use a word incorrectly I used to wrestle with whether or not to say something to them. Should I run the risk of sounding like the nitpicky English teacher that everyone hated, or should I just let it go?
Now I do correct folks in a kind, non-threatening fashion. I put myself in their shoes and I decided that I would rather be corrected once than go on sounding like a dumbass over and over.
But, the more I do this the sadder I get. It’s not like they get angry or defensive. I would understand that reaction. Rather, they do not care.
I risk sounding like an uptight geek because words and language have immense power. They shape the way that we look at each other and determine, in many ways, our station in life.
For example, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to get a job in the world of business without being able to represent yourself verbally as an educated person who understands the jargon of the industry. I don’t think it’s necessary to sound like a Rhodes Scholar all the time in order to prove yourself, but I do think that in order to participate in the discourse of the business world you should be able to talk that talk.
I am like a lot of people, I think, in that I change the way I talk when I’m around different people. The way I conversed with my State Trooper patrons at the cop bar where I used to bartend is completely different from the way I talked to the State Representative for the area I covered when I was a reporter in Hays County, Texas. The way I talk to my grandmothers could not be more different than the way I talk to my girlfriends from high school.
It’s that variety and flexibility that makes language so great. I am also aware that English is not now, nor has it ever been static. Reading Old English literature is plenty proof of that. And, I know that many of the words that we use daily used to be thought to be incorrect. But, I don’t see that as an excuse for willful ignorance or insisting upon using non-words like irregardless. By the way, if that was a word, it would mean the exact opposite of what people use it to mean.
I love that language is fluid and ever-changing, but I believe that in order to engage in the evolution of language, you should know the rules before you break them.
For instance:
- Irony- 1 the expression of meaning through the use of language which normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous effect. 2 a state of affairs that appears perversely contrary to what one expects.
Notice that this has NOTHING to do with something being coincidental.
Definition from AskOxford.com
What words do you hear people use incorrectly?
I for one am a huge fan of the word irregardless, and I now intend to use it in at least every conversation I have, irregardless of what you think.
On to your question though. I hear the word are, instead of our on a daily basis, and frankly, i want to punch people in the junk everytime they do it.
I don’t have any words that I can’t stand that others use. Actually there are a few but best not discuss that here. However, I am horrified at the inhumanity of ignoring someone who OBVIOUSLY needs assistance. I am referring to the man who was allowed to lay unconscious on the sidewalk for 20 minutes.