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Malapropisms - my personal hell

I have a colleague who constantly misuses common phrases. It drives me up the wall. I used to correct her, but its all the gd time and there comes a point when you either have to zip it or you look like a real dick.

Today she was on fire, and no one else at work seems to notice. A few of her absolute favourites are:

- For all intensive purposes
- It's a mute point
- Flagging a dead horse
- Lets centre check that spreadsheet

I know it's harmless, but all the same....it's my irrational irritation. Anyone else feel itchy when someone does this? Any good ones to add?
             
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Re: Malapropisms - my personal hell

  • Ugh, I agree with ALL of those.

    I cannot think of any others, but I DO have a colleague (who is a director and therefore a few levels above me) who always uses "allot" instead of "a lot" and adds erroneous apostrophes to plural nouns (i.e. "We have allot of birthday's in the group this month!")

    I want to send an anonymous note telling her of her errors, but I just hold my tongue. This is a forty year-old, presumably well-educated, woman. Drives me batshit crazy.
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  • Heffalump said:
    I had a boss who frequently said "We have to nip this in the butt."
    Haha! That brings up some interesting imagery.
    BabyFruit Ticker
  • Ah, the classic nip in the butt. I know it well.
                 
  • I think I like 'flagging a dead horse' the best....what does she even think that means???

    @oliveoilsmom I should. Knowing her she'd probably (imcorrectly) correct me.
                 
  • TyvmTyvm member
    First Answer 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    I do some of these mix-ups verbally (I think sometimes my brain is just misfiring). I'll say things like, "Like a fly to a flame" or "Like a moth on the wall". Idiomatic expressions sometimes evade my brain in-the-moment. I know they don't quite sound correct when I say them, but if people corrected me constantly it could get old fast.


    k thnx bye

  • FI's greatest pet peeve is when "moot point" is misused to mean "not arguable" when in fact it means the exact opposite. 

    I've heard "intensive purposes" before too and it always makes me grit my teeth. 

    The one I'm guilty of but I try really hard not to use is "anyways" instead of "anyway."
                        


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  • An xBF of mine used to say, "phantom" instead of "fathom." Annoying for someone with an expensive English degree.

    Also, my Dad occasionally says, "irregardless," but he only does it to irritate my Mom.
  • "I know I'm bias but..."

    BiasED!  BiasED!  BiasED!
    image
  • edited May 2016
    I have a friend who uses 'irregardless.' She also says 'wah LAH!' for 'voila.' When I spelled out the word for her, she said she pronounces it the 'French way.' I give up.

    My aunt says 'teach his own,' for 'to each his own.'

    I've seen people use 'should of' instead of 'should have' on TK and FB. 

    I heard Hillary Clinton say she 'could care less' about something Donald Trump said. I hope someone corrected her.
                       
  • I'm so confused. What does center check the spreadsheet even mean?

    I used to work with a woman who thought proportion = portion. You wouldn't think portion would be used all that frequently, but it was enough to make me want to stab her. No, that restaurant does not have big proportions. Unless you mean that the tables are 8 feet tall?
  • kvrunskvruns member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    My husband misuses words/phrases all the time and it drives me crazy. I'm going to try to think of some he says 
  • @MyNameIsNot I was thinking the same thing re: center checking a spreadsheet. No clue what the correct phrase would be.

    The proportion thing reminded me for some reason of another one: I know someone who confuse persecution and prosecution. Very different meanings.
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  • An xBF of mine used to say, "phantom" instead of "fathom." Annoying for someone with an expensive English degree.

    Also, my Dad occasionally says, "irregardless," but he only does it to irritate my Mom.
    I had a boss that would always say irregardless. It became a private joke between the staff, and it was all we could do not to laugh in the staff meetings each it was said. 
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • H says "acrost" instead of across. As in "The table was six feet acrost." It really annoys me. 
  • I'm so confused. What does center check the spreadsheet even mean?

    I used to work with a woman who thought proportion = portion. You wouldn't think portion would be used all that frequently, but it was enough to make me want to stab her. No, that restaurant does not have big proportions. Unless you mean that the tables are 8 feet tall?
    Ha, maybe that one is regional? She means to 'sense check' it, like so nothing looks crazy or whatever. I have no idea what she thinks 'centre check' would mean. 

    I wonder if I would miss it if she stopped?
                 
  • kvrunskvruns member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    The other day H was texting about something and said it was milano. I'm all, mmmmm cookies, but of course it didn't fit what he was saying so I kept pressing to figure out what he meant and finally realized he meant mulatto.  Then, of course, we had a discussion about how that isn't a word to be using, and the context in which he was using it was wrong anyway so at least I hope he's never offended anyone since really he's just been talking about cookies.
  • Ugh, I agree with ALL of those.

    I cannot think of any others, but I DO have a colleague (who is a director and therefore a few levels above me) who always uses "allot" instead of "a lot" and adds erroneous apostrophes to plural nouns (i.e. "We have allot of birthday's in the group this month!")

    I want to send an anonymous note telling her of her errors, but I just hold my tongue. This is a forty year-old, presumably well-educated, woman. Drives me batshit crazy.
    Ugh.  Added apostrophes are the worst.  I see them everywhere on facebook.

    Another pet peeve is people using alumni when it's supposed to be singular.  You're not an alumni of that university, you're an alumnus or alumna.
  • @glasgowtolondon flagging a dead horse might be important - so people are aware that they shouldn't try to ride/pet it because it's dead. 

    @madamerwin when people add apostrophes to plural nouns, I get extremely twitchy.

    I also want to add that "all the sudden" instead of "all of a sudden" really grinds my gears. 

    My coworkers also say "addendums" "addendas" for the plural of addendum. And then refer to one addendum as an "addenda." Ugh.
  • I hear fustrated and it's very frustrating.  
  • @glasgowtolondon flagging a dead horse might be important - so people are aware that they shouldn't try to ride/pet it because it's dead. 

    @madamerwin when people add apostrophes to plural nouns, I get extremely twitchy.

    I also want to add that "all the sudden" instead of "all of a sudden" really grinds my gears. 

    My coworkers also say "addendums" "addendas" for the plural of addendum. And then refer to one addendum as an "addenda." Ugh.
    Criteria and criterion...

    Alumnus/Alumna and Alumni/Alumnae...

    Look, I know most people didn't take Latin, but for those of us that did, this pisses us off!
  • I have a friend who uses 'irregardless.' She also says 'wah LAH!' for 'voila.' When I spelled out the word for her, she said she pronounces it the 'French way.' I give up.

    My aunt says 'teach his own,' for 'to each his own.'

    I've seen people use 'should of' instead of 'should have' on TK and FB. 

    I heard Hillary Clinton say she 'could care less' about something Donald Trump said. I hope someone corrected her.
    How is it pronounced?  I thought it was vwah lah...
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