Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Pitcher

Make sure to check out Jolyn's new story on Strangerville, if you haven't yet!


*****
I was riding on the Subway when I heard something that hurt my ears. It came from a woman's mouth. She was in her 50s. Pleasant-looking and probably kind. So that's why it caught me so off guard.

"Larry," she said to the man sitting next to her, a man who looked exactly like her but bald, so I assumed they were married, "did you get a good pitcher of the Empire State Building?"

No. She wasn't asking if he had purchased a pitcher in the shape of the thing. She clearly meant "picture." You know. That word that has the letter C in the middle of it and is not even remotely similar in meaning to the word this woman had said.

It caught me off guard that she would say such a thing because I firmly believe that saying "pitcher" when you mean "picture" actually makes you a bad person. And she just didn't look like a bad person.

I mean, I'm not saying that doing this makes you truly evil. On the scale of indiscretions, this habit would fall exactly between sitting through a green light with a row of cars behind you and first degree murder of a pretty child. So, no, it won't necessarily send you straight to hell, but it will necessarily make you possibly deserve it.

Every time I hear someone say it, I involuntarily make this set of pretentious expressions:





And don't even think I haven't noticed the frown wrinkles.

What these people are doing is an actual hate crime.

They should be denounced by the UN. AND NASA.

I'm allowed to rant about this because I have friends and family who do this thing, and I used to do it myself. It's the same reason I get to call gay people "homos" and you don't. Not that there's anything wrong with being gay. Besides the fact that we're all going to hell right along with a good portion of the people who say "pitcher" when they mean "picture," which I guess is why I'm so sensitive about it. The thought of spending an eternity with people who do this thing is what will actually make gay hell torture for me.

Yes. I hate it that much. I hate when people say "pitcher" so much that if a genie appeared in front of me and said that if I pulled a lever it would stop everyone from ever doing this again, but 35 random people would be killed by salmonella, I would pull it. Twice.

I have tried to talk several of my family members out of this practice, but they just laugh at me and then say it with greater emphasis the next time because they apparently don't care at all about my happiness.

Parents who teach their children to do this should be reported for child abuse. Their names should go on a registry. They shouldn't be allowed to rent cars or vote. They should be the first ones to get the salmonella when I pull the lever.

Look. I can't save that woman on the Subway. Her soul is probably lost. All I can do is let it ruin my week and give me frown wrinkles. So that's what I'm going to do.

That, and ask you to rant about the things people say that drive you crazy, too.

~It Just Gets Stranger

110 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. My sister-in-law says "supposively" and also texts it that way. Drives me crazy.

      Delete
    2. But what if you say it like Joey Tribbiani? Suppsebley?
      I ONLY say it with my sister. Because we are 12 and crack each other up.
      Not really. She is like FIFTY SIX. I'm only 53, a mere CHILD.

      Delete
  2. Apparently the way I say Oyster rhymes with Moisture and I say Pen and Pin the exact same way, and when anyone tries to tell me I'm wrong I just tell them it's my accent and I'm from here and their sorry transplant butts can go back where they came from. (They don't actually have butt transplants, that I know of.)(Not that I know what a butt is)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been married almost 30 years and only recently noticed that my husband does the pen/pin thing! I guess we'd just never had a discussion where I heard it before. I think he needs to start saying "ink pen" so I know for sure what he's talking about.

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    2. Marguerite, the line about but transplants laugh just as much as when I hold of Jason Mendoza's Budhole from The Good Place. I needed that laugh.

      Delete
  3. In VT a lot of people say Idear instead of Idea. I've been in VT for six years and I still cringe every time someone says it.

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    Replies
    1. I was gonna say something similar to this...I used to work woth a woman who either thought the words "idea" and "ideal" were the same word, or was unaware that "idea" existed at all. Maybe she had been raised to think the "l" was silent. I dunno. But in many emails I received from her through the 7 years I worked with her, and in the many conversations in which it came up, she would say, "I think that's a good ideal..." or, "Does anyone have an ideal on this?" ::screaming and pulling out hair:: She was in her early 60's. IT MADE NO SENSE.

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    2. I hear a lot of British actors and actresses say idea with an "r" at the end. Emma Watson stands out in my memory as someone who does this, but I have no idea why.

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  4. I say "pitcher". Also, "wudder" for water. I cannot stop these sounds from coming out of my mouth just like that, even though I'm a major word nerd.

    Like the hell-bound hypocrite I am, I nonetheless start to twitch and seethe when someone says "irregardless" or uses "literally" incorrectly.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Seen, as in “I seen your mom.”

    “I could care less” instead of “couldn’t”.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could care less is mine, too!

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    2. Yes yes yes! I was going to have a big rant about seen. It's the worst. To me, it's somebody's way of letting the rest of know that they were raised in the sticks and didn't start wearing shoes until they were 20 and have lost most of their teeth.

      Delete
    3. Oh, "I could care less" drives me crazy! That is the exact opposite of what they're trying to say.

      Along with saw/seen is did/done. "She done it the other day." ARGH

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    4. Ohhhh....SEEN. It's straight from the devil. I hate it SO much.

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  6. There are So. Many. But off the top of my head:
    She done it again, even though I axed her not to. (double-barreled horrible)
    I seen it with my own eyes.
    And whenever I talked to him... when they mean *when*. Just when.
    Worsh instead of wash...I have family members who say this one.
    Snow. Okay, that's an actual word used in a legitimate way, but I keep hearing it in our weather forecast and I really don't like it. So I'm sneaking it in here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jodi - I love you and your hatred of snow. I give people a death stare when they say the word.

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    2. Jodi - I'm also in Iowa and keep hearing the s word. ENOUGH ALREADY.

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    3. Whenever in the wrong usage KILLS me.

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    4. I am a southerner currently living in Iowa and I had to learn a whole new language here. Instead of "I am going to loan that to her." people say, "I am going to borrow her that." ??? "Do you want to come with?" With what?! There are more, but it makes my head hurt. Also? Yay for snow!

      Delete
    5. Sherry - I've lived here all my life. We love to do that, LOL. "I'm going to the store. Do you want to come with?" would be very common. I would never say that borrow sentence, though...it would be more like, "I'm going to loan her that." Growing up, ending a sentence with 'with' would have been frowned upon by my mom...but I hear it so much in every day life now, that I sometimes say it - but not very often! Fun fact: Communications companies send people to Iowa to learn our 'neutral' lack of accent. Newscasters and the like. So if you notice a southern news person without a heavy accent, they are either from elsewhere originally or have been schooled in our accent-less accent. As for the snow, phthththth! If the snow didn't come with so much COLD and slick roads it would be more acceptable. And here is a phrase I say a lot: "It's not so much the cold as the wind!"

      Delete
  7. A glass of "melk"
    "Pilling" an orange
    The "new-kulerr" bomb
    Receiving a "patri-article" blessing (I can't even)
    "Thursdee"

    I love people, they are terrific, but also I hate them so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We say "melk" in our family and cannot say it correctly. And every time, our friends laugh at us. It's a northern thing and we live in the South. But please don't send us to hell. We really are nice people and try to say it correctly. :)

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    2. I will always love hearing people say Melk because of Julian Smith's "Malk" video.

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    3. I will say for us northerners...we may say 'melk', but we do make sure it only has one syllable, as God intended. Looking at you 'may-ilk' southern people.

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  8. I know some people are irritated by "Lay-uhn" and "moun-uhns," but I actually find it even more irritating to hear people awkwardly and purposefully pronounce the T in those words. Like you can hear it that they don't naturally say it that way, but they don't want to be Utah hicks, so there's an ever-so-slight pause while they focus and then say both syllables with equal emphasis. "LAY-TON." "MOUN-TAINS." Does that make sense?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My baby is learning his L sounds, and he overemphasizes them like this in the middle of words. It's SO CUTE!

      (But I agree that emphasis on the T to avoid being seen as UtahHickish is irritating.)

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    2. It's a hump you have to get over. Several years ago I decided I didn't want to be a Utah hick with those two words anymore so I made a concerted effort. For probably half a decade I sounded like a complete idiot with all of my concerted effort to get the T in the right place. But I like to think that it has now become natural enough that I could even talk to the queen.

      Delete
    3. You can pronounce it Lay-Ton all you want but you'll never get me to pronounce Mantua any way other than Man-a-way.

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    4. Man-a-way is how all the locals say it. That makes it correct, right?? If an outsider tries to say another way is correct then they're the ones sounding like pretentious snobs.

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    5. Interesting. My grandma was raised in Utah before they moved to Iowa, but I don't remember hearing her not using the t's. I guess she was reformed. Now, she did say KMark and Shears and Rosebucks, so she wasn't exactly a linguistics expert.

      Delete
  9. On tomorrow.

    It's so bad.

    One that is so common in New Orleans (that it has become a joke amongst friends) is "So, what ha' happnd was..."

    I have a lot of very specific things due to being an ESL teacher, but they aren't really necessary to go over at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I work at a school and the teacher says "pitcher" and "senence" (sentence) and so many more (including manybof our math vocabulary words). And it drives me crazy because she's a freaking TEACHER! Every time she gets in front of the class I cringe .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ok I just read that the no "t" thing in words is a Utah thing? I've only been here a year, but how have I not noticed this!? My children will NOT start speaking like this!

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    2. It's very noticeable in Utah and it's been studied by linguists as a regional anomaly. But I've noticed it in other areas of the country. In North Carolina there's a town called Manteo and it's pronounced manny-o.

      Delete
  11. My friends refer to me as a grammar Nazi (apologies to anyone who is offended by the term Nazi). They send me grammar memes all the time because they know I'll love them. My son is taking after me and corrects his friends' grammar and it's hilarious (to me and my friends, not to his friends).

    However, my husband is going to hell because not only does he use words improperly - he will do so purposefully to annoy me. For example - he says "Miawell" - this means Might as well. Not even close to acceptable. He also takes irregardless a step further and says irregardlessly . . . . ARGH!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. When certain People leave the "to be" out of their sentences:

    As in: This floor needs [cringe] swept.

    Really, People? This floor needs swept?!


    NO!! NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOO!!!!

    This floor either needs TO BE swept. Or perhaps even, This floor needs sweeping. I like the first more, but I'd accept the second. I'd be GLAD of the second, even!

    Come on, People, this has apparently been a long standing problem since the days of Shakespeare! Straighten up!

    I don't know that I've commented here before. You finally broke me. You dragged me out of my lurking hermit corner and forced me to type awful, unspeakable things. You should be ashamed.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Eli, can I ax choo a keschun bout those pitchers? Nails on a chalkboard.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Libary (without the first R)
    "Crown" instead of Crayon
    "Di-in't" instead of Didn't
    I listened to the podcast on my way to work this morning, and I remember cringing at something Jolyn said that fell along these lines, but I can't remember now what it was. I double-cringed because she was a teacher. ��

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You must be in Utah. Also...crick in stead of creek, ruff instead of roof, and mounans instead of mountains.

      Delete
    2. I'm actually in the south, and I hear these from people who aren't from around here. I have a whole list of "southern-isms" like this that also drive me absolutely insane, but I'm used to hearing them so they don't stand out quite as much.

      Delete
  15. One time during choir practice the director stopped us and kindly asked that the person that's singing "Warshed in the Blood" PLEASE stop...ummm yea...I'm that girl...

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  16. As a sciencey person my word is nuclear. You say it new-cle-er. Not new-cue-laar. Soooo many people say this incorrectly that I'm pretty sure they have to put both pronunciations in the new Webster's dictionary.

    I especially hate it when actors pronounce nuclear wrong in TV/movies. These people's entire job is to say words into a camera. How did no one on that set correct them?? My husband and I share an eye roll every time we hear this wrong in the media.

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  17. The kids these days are saying 'pic' or 'snap' or some other such nonsense, so this will probably stop being a problem soon!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Replies
    1. This.

      Almost as annoying as my past coworker who would say that she was fustrated. You want to know what's fRRRustrating, Karen? The fact that you constantly pronounce that word without the damn R.

      Delete
  19. Replies
    1. I do that! And I say alblum instead of album. I’ve never heard anyone in my life also add those random Ls. Where do you live? Is there a group of people somewhere who talk like me??

      Delete
  20. As a linguist who prefers descriptivism to prescriptivism, I’ve learned to not be so bothered by most pronunciation things. But the thing that will always bug me is apostrophes in plurals and singular third person present tense verbs. “He run’s to buy apple’s.” *shudders* And we are getting to the time of year where nearly everyone pluralizes their last name incorrectly. “Love, the Smith’s” No. No. No. Stop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unless it's the Smith's dog signing the Christmas card - but then, they should specify :)

      Delete
  21. 'Reason being is' and 'Trouble is, is that...' - So redundant. It drives me nuts. And I also want to agree with the one up above somewhere that said 'Whenever', like when people say 'Whenever I was little'. I always want to ask those people how many times they were little, or whatever else they saying whenever about. Oh, I have so many more, but those are all I can think of for now. I'm sure in a minute somebody will say something horrible and I'll want to rant again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Often the use of the word "that" is simply unnecessary. My mother was a legal secretary and an excellent grammarian and proofread all of my papers when I was growing up (so it's her fault I'm like this). She taught me early on "that" is an empty word. If you can say the same sentence and remove "that" and it means the same thing, take it out.

      Delete
  22. My mother in law watches a lot of the BBC in her spare time (which is ALL her time) and now she says things like “comp-nee” when she’s asking if we’re having people over. Her inflection has even changed to sound more British. It makes me want to punch things.

    Other words: expecially (gag), I seen it (double gag), I COULD care less (this would indicate that the person does, in fact, care)... so many that are native to Utah - fill/feel, pill/peel, mill/meal, dill/deal - I could go on and on there.

    And public service announcement since the Christmas card season is upon us: If you are sending a card to the Smiths, there is no need for an apostrophe. It’s not “The Smith’s” it’s just “The Smiths.” And If this makes you feel awkward then remove the S altogether and just put “family” at the end. Also, I know this post was about pronunciation and I made it about punctuation, but I won’t apologize. This evil must be stopped.

    Are you sorry you asked this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Smith's! I'm so glad I'm not alone on this. When I see this particular punctuation crime, I always fill in the missing piece. Perhaps the Smith's quirked eyebrow? The Smith's perfect hair?

      Delete
    2. Ha! Totally gonna do that now.

      Delete
  23. 'Sell' in place of 'sale'. For example 'yard sell', 'garage sell', '(item) for sell', 'hamburger is on sell this week at Kroger', etc. Shudder!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes I get physically sick to my stomach when I hear or read poor grammar - this made me sick to my stomach. Do people seriously do this????

      Delete
  24. Let's really get this debate going. Strangers is WARM pronounced...

    A) W-ARM rhymes with FARM

    or

    B) WAR-M sounds like WAR with an m on the end

    ready, set, fight!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. B

      If you say it like A, I will give you a really ugly stare until you say it THE RIGHT WAY.

      Delete
    2. B

      I can't even properly produce the sound of A in my head . . . .

      Delete
    3. I say B but I like hearing A. It's kind of like how I say aluminum the American way but still love hearing the British A-LOO-MIN-EE-UM.

      Delete
  25. "Hi there, how are you today?"
    "I'm good."
    'Good' is a noun, like an apple. Are you an apple today?
    I guess that's a grammar error vs. a pronunciation blunder, but it's so commonly misused and drives me crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good is actually also an adjective and an adverb (informally), not just a noun. It's still not entirely grammatically correct to say, "I'm good," but not because it's a noun.

      Delete
    2. I'm from Louisiana, where the word good is all-purpose. ;)
      https://pics.me.me/louisiana-slang-you-good-are-you-ok-you-good-you-35829994.png

      Delete
    3. Correct, Brittany :)

      Delete
    4. Thank you Brittany! It really depends on context. Well is an adverb and when someone is asking "how are you" they typically are leaving out the "doing" or "feeling" at the end. Well is proper because it "doing" and "feeling" are verbs and "well" describes the verbs. Now - if someone is asking "how are you" and the implied question is "how are you at typing? - then "good" is the correct answer because you're essentially saying "I'm a good typist".

      Can you tell I teach composition?

      Delete
  26. One I haven't heard around here in quite awhile but cringed every time family members said it while I was growing up: ro-butts vs. robots.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I have two things that probably existed pre-social media, but I just didn't realize that people *actually* thought they were correct:
    1.) "Should of." Arghhhh! I always assumed they were using the contraction "should've."
    2.) "Walla" instead of "Voila!". People, people, people. I never knew people thought this was a thing!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. When people say "there's" when it should be "there are". Like "there's too many people here." Ew.
    Also, my husband's whole family calls his brother "Dinny" in a pen/pin sort of situation. And since he never has to say his own name around family, the question of whether he pronounces it right will forever haunt me. Does he know his name is Denny? Does he?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Intimidating to comment on this thread because I'm sure I'm opening myself up to critique, but here I go anyway. Being from the South, I cannot distinguish between Dinny and Denny...like, I have no idea what the difference is. Same goes for pen and pin. If I try to say them like I think they probably SHOULD be pronounced, I just sound as if I'm trying out a fake British accent.
      Also, my apologies to Denny. I will be no help to him on his journey to properly pronounce his name.

      Delete
  29. Thank you to everybody who has posted --

    I AM NOT ALONE! :D

    My number one cringe-worthy moment is hearing "Me and her" for "She and I" (and variations on that earpolluting phrase -- anybody who says this is dumber than dirt. I will stop there before I add "I woudda went...." Too late.... AAARRRRGH.

    But there are ALWAYS words/phrases that catch on like an infection in the population
    (like starting a sentence with "I mean'
    even among close friends WHO NO BETTER...or maybe they don't...YIKES
    and cannot be stopped, so I just try to ignore it (Ha!) and wait for it the next hideous, ear-jarring, stomach-churning replacement.

    But I'm afraid the confusion between me/I & him/he is here to stay -- it is even appearing in newly produced period costume dramas in British productions!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As this is a post about grammar and pronunciation, I will ask if you KNOW BETTER than to confuse the homophones NO and KNOW?

      Also, I am right there with you in the frustration over them being wrong in how they speak. I teach high school ESL in a low-income school in New Orleans and it is painful how some people speak here.

      Delete
    2. -- I do KNOW! Perhaps I meant to write -- Who ARE no better... Just lazy proofreading. Mea Culpa. It's actually hilarious in a post about grammar, etc, eh?
      I will rally and dew better next thyme.

      Thanks for pointing it out; I haven't been back to this site since I posted or I would have corrected it immediately (if there had been a way other than Replying to my own post). :D

      Delete
    3. I always roll my eyes when someone says something like, "She gave it to she and I"
      You can tell the person is trying SO hard to say 'she and I' because they learnt it in school (leanrt was intentional ;) )

      She and I is the subject, not the indirect object!

      Delete
  30. I disagree with the person who says it's wrong to say "I'm good." Here's a post on it: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/good-versus-well. That being said and despite my efforts to be a descriptivist, I don't love when people put emphasis on the wrong part of a word.

    ReplyDelete
  31. When people say "Ax" when they mean "Ask." "Imma gonna ax him a question."
    Using "myself" instead of "me" or "I". "Jim and myself stopped at the store to get a coke."
    Using "seen" instead of "saw." "We seen a deer last night when we was coming home." (Bonus if they use two incorrect words in a sentence!)
    It's more fun if you play Grammar Slugbug. Slug your companion anytime you hear a misused word. If they slug you when it wasn't incorrect, you get to slug them back. Bonus points if you spot misused apostrophes anywhere on signage.

    ReplyDelete
  32. If I were Bing Crosby I would say A, but I’m not so I say B

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  33. Also, a personal pet peeve lately is when people mix up "fewer" and "less." "There were less people at this party this year than last year." Use fewer when it's something you can count, less if it's something you can't.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I had a math teacher in high school that was about to introduce a new principle. He prefaced it with this long explanation of how when we heard him say “spatial” he was actually saying “special”. He was WELL aware of it. He had had it pointed out to him many a time before, but he could not break into. Solution: make it part of his lesson.

    Also, my mom and I used to say “on-chiladas”. Finally my sister-in-law, who grew up in Mexico and Texas, pointed it out in an “I can’t take it anymore!!” kind of way. So of course we still say it that way, but only when she’s around.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Everyone's already covered mine, so I'll leave it be.

    I do need to respond to your latest tweets, though, and I'll do it here because I rarely if ever actually use my Twitter.

    Paddington 2 was surprisingly worthwhile cinema. Best viewed through the lens of a child, but I actually enjoy watching it with my kids, in stark contrast to most everything else they choose to watch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandon, totally agree about Paddington 2! It is lovely and I loved seeing Hugh Grant's character!

      Delete
  36. This is a great collection. Way to go Strangers! My mom says "volleyvall" instead of volleyball and "kindiegarten" instead of kindergarten. Makes me cringe every time. My husband is a realtor and his pet word peeve is when people say he is a "realator" rather than realtor.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I say "lava" like a hick. I don't care. I've been corrected, but i'm from Idaho where we have Lava Hot Springs, and i say "lava" like the locals say it.

    Whenever i hear ''lava'' said the supposedly correct way i think of stuffy old scientist talking about his research.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn’t know there was more than one pronunciation for lava. I can’t figure out what alternative there is. How do you say it?

      Delete
    2. Jessica they say it LAW-vah

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    3. or LAA-vuh the first syllable sounds like a sheep saying baa but with an L.

      Delete
    4. Sounds like they are saying lavatory, not lava.

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  38. As a Utahn, I am a stickler for putting the letter T in my words. My mom says light globe, sigh. And I hate assessories instead of accessories.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Most of mine have been covered, but I will add
    “could OF” instead of could have
    “all the sudden” instead of all of a sudden
    “Brefast” instead of breakfast
    “Woof” instead of wolf
    And I have noticed that “whenever” instead of “when” (eg “we did that whenever we went to prom last year”) is kind of a Midwest and south/east thing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've noticed the 'whenever' thing when watching people from southern Missouri on LivePD. I don't hear people around here say it, really. Maybe there are pockets where it's more common.

      Delete
    2. Jodi in Iowa, I just know that my in-laws (from Kansas) say it, and I had a college friend from South Carolina (it was it Georgia? We were obviously very close) who said it too, so I made a super broad blanket statement haha 🤣

      Delete
    3. So you mean to tell me it's not just part of sudden but all of sudden? Poor sudden. 😉

      Delete
  40. Realtor (two syllables, one "a") vs. rea-la-tor (no). Ugh.

    I used to go to a hairdresser who used the word "flustrated." Kind of a brilliant mashing of words, but no.

    Also, I can't hear or see "irregardless" without thinking of the Survivor contestant who took it a step further and uttered "disirregardless."

    I mock my husband and his family(from Michigan) for saying "melk," I thought it was just them and not a regional thing. They also say "pellow."

    ReplyDelete
  41. Sawl!

    It is saw, people. You don't sawl anything and why in the world would you add an l in there!?

    I had a coworker that said sawl and we teased him relentlessly. We obviously teased him in our best hick accents because that is what you have to use in order to say "sawl".

    ReplyDelete
  42. I’m dumber for reading these.

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  43. When people say heighth after saying width or length.

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  44. I have a friend who pronounces 'idea' with an L on the end. Thus he is saying 'ideal'. That's a completely different word with a different meaning!!!! UGH!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Fustrated

    Writing isle when they mean aisle

    I could care less

    Sherbert

    And also I grew up saying “cue-pon” and then someone told me it’s “coo-pon” and I now whenever I have to say coupon out loud I basically have a stroke from the stress of not knowing how I should say it.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Libaree for Library; corter for quarter... my mom was a speech therapist and I got corrected while she drove, from the front seat ALL THE TIME and it stuck and now I can't understand why everyone doesn't enunciate....

    ReplyDelete
  47. I thought of another this morning and had to read through all the comments to see if anyone had mentioned it - they haven't:

    Mute instead of Moot . . . .

    ReplyDelete
  48. Ohhhhhh.. when someone says "aks" instead of "ask". Drives me insane and makes me go balistic every time!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I say "sawl" instead of "saw" because I grew up in Ohio. I also say "won" wrong according to my husband but can't remember which way is correct (one or Juan?)

    My mother in law pronounces Avery "Av-UH-ree" with three syllables instead of "Av-ree" with two syllables. Drives me batty every time.

    I work in biotech and many people with many advanced degrees (obviously not in English) use the word "data" as a singular noun. Also criteria vs. criterion.

    Also, "if I was" and not "if I were" ... has no one seen Fiddler on the Roof??

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  50. Crayons are "crowns"! Forever and ever, amen.

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  51. That was a PACIFIC word that irritates you. You know, PACIFICALLY.

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  52. Did you just jump inside my brain!? I don't even know you and just fell in love with you. My friend sent me this link because of our mutual hatred for that word that isn't even the real word. You are my new life hero. And of all the hells...pitcher hell would be the most torturous. Bless you

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  53. I'm always late, but please read my comment(s) anyway.
    You cannot know, Eli, how much I relate to you!! I have lived a version of your pain (especially the living overseas thing that is great and everyone thinks it's great... but sometimes it is SO not great).

    Anyway, I say "onry" For example, "He's so onry" Meaning he is really grumpy/rude/unpleasant.
    My daughter is shocked and appalled and assures me there is no such word!
    I think I mean 'ornery' but I don't even know it that's a real word.

    Am I the only one?

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