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19.3.24 0206
The W - One Question... - What's the Worst Abuse of the English Language? (Page 3)
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Stilton
Frankfurter








Since: 7.2.04
From: Canada

Since last post: 6618 days
Last activity: 6618 days
#41 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.19
"Intelligent Design" as an occluded euphemism for creationism.



He was a popular attraction until he choked to death on a corn kernel.
Tribal Prophet
Andouille








Since: 9.1.02
From: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Since last post: 2927 days
Last activity: 2187 days
#42 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.62
    Originally posted by AWArulz
      Originally posted by KJames199
      L3375p34K 4n|} H4X0R 8ULL5H17.


    I believe I speak for the elderly folks on this board when I say we need a translation.


I understood enough to know that I agree with him. The IM talk also drives me nuts. I'm fine with the odd "lol", but some people can't type 5 sentences without using lol 7 times.

I'd also have to throw in any of the trailer park sentences that get strung together during talk shows like Maury. Nothing says "ignorant" like saying it yourself.


Tribal Prophet
spf
Scrapple








Since: 2.1.02
From: The Las Vegas of Canada

Since last post: 3060 days
Last activity: 395 days
#43 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.57
    Originally posted by emma
      Originally posted by RYDER FAKIN
      The overuse of the word “fuck”

      Telling me the time of day should not take, at the most, more than 1 f-bomb..."It’s fucking four-fucking thirty, motherfucker". No need at all for that. Especially from the females

      FLEA
    Ahem. You know what I'm going to say here, right?

Whatever could that be? ;)



Jackson
Sujuk








Since: 4.1.02

Since last post: 5424 days
Last activity: 4950 days
#44 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.10
I probably don't want to know this and it's not like the whole "owned" thing isn't lame enough but, where do they get the damned "p" in "pwned" anyway?



Whitebacon
Banger








Since: 12.1.02
From: Fresno, CA

Since last post: 110 days
Last activity: 10 days
ICQ:  
#45 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.89
That's that hacker l33tsp33k coming into play again.



Can you touch a rainbow? Can you put the wind in your pocket? No! Such is Neifi!

TheMark 9.6.05 2227.30 - 9.6.05 2242.29. Gone, but not forgotten.
Wolfram J. Paulovich
Frankfurter








Since: 11.11.02
From: Fat City, Baby

Since last post: 6391 days
Last activity: 5761 days
#46 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.66
"They just got totally decimated! There was nothing left!"

To decimate is to reduce by one-tenth. Meaning 9 of 10 are still there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Dictionary.com now defines decimate as meaning "to destroy a large part," but the only reason why that's the case is because dictionary editors are throwing their arms in the air in surrender and realizing that they can't roll back the tide of people getting it fucking wrong for decades. Generally I'm not a presciptivist when it comes to grammar: I know that language evolves and that grammar often should evolve to fit the common usage. But come on, there's that latin root there: deci. It's a word whose meaning you might be able to suss out by its structure alone. Why must it be so perverted?



The Obtuse Angle Archive.
R-Dub
Pickled pork








Since: 25.8.05
From: Michigan

Since last post: 1445 days
Last activity: 727 days
#47 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.00
I have a couple. Our and are. My boss is famous for misusing those two.

Number one on my list has to be the improper use of less and fewer. No, Mr. Sports Announcer, he didn't play in less games this year, he played in fewer games.
sweetroll
Cotechino








Since: 23.3.02
From: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Since last post: 3766 days
Last activity: 2651 days
#48 Posted on | Instant Rating: 10.00
New tonight. News stations using present, active tense in every script. Proper grammar being ignored. Speaking in six word spurts. Annoying the hell out of me. Making late night news completely unwatchable. Leading me to write this post.
AWArulz
Scrapple








Since: 28.1.02
From: Louisville, KY

Since last post: 90 days
Last activity: 90 days
#49 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.28
The entire message by Test (andrewtestmartin.com) about Eddy's death. He just KILLED the english language there while using it as a way of putting himself over.

That's my new vote.



We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
Eddie Famous
Andouille








Since: 11.12.01
From: Catlin IL

Since last post: 2611 days
Last activity: 2152 days
#50 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.70

Weird. Not wierd. Dumbasses. :)



As of 2/28/05: 101 pounds since December 7, 2004
OFFICIAL THREE-MONTH COUNT: 112 pounds on March 9, 2005
OFFICIAL SIX-MONTH COUNT: 142 pounds on June 8, 2005
As of 11/14/05: 179 pounds "I've lost a cruiserweight"
Cerebus
Scrapple








Since: 17.11.02

Since last post: 2451 days
Last activity: 2173 days
#51 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.23
From JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY:

Roman Moroni: "You fargin sneaky bastage. I'm gonna take your dwork, I'm gonna nail it to the wall. I'm gonna crush your boils in a meat grinder. I'm gonna cut off your arms. I'm gonna shove 'em up your icehole. Dirty son-a-ma-batches. My own club!"


-----

...now THAT, my friends, is the worst abuse of the english language.
J. Kyle
Banger








Since: 21.2.02
From: The Land of Aloha

Since last post: 1551 days
Last activity: 1331 days
#52 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.56
X-E's co-Worst Poster of all time! JKyle.com says:

    Originally posted by spf
    I found the Christmas gift for everyone who posted in this thread.

    Merry Christmas! (foostew.com)
Please accept THIS as a token of appreciation for that gesture.



If you read my comic you'll be like the tenth person (after SOK and Tricia) to do so in three years,
ShotGunShep
Frankfurter








Since: 20.2.03

Since last post: 5972 days
Last activity: 5859 days
#53 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.11
    Originally posted by Stilton
    "Intelligent Design" as an occluded euphemism for creationism.


Umm? That's pretty ignorant. Intelligent Design is a modern version of the argument of design. Something that many deists of the Enlightenment believed in and they sure as hell weren't creationists.

I must say that the horrible use of pronouns in English (see my 'they' example earlier in the thread) is most prevalent.

For example, how many of you say.
"That's him!"
"Is that her?"
"I am taller than him"

ALL WRONG. America stopped teaching its kids grammar some time ago and it really hurts when kids try to learn foreign languages.

The decimated example has always bothered me as well. I've rarely heard it used correctly(on the history channel when they used 'decimated' and then gave numbers). But I don't know how useful of a term it is. I mean, how often are things actually decimated??
J. Kyle
Banger








Since: 21.2.02
From: The Land of Aloha

Since last post: 1551 days
Last activity: 1331 days
#54 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.75
X-E's co-Worst Poster of all time! JKyle.com says:

    Originally posted by ShotGunShep
      Originally posted by Stilton
      "Intelligent Design" as an occluded euphemism for creationism.


    Umm? That's pretty ignorant.
Actually I believe her point was that ID is being misused as Creationism and that's an abuse. So she/he/sweeps/she agrees with you and you just insulted her.

Regardless of what ID actually is, it's being used to sneak Creationism back into schools.

No politics in this thread please.



If you read my comic you'll be like the tenth person (after SOK and Tricia) to do so in three years,
Wolfram J. Paulovich
Frankfurter








Since: 11.11.02
From: Fat City, Baby

Since last post: 6391 days
Last activity: 5761 days
#55 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.66
    Originally posted by ShotGunShep
    The decimated example has always bothered me as well. I've rarely heard it used correctly(on the history channel when they used 'decimated' and then gave numbers). But I don't know how useful of a term it is. I mean, how often are things actually decimated??

Probably more than we think. Consider: if "decimated" were used properly and if people were familiar with its proper use, we'd probably hear it far more often. It might then seem more useful, and we may become more likely to notice reductions close to 10%. Even just close usages would be fine with me. When I think of the New England Patriots starters, I think of them as having been decimated by injuries. Then again, I don't know how many starters they've lost relative to the number of men on the roster.

Ahhh, I should just give up.



The Obtuse Angle Archive.
rinberg
Boudin rouge








Since: 30.1.02
From: South Georgia

Since last post: 4452 days
Last activity: 734 days
#56 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.56
    Originally posted by ShotGunShep
    For example, how many of you say.
    "That's him!"
    "Is that her?"
    "I am taller than him"

    ALL WRONG.

Um, excuse me for showing my ignorance, but how would I make similar statements that are grammatically correct?

*edit: Much clearer, thanks.

(edited by rinberg on 17.11.05 1559)

"The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder with the truth."
ALFRED ADLER
ShotGunShep
Frankfurter








Since: 20.2.03

Since last post: 5972 days
Last activity: 5859 days
#57 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.11
'Me', 'him', 'her' and 'them' are direct object pronouns (the accusative case). They are not nominative like 'I', 'he', 'she', and 'they'.
'You' and 'it' work as both.

The nominative pronoun usually acts as the subject of a sentence.
Example
"HE reads."

Your accusative pronouns represent an object that is receiving an action.
Example
"Tom shot ME"

Now to my examples. When the verb 'to be' is used in a sentence, the pronoun affected is in the nominative case. It is called the predicate nominative. 'To be' essentially acts as an equal sign(if that makes sense).
Examples
"I am HE"
"Is that SHE"
The subject is 'equaled' to your pronoun.

"I am taller than him" is incorrect. It should read, "I am taller than he." You can check yourself by tagging on the verb after the pronoun. "I am taller than he IS"

Make sense?




BigSteve
Pepperoni








Since: 23.7.04
From: Baltimore, MD

Since last post: 6276 days
Last activity: 6004 days
#58 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.84
    Originally posted by rinberg
      Originally posted by ShotGunShep
      For example, how many of you say.
      "That's him!"
      "Is that her?"
      "I am taller than him"

      ALL WRONG.

    Um, excuse me for showing my ignorance, but how would I make similar statements that are grammatically correct?


I believe that the pronouns in those sentences are supposed to be subject pronouns rather than object pronouns. "That's he!" rather than "that's him!"

Personally, I would be more annoyed by people who went against the "convential" way of saying those phrases and instead said them "properly." It would sound way too pretentious. However, I can appreciate people who know the difference.

edit: Yeah, whay SGS said.

(edited by BigSteve on 17.11.05 1247)
Zeruel
Thirty Millionth Hit
Moderator








Since: 2.1.02
From: The Silver Spring in the Land of Mary.

Since last post: 1666 days
Last activity: 1666 days
#59 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.05
I agree with pretty much everything said here. The only thing I can add is how kids today are throwing "gay" or "ghay" around like it's going out of style. I don't know know why, but it bugs me.

Six years ago when I was still collecting comics, I was hanging out at the store with all the other regulars (thing Cheers, but with comics) and there was this 18 year old kid, Matt.

Everything was "gay" to him. He eventually started pronouncing it as "ghay."

He did that because when he would say "That is SO gay!" I would reply with "In what way is it homosexual?"

He would look so puzzled evertime until eventually someone clued him in that gay meant homosexual. So he then switched to "ghay."




The Catastrophic Annihilation War Room
"You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?" --Toby, West Wing

dwaters
Bierwurst








Since: 16.10.02
From: Connecticut

Since last post: 1390 days
Last activity: 1370 days
#60 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.58
    Originally posted by Matt Tracker
    The complete ignorance of the definition "literally."


My wife does this ALL THE TIME.

Last week I nearly laughed her off the phone when she said,
"I need to come home and organize all my shit --literally"

"Don't you think that's going to be messy?" I think I said. I wanted to ask if that was taking being anal retentive a little too far. She uses it in place of "seriously" or "really" -despite my attempts to correct her.
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