Words Mean Things — Page 5

xhonzi said:

I can't stand it when people misuse yeah/yay/yea.

Here's a little primer:

Yay! = A synonym for Hooray! (Yay, I got into college!)
Yea = An affirmative vote, antonym of Nay, or Biblical sentence starter (All for: Yea. All against: Nay; Yea, and in the fourth year it came to pass...)
Yeah - A casual synonym for "yes" (Yeah, it's okay I guess...)
Yah - Bill and Ted.     ("Ted, are you alright?"  "Yah!" "Excellent!" )
Yaw - Pivoting around the Z axis   (These jets adjust the spaceships yaw since there is no air in space on which to bank.)
Yar - Pirate for yes.  ("Cap'n, should we give chase to them scurvy dogs?"  "Yar!")
Yar - Pirate for no.  ("Cap'n, should we give chase to them scurvy dogs?"  "Yar.")

 ^THAT

I am also irritated by the improper usage of "your" and "you're" and of course "there", "their", and "they're". "They're" and "you're" aren't even pronounced the same as "there/their" and "your".

That leads to another thing that bothers me: when people mispronounce words. That is a pet peeve of mine, and I am equally annoyed when I do not know the pronunciation of a word. The words which tend to be mispronounced frequently include:

aye (pronounced like a long i; not "ae"),

yea (pronounced "yay"; not like the word "yeah"),

you're and they're (pronounced "you-er" and "they-er" respectively; not "yore" and "thare"),

voila (pronounced "vwah-luh"; not "wah-luh"),

our (this one I'm not sure about, but as far as I know it should be pronounced like "hour" rather than like "are"),

Thames (pronounced "temz"; not "thamez" or "tamez"),

and bury (I honestly don't know what is correct. I prefer "bar-ree" to "buh-ree, but "buh-ree" seems more likely to be correct).

Another pet peeve I have is the usage of phrases to describe something rather than using the designated term, such as using "the and symbol" instead of the word "ampersand" or "upside down E" as opposed to "schwa" (or "squiggly thing" instead of "tilde", etc.).

Another thing that irks me to no end is the prevalent usage of "was like" in the place of "did", "said", "quoth", "exclaimed", "interjected", "replied", "answered", "threatened", "objected", "shrieked", "yelled", "called", "vocalized", "interrogated", "questioned", "queried", "inquired", "argued", "debated", "contested", "chuckled", "giggled", "laughed", "spoke", "hinted", "screamed", "lisped", "muttered", "mumbled", "grumbled", "murmured", "squawked", "rasped", "clucked", "tittered", "belched", "acquiesced", "admitted", "agreed", "conceded", "demanded", "ordered", "commanded", "barked", "purred", "tempted", "indicated", "hissed", "roared", "bellowed", "mused", "wondered", "decided", "proclaimed", "yawned", "spake", "gulped", "warbled", "sighed" (only on OT.cop would the connection between those words be apparent), "gasped", "sang", "hummed", "whistled", "chirped", "called", "groaned", "moaned", "spat", "cursed", "swore", "cussed", "snapped", "croaked", "growled", "suggested", "prompted", "urged", "acknowledged", "permitted", allowed", "wrote", "informed", "noted", "recognized", or "wavered" among teenagers and young adults today (and yesterday and tomorrow and several days before and after that).

I find that amusing! (That phrase is better rendered as "LOL" on other threads.)

Oh, this is so fun!

I hate it when people use "literally" as emphasis. "I literally had a ton of homework" means "I had a ton of homework", period. It is no longer hyperbolic if the word "literally" is used, so it doesn't belong unless you really mean it!

"Irony" is also frequently used incorrectly, and so are "like", "like", and "like".

It also bugs me when people confuse "stuff" and "things", or "much" and "many", saying "I have so much things, I don't know what to do with it all," instead of "I have so many things, I don't know what to do with them all."

Mis-usage of the word "can" drives me crazy.

RicOlie_2 said:

Yeah, where is that Boost guy, I've never met him.

 Right here. :)

I figured this was an appropriate enough thread to post this in:

Hilarious Shakespearean version of "The Three Little Pigs".

Differences in pronunciation of words can reflect regional variance in language usage rather than incorrectness--determining whether a word is in fact being pronounced incorrectly has to happen in a larger linguistic context. In my regional accent, horse and hoarse are homophones, and it would be wrong to say 'pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd' in my accent, but it would be perfectly acceptable in Boston, where, incidentally, horse and hoarse have not merged. Some pronunciations are objectively wrong (you example of the Thames, the 'asses/assess' joke in View From the Top, etc.), but based on a cursory glance at the records on SoundComparisons, I'd guess that the majority of pronunciation differences come down to regional accent rather than outright mistakes, and what is incorrect in one accent may be correct in another. 

...While we're on the subject, what bothers ME about language is when people try to imitate accents on the spot without any real knowledge or practice, or worse, try to write an accent in prose, because it usually turns out horrible. Like, 'confusing a French accent with an Italian accent' horrible, or Stepin Fetchit transcription-level horrible. The best way to convey an accent will ALWAYS be to use just a few occasional dialectal features ('ain't', 'y'all', 'aye', etc.), one or two appropriate idioms TOTAL, and simply remarking that the character has a certain accent when first describing them.