My major grammar pet peeve

[kgmets2]

This thread is hilarious.

Loose and lose. I don’t understand the confusion between the two words.

I can get past to, two, or too because they’re pronounced exactly the same. Even there, they’re, and their. Or you’re and your. But lose and loose are not pronounced the same at all.

P.S. I also agree with you that while lose and loose are different words with different meanings, they do not qualify as homonyms because they are pronounced differently.

 

[chac54]

If you want to live a long life stay away from the live wire on the ground.

Please lead the horse away from those lead paint chips in the grass, I led him away yesterday.

Which witch is which.

My my what a minute minute that was, it went by fast!

Don't lie to me young man! Now go lie in your bed and think about what you did wrong!

So so many ways to fuckify the English language.

 

[tampa24]

Unfortunately that mean teacher was correct in her grammar, as "can I" refers to the inquiring individual being physically able to walk to the bathroom, whereas "may I" is asking another for permission.

The "shall/will" distinction relates to first person, second person, third person, tense of person: i.e. "I/we shall ..." (first person) versus "you/you will" (second person) and "he/she,they will" (third person). I had to take four years of Latin in high school to learn that latter rule of English grammar. Most English speaking Americans just either don't know or just ignore that rule and use interchangeably "shall" and "will" for all three tenses both singular and plural

That is a tricky one. I also took 4 years of Latin in high school. Ubi o ubi sunt meus sub ubi? haha

Anyhoo... Sometimes shall is used colloquially (and perhaps incorrectly) just as an added rhetorical flourish. For myself I see the proper use of shall as mostly confined to the first person singular and plural, and sometimes in the third person singular and plural.

As in:

I shall endevour to do better.

We shall overcome.

This too shall pass.

And one of my favorite slogans of the Spanish Civil War... "!No pasaran!" "They shall not pass!"

 

[mikeyank]

This thread is hilarious.

Loose and lose. I don’t understand the confusion between the two words.

I can get past to, two, or too because they’re pronounced exactly the same. Even there, they’re, and their. Or you’re and your. But lose and loose are not pronounced the same at all.

Thank you Jay for finding this nugget from our archives.

 

[tampa24]

So so many ways to fuckify the English language.

You're so right. Here're a couple synonyms that can be "false friends" as it were, in the English language. Because they are not interchangeable.

How about:

Compliment and Complement?? haha

The bride received so many compliments on her beautiful gown.


Then we have this:

Though the two teammates' styles of play were quite different, they really complemented each other's various strengths and weaknesses to great mutual advantage.

The hostess's use of that particular shade of nail polish really complemented the color of her dress.

The model's blue dress really complemented and enhanced the color of her blue eyes.

The warship set sail with a full complement of manpower and crew.

 

[Jaybifla]

This statement……

“I could care less”

 

[br6205]

This statement……

“I could care less”

Are they being careless, I wonder?