#1 Biggest User Error

[rrogers]

my peeve lately is I vs me.

Tina and me looked at the llama <--- wrong! you wouldn't say "Me looked at the llama."

Tina gave french fries to Jake and I <--- wrong! you wouldn't say "Tina gave fries to I."

Nominative vs. objective pronouns are something a significant portion of the population no longer understand. The problem is particularly bad with who and whom.

Affect and effect really set me off. Particularly when someone operates under the misconception that "effect" can only function as noun. For example, I can correctly state the introduction of the Axe-FX has effected a change in the way many guitarists view modelers. However, many people who half understand the guidelines would insist "affected" would be the correct verb to use.

Sorry for the total derail. If any forum strives for correct usage, it should be this one.

 

[chris]

Yup. People don't know that "effect" can be a verb.

People also don't know what a verb is.

 

[Pinkycramps]

Affect and effect really set me off.

I love my affects pedals, but they don't comes nowheres close to my Axe affects. Dat shiz is fo-reel.

 

[Rex]

My peeve is that "I" and "me" even exist as separate words. Their only function is to complicate the language by adding another arbitrary rule. Choosing one or the other adds no meaning—or anything else useful—to a sentence.

 

[pima1234]

A whole nother.

The use of "literally".

I take my hats off.

I, personally, believe...

The fun never ends.

Then there's that word 'moist'.

 

[chris]

My peeve is that "I" and "me" even exist as separate words. Their only function is to complicate the language by adding another arbitrary rule. Choosing one or the other adds no meaning—or anything else useful—to a sentence.

other languages don't really have this sort of specificity. same thing with "him and her" gender pronouns; some languages basically say "it" which makes some situations SOOO much easier.

 

[Rex]

other languages don't really have this sort of specificity...

Some do (e.g., German), and some don't (e.g., Spanish).

I'd like to interrupt this hijack to say, "Master Volume really is the king of the amp controls, guys. Learn how it feels!"

 

[pima1234]

...and now back to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[Dutch]

Not quite yet.

other languages don't really have this sort of specificity. same thing with "him and her" gender pronouns; some languages basically say "it" which makes some situations SOOO much easier.

I don't know how much of an idea you guys all have but... English is by far the simplest language, grammarwise, than any of the other 5 modern languages I have some knowledge of. Totally legit preposition at the end there.

The whole gender of nouns is hardly a thing in English. You should take a look at German. They have numerous declensions based on the gender of the following noun. Then there is Italian. In Italian you have to know the gender of the noun and the subject in your sentence because it changes the entire sentence. Including entirely different words and construction.

Yet, English is an extremely rich language simply because of the sheer number of words. English has four times as many words as Dutch (IIRC). You can really zero in on a meaning because of the minute differences in meaning between almost-synonyms.