Do You Have a Grammar or Spelling Pet Peeve?

Question of the Week

Do You Have a Grammar or Spelling Pet Peeve?

Posted Jul 1, 2008, 10:53 am CDT
By Sarah Randag

We can’t help but notice that many readers who comment on ABAJournal.com posts are obsessed with spelling and grammar—whether they’re calling out other commenters on their errors, or re-posting, chastened, to correct their own typos. This week, blogger Howard Bashman and 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner are getting in on the action: They had some words over Posner’s use of a singular rather than a plural noun in a recent opinion, and Bashman even brought a linguistics professor in on the debate.

So, we’re wondering: Do you have a grammar pet peeve? Are you bothered by a certain word or phrase that you constantly see misspelled? Or do you think people who revel in correcting such errors and making presumptions about those who make them are more bothersome to you than any typo or lack of subject-verb agreement could ever be?

Answer in the comments below.

Read last week's question and answers about "poetic justice."

Our favorite answer from last week:

Posted by Steve Minor: The only poem I ever saw from a judge was this, dated April 1, 1991, from the Circuit Court of Wise County, Virginia:

Dear Counsel:

This is a case of unique species,
not stare decisis, but stare feces.
The court had serious fun with these complex issues as it spoke,
but this opinion, signed the first, is no April Fool joke.

Keep tabs on the Journal's latest Question of the Week by following us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abajquestion.

Comments

Report Abuse

Posted by MommyEsq - 1 month, 4 weeks, 19 hours, 45 minutes ago

"It’s” and “its” drive me crazy. Even highly educated people can’t seem to get it straight. They can’t remember that day in second grade when we were all taught our contractions. “It’s” is *only* a contraction for “it is” and you use “its” for the possessive of “it”.
Posted by Vocab nazi - 1 month, 4 weeks, 18 hours, 11 minutes ago

Hamburger eaters who proudly declare themselves carnivores. They’re omnivores. Wheat buns, onion, lettuce, pickle and mustard are not meat.
Posted by Car - 1 month, 4 weeks, 18 hours ago

I hate when people say “women” when they mean one “woman” and “message” instead of “massage.” The worst is when people say “I seen something” instead of “I saw something.” It drives me nuts. Believe it or not, I’ve also heard grown people say “I brung” before.
Posted by Slammer - 1 month, 4 weeks, 17 hours, 34 minutes ago

The end of Western Civilization as we know it is preceded by the ubiquitous bastardization, misuse and misplacement of the personal pronoun “me” for “I.” As in, “Me and my friends are going to the movies.” It’s viral and its wrong and one does not have to be a grammarian or anal retentive to try to stop it, which I do every time one of my kids utters it.
Posted by QJC - 1 month, 4 weeks, 16 hours ago

When writing informally—such as blawg entries or emails or even PostIt notes—there’s no reason not to capitalize the first word in each sentence. Sure, go ahead and shorten how you want to say something, but for the love of Pete, if you’re going to use a period, take the time to hold down that “shift” key once in a while, too. And since when did it become too burdensome to capitalize the lone letter “i”? I learned that it should always, always, always be capitalized, but maybe the rules have changed on me.

Ahh, venting feels good.
Posted by Mary Whisner - 1 month, 4 weeks, 15 hours, 18 minutes ago

Numerous individuals utilize “numerous” when “many” would do—and “utlilize” when “use” would do. And why not say “people” instead of “individuals” or “persons”?

Slammer (comment #4) is right in decrying the use of “me” for “I.” But I more often hear and see the opposite: people who are afraid of using “me” when they should use “I” and so use “I” for objects as well as subjects: “Please make an appointment to see John and I.” “I hope Diane doesn’t take a picture of Peggy and I.”
Posted by Bill - 1 month, 4 weeks, 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

It really bugs me when people say “I could care less” when they really mean “I couldn’t care less”. It probably shouldn’t bother me as much as it does, but it is still early and I have only had one coffee.
Posted by MBJ - 1 month, 4 weeks, 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

When people post on web forums or blogs and use IM style shorthand. As in, “r u srs? omg!”

Text messaging is the little known 5th Horseman of the Apocalypse.
Posted by LMD - 1 month, 4 weeks, 1 hour, 8 minutes ago

One thing (of many) which drives me nuts is when I see an apostrophe used in a plural. I recently saw a website listing many dogs under the heading “Pet’s Ready for Adoption.” Unless they meant to say that a particular pet was ready for adoption, which I doubt, they should have just said Pets. I see this same mistake at least once every day. It makes me sad.
Posted by steve latimer - 1 month, 4 weeks, 59 minutes ago

The use of the word “clearly” as in “The cases clearly hold....” in a brief. That usage raises red flags to me that the proposition is less than clear, or that the writer did not do a thorough job of research.
Posted by RJC - 1 month, 4 weeks, 41 minutes ago

1) “quote” is a verb, “quotation” is the noun
2) “impact” is a noun, not a verb
3) “exactly the same” is incoherent - sameness does not come in degrees, something either is the same as something else or it is not
4) agree with Mary Whisner above - there is never a reason to use “utilize,” and it is pretentious
5) also agree with steve latimer above - if something is clear it is easy to explain why. When “clearly” is used as a substitute for explanation it signals a lack of clear understanding

I realize that most of these incorrect usages are so common as to be accepted in many circles. My point is not that they are illegal, but that they are amateurish and betray an ignorance that will cause one not to be taken seriously by many others.
Posted by Asking the Question - 1 month, 4 weeks, 23 minutes ago

"Aks” - why on earth does any ever “aks” a question? I know judges who say “aks.” Do they not hear the difference, or is this use intended to grate on the ears of listeners?
Posted by Brian Kaser - 1 month, 4 weeks, 18 minutes ago

I have to agree with some other posters that pathological affection for the apostrophe is degrading written English in America.

I am intrigued also by the modern practice of verbing nouns....

Every new lawyer should read “Eats, Shoots and Leaves,” a clever book by an English writer (whose name I don’t recall at the moment) on bad grammar habits. A trip through Strunk and White’s Elements of Style wouldn’t hurt them, either.
Posted by John - 1 month, 4 weeks, 17 minutes ago

It drives me “crazy” when people add “superfluous” quotation marks.
Posted by Professor Hardass - 1 month, 4 weeks, 16 minutes ago

I used to teach law and my nickname was “Professor Hardass.” I was the comma hunter and it drove my students crazy because I would always deduct points for spelling and grammar errors. Each time I had to grade a paper I was appalled at the lack of elementary English. Didn’t these people graduate grade school, junior high, high school and (most shockingly) COLLEGE before they got to law school? The biggest pet peeve is not proof-reading work. For example, there was one assignment where the students had to write a memorandum of law on the theory of attempted possession of drugs and apply it to a fact pattern. Halfway through a particular student’s paper the phrase “attempted possession” became “attempted passion” which was repeated through the remainder of the paper. I have to admit that by that point it went off the scale of making me nuts to just belly-laugh out loud hysterical. Needless to say I gave the student an “F.”
Posted by your an idiot - 1 month, 4 weeks, 11 minutes ago

I’m surprised no one mentioned using “your” when someone really means “you’re.”
Posted by Meg - 1 month, 4 weeks, 3 minutes ago

I hate the misuse of the words less and fewer. Sometime in the past few years, people decided that they are interchangeable, but under the rules of grammar, they most certainly are not. Fewer denotes items that can be counted. Less is used to describe uncountable (and usually abstract) nouns.

I have fewer grammatical erros in my writing because I am an English major. I have less patience with people who use improper grammar than the average Joe.
Posted by Anonymous - 1 month, 4 weeks, 2 minutes ago

I agree with all of these excellent points; however, I would like to point out that the word impact is, in fact, both a verb and a noun. When used as a verb, impact should mean “to pack in.” I think the poster is taking issue with its more recent meaning as a verb, rather than this traditional usage. And although Eats, Shoots & Leaves is a great book, it is actually chock full of mistakes - so beware!
Posted by Jan DeRemer - 1 month, 4 weeks ago

My pet peeve is confusion between “less” and “fewer.” “Less” refers to a smaller amount (less fat, less traffic) while “fewer” pertains to numbers (fewer calories, fewer cars). Thank you!
Posted by Jess - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes ago

I am a hardass for apostrophes. They are not used for plurals. They are also placed after the “s” in a plural possessory noun. HOWEVER, technically if a singular noun ends in an “s”, you still add the “ ‘s “ to the end. Mr. Gloss’s mirror. Not Mr. Gloss’ mirror.
Posted by Bill R. - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 50 minutes ago

What has happened to the adverb? The distinction between adverbs and adjectives seems to be lost in 21st century America, where everyone from the woman on the street to news anchors to politicians say things like “He ran slow.” Slowly...slowly… ugh!
Posted by Word Nerd - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 42 minutes ago

Two horrible words: irregardless and devoid. STOP USING THEM PEOPLE!!!!!!
Posted by Eric - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes ago

I have a serious problem with people using commas where they shouldn’t! I can hardly read the comments to any articles anymore...it is just appalling.
Posted by Chris S. - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 36 minutes ago

"and/or” is not a word, and/or “which” is not a proper substitute for “that”
Posted by John - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 26 minutes ago

The use of the words “as such” when the writer means “thus” is crazy ("The writer could not think of the right word. As such, he used the wrong ones."). The words are meaningless in such a situation. This usage is becoming more and more popular, but needs to be stopped. “As such” has nosed ahead of the improper usage of “myself” as my pet peeve.
Posted by writer's block - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 22 minutes ago

Call me sexist, but I still pause for a moment whenever I see or hear “they” or “their” used to androgynously refer to “he” or “she” as in, “when a lawyer appears in court, they should wear a suit.” Come on, people, political correctness should not be an excuse for awkward grammar.
Posted by Robert Taylor - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 22 minutes ago

I don’t know where to begin.
The missuse of apostrophes is epidemic. The rampant confusion of ‘me’ and ‘I’ is shocking. But what really bugs me is the use of ‘less’ when ‘fewer’ should be used. The use of the word ‘fewer’ has almost disappeared.
Posted by Lynn - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 20 minutes ago

While the confusion of your and you’re irritates me, what bothers me more is the practice of making verbs out of nouns when there is already a verb for the action in question. For example, the use of “commentate”. The correct verb is “comment”. Where is Sister Marie Consuela (my 4th grade teacher and grammar/spelling fiend) and her trusty ruler when you need her?
Posted by Karla - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 20 minutes ago

High school English teachers appear to have drilled into too many heads the idea that “me” should be avoided in the context of “______ and me.” It drives me crazy every time I hear someone use “_____ and I” as an object or following a preposition. If you wouldn’t say “with I” or “for I,” don’t do it when there just happens to be an “and” before the first-person pronoun.
Posted by Professor Hardass - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 19 minutes ago

I can understand “irregardless” because that is not a word, but what is wrong with “devoid?” Another made-up word that I hear often, even on television is “boughten” as past tense for “buy.”
Posted by Jen - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 19 minutes ago

Misspelled words bother me to no end. Particularly, the spelling of “definitely.” I think some assume words are spelled as they are pronounced, but if someone pronounces words incorrectly then you suddenly get “definately.”
Posted by Paul - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes ago

Using the apostrophe with a plural noun. (e.g., “I’ve got two dog’s. “ ). The apostrophe is like a virus; useful in its place, but infecting everything. Don’t people understand how to use it?
Posted by l.rev.nerd - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 14 minutes ago

1) “For all intensive purposes” instead of “for all intents and purposes.” What the heck is that all about?

2) I agree about the improper use of “me” instead of “I.” However, just as egregious is the use of “I” or “myself” when “me” is the appropriate word. This usually happens when the speaker is attempting to “sound smart.”

3) Using “them” or “they” when the writer is really speaking of a singular person in a gender-neutral way. We really need something better than “he or she” and “him or her,” but pluralizing is just not a good choice.

4) Tonite. Need I say more?
Posted by Ashley - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 14 minutes ago

In addition to everything listed above (it’s nice to know others share my concerns), I’m seriously concerned over the lack of formality in emails, particularly in a professional setting. I’m an attorney in private practice, at a rather large defense firm, and I receive emails all the time with “u” and “r” and other ridiculous text message style abbreviations, even from partners.

Responding to email via a blackberry doesn’t get you off the hook either. I’ve got mine strapped to me at all times and I still take the extra few seconds to type the entire word!
Posted by Ashley - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes ago

Oh, one more - thru.

Seeing that in an actual appellate brief threw me over the edge. We’re not at Wendy’s!
Posted by Shayne - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 9 minutes ago

I agree with all of the above, but one I haven’t seen mentioned yet that really gets my goat is the confusion between “loose” and “lose.” For some reason, I see more and more people using “loose” when they mean “lose.” You don’t loose weight; you lose it. Then you clothes get loose.
Posted by Shayne - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 9 minutes ago

Ugh...YOUR clothes get loose.
Posted by Marion - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes ago

The misspelling of “supersede” as “supercede.” Not only do I see this frequently in briefs, it appears with some frequency in reported decisions.
Posted by Ken R - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 5 minutes ago

Most of my peeves have been covered but I would add that “incent” has become a word only because of repeated, mistaken use. It is another example (similar to use of “impact” as a verb) of poor education and incorrect usage creating a new (and lower) standard for communication.
Posted by Professor Hardass - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 4 minutes ago

I am taking such glee from all my equally frustrated grammarians. I blame a lot of the spelling issues in the written word on phonics. Since the introduction of phonics as a teaching method (instead of good old fashioned memory dilling), no one seems to know how to spell.
Posted by joe bartlett - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 3 minutes ago

The use of the adverb “ verbally” , which means and only means the use of words, when what the speaker means is “ orally”
And the bastard veb “ incent”. “Motivate” is entirely adequate
Posted by NJ attorney - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 2 minutes ago

#26 - Most writing-style issues could be resolved by careful edits: “Lawyers appearing in court should wear suits.” You could avoid the he/she issue completely.
Posted by l.rev.nerd - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 1 minute ago

Oooh! I thought of one more. My husband’s large corporation uses the word “solution” as a verb. He is regularly told to solution things.

For example: “Max, I’d like you to solution some strategies to reduce errors in this process.”

It makes me want to scream. Has anyone else heard this one?
Posted by joe bartlett - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours ago

Apologize. I mispelled verb in the above comment. So here is one more, maybe the worst: “ very unique”. The word unique cannot be qualified. An item or event is unique or it isn’t . There is no in between
Posted by Mike - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 59 minutes ago

When people missuse the word “myriad,” which should be used like the word “many” (e.g. “There are myriad people misusing the word myriad") and NOT like the words “a lot” (e.g. “There are a myriad of people misusing the word myriad in this fashion"). Of course, I myself had to learn the correct usage - from my high school English teacher- before I climbed up this high horse.
Posted by Greg - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 57 minutes ago

"In regards to.” It’s “in regard to” or “regarding” or “as regards X,...”. Of course, you can always give your regards to Broadway.
Posted by Nashville J - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes ago

I applaud all of you for the comments you’ve already made; in particular, the misuse of I vs. me and extraneous apostrophes are the things that make me crazy. One more: “very unique.” “Unique” means “one of a kind,” so there are not degrees of uniqueness.
Posted by Emily - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 52 minutes ago

Myself. We are lawyers here people! This does not replace me or I. Learn the difference.

I seen it. No, you saw it.
Posted by Gary - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes ago

What really drives me nuts is the way many people use the word “like” as a synonym for “said.” When someone is telling me about a conversation, I don’t give a rat’s behind what the speaker “was like” - I want to know what the speaker SAID.

I also agree wholeheartedly with the previous posters about plurals masquerading as possessives. Teachers should make it clear to their students that this is considered particularly egregious, and penalties should be swift, certain, and severe.
Posted by CCM - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes ago

I agree with Slammer on the misuse of personal pronouns. An example of my most dispised usage is “The judge spoke to him and I.” What??? This is not rocket surgery! No—it’s not “I.” Just because there are two direct objects doesn’t mean that you may use the subjective pronoun—“I.” Here’s a simple test. Drop the “him” from the sentence. Now, would it be correct to say “The judge spoke to I?”
Posted by Gary - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 29 minutes ago

Oh - thought of another one: “Supposably.”
Posted by Heather - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 26 minutes ago

I agree with all of the above. My other pet peeve is the misuse of “lead.” That word is either the element in a pencil or the present tense of the verb. The past tense is “led.”
Posted by Jill - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 25 minutes ago

When end questions with “at”.
What’s wrong with saying Where is it?
Posted by K - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 18 minutes ago

The misuse of “I” when the speaker means “me.” But more than that I hate the current trend to misuse the word “myself.” “Myself” is a reflexive pronoun, so saying, “Call Sherry or myself,” or “Lisa, John, and myself are going” is wrong. There is no noun (me or I) for
“myself” to reflect upon.
Posted by Michelle - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 16 minutes ago

"Word Nerd” hit one of them—“irregardless.” Another pet peeve (in spoken English) is “fustrate.” Finally, I get fRRRRRustrated when people do not put the period or comma INSIDE “quotation marks.” I think this group of commenters is the only group of people who actually understand this rule. I will also rebute the comments about “they” as a substitute for “he/she.” I wrote my college senior thesis on why “they” should take on the singular form in Standard English. It has a predecessor in “you” substituting for “thou.” I really believe we are headed in that direction, but I will spare you the fifty page analysis.
Posted by David - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 10 minutes ago

Those who add “literally” to trite expressions to try to make them meaningful. I saw this in a pleading: “He left the plaintiff literally holding the bag” when there was no bag and no holding; the plaintiff was left responsible for a debt.
Also, a corporation is an “it” and not a “they.”

I second the comments about it’s, utiilize, verbally and “they” for indefinite singular “he.”

“null and void” = void.
“in the event that” = if
“including but not limited to” = including
“any or all” = any
Posted by Anonymous - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 8 minutes ago

My pet peeve is when people say or write something like “I’m going to try AND work it out” instead of “I’m going to try TO work it out.” Are you trying and working or are you trying to work? Of couse, there are many variations you may have heard or read with “try AND ____.”
Posted by David - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes ago

Many writers ("Writers") over-identify objects in their sentences ("Objects") when in context, there can only be the one Object and therefore, it doesn’t need to be a stated term. Perhaps it’s appropriate in long documents, but it look stupid in a transmittall letter ("Letter").
Posted by Leslie - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 57 minutes ago

There vs. their. Enough said.
Posted by sara - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 53 minutes ago

My favorites are the misuse of “good” versus “well” and the trusty phrase “same difference.”
Posted by JAF - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 51 minutes ago

I just thought of one - the confusing use of commas when grouping objects. The rules is that you use the comma to set off a group and the lack of a comma to denote objects within a group. For example, to me the statement of “apples, orange, and grapes” means three groups of objects as opposed to apples, oranges and grapes” which means two groups of objects. This can really be a trap when drafting contracts (which is what I do) so I am very careful in how I group objects or events because there is a very distinct difference between the two examples.
Posted by JAF - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes ago

ARGH! Excuse my typo in Comment #61. I meant to write “The rule is that....” Damn fingers!
Posted by deebo - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 46 minutes ago

I hate when people (myself included) misuse saw with seen and vice-versa. Someone please teach me when it’s appropriate to use one and not the other.
Posted by Richard - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 45 minutes ago

"A quantum leap” in science is the smallest possible change. Regardless, people think it’s something big.
Posted by Richard - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 43 minutes ago

"irregardless”. When someone uses that word, it is a flag that they are trying to sound smart or important. They probably aren’t.
Posted by Englishmajor - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 43 minutes ago

For #18 - I’m not sure the book “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” is necessarily full of mistakes. It is a humorous discussion of the frustrations of the author with the break-down of British grammar, not American. Some of the differences in usage that are discussed do look wrong to us on this side of the Atlantic.
As Shaw said “England and Americal are two countries separated by a common language”. I recommend it for all who have responded to this article…
And I agree with #21. I find myself constantly talking back to the TV newreader. Like that’s not nuts?
Posted by Frederick Beckman - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 39 minutes ago

Correspondence beginning “Enclosed herewith please find.” Bryan Garner says this is archaid deadwood. It’s nothing more than a bad habit young lawyers pick up from old timers. “Enclosed is” is ssufficient.
Posted by Kentucky Lawyer - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes ago

Untelling is an actual word here. And to be honest I have been caught using it myself. Although never in writing.
Posted by Richard - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes ago

"rate of speed” as in “traveling at a high rate of speed”. It indicates that someone is trying to sound expert or officious. Perhaps they’re just trying to hog the conversation with long sentences comprising filler words.
Posted by Patent Guy - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 36 minutes ago

Patent attorneys do many things I wouldn’t recommend to other legal writers. Sentences, even though correct in grammar and punctuation, that run on for several pages head the list. “Synonym stringing” is a practice I dislike, hate, detest, loathe, abhor, despise, am unable to bear, shrink from, and shudder at. I don’t think even patent attorneys should do it. But there is one practice I recommend to everyone. Any time one or more words can be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning, the sentence has too many words. Keep it succinct and unequivocal.
Posted by jjjdddd - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 36 minutes ago

To #61: Unfortunately we have lost that battle. The serial comma is dead. When I came out of law school and started using it in documents I was roundly chastized. After consulting current style books it seems the serial comma is considered old-fashioned. Now that I am of counsel and have some autonomity, I use it. But, the CLIENTS correct it!
Posted by michael kukielka - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 33 minutes ago

Someone please respond to comment #63 and help deebo out.
Posted by Natalie - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 33 minutes ago

I cringe on a daily basis when I hear the words “pacifics” (instead of specifics) and “acrossed” coming out of my boss’s mouth.

I need to be physically restrained upon seeing the word “definitely” misspelled. My boyfriend is threatening to send me to Spellers Anonymous.
Posted by Richard - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 33 minutes ago

"may or may not” For example: The world may or may not be warming. There is no information content.
Posted by Chris - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 30 minutes ago

Different than in place of different from. Miltigate against instead of militate against.
Further and farther--do not even go there.
Between you and I--oh please.
Hey, Michelle in #55--where can one get a copy of your fifty page analysis?
Posted by abg - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 29 minutes ago

The use of the word irregardless. It is not a word. And the use of the phrase “between you and I” or some variation. Usually they are incorrectly using it. Can be checked by using ‘we’ or ‘us’ in place of ‘you and I’.
Posted by Doogie Howser DO - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 27 minutes ago

Are doctors or lawyers smarter?
Posted by Miranda Hobbes - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes ago

I never heard anyone say “supposably” until I moved to the New York City area, and now I hear it all the time. Does it happen in other parts of the country?
Posted by Nancy Smith - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes ago

1. Public schools (at least in California) do not provide grammar books to students these days. How are they supposed to learn the basic rules?
2. Commas and periods should be inside quotation marks.
3. Misplacement of commas, or missing commas. I agree that a comma is needed at the end of a list before the word “and” only if needed to the intent clear--but technical style manuals usually require the extra comma.
Posted by david - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 20 minutes ago

#65: He, not they.
Interesting about “quantum leap.” Similarly, “decimate” means destroy 10% of something, but people use it to mean “destroy” or “damage extensively.”
25 years ago the elder secretary told me, that if it’s enclosed, they will find it, so just say “Enclosed is.”
Posted by Jeff - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 20 minutes ago

David #56: Government agencies are also an “it.”
Deebo #63: Both are verbs. “saw” is past tense of “see.” “Seen” is the past participle of “see.” A dictionary or any grammar handbook can help you. I keep several on hand, but my favorite for late night reading is Lynne Truss’s “Eats, Shoots & Leaves.”
Posted by Matt Munson - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 18 minutes ago

It drives me absolutely nuts when people use the word “insure” when they really should be using the word “ensure.”

There is a simple rule to follow—you insure your home, car, boat, and your life. But you ensure your client arrives at the courthouse early, or you cook your hamburgers thoroughly to ensure that any bacteria, such as salmonella, is killed.

HOW HARD IS IT FOLKS?

By the way, I highly recommend “Plain English for Lawyers” by Wydick.
Posted by JD - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 18 minutes ago

"Completely decimate.”
Posted by DG - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes ago

When referring to the caption of a letter, don’t call it “the captioned matter” or the “referenced matter” or worse, the “above-captioned matter.” If you have to say anything, try “this matter” or if you must, the “matter referred to above” (which itself is not correct) but as with the enclosure, the recipient will likely figure it out.
Posted by stayathomeuncle - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 15 minutes ago

Good one, #81.
Posted by Lisa - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 14 minutes ago

It drives me batty when someone uses the phrase “begs the question” to mean “raises the question.” When something “begs the question,” it uses circular logic to avoid a question.
Posted by Stevie B - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 1 minute ago

The word, “email,” like the words, “mail,” “deer” and “staff,” encompasses the plural. Nobody says, “I’m going out to check the mails,” or “Look at the deers over there.” Thus it is maddeningly incorrect to write or speak about “emails.” Please stop.
Posted by Legal Editor - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 58 minutes ago

These are fabulous gripes and I’m glad this topic was finally written about. I’m a legal editor and while I love to read the blog comments, I cringe when I read some of the posts—which are written by attorneys! I had a legal matter recently and constantly had to correct my attorney’s writing; including the spelling of my name. This was a huge pet peeve of mine since we had been working together for many months and she continued to make the same mistake. This did not leave a good impression of her in my mind, and I constantly worried about her accuracy for virtually everything she had to write for me.
Posted by Cathie Shattuck - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 51 minutes ago

I have a colllegue who persists in describing a thing or situation as “more better” and conversely using “more badder”. She claims that English is her “first langauge”.
Posted by Honza Prchal - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 47 minutes ago

English is not my first language and my wife is from overseas, so we cannot understand why the adverb “hopefully” became a synonym for “One hopes”, “I hope” or even “It is to be hoped”.
I once read William F. Buckley give up that particular grammatical fight, but that useage is something “up with which I shall not put”, as Winston Churchill once replied when asked about the inappropriate use of a Latin rule against split infinitives in English. I am content to stand athwart history, crying “Stop” on this one.
Posted by Student - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 36 minutes ago

I cannot stop laughing right now because so much of what has already been said is what makes my blood boil! A couple favorites are led vs. lead, your vs. you’re, they’re vs. their vs. there, punctuation outside of quotations, and misplaced footnotes. The worst of all, though, is when classmates make these mistakes on a regular basis. My first year of research and writing, my professor actually asked someone if she knew how to properly form a sentence.

“Supposably, lawyer’s is good writers; ain’t we”?
Posted by amy - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes ago

I can’t believe that no one has noted the confusion of the words “which” vs. “that.” It drives me nuts! I’m sure that there is some relaxation of the rules recently, but generally, “which” should be used with nonrestrictive clauses (those that give additional information about something that has already been identified in the context). “That” is used to introduce a restrictive relative clause, and it should NEVER be preceded by a comma. I know that there are times when one or the other might be appropriate in violation of the rules, but the blatant violation of the rule when it is obvious drives me crazy.
Posted by becky - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 27 minutes ago

It bothers me when I see either of the following spelling errors. First, people accidentally omit the “r” from “your” and write “you.” For example, “I am going to visit you at you house.” Second, I often see “definately” instead of “definitely.”
Posted by James - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 18 minutes ago

Few seem to understand that objects of prepositions don’t govern verb form. One of the many objects IS being discussed, i.e., one IS being discussed.
Posted by Student - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 14 minutes ago

Another one that really gets me is when inch marks are used versus quotation marks. This goes back to my graphic design days, but really, an inch mark? If smart quotes is not turned on in whichever program is being used, PLEASE learn the proper keystroke. Also, will someone please clarify whether to use one or two spaces after a period? I have been taught both ways.
Posted by dg - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 3 minutes ago

# 94--you have got to be kidding.
Posted by Student - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours, 56 minutes ago

95: Nope. Not at all.
Posted by Professor Hardass - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours, 51 minutes ago

#94, it is always two spaces after a sentence.
Posted by nancy - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours, 42 minutes ago

I personally can’t stand the current trend of using phrases like “grow your firm” or grow your practice”. To my disappointment, it’s not condemned by Merriam-Webster’s Usage Dictionary, at least not yet. Why can’t management gurus use words like “expand” or “develop”?
Posted by Nancy Smith - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours, 36 minutes ago

Newspapers and many other publications have eliminated the extra space. Word (that is the word processing program) has a “smart cut and paste” feature that doesn’t understand the rule about two spaces after periods. I turned that feature off and still use two spaces after periods and colons because it helps the reader to find the end of the sentence--which can often be hard to do given the length of sentences in most contracts. I’d like to add overlong sentences to the list of complaints.
Posted by Grammar Nazi - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours, 33 minutes ago

1) It kills me when I hear my male relatives talk about their prostrate!!!!
2) It’s 2 spaces after a period.
3) This is a style issue, but I believe there’s something morally wrong with quoting a movie in a brief.
Posted by Another One - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours, 20 minutes ago

I had a partner who required me to put a comma after the date in everything. For example, “The contract dated April 3, 2003, provided that...”
Posted by RG - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 51 minutes ago

#101: I suspect the partner had a reason for requiring a comma after the year. Are you in California? See e.g., California Style Manual § 4:29.
Posted by David - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 38 minutes ago

I find it quite amusing that “Professor Hardass” complains about students making comma errors, when he makes multiple comma errors himself. In No. 15, he states: “Halfway through a particular student’s paper the phrase ‘attempted possession’ became ‘attempted passion’ which was repeated through the remainder of the paper.”

Dear Prof: Please insert comma after first use of “paper,” and also after “passion.” Needless to say, I give you a big fat “F.” [Please excuse any errors in my own post, but then again, I’m not claiming to be a “professor."].
Posted by Barnrat - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 23 minutes ago

In addition to all of the above, I get quite annoyed when people use big words in an attempt to sound, well, smarter. A good example is using “dialog” instead of “talk.” “We dialoged about the problem.” Good grief.
Posted by Professor Ann Mary Ann - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 22 minutes ago

What about “statue of limitations”?
Posted by TN - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 22 minutes ago

To Posters 94-97, the answer is not so clear cut. This is what Wikipedia quotes from the manual of style:

Recently some widely-used American style guides, notably the Chicago Manual of Style, call for a single space after full stops and colons.[89][90] In chapter 6 Punctuation section 3 Typographic and Aesthetic Considerations, for example, the Chicago Manual of Style states:

6.11 Space between sentences

In typeset matter, one space, not two (in other words, a regular word space), follows any mark of punctuation [sic] that ends a sentence, whether a period, a colon [sic], a question mark, an exclamation point, or closing quotation marks.

The FAQ to the Chicago Manual of Style explicitly states that the “traditional American practice” is to double-space after colons and periods (without mentioning semicolons) but then states that “This practice is discouraged by the University of Chicago Press”.[91] Some authors have noted that, just as Noah Webster fundamentally altered American spelling, the Chicago Tribune was famous for its attempts to alter Americans’ English usage, and the leading single-space style guide and the earliest documented example of the reversed usage of French spacing both come from Chicago; specifically: both are products of the University of Chicago Press.[92][93]
Posted by RedPen - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes ago

How about “I self-reported myself” or “She self-referred herself?” Argh!!
Equally irritating is “I’m planning on going to the event.” What a mess—how simple it is to say “I plan to go to the event.” The only thing I can think of that we “plan on” is a table! Otherwise, we plan to do something or plan to have something happen. What ever happened to 3rd grade?????
Posted by Old Man - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 46 minutes ago

What happened to the word “from”? I think one graduates from high scholl or college. One does not graduate college! Also, how can something be different than something else? It is not different than the other, it is different from the other!
Posted by SneakyLaywer - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes ago

I don’t believe anyone has mentioned it, but I constantly see the word “accept” used when the author actually meant “except.” It doesn’t take an English major to figure out that these words do not have the same meaning.

In a similar vein, “advice” and “advise.”
Posted by Patent Guy - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 36 minutes ago

A client once came to me AFTER he had already talked to a potentially opposing party and reported that he had, “Engaged with the other party.” As i repeatedly requested clarification, the only verb he could manage was “engaged with.” Finally, in frustration, I simply asked, “Did you agree to something or did you just talk with them?” When forced to depart from the newest “sounding smarter” phrase he had learned, he admitted that they had just talked. I was then able to find out what they had talked about and provide some advice.
Posted by Just me? - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 58 minutes ago

No one has mentioned the use of “more smart” (or any other adjective) rather than “smarter.” Is it wrong? I see it all the time, and it grates on my nerves. I realize that in many cases it is incorrect to add -er to a word.
Posted by jason - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 55 minutes ago

I would love to see a more thorough debate on the topic of one space or two following periods and colons. We are engaged in an ongoing debate at my office on the topic and as yet no one has discovered a definitive answer. I suppose that it could be handled by local court rules, should any of them choose to address it.
Posted by Southern Girl - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes ago

Since most of my colleagues have covered the bases for me, I shall point out the one southern language mannerism that will not be going away anytime soon, yet is misspelled constantly. The colloquialism/contraction for “you all” should be appropriately spelled “y’all,” NOT “ya’ll.” The latter incorrectly places the apostrophe in the middle of the word “all”...something that makes absolutely no sense. So, for all Y’ALL southerners out there, please learn to spell this word correctly!!! (Yes, I do realize there is an “all” before the word “y’all”, but that is simply how it is said...deal with it!)
Posted by CrankE - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes ago

I despise it when bureaucrats use “dialogue” as a verb. We can have a dialogue about something, but we can’t dialogue about that something. I’d also like to see the word “utilize” disappear for all time.
Posted by GetMeOuttaHere - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 36 minutes ago

"I feel badly.” Did you damage the nerve endings in your fingers?
Posted by Dan Waugh - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes ago

"squash” instead of “quash”
“flounder” instead of “founder”
“wrangle” instead of “wangle” ("Deal comes as House, Senate wrangle over how to treat enemy combatants” MSNBC, 9/21/2007)

I am also sorry to see the disappearance of the subjunctive, which until recently had remained robust in the future tense: He decided to desist, lest he go crazy” is now “. . .lest he goes crazy.” :(
Posted by Alaskan00 - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 11 minutes ago

1) Affect vs. effect.
2) Sea change (is that the tide or something?) 3) I’d like an “enterprise soloution” please with a side order of fries.
4) I need to have my criminal record “despunged” becuase the search was “poision from the fuit tree.”
Posted by lawlady - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes ago

I hate it when people add a possessive ‘s to pluralize decades and other things that are not possessive:

1980s
401Ks
K-1s

not 1980’s
401K’s
K-1’s

I love using [sic] when quoting those items…
Posted by KTC - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 1 minute ago

1) People who use the word “irregardless” are irrliterate.

2) Hold all my calls, I’m talking to myself! The use of me, myself and I. At my former place of employment, I always laughed out loud when my boss would leave me a voice mail telling me to call “Fred or myself.”

3) It’s “champing at the bit,” not “chomping at the bit.”

4) You appraise a house; you apprise someone of your whereabouts.

5) It’s especially, not expecially. And it’s espresso not expresso.

There. Thank you. I feel so much better!
Posted by Lisa - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 1 minute ago

Adding to the discussion of the correct number of spaces after a period, some courts do address the issue. The 7th Circuit’s handbook for appeals recommends, “Put only one space after punctuation. The typewriter convention of two spaces is for monospaced type only. When used with proportionally spaced
type, extra spaces lead to what typographers call “rivers”—wide, meandering
areas of white space up and down a page. Rivers interfere with the eyes’
movement from one word to the next.”
Posted by Student - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 52 minutes ago

It’s champing at the bit? Wow. I’m completely guilty of that offense. Thanks for the correction.
Posted by Mills - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 48 minutes ago

Where are the contract drafters? There is a difference between the words “shall” and “will.” I see people misuse these words frequently.
Posted by Patent Guy - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 43 minutes ago

My late Mother taught both English and mathematics. (I guess I was probably doomed to be a Patent Guy from an early age.) On her behalf I am gratified that so many of you still care about language and its use.

Clear communication is always the key to resolving issues among rational people.
Posted by Alec - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 26 minutes ago

I can’t believe the number of people who tell me they are having someone “for” dinner!!! When they tell me that they had so and so over for dinner, I generally ask them how did they taste?
Posted by Grammar Queen Wannabe - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 16 minutes ago

In response to #33, 3):

I propose the adoption of a new gender neutral singular pronoun, “uni”; the possessive would be “unis”
Posted by Karl - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 13 minutes ago

Has no one mentioned the ultimate barbarity: “One of the only”?
Posted by Jack Friery - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes ago

Professor Hardass (Number 15) commits a particularly dreadful sin against the language when he says, “ Didn’t these people graduate grade school, junior high, high school ...” The phase should be “Graduate from grade school...” Used in this sense, it means the high school has been elevated to a junior college. Or something.
Failing grade.
Posted by sb - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes ago

David #80: Webster’s defines “decimate” as (3rd definition) “to destroy a considerable part of : reduce to the point of almost complete extermination”

Word nerd: “devoid” is a word. See, e.g., http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devoid (more definitions in the unabridged dictionary)

Alec #[1]25: The preposition “for” means several things not only in English but in the Latin languages from which its use was derived.

#63: The easiest way to differentiate “saw” and “seen,” in laymen’s terms, is you must use be, been, have, has, had, is, are, was, or were before “seen.” ("I saw the light” vs. “I had seen the light")
Posted by sb - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 38 minutes ago

KTC #[1]20: According to Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, “champ” and “chomp” mean exactly the same thing. By extension, wouldn’t “champ at the bit” and “chomp at the bit” be interchangeable, even if the original phrase is, indeed, “champ the bit” or “champ at the bit”?

To “champ (or chomp) the bit” means to be impatient, metaphorically referring to an impatient or unruly horse champing—chomping—er, biting down on the “bit” in its mouth.
Posted by sb - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 32 minutes ago

One of my own biggest peeves is the improper use of abbreviations, i.e., “ATM machine” or “PIN number.” ATM stands for “automated teller machine,” so “ATM machine” is “automated teller machine machine.” Same for “personal identification number number.”

The other is the mispronunciation of such words as “library” (libary) and “temperature” (tempature).
Posted by damyx - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 21 minutes ago

"While” is not a synonym for “although.” “While” is a term exclusively referring to temporality: “While we work on this, you work on that.” If it’s possible to substitute “although” for “while” in the sentence, “while” is incorrect.

Also, people who thing that “i.e.” and “e.g.” mean the same thing. The former means “specifically”; the latter means “for example.”

I could go on for days.
Posted by editing the above - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 20 minutes ago

er, “think,” not “thing.”
Posted by Student - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 11 minutes ago

I was once told to only use “since” when referencing something having to do with time. In other words, it isn’t synonymous with “because.” Now I see it in all kinds of opinions, briefs, etc. and it makes me cringe! Has anyone else heard of this rule?
Posted by Bob - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 7 minutes ago

Your all’s inciteful commentaries of the unproper usage of language in the printed medium, definately centers around some of the things which also tend to bother myself, when I am reading things which are written, in a poor fashion. There are many writers, who tend to utilize only the weakest sentances and words, irregardless of the fact that they are only watering down the affect that there writing has on the people who are reading them. The thing is is that these are educated individuals, they are persons who should not have any excuse of incriminating the mother tongue like they do and, yet thier intercourse is literally sprinkled with lack of proper spelings, words which are not really words, often informal slang-type language, and in general just writing that is too much like talking and not like writing enough. Danglers insinuate their paragraphs, unaware they have written them. Redundity, needless repetition, running on, comma slices, more clishays (sp?) than you can shake a stick at, ect. you name it they have used it. Also sentence fragments. The problems are enumerous. So much writing that might of been quality work is degradated by careless ignorants. The worst is when a writer takes it upon themself to comment on the poor usage of language, as if they are not in the least bit guilty of any sin! Oh the alliteracy of it all! Well thats my 2 since worth.
Posted by Grammar Queen - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 3 minutes ago

How about inappropriately combining words? When something occurs on a daily basis, it happens every day - not everyday. If something takes some time to do, it takes a while, not awhile. While I’m ranting, being referred to as legal council makes me crazy!
Posted by Southern Girl - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 20 minutes ago

Per a request to clarify the term and usage of “y’all”: Above, in comment 114 I used in a sentence the phase “all y’all.” Here’s the breakdown, and why this redundancy does not annoy a grammarian like myself. It merely has to do with the flow of the language and the nature of whether “y’all” is being used to describe the group as a whole, or merely in part.

1. As described above, “y’all” is a contraction/colloquialism for “you all.” Therefore, properly said, it would not make any sense to say “all you all” in a sentence.

2. Above, I described the group in whole. However, colloquially speaking, it would also be “proper” to say “some of y’all” or “a few of y’all” or even “a couple of y’all.” (Another issue does, however, arise as to whether the “of” or “a” must be present even when writing colloquially.)

3. Examples: Later, I’m gonna take a few of y’all kids to the store. Contrast with: Later, I’m gonna take all y’all kids to the store. These groups infer that I will be taking some or all kids, based on the modifier placed before y’all.

4. If you were to use proper English to write or speak these sentences, they would belabor the point, from a Southerner’s standpoint. Anyone who has ever heard a Southerner speak knows about the drawl and the slow pace of life that makes its way into our speech. We don’t feel the need to pronounce every single word, and we occasionally chop off endings of words (a completely separate debate...for another day!), yet we seem to be able to communicate effectively in our relaxed, if imprecise way.

Because “all y’all” may be used in a variety of ways as a collective pronoun, I therefore stand by my colloquial use of the term “all y’all” in my previous post.
Posted by btw - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 24 minutes ago

amen to 135. let me start by saying i think proper usage is important. hell, i was reading fowler at 14. i especially appreciate the debate about the proper number of spaces after punctuation at the end of a sentence for aesthetic reasons unrelated to any judgment about authors, their substance or their intent. and i think many of you are missing what matters. if any of the errors cited here creates ambiguity or misunderstanding, if it makes so little sense that it requires rereading of a passage, then it matters. if the mistake is so egregious that you waste even a slightly significant amount of time trying to figure out what the author meant, then the mistake is a serious problem. if it doesn’t impair your understanding of the author’s message, then stfu.

i used to be as bothered by many of the mistakes that are cited here (though, not the lack of capitalization--it seems redundant to me. does anyone really need a better indication of the end of an idea than a period, question mark or semicolon? because, if so, proper capitalization should not be that reader’s primary concern. moreover, standards of capitalization in english have changed radically over time, and it is a bit short-sighted to cling to the standard that’s currently in vogue; since capitilization doesn’t hamper the author’s message, there’s no reason for the conventional standard to be so rigidly adhered to.) maybe the problem is that this forum attracts many lawyers who have a black-and-white view of rules. though i wish they would have been taught that most everything in life is gray.

i think capitalization makes sense in some instances, for example, to signify a defined term and separate that term from others. i note that capitalization after a thought-ending punctuation mark therefore creates, rather than reduces, ambiguity. but, please, if anyone found my post ambiguous for a lack of capitalization that adheres to now-standard guidelines, please let me know. and i do mean ambiguous, not annoying because of a nonsensical pet peeve.

because proper grammar and usage are often taught in early education, i think blind adherence to proper use (defined however you like) has the result of discriminating against writers who grew up poor and have other, probably more important, issues to concern themselves with once they’re adults. and let’s not forget that some, though not all, of the above-cited [sic] rules are subject to at least some subjective judgment, not the least of which is comma usage which caused me to discredit the hardass professor and his detractor. i also think that those obsessed with grammar who, for example, enjoy using “[sic]” rather than understanding that it is meant solely to indicate to the reader that the mistake in the original is not yours, are kinda pathetic.
Posted by give-it-a-rest - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes ago

In response to the questions: No. Lame-os.

However, my advice is as follows:
Where all else fails, just drop the f-bomb. It’s a word with many faces.

P.S. Never ever will I ever know when to use “me,” “myself,” or “I” or “who” versus “whom.” I will wholly rely on others’ ignorance to make I sound smarter.
Posted by DG - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours, 59 minutes ago

The comment above that Webster’s shows an incorrect definition for “decimate” as now correct (at thrid place) shows how language, like the weather, changes no matter how much you talk about it. Some changes are for the worse, such as when common usage out-votes correct usage. Words that changed a while ago are accepted; the language brawls occur while the words are in transition. Often,though, as in decimate, we lose the richness of a particular word when it is dumped nito a bucket of interchangeable synonyms.
Posted by rsh - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 21 hours, 42 minutes ago

"Judgment,” misspelled with an “e”: judgement
“Opine” for “said,” “stated”, or “wrote”.
Posted by Jack Friery - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 21 hours, 31 minutes ago

One of my wife’s favorite pet peeves: “Now-defunct.”
Posted by William A. Wheatley - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 19 hours, 59 minutes ago

Every lawyer should proofread “their” work to “insure” that “there” “usage” of gender, number, person and tense “agree.”

People who I know are well educated and who know better make these mistakes. All lawyers should proofread their work, to be sure. However, I always try to have someone else proofread my work, because often when I read my own work, I read what I meant rather than what I wrote. One can be politically correct without butchering the English language.
Posted by Hadley V. Baxendale - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 18 hours, 58 minutes ago

I find the word “issues” pretentious. As in, “We are experiencing telephone issues and are working closely with our vendor to resolve those issues....” when one means, “the telephone is out of order and we called the phone company.
Posted by MommyEsq - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes ago

I am so glad to see so many of my biggest pet peeves are shared. The which vs. that confusion is very annoying. I have actually corrected it in a document, only to have the attorney for the other side “correct” it back!

GrammarNazi - I corrected a paralegal once on the 2 spaces after a sentence issue. She informed me that she was taught in school that only 1 space was required.
Posted by Huey Esquire - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 17 hours, 12 minutes ago

Just when I was beginning to think myself an insensitive grammar snob, it seems I have located others of the same ilk. Without exception, every one of my peeves is listed here, in particular, the overuse of the word “utilize.” I loathe this word so much that I hung a sign on my office wall during my first year of practice that read “Don’t utilize ‘utilize,’ use ‘use’!”
Posted by K. - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 15 hours, 26 minutes ago

Bob, # [1]35, I love it.

But even though it might drive some of you around the bend, I will happily and proudly continue to use “they” and “their” rather than the more awkwardly correct “him or her” and “his or hers.” (Even in my legal writing.) We need a gender-neutral pronoun and “they” has been drafted. Language evolves.

And as for the “me” vs. “I” debate—in any instance where I think “I” sounds pretentious or contrived, I’ll always use “me” instead. I’ll plead guilty to the language violation, knowing that someday the rules will change (just like they did recently to permit the previously banned split-infinitive.)

When the English language evolves to more easily permit clear, concise communication, that’s something to celebrate.

But I still have to comment on my supposedly-well-educated family and peers (incliding a judge or two) who mispronounce “across” (acrost) and “library” (liberry). I don’t applaud that. It makes me cringe when my family members do it.
Posted by Charles - 1 month, 3 weeks, 3 days, 20 hours, 45 minutes ago

To make the singular possessive of any word, add apostrophe and s. It does not matter if the word ends in s. Thus:

Charles’s watch

Charles’ watch indicates that more than one Charle collectively own a watch.
Posted by peter pan - 1 month, 3 weeks, 3 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes ago

What a load of anally retentive pen-pushers. Words (and punctuation) are all about communication and rarely do any of these nitpicks mentioned above interfere with communication. Poor style, yes, but who gives a damn.
Posted by AnIndyParalegal - 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes ago

Poster 100: THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I do not normally like to write in caps, but I wanted that to be emphasized. I hope no one minds that a paralegal is intruding on the comments.
Posted by AnIndyParalegal - 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days, 12 hours, 47 minutes ago

Poster 107: That is interesting. Thank you for posting that. I think I will still stick to the double space at the ending of a sentence, question, exclamation or whatever the thing is.

Oh and for those who get annoyed when someone ends a sentence with the word “is” forgive me.

One that drives me up a wall is the mistake between saying “accasionally” instead of “occasionally”. Another one that drives me up a wall is council and counsel.
Posted by Gina - 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 22 hours, 13 minutes ago

#35 ... I believe you meant to say “insightful.”
Posted by Gina - 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 22 hours, 5 minutes ago

#35 ... ah, upon reading you entire post, I see the “insight” of your “inciteful” comment.

Although other posters have commented on the misuse of the word “I” for “me,” it’s so painful that I must add my voice to the chorus. The worst part is that I have actually been corrected by the trangressors for using the word “me” where appropriate. Some of my friends, all of whom have graduated FROM collge, (and some from law school too), try to sound smart by ALWAYS using “I where “me” is proper. It’s maddening! Nails on the chalkboard!
Posted by JW - 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours, 17 minutes ago

I’m amused when people use “whom” when it doesn’t follow a preposition or object. I’ve also noticed an increased propensity to use “that” instead of “who,” as in, “People that know Zelda think she’s a language snob.”
My favorite grammar book is “The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed” by Karen Elizabeth Gordon.
Posted by Judith Villarreal - 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 15 hours, 32 minutes ago

The back-formation “orientate” instead of “orient.” See also commentate and notate for comment and note.
Posted by TheRoyalApostropher - 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 12 hours, 17 minutes ago

I live in the UK, so obviously there are a few discrepancies between the two forms of the English language. However, I wholeheartedly agree with many of the gripes mentioned. I have just finished secondary school, and often found myself gently correcting the various mistakes of my teachers. I was also regularly shocked by the level of ignorance towards syntax and spelling displayed by my fellow classmates.
One that particularly aggravated me was the insistence of more than one friend on using the word ‘wierd’. This was due to the ‘i before e, except after c’ rule, which is not exactly a comprehensive one.
I also despise the use of ‘effect’, instead of ‘affect’. I am aware that ‘effect’ may be used as a verb in certain circumstances, but usually it seems to simply stand in for ‘affect’.
The its versus it’s debate is one I could moan about for a day, so let’s not delve any deeper.

The Pacific is an ocean. If someone mentions ‘pacific details’ to me, I usually interject a comment such as “Oh, I didn’t realise you were interested in oceanography”. This normally results in blank stares, with a slight smug feeling on my part.

I hate it when people complain about the misuse of ‘grammer’. Are you being ironic?
Now I’m onto spelling I may never stop. How hard is it to insert an ‘r’ before the ‘v’ in the word reservoir? Going by what I’ve come across, “very” might be the answer. Similarly, it’s not too much of an effort to remove the offending ‘h’ in ‘charachters’.

I realise that the majority of people now deem it acceptable to use the phrase ‘should of’, or ‘could of’, but I still grind my teeth when I come across it!

People must learn that the abbreviation ‘ect’ is non-existent. That one is very irritating.
I loathe the practice of neglecting the final period in an acronym. For example, U.S.A means the United States of A. I blame the opening sequence of Friends (which is just bizarre, given that the word Friends does not stand for anything!). Oh, my use of parentheses has just prompted another rant: brackets are square!

I only recently discovered that when using the abbreviated form of the address Mister, it should be ‘Mr’, with no period after the ‘r’. This is presumably because the word ends with the letter r? I would assume this applies to Doctor and other terms of address. Could this be clarified by anyone?

If anyone could tell me when it is appropriate to use the word ‘inquire’ instead of ‘enquire’, and vice versa, I would be grateful. Another thing I’m a bit confused about is the use of ‘presume’ versus that of ‘assume’. Thanks in advance!
Posted by TheRoyalApostropher - 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 12 hours, 12 minutes ago

Apologies for not placing the period before the inverted commas during my ‘Pacific’ rant in my above post!
Posted by Bill - 1 month, 3 weeks, 23 hours, 24 minutes ago

There is a lot to agree with here; however, one of my larger pet peeves is the dogmatic stance many take with these issues. As the great little book, “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” illustrates, for many punctuation and grammar issues there is no one, absolute rule that is correct in every situation. While there are some general rules regarding placement of commas, in certain instances it realy is the writer’s preference - i.e., how the writer wants the sentence to flow. Giving a student an F because of poor comma placement or spelling a word incorrectly seems overly harsh to me. Yes, deduct points, but flunk the whole paper?

Oh, and #45: I have heard your complaint before from others and it is misplaced. “Myriad” is correctly used as either a noun or an adjective. As an adjective, it means “constituting a great number.” As a noun, it is “a vast number.” Thus, “the ways in which punctuation can be incorrectly used are myriad” is equally correct with “there are a myriad of ways in which blog commentors use incorrect grammar.” Take a look in your dictionary.
Posted by JW - 1 month, 3 weeks, 22 hours, 55 minutes ago

I’m also peeved by the phrase “pet peeve.” A pet is an object of affection or something that is cherished, so an annoyance can’t be that. Comma splices are also as peevish as any sloppy form of writing or speech. In an age of instant gratification and technological distraction, people have become intellectually lazy.
Posted by Grammar Nazi - 1 month, 3 weeks, 21 hours, 14 minutes ago

Does anyone else put promotional literature containing grammatical and spelling errors in the garbage? I just find it difficult to believe that a reputable company wouldn’t proofread its literature and advertisements. Perhaps I should change my name to Grammar Snob instead of Grammar Nazi.
Posted by jackcatscal - 1 month, 3 weeks, 13 hours, 24 minutes ago

Just saw a good one--a lawyer advertising herself as having a Jurist Doctorate.
Posted by NAK - 1 month, 2 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes ago

I can’t believe there have been 160 comments, mostly by lawyers, and none referring to the horrible misuse of “provided that” in contracts.

The correct usage is “We promise to do A, provided that X and Y happen.” That is, X and Y must happen first, and then, once they do happen, our obligation to do A arises.

The incorrect usage I see most commonly is “We promise to do A; provided that we will only do A to the extent of B and C.” That is, the language after the “provided that” is improperly used to add further obligations, rather than to express the condition.

Drives me nuts.
Posted by VRA - 1 month, 2 weeks, 5 days, 45 minutes ago

I am irked by those that rely on spell-check to edit all spelling errors. I routinely receive documents with “pubic” instead of “public,” and with “martial” instead of “marital.”
Posted by nbd - 1 month, 2 weeks, 5 days, 27 minutes ago

Anyone who begins a question by first stating, “Question:........” Just ask the damn question. Some people have taken the practice to even more annoying heights by starting with “Query: .........” or “Query this......”
Posted by Barney - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes ago

It seems to me the whole question of grammar and usage turns on who is the slave and who the master. I personally like the term “irregardless”, for example, and I am willing to use the word in a sentence because it is clearly understood by reader or listeners, even though some of the more sanctimonious of them find the term grating. The point of language is to be understood, and not to be a slave to mindless rules, whose origins have been lost in antiquity.
Posted by EMC - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 23 hours, 21 minutes ago

Professor Hardass,

Were you not liked as a child?
Posted by kb - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 22 hours, 33 minutes ago

When referring to a form or other blank space material, use fill “in” and not fill “out.” How would you be able to fill “out” a form or a blank space?
Posted by Ann - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 22 hours, 11 minutes ago

Someone briefly mentioned affect versus effect. It is unbelievable how many lawyers don’t know the difference. One that you don’t see often in legal writing but you certainly do in mainstream culture is cavalry versus calvary. Former denotes soldiers on horseback; latter is where Jesus died. Some of our most respected national publications mess that one up regularly. And I don’t think anyone has mentioned how routinely lawyers write compiled for complied or vice versa. Spell checker won’t catch that one, so it’s a reflection of just poor (or no) proofreading. And why can people who can easily pronounce the word “desk” not pronounce the word “ask”? That one really baffles me.
Posted by Andrea - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 46 minutes ago

All yall have way two much time on you’re hands. Witch one of you’re clients were billed four you’re time two respond hear???? LOL Get a life!
Posted by Tripp - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 42 minutes ago

Kurt Vonnegut referred to the semi-colon as grammar’s unnatural hermaphrodite, signifying nothing except that the user went to college. Aside from long lists in which the hermaphrodite is necessary, I agree. If a semi-colon works then two short sentences will work better.
Posted by jackcatscal - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 28 minutes ago

How about this one: “Breech of contract”?
Posted by John - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 5 minutes ago

#56 (the first one): “null and void” is not the legal equivalent of void. The term null means of no current effect and void means that it has never had any effect.

“Including but not limited to” is not the same as “including” when construing statutes, regulations, contracts, or other legal documents. “Including” is construed as limiting the inclusivenes of the list that follows only to items similar to the items listed. “Including but not limited to” is contrued as not limiting the items of inclusion only to items similar to those listed.
Posted by Eddie - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 53 minutes ago

How about “need to?” This phrase has come to replace many others in my manager’s conversations and emails. There’s very few things one NEEDS to do. “I need to sleep, eat, eliminate waste, pay taxes and die,” is my general thought every time I hear or read that “need to” phrase.
Posted by Gridster - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 19 hours, 40 minutes ago

"Lay” and “lie”. The local newspaper always gets it wrong. Perhaps the victim “lay in the street” or “was lying in the street,” but the victim was not “laying in the street” unless he was depositing an egg there.
Posted by Eppster - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 18 hours, 29 minutes ago

Let’s all agree that our elementary school teachers need to be paid more, but also be held accountable for teaching our children proper English grammar, syntax, spelling, etc. And parents need to do their part to reinforce good writing (and reading) skills at home.
Posted by Dale - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 18 hours, 7 minutes ago

The adverb, “anyways”, is one of my most-aggravating non-words. How did that “s” creep into “anyway” anyway?
Posted by Ann Pharr - 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 day, 18 hours, 9 minutes ago

I was truly impressed by the number of people who do care about correct English expression. I am surprised no one mentioned a very enjoyable book which lampoons the poor English we see everywhere. The title is “Eats Shoots and Leaves.” I would recommend it to all the commenters, as they obviously enjoy venting on this subject—as do I.
Posted by Todd - 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours, 44 minutes ago

I would certainly agree with certain posts that language is an evolving beast and that clarity of communication is to be preferred over simple adherence to formalities. However, legal writing (with some exceptions, like contract drafting) is concerned not only with communicating a message but also with convincing the reader that your message is the correct one. When I read a brief rife with misspellings and poor grammar, I am inclined to think that little care was taken in the research, as well. Sloppy drafting may well result in loss of persuasive authority. Should a judge be swayed on a complex legal issue by counsel who appears not to know the difference between “its” and “it’s”?

Commenting has expired on this post.

ABA Journal - Law News Now

Question of the Week