Misuse of "boughten" (and its past tense "boughtened") for "bought"

Tweet

As previously noted, I'm a big fan of Judge Judy; I watch two episodes every day. For some unknown reason, the litigants (and their families, friends, neighbors, witnesses, etc.) who appear on the show tend to be rather low on the intelligence and education scales. So it's not terribly surprising that some of them use words that don't even exist in the English language or, if the words do exist, they're not supposed to be used the way these people use them.

One of my favorites is boughten, as in: "I went to Walmart and boughten some beer."

A variation of this is, apparently, the past tense of boughten, boughtened: "I went to Walmart and boughtened some beer."

Of course, what these double-digit IQ people don't understand is that the word they're looking for is simply bought, which is the past tense of buy:

"I occasionally go to Walmart to buy beer."
"I went to Walmart and bought some beer."

Please, trailer park rednecks, learn that bought is the word you want when you're referring to a purchase you made. Just bought. Not boughten.

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "borrowed" for "loaned"

Tweet

As an avid viewer of Judge Judy I get to see a lot of different types of people, folks from all walks of life and all along the spectrum of education and literacy...or the lack thereof. It's not a huge secret that the majority of litigants, and their families/witnesses who accompany them, are neither highly intelligent nor highly educated. Oh, sure, a lot of them know some impressive big words, such as "altercation" and "incarcerated." *rolling my eyes right now* But when it comes to basic language skills, let's just say they tend to be very lacking.

One of the most commonly heard phrases uttered by litigants on Judge Judy is: "I borrowed him some money..." And, yes, my eyes roll every time I hear that! Judge Sheindlin usually corrects them, saying: "You LOANED him some money!" But that's usually accompanied by a whooshing sound as the correction goes right over their heads.

So when it comes to borrow and loan, when do you use which? That's easy!:

(Assume the money has to be repaid)

If you're the one GIVING the money to the other person, you're loaning the money to them.

If you're the one RECEIVING the money from the other person, you're borrowing the money from them.

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "patients" for "patience"

Tweet

It's usually pretty funny, albeit unintentionally, when someone misuses patients when they mean patience. The former, patients, is plural of patient, as in a person who is in the hospital because they're sick, whereas the latter, patience, has to do with the virtue of being a patient person. Here are some examples of correct usage:

"My patience has worn thin with my neighbor who hoards trash."
"Patience is a virtue!"
"You're very patient to wait for Alex to pay back the money he borrowed."

"How many patients are on the sixth floor of the hospital?"
"I love treating my patients every day at my practice."
"Patients are unpredictable at times."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "seen" for "saw"

Tweet

This particular pet peeve actually grates on my nerves. It's like fingernails on a blackboard! It's when someone says seen when they should say saw, as in: "It was when I seen her at my house." Oh dear.

The root word is see. If you're talking about the present, it's simply see: "I can see your house from here."

If you're talking about the past, it's either: "I saw your house yesterday" or "I've seen your house before." But it's never, ever "I seen your house." EVER!

If you insist on misusing seen when you mean saw, it makes you sound ignorant and uneducated.

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Adding an "apostrophe s" to a word doesn't make it plural

Tweet

For some reason (that I cannot fathom) people have gotten the idea that adding apostrophe s to a word makes it plural. For example:

apple's
family's
table's
the Brady's

WRONG! Adding an apostrophe and the letter 's' does not make a word plural, it makes it possessive. With the examples above:

"The apple's color was dark red."
"My family's surname is hundreds of years old."
"The kitchen table's top is ceramic tile."
"That is Marcia Brady's book."

If you want to make a word plural, you add an s to its end. However, depending on the word, it may be necessary to add an es to its end or change a final y to ies. Again, using the examples above:

"The apples were dark red."
"The families on this block are friendly."
"This store has beautiful dining room tables."
"I'm going to visit the Bradys tomorrow."

Some examples of words that need es added to make them plural:

churches
potatoes
grasses

When making family names, such as Brady, possessive, the placement of the apostrophe depends on whether you're referring to one or more members of the family.

For one member:

"That is Marcia Brady's book."

For more than one member:

"Those are the Bradys' books."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "formally" for "formerly"

Tweet

Every time I see this particular pet peeve of mine, I wonder what the person is thinking...er, wait, clearly they're NOT thinking! If they were, they'd realize that they're using the wrong word. Here's an example:

"This store was formally known as Garden World."

If it was formally known as Garden World, I can't help but wonder what it was informally known as!

The word they're looking for is formerly, as in a former condition, not a formal one:

"This store was formerly known as Garden World."

Now I feel better. :)


Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "who's" for "whose"

Tweet

This is another case of words that sound alike, yet have completely different meanings and are not interchangeable: who's and whose.

Who's is a  contraction meaning who is, while whose means belonging to who(m). But, just like it's being misused for its, it's very common to see who's misused for whose.

These are INCORRECT:

"Do you know who's house that is?"
"Who's phone is ringing?
"That is who's book I borrowed."

Think about what those sentences are actually saying by expanding out the contraction who's:

"Do you know who is house that is?"
"Who is phone is ringing?"
"That is who is book I borrowed."

Pretty nonsensical, right? Now the correct versions:

"Do you know whose house that is?"
"Whose phone is ringing?"
"That is whose book I borrowed."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "loose" for "lose"

Tweet

If you spend any time online, you're probably very familiar with this pet peeve of mine: the misuse of loose for lose. This one makes me scratch my head a bit! I'm as sure as I can be the same people who mistakenly use loose instead of lose know how to spell goose. Since goose and loose rhyme with each other...why do they screw up?!

So which is which? That's easy!

- lose rhymes with ooze
- loose rhymes with goose

Some examples:

"I want to lose a few pounds."
"Did your team lose the game last night?"
"If you lose your keys, I have a spare set."

"This shirt is loose on me now because I've lost weight."
"That TV show is a loose adaptation of a true story."
"Are size nine shoes loose on you?"

Easy!

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "I" when it should be "me"

Tweet

Somehow, over the years, there's been an unbelievable increase in the misuse of I when the correct word is me. For example, "My mother left her house to my brother and I." UGH! No, it's not I! It's ME.

I have a theory about this, but it's difficult to explain so it makes sense. Basically, I think people THINK they sound smart when they say I--but they don't realize that they actually sound really uneducated/ignorant because that's not the correct word.

This trend is so pervasive that it happens a lot on TV. For example, I'm watching the "Spin a Yarn" episode of [Gordon Ramsay's show] Kitchen Nightmares right now. Ramsay arrives at the owner's home to meet the owner's wife, Jennifer, before heading to the restaurant. Ramsay looks at a wedding photograph and asks who's in the picture. The wife responds: "Me and Saki, Saki and I." See, she KNEW it was "me" when she put that BEFORE the other person, but as soon as she swapped their placement in the sentence, she incorrectly used "I" instead!

There's a simple test I learned a million years ago that can be used to determine whether I or me is the correct choice. Simply take the other person out of the sentence! Using the example from above:

"My mother left her house to ___________ "  (I/me)

Go ahead and plug in both choices:

"My mother left her house to I."
"My mother left her house to me."

Obviously, the correct choice is me. Now add the other person back into the sentence:

"My mother left her house to my brother and me."

Voila! You're correct!

Another, even more disturbing, misuse of I happens when the person says something along these lines: "My wife and I's friends came over." REALLY?! There's no such word in the English language. You mean, "My wife's and my friends came over."

Please stop trying to sound intelligent when you're actually showing your ignorance by using I instead of me or my.

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "except" for "accept"

Tweet

During a segment on a local newscast when I was living in Dallas, there was a sign behind the counter at a store. Its message: "Checks not excepted." Okay, then! What the hell does that mean?! Oh, I know! The clueless owner doesn't know the difference between accept and except.

Here are some examples of the two words used correctly:

"I can't accept the fact that she's only 30."
"Will you accept my invitation?"
"Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother."
"Checks not accepted."

"She likes all colors except red."
"Except for Monday, weekdays aren't that bad."
"That's an exception to the rule."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "should of" (would of, could of, might of) for "should have" or "should've" (would've, could've, might've)

Tweet

This one really stumps me...but it also DOESN'T stump me! Let me explain.

When people say or write should of when they mean should have, I can see how they may have arrived there. If they've heard it as should've, that certainly sounds like should of. So that's why I'm not stumped by it. However...

How is it that they never learned the correct word combination? What do they think should of even means?! Where were they when should have (would have, could have, might have) was taught in school?

Here's a rundown on the correct terms:

"He should've picked up his clothes."
"You could've played another game before leaving."
"I would've preferred coffee but they only had tea."
 "The team might've been good this year if Mark hadn't been injured."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Misuse of "there" for "their" or "they're"

Tweet

The misuse of there for their or they're has reached epidemic proportions! Since these words are so commonly misused, here's how to tell them apart:

There refers to a place, as in "I'm going there tomorrow."

Their means "belonging to them," as in "Their house is on the corner."

They're is a contraction of they are, as in "They're going to the library."

These words are not interchangeable! Each one has a distinct meaning. Here are some examples:

- there
when did you get there?
please put the book over there on the coffee table
there used to be a school here

- their
when did you get their birthday present?
please put their book on the coffee table
their school used to be on that corner

- they're
when they're ready to leave, they'll call us
they're working on a new book
they're reminiscing about the old school

All three in one sentence:
"They're going to be there tomorrow for their father's birthday party."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Incorrect use of "your" for "you're"

Tweet

Much like the misuse of it's for its, the misuse of your for you're annoys the hell out of me, and I don't know why people don't know the difference. I learned the two distinctly different words back in...oh...first grade?!

Your means "belonging to you," as in:

"Your right hand is broken."
"Did you bring your purse?"
"What is your favorite food?"

On the other hand, you're is a contraction of you are, as in:

"You're right about that."
"Do you know which movie you're going to see?"
"When you're eating chocolate, you're very happy!"

If you're unsure of which word to use, just think about it like this:

- your needs to be followed by the name of an object:

your hand
your house
your phone
your daughter
your spouse

- you're describes something you are doing:

you're right about that
you're going to the store
you're watching TV
you're very intelligentyou're playing soccer

Both words in one sentence:

"You're taking good care of your new phone."

It's really not that difficult!

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog

Incorrect use of "it's" for "its"

Tweet

I have no idea when this phenomenon started, but it became glaringly obvious after the masses started using the Internet: it's misused for its.

For example: "The book is in it's place on the shelf." UGH!!

See, here's the thing: it's is a contraction of it is--which means that, in the example above, the person is actually saying, "The book is in it is place on the shelf"...which makes NO SENSE whatsoever.

The word they're looking for is its--which means "belonging to it." The sentence should read, "The book is in its place on the shelf."

Think of it just like the words "his" and "hers"--neither of which has an apostrophe in it. (Although I frequently see "hers" misspelled as "her's"...and I don't know why they do that, either!)

His, hers, its. Belonging to him, belonging to her, belonging to it. Simple. NO APOSTROPHES.

Some examples:

"Let me know when it's time to go home."
"It's okay with me if you come over tomorrow."
"It's supposed to rain today.

"Put the book back in its place on the shelf."
"After the test, the teacher will post its answers on the board."
"My car needs its smog test this month."

Still not sure which word is correct? Please post a comment below, or contact us on Twitter.

Tweet to @MyPetPeevesBlog