leethet: (Laugh)
leethet ([personal profile] leethet) wrote2015-02-17 07:55 pm
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More to muck about than to actually rant, but still a kind of rant ...

... because, well, for a start, what the FUCK is going on with LJ (as well as what the FUCK is going on with Windows, but I know the answer to that [recent security updates are trashing fonts]). But really because I see this kind of regularly and I thought I'd do a mini-rant on language use.


That bike you ride in the gym that doesn't get you anywhere? It's not a recumbent bike. It's a stationary bike. Recumbent means you ride it in, basically, a supine position. Those are street bikes. Gym-style stationary bikes are quite upright in construction.

Also, stop saying "in regards to." It's "in regard to." Regards are greetings and well-wishes. You give someone regards. If you're referring to a particular topic, it is "in regard to the matter at hand."

Also also also ... this is, I think, a regionalism of the middle U.S. Just a theory. But certain folks have a penchant for "The reason why is because ..." It makes me want to scream. It's enough to be redundant, but doubly redundant? "The reason is [STATE REASON HERE]." God almighty.

And because I always enjoy other people's pet peeves regarding language, feel free to post anything that's recently made you grit your teeth.

[identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com 2015-02-19 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
Whoa. Those are good ones and even pickier than mine! "Went to see" is invisible to me (or it was - thanks a lot!). It sounds kind of folksy - we bin an' gone an' done it, rather than just we done it.

However ... hm ... perhaps in my senility I'm making this up, but I think I read once a discussion about the difference between phrases like "We're going to go to the movies" v. "We're going to the movies" - the former announces an intent at some vague future time, the latter announces that immediate action will follow. I don't mean that technically Standard English makes that distinction, but that colloquially the "going to" is a qualifier, y'know?

"Got" is also usually invisible to me, except when English people use it, because they use it differently.

I like these - they're making me think about my assumptions. :-)