Beware The 8 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases!

June 20, 2012 2:00 pm     Posted in College, Homepage Exclusive, Reality, Top Stories  Emma - Minnesota g+ page


By Emma

I love broadening my vocabulary and learning new ways to explain something – it’s just the nerd in me. So when I hear people butchering the English language, I guess you could say it bugs me. The leader of my 4-H once spent the entire meeting repeating the word “agitated” because she had just learned it and wanted to seem impressive… She didn’t. I’ve included the main words I hear misused often enough to go crazy.

Check them out below grammar pet peeves and include your own in the comments!

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    23 Comments on "Beware The 8 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases!"

    1. Molly - UNL says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20122:05 pm 

      People actually say "next store" instead of "next door"? Wow.

    2. Julia says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20122:19 pm 

      About #4… doesn't saying "I couldn't care less" imply that there are no more 'cares to give', ergo, the one saying it does not care? And saying "I could care less" would then seem like a stylistic device in order to say that one does in fact care.

    3. Krystal DeLatte says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20122:50 pm 

      Molly, I thought the same thing! I didn't realize how much I "butcher" the English language as well.

    4. Danielle says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20123:21 pm 

      Completely agree.

    5. Melissa says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20125:09 pm 

      No offense but loosen up if those things bother you. The fact that you get peeved if someone uses literally in the wrong way is actually funny. Eat some fruit and relax.

    6. Fran says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20126:25 pm 

      If you "could care less", it indicates that you care enough to care less. If you "couldn't care less" you care so little that it is literally (see what I did there?" impossible for you to care any less. That's always been my interpretation

    7. Phoebe says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20126:28 pm 

      Are you sure that you're not just hearing some of these wrong?

    8. alicia says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20128:42 pm 

      I.e. is actually from the latin 'id est', it means "that is". You really should do your research since you are the one butchering the english language. Also "couldn't care less" is the correct use but "could care less" if used sarcastically can be correct, " like I could care less" .

    9. Guest says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20129:00 pm 

      Are you sure you're not just hearing people speak quickly and interpreting these things wrong? If you sit there and say "Next door" in a sentence quickly, it could end up sounding like "next store" when they are saying next door. The same could be said about "let's play it by ear." I don't know a single person who would EVER say "year" there, but if I walked by someone saying either of these quickly (which is how Americans speak) then it might sound like year or store depending on the inflection of their voice, their accent, my accent, how I hear and listen to people, etc.

    10. Meredith says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 20129:32 pm 

      "I couldn't care less" and "I could care less" mean exactly opposite things. Most people use "I could care less" incorrectly, but from my experience that seems to be a very American thing, I've not heard people say "I could care less" in New Zealand, where I'm from. Also, do people actually say "play it by year" or "next store"? I think those are probably just the result of lazy speech, rather than actually being grammatical errors.

    11. Jaylyn says:
      Wed, 20th Jun 201210:49 pm 

      I SERIOUSLY doubt people actually say next store, but I can see how if said quickly, next door can sound like next store

    12. Lauren says:
      Thu, 21st Jun 201212:44 am 

      This isn't exactly accurate. Dictionary definitions are more of a history book of that specific time rather than a strict set of rules for a particular word. New words and meanings are created everyday.

    13. Julia says:
      Thu, 21st Jun 20127:44 am 

      Precisely. That kind of stuff more seems like hearing sliding sounds that mash words together differently than was meant.

    14. Callysta says:
      Thu, 21st Jun 201211:05 am 

      I got it and I know what you explained but as a native speaker may be you can easily to learn but for non native, …?

    15. Chelsea says:
      Thu, 21st Jun 201212:25 pm 

      couldn't care less is actually correct. so is could care less, however they mean two different things. I couldn't care less being i could not care less as in you already don't care so much that it would be impossible for you to care less than you already do. Could care less being you do care about it enough that if you tried you could have less care for it.

    16. kelsie says:
      Fri, 22nd Jun 201212:31 am 

      My pet peeve is when people say "anyways", it's simply "anyway". And when people say "seen" instead of "saw" ("I seen the cat eat the bird"). Or when people can't figure out how to say things like "Jack and my anniversary is coming up" and they'll butcher the crap out of it: "Jack's and mine's anniversary" or "Mine's and Jack's…" It's not that hard. OR "whenever" instead of "when". Like, "Whenever I was at the store, I saw Kate." rather than "When I was at the store, I saw Kate." – that one's a little more difficult to explain, but I have a friend who never says "when", it LITERALLY drives me up the wall (see what I did there?). But think about whenever you say when, and replace it with "whenever" and you'll understand.
      I'm sure you've already heard this enough, but some of these are certainly wrong. If one could care less, they would be able to care less… so it is something that they slightly care about. Whereas, if they couldn't care less, they have not a care in the world about whatever. "Play it by year" is a phrase that no one has ever said. Same with "Next store."
      I thought that the "e.g" and "i.e" part was interesting, because I have been wondering what they mean and haven't looked them up. I'm glad that Alicia corrected you, though!

    17. Ariana Romero says:
      Mon, 25th Jun 201211:25 am 

      Ironic is another commonly misused word that drives me crazy when people use it. My old reporting professor banned us from writing it in stories.

    18. Abby says:
      Mon, 25th Jun 20122:36 pm 

      So true!
      http://www.onestilettoatatime.com

    19. BO$$ says:
      Tue, 26th Jun 20125:38 pm 

      I refuse to live and speak under your nazi rule. I am a free elf, I have no grammer master!!

    20. alex says:
      Tue, 26th Jun 201210:45 pm 

      this author is retarded. the correct phrase IS "couldn't care less." it means, "i already care so little that it is impossible for me to care any less." also, most of the other slides are either incorrect or irrelevant.

    21. Patsy Anne says:
      Mon, 6th May 20135:41 am 

      Not much on spelling, either, are you?

    22. Patsy Anne says:
      Mon, 6th May 20135:46 am 

      couldn't care less" is correct. I think "could care less" is supposed to add a note of additional sarcasm or — dare I say it? — irony. I't in the same league with "yeah, right!"

    23. Patsy Anne says:
      Mon, 6th May 20135:53 am 

      The one that bothers me is "alot." However, when newspaper columnists use "diffuse" for "defuse," or "illicit" for "elicit" it's funny. I've seen "Granite" for "Granted" and "self of steam" for self-esteem" in a literary journal, and yesterday's newspaper had an Associated Press article about prom dresses that used "tongue and check" for "tongue-in-cheek."
      And one of these eight examples uses "like" when it should say "as."

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