Americans saying "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less".

"Could of..."

It's "could have"!

Edit: I'm referring to text based things, like text and email. I can pretty much ignore the mispronouncing.

Please state what country your phrase tends to be used

Please state in which country your phrase tends to be used...

Worst Case Ontario

English/US - seeing “would of” instead of “would’ve”or “would have”. This one bugs me the most.

"Chomping at the bit". It's champing at the bit. Horses champ.

"Get ahold of". It's "get hold of" or, if you must, "get a hold of"

"I'm doing good". No, Superman does good. You're doing well.

You do things on purpose or by accident, you don't do anything on accident.

This thread peaks my interest.

I hope my words piqued someone else’s interests more.

There is no fucking s at the end of "anyway"

Idiots misspelling lose as loose drives me up the wall. Even had someone defend themselves claiming it's just the common spelling now and to accept it. There, their, and they're get honorable mention. Nip it in the butt as opposed to correctly nipping it in the bud.

Pretty sure it's "Feral Intensive Porpoises"

“Toe the party line” To align with the interests of a political party; to get in line with the agenda of the leader of a political party

“Tow the party line” Something to do with tugboats

"For all intensive porpoises" is the one that really annoys me.

They're dolphins, not porpoises. Fuck, get your cetaceans right.

Discreet vs Discrete used to crack me up on dating sites. All those guys looking for discrete hookups - which kind of makes sense but I am sure is not what they meant.

I literally ground my teeth today because I got an email from a customer service person saying "You're package was returned to us". Not a phishing email with an intentional misspelling, a legitimate email for a real order I made. If it is your JOB to send messages like this they ought not have misspellings.

So the context matters to me. I am more tolerant of spelling errors and mis-phrasing in everyday life than in a professional communication.

affect vs effect.

the usual case for effect is as a noun, and for affect, as a verb.

Irregardless

I could couldn't care less

Hold down the fort

The proof is in the pudding of the pudding is in the eating

elon musk Twat

Alot is not a word.

Also, the vanishing use of countable quantities: they are all amounts nowadays.

My pet peeve is when people use "then" but they actually meant to use "than". I think it might be mainly due to flaws in predictive text on phone keyboards though.

Niche is pronounced neesh and not nitch

Aisle. As much as I would love to take a boat to the breakfast food isle (a.k.a. island), I'm pretty sure that I need to look in the breakfast aisle at the grocery store.

About 1 in 3 posters here say “loose” when they mean “lose”

Using weary/wary interchangeably. I am tired of people not being aware of the difference.

Also, "decimated". The original usage is to reduce by one tenth. It didn't mean something was nearly or totally annihilated, but thanks to overuse, now it does.

Using "racking" instead of the correct "wracking" in "wracking my brain". Not very common, but it annoys me... But not as much as "could of"... That is the worst, just stop it!

This is online and in person in Canada.

This one never gets me anywhere, but “begging the question” is actually a logical fallacy where you assume the result and use that as the basis of your argument. Otherwise, it raises the question.

"You can't have your cake and eat it" The older form was flipped: "you can't eat your cake and have it" They both can mean about the same, but the older form makes it much clearer - if you've eaten your cake, you no longer have it. But you could have your cake, then eat it.

I don't generally correct people's spelling or pronunciation but something I've noticed occurring more and more lately is people using "loose" when they mean "lose" and it gets under my skin for unknown reasons

It's always going to be the "of" people. Its "would have", "should have" etc and not "would of".

I'm still confused that reckless driving causes wrecks.

Irregardless

"Most best"

Interchangeable then/than, or using 'on accident'.

Big 🤡 energy.

Those mis-stated phrases are called eggcorns. They’re a fascinating contributor to the evolution of language.

The term egg corn (later contracted into one word, eggcorn) was coined by professor of linguistics Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003 in response to an article by Mark Liberman on the website Language Log, a group blog for linguists.[5] In his article, Liberman discussed the case of a woman who had used the phrase egg corn for acorn, and he noted that this specific type of substitution lacked a name. Pullum suggested using egg corn itself as a label.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn

To "step foot on". I don't care that millennial journalists are now sullying the literal NYT with this, it's WRONG. It's to set foot on. To SET foot on.

On accident, it is by accident. 🤬

Idk if this counts as a phrase, but on the internet, people talk about their pets crossing the rainbow bridge when they die. That's not how the rainbow bridge poem goes. Pets go to a magnificent field when they die. They are healed of all injury and illness. When you die, they find you in the field and you cross the bridge together. It's much sweeter the way it was written than the way people use it.

"flush it out" instead of "flesh it out" when designing a plan

It's "I didn't taste it, let alone finish it." not "I didn't finish it, let alone taste it.". Not those exact words, of course. People get it wrong more often than not IME. The wrong version never makes sense, and it always trips me up.

"If worse comes to worst..."

In British English, they often say the phrase as "if worst comes to worst," which is based on archaic grammar.

In the US, there's a mix of verb tenses. The only one that make sense in this day and age is "if what is worse comes to be the worst," or "if worse comes to worst."

This point can be argued, but I will be severely wounded (maybe not so much as dying) defending this hill.

Some weirdos write decades as possessive. Writing "90's" implies that there's a 90 that owns something.

In the USA and other English-speaking countries: weary =/= wary.

For example, I'll see someone write something like: "I am weary of the campfire because it is so hot"

You aren't tired of the campfire! You are wary of it!

I feel like the vast majority of people online use "yay or nay" instead of "yea or nay".

People using 'yourself' and 'myself' instead of 'you' and 'me' when trying to sound formal or posh. You don't sound formal or posh, you sound ill-educated.

The only one that continues to bug me is using "an" instead of "a" before a word that starts with a consonant sound. I especially dislike the phrase "an historic" (as in "it was an historic victory") which has bafflingly been deemed acceptable. Unless you're a cockney, it should be "a historic". The rule is to use "an" if the word starts with a vowel sound, and "a" otherwise. IMO.

"per se" (US) - people generally use it as "exactly" or "specifically", e g. "It's not circular, per se, more like a rounded rectangle". However, it actually means "in and of itself". I have a coworker that misuses this one constantly (and also spells it incorrectly) and it's become a huge pet peeve.

What entitlement means vs false sense of entitlement.

I tell people they are entitled to their rights and have an entitlement to their social security money for example, and they get offended thinking I mean "false sense of entitlement" instead.

Using loose instead of lose.

Online in general: using "reductio ad absurdum" as a fallacy.

It's a longstanding logical tool. Here's an example of how it works: let's assume you can use infinity as a number. In that case, we can do:

∞ + 1 = ∞

And:

∞ - ∞ = 0

Agreed? If so, then:

∞ - ∞ + 1 = ∞ - ∞

And therefore:

1 = 0

Which is absurd. If we agree that all the logical steps to get there are correct, then the original premise (that we can use infinity as a number) must be wrong.

It's a great tool for teasing out incorrect assumptions. It has never been on any academic list of fallacies, and the Internet needs to stop saying otherwise. It's possible some other fallacy is being invoked while going through an argument, but it's not reductio ad absurdum.

Oh my goodness, someone pointed this out on Tumblr years ago, but it desperately needs repeating:

Dear English Language Fanfic Writers,

• Wanton: an unrestrained desire, usually of a sexual nature.

• Wonton: a type of dumpling found in Chinese and East Asian cuisine.

I really hate it when us media uses the word "ouster".

For example:

https://www.kpcw.org/ski-resorts/2025-01-27/vail-resorts-shareholder-calls-for-ouster-of-ceo-cfo-and-rob-katz

"Vail Resorts shareholder calls for ouster of CEO, CFO and Rob Katz"

They mean to use the word here as "removal", but "oust" is also a verb and "ouster" would be "one who ousts".

So, calls for the ouster of the CEO/CFO to do what?

"per say" vs "per se"

i feel like we should be able to beat the living shit out of people intentionally spreading political misinformation.

Like im sorry, this may not meet instance rules, or whatever, but like, holy fuck, the amount of shit you can just lie about, without people asking question, kneecaps should've happened years ago, what the fuck are we doing bro.

On the US one thing is different from another, not than. One thing differs from another. It's different from the other thing.

Although in the UK it's "different to" for some reason.

"The proof is in the pudding."

The actual phrase is: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

It means that your dessert might look and smell delicious, but if you fucked up the recipe, say by using salt instead of sugar, then it will taste bad. You won't know for sure until you eat it. So, a plan might look good on paper but be a disaster when implemented.

"The proof is in the pudding" doesn't mean anything.

Coming from the other direction - when someone ackshullys a parson, but the person was using the phrase correctly.

I had to explain to someone online today that "liminal space" had multiple meanings, and it didn't only refer to spaces you transition through, and the spooky "liminal space aesthetic" is a valid and coherent use of the word "liminal" and the term "liminal space"

I'm not entirely against it, but I'm amused by how common it is to put "whole" inside of "another", making it "a whole nother". Can anyone give any other use of the word "nother"?

The "positive anymore" is a vile grammatical abomination spawning from the Midwest US.

Normally using the word anymore has a negative tone to it (I don't eat meat anymore) . Except when used in this manner which seems to be when they should instead be saying currently or nowadays.

I find it viscerally unappealing.

This entire thread is /c/badlinguistics

Having made some of these mistakes, I tend not to be rigid about them. But here are some fun ones.

• on line vs in line
• to graduate vs to be graduated
• antivenom vs antivenin

All of the above have been normalized, but at one time was not.

Another quirk, we used to not call former Presidents President So and So. We used to call them by their highest position before president. So it would be Senator Obama and not President Obama.

"Seen".
Holy fuck, "seen".

I honestly think that using this word incorrectly has gotten worse over the last few years. Hearing someone say, "yeah, I seen her yesterday" just makes me want to punch the wall.

In American English:

I left them know

I'm just leaving you know

No, no, a thousand times no!

You LET them know. You're just LETTING me know.

Also, they were driving and hit the breaks. Their car needed new break pads.

Just letting y'all know, it's BRAKES that stop a vehicle.

If the vehicle breaks, it'll stop, but that's not the system built into the car that makes it stop on purpose at the press of a pedal.

"that begs the question". I wish people would just use the more correct "raises the question", especially people doing educational/academic content. I hear it across the English-speaking internet

"Its"

As "its" is used to indicate possession by "it", "its" is an exception to apostrophe-s construction as used to indicate possessive forms.

"It's", used as either the contractive form or the possessive form, does not require such an exception. The distinction between the contractive and possessive forms of "it's" rarely/never introduces ambiguity; the distinction is clear from context.

The word "its" should be deprecated.

They're, you're

Sneak peek

In portuguese: mas/mais - people often use "mais" (plus, sum) when the correct would be mas (but)

"If" with nothing before it after it. If you'll call me back... That means nothing! If you call me then we can talk. I would appreciate it if you would call me back.

• literally. There's the door.
• 'emails'. Like 'traffics'. Learn why.
• 'startup' vs 'start up' (see shutdown and so many others)
• irregardless. Just follow the 'litchally' clod out.
• 'the ask' for 'the request' or 'the question'. Because life imitates a used car dealership. See 'the spend', 'action this', and whatever cocaine and flop-sweat gives us tomorrow. Go sell a car.
• 'unless....' NO. Finish the Sentence.
• when 'could've' became 'could of' and no one laughed their ass off at the guy, this was our missed opportunity.

Bonus: my friends are parents of elementary-school children. 'Skibidi' is one of so many words they researched carefully to make sure and screw up its usage as often as they can. It's a game, and I think they secretly keep score of eye-rolls earned. They're doing hero's work.

I don't do it that much anymore as I learned to enjoy the freedom of using language, but I recently watched a miniminuteman video where he says pause for concern. which kinda makes sense so it's an eggcorn: something that would cause concern would hopefully also make one pause for a moment.

apparently this is a commonly misheard phrase though this was the first time I heard someone say it.

Using “women” for the singular use. I don’t understand how this happens because it couldn’t be more clear if you sound out the word.

Woman = 1 person

Women = 2 or more persons

Why everyone resorts to only using “women” baffles me.

People that think "y" in online gaming means "yeah" instead of "why".

Haha is this a follow up on that one post with the OP writing "back-petal"?

As a non native speaker, it really irks me when people mix up "brake" and "break", specially among car enthusiasts.

"addicting"

In German:

• "Je X, je Y."

statt eines davon

• "Je X, desto Y."
• "Je X, umso Y."

Can someone explain DEI and Affirmative action? 99% sure the right is using it wrong, but I live in a red state.

Irregardless is just a synonym for Regardless now and I staunchly oppose anyone who tries to correct it.

I learned recently that I was using the word "hydroscopic" incorrectly to describe something that repels water. A hydroscope is a device to observe things under water.

Hydrophobic is what I was looking for.

I only realized I had been using the term incorrectly when I got into 3D printing and learned all about the hygroscopic filaments involved lol. I had and epiphany and realized the mistake I had been making for my entire life. And nobody corrected me!

You don't feel "nauseous" you feel "nauseated".

EDIT: TIL "nauseous" can be used in place of "nauseated". This usage has been common since the 20th century.

breaked vs broke

Respect the irregular verbs

Yeah /yĕ′ə, yă′ə, yā′ə/ is a different word than Yea /yā/

People saying "exscape", "expresso", "pasghetti"

Across the Anglosphere people seem to use "generally" and "genuinely" almost interchangeably these days.

It's "a couple of minutes" not "a couple minutes". Americans tend to drop it for speed, but it kind of fits with the accent I guess.

As far as Americanisms go, this is my least favourite... They seem to be dropping the "go" from the aforementioned and it throws me right off the sentence every time.

Idiocracy is literally a documentary anymore

“Saying the quiet part out loud.”

Saying things out loud is how you say them.

It’s “saying the quiet part loud.”

People capitalizing Random Words for emphasis, as if they're Proper Nouns.

Also getting 'a' vs 'an' wrong. It follows pronunciation, not spelling; so it's "a European" and "an honor".

It's, "Excuse me, while I kiss the sky."

People’s names. I think it’s dismissive/disrespectful to mispronounce someone’s name.

I forget

Using “uncomfy” instead of uncomfortable. I recognize this one is fully style, but it’s like nails on a chalkboard. Break the entirely fake rules of grammar and spelling all you want, but have some decency when it comes to connotation.

Comfy is an informal and almost diminutive form (not technically, but it follows the structure so it kinda feels like it) of comfortable. You have to have a degree of comfort to use the less formal “comfy,” so uncomfy is just…paradoxical? Oxymoronic? Ironic? I’d be ok with it used for humor, but not in earnest.

Relatedly, for me “comfy” is necessarily referring to physical comfort, not emotional. I can be either comfy or comfortable in a soft fuzzy chair. I can be comfortable in a new social situation. I can be uncomfortable in either. I can be uncomfy in neither, because that would be ridiculous.

FWIW I would never actually correct someone on this. I would immediately have my linguist card revoked, and I can’t point to a real fake grammatical rule that would make it “incorrect” even if I wanted to. But this is the one and only English usage thing I hate, and I hate it very, very much.

https://audioboom.com/posts/8491309-are-you-getting-these-wrong-too-eggcorns

A whole nother.

Alright (as one word instead of two).

Also USA.

The vast majority of these issues could be solved if people a) read any halfway-decent book, b) and didn’t choose to remain willfully ignorant. It’s fine to misunderstand or just not know something. We’ve all been there, we’ll be there again. NBD. But to be shown or offered the correct way and still choose to do it wrongly? That’s not cool at all.

"Touch base"

No, you cannot touch base with me; I'm not into that. Go touch your own base, base toucher.

The idiom relies on a person being familiar with baseball, but even then it makes very little contextual sense.

Forte being pronounced for-tay.

This isn't music.

none of them. linguistic gatekeeping is just disguised contempt for the poor. let people spell however the fuck they want.

Capitalizing black mid-setence. It's an absolutely ridiculous convention, and something only the American Left could take seriously.

Sincerely, Everyone else