Discussion English language quirks you just can’t stand

[1MiserableGuy]

Here are some of mine:

1. Using the word "like" as a placeholder for your sentence. People who shoehorn "like" into the same sentence four or five times are so committed to not listening to you, that they spoke before thinking out their response and the "like" is simply buying time for them to think of what to say next. These people talk for their health.

2. Using the word "literally" when there's no figure of speech at play. Holy fucking God I hate this one. People under 25 have such poor rhetorical skills, they have stripped all meaning away from this word to create in its place another way to connote emphasis. Now all "literally" means is "I REALLY mean it so please listen to me"

3. The word "but" altogether. "And" is additionally, "or" is aternatively, "but" is always followed up with some absolute contradictory horse shit.

 

[damyon]

Pronunciation. I don't like that it is not mapped 1-1 to the spelling.

2. Using the word "literally" when there's no figure of speech at play. Holy fucking God I hate this one. People under 25 have such poor rhetorical skills, they have stripped all meaning away from this word to create in its place another way to connote emphasis. Now all "literally" means is "I REALLY mean it so please listen to me"

Can you give some examples? What if you just failed to detect a potential hidden meaning?

1. Using the word "like" as a placeholder for your sentence. People who shoehorn "like" into the same sentence four or five times are so committed to not listening to you, that they spoke before thinking out their response and the "like" is simply buying time for them to think of what to say next. These people talk for their health.

I suspect they just do not think very much before saying the complete sentence. I actually prefer "like" to "uggh," "aaaaa," etc.

 

[1MiserableGuy]

Can you give some examples? What if you just failed to detect a potential hidden meaning?

Saying shit like "I literally just did that" or "I literally drove all the way out there" instead of, say "There is literally an elephant in the room". This issue has gotten so bad, it is now a dictionary definition for the word.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Unless if someone is using certain words incorrectly I honestly don't really give a crap. Yeah, sometimes there are quirks that are annoying but it's not that big of a deal. Language evolves overtime so we must accept that.

I only have an issue with the incorrect usage of certain words because of the potential harm it can cause. For example, people like the throw around the words "groomer" and "pedophile" whenever they are talking about someone or a group of people they don't like, even though that causes those words to lose their weight and meaning overtime. There's also the use of the word "allergies" when describing a food intolerance, which is also dangerous since food intolerances are very different from food allergies and food allergies are actually a lot more dangerous. Using the two terms interchangeably can be dangerous, especially if you were in a medical setting, since those two issues require very different treatment and urgency. A final example of this is the incorrect use of terms from AAVE, since it is already bad enough that people use words from that dialect and label it as "Gen Z slang", but misusing words from it and causing those words to lose all their meaning is just insulting.

Otherwise, I don't tend to really give that much of shit.

 

[1MiserableGuy]

Unless if someone is using certain words incorrectly I honestly don't really give a crap. Yeah, sometimes there are quirks that are annoying but it's not that big of a deal. Language evolves overtime so we must accept that.

I only have an issue with the incorrect usage of certain words because of the potential harm it can cause. For example, people like the throw around the words "groomer" and "pedophile" whenever they are talking about someone or a group of people they don't like, even though that causes those words to lose their weight and meaning overtime. There's also the use of the word "allergies" when describing a food intolerance, which is also dangerous since food intolerances are very different from food allergies and food allergies are actually a lot more dangerous. Using the two terms interchangeably can be dangerous, especially if you were in a medical setting, since those two issues require very different treatment and urgency. A final example of this is the incorrect use of terms from AAVE, since it is already bad enough that people use words from that dialect and label it as "Gen Z slang", but misusing words from it and causing those words to lose all their meaning is just insulting.

Otherwise, I don't tend to really give that much of shit.

Couldn't even tell you what aave is

 

[EyesOfNight]

3. The word "but" altogether. "And" is additionally, "or" is aternatively, "but" is always followed up with some absolute contradictory horse shit.

Also the idiom "all but"

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Couldn't even tell you what aave is

African American Vernacular English.

 

[1MiserableGuy]

African American Vernacular English.

Okay, I've always just heard that called ebonics. There is an attempt to mix all the unique world cultures up into one to form a global government, so what you're describing isn't going away any time soon.

 

[wCvML2]

The word "just" is unnecessary in the title and could be considered a quirk when overused. I used to be guilty of overusing it, so I can not overlook it.

 

[1MiserableGuy]

The word "just" is unnecessary in the title and could be considered a quirk when overused. I used to be guilty of overusing it, so I can not overlook it.

Ironic. Just is one I can stand

 

[WoNkEy_DoNkEy]

The fact that unlike other countries we don't have those things around the letters that denote how you pronounce a word (forget what they're called). Like this > éëä

 

[1MiserableGuy]

The fact that unlike other countries we don't have those things around the letters that denote how you pronounce a word (forget what they're called). Like this > éëä

Hebrew has them but only for beginners. Fluent speakers don't use them

 

[greebo6]

The way we in U.K keep adopting and using more 'American English' ( even American pronunciation occasionally ) instead of our own English. Its just irritating sometimes.
(Please note I do not dislike America or American people in any way. It is a great country , with great people , in many ways. )

 

[1MiserableGuy]

The way we in U.K keep adopting and using more 'American English' ( even American pronunciation occasionally ) instead of our own English. Its just irritating sometimes.
(Please note I do not dislike America or American people in any way. It is a great country , with great people , in many ways. )

The southeast United States is the last basttion of freedom left on planet earth. Once whatever remains of it is destroyed, we're all fucked.

 

[WhenTheyCry]

The southeast United States is the last basttion of freedom left on planet earth. Once whatever remains of it is destroyed, we're all fucked.

Freedom to die from a lack of healthcare.

Edit: dying slowly from a disease is no fun, if I want to die it must be done on my own terms, preferably in the most peaceful way possible

 

[4am]

congrats, you literally just discovered how languages work. they change and evolve overtime

 

[HuskyD'hiver]

1. Using the word "like" as a placeholder for your sentence. People who shoehorn "like" into the same sentence four or five times are so committed to not listening to you, that they spoke before thinking out their response and the "like" is simply buying time for them to think of what to say next. These people talk for their health.

Holy shit, this one pisses me off so much. I feel like I'm going to have a brain aneurysm anytime someone does this. English is just a shit language in my opinion and it's my mother tongue. This language has an inconceivable amount of inconsistencies and it is confusing why this is considered the "global" and "practical" language.

 

[1MiserableGuy]

congrats, you literally just discovered how languages work. they change and evolve overtime

Tell me this was intentional

Freedom to die from a lack of healthcare.

Never claimed it was without its own unique problems

 

[4am]

Tell me this was intentional

it wasn't

 

[1MiserableGuy]

it wasn't

Learn how to connote emphasis somehow else

 

[Blurry_Buildings]

 

[LunarLight]

2. Using the word "literally" when there's no figure of speech at play. Holy fucking God I hate this one. People under 25 have such poor rhetorical skills, they have stripped all meaning away from this word to create in its place another way to connote emphasis. Now all "literally" means is "I REALLY mean it so please listen to me"

Languages evolve, deal with it.

 

[1MiserableGuy]

Languages evolve, deal with it.

Being too stupid to express emotions without empty blanket words is not language evolution, it's language decline

 

[LunarLight]

Being too stupid to express emotions without empty blanket words is not language evolution, it's language decline

Blah blah blah. Go speak Latin

 

[1MiserableGuy]

Blah blah blah. Go speak Latin

Go learn your own language

 

[LunarLight]

Go learn your own language

Lmao??? I speak my own language perfectly, thanks. Who the hell are you? Do we know each other?

 

[1MiserableGuy]

Lmao??? I speak my own language perfectly, thanks. Who the hell are you? Do we know each other?

Not if you use "literally" to connote emphasis you don't

 

[LunarLight]

Not if you use "literally" to connote emphasis you don't

Okay dude. Show me your degree in linguistics. I have one. Do you?

 

[1MiserableGuy]

Okay dude. Show me your degree in linguistics. I have one. Do you?

Let me take a wild guess. Next you'll say it's in the dictionary

 

[LunarLight]

Let me take a wild guess. Next you'll say it's in the dictionary

I asked you a question. Plain English. You're dodging it? Let me take a wild guess. You don't have one. No expertise, no opinion. Languages evolve whether you like it or not. Bye