11 Little-Known Grammatical Errors That Will Shock and Horrify You
You know who everyone loves? The guy who constantly corrects everyone's grammar. I hope that this list helps you become That Guy and, in the process, make tons and tons of new friends. Here are 11 English words and phrases that we (and by we, I mean myself included – but not the royal we, as you're included too) seem to constantly (and surprisingly) misuse. Hey, it's not the most unique list I've ever done, I'm sure my next one will come out better if it's what I set my mind to. 1. Try and. The correct phrase is "try to." It really does make sense logically – the trying is part of the action. I don't try and say goodbye and I choke, I try to say goodbye and I choke. (I also try i walk away and I stumble.) It's a rough day for a journalism major when he learns he was grammatically bested by Macy Gray. I remember when I learned the try and/try to disparity. I'd just gotten my first job writing professionally, in October of 2003, and I dropped a "try and" bomb in one of the first things I wrote. I was scolded, beat myself up about it for two weeks straight – and never made the mistake again. The saddest part: Since that day, I've never been able to look at Homer Simpson's incredible America "Try and Stop Us" t-shirt the same way.
2. Hopefully. Hopefully has been called the most abused word in the English language. (Let's put it this way: If Mariska Hargitay walked into Hopefully's hospital room on "Law and Order: SVU" she'd start the conversation all matronly and disarmingly with "Hi, I'm Olivia" – not "I'm Detective Benson.") Hopefully means "with hope" and describes a subject who feels hopeful. "Hopefully, he decided to press his luck, Whammys be damned." It does not mean "it is hoped that." So the sentence "Hopefully, no Whammys will show up" is incorrect. Hopefully, I ask you not to go through my archives to find all the places I've messed this up. 3. e.g. versus i.e. These two are used interchangeably, but actually have different meanings (and different correct usages). e.g. stands for the Latin phrases "exempli gratia" – meaning "for example." It can be followed by any number of examples from any size set of possible examples. i.e. stands for the Latin phrase "id est" – meaning "that is." It should be followed by all of the applicable examples, leaving none behind.
"I love all the stars we see naked in 'Wild Things', e.g. Denise Richards" is correct, because Denise Richards is one of the stars who's nude in that movie, and "e.g." doesn't have to include every single one. But "I love all the stars we see naked in 'Wild Things', i.e. Denise Richards" is incorrect, because she's not the only one – you've egregiously excluded Kevin Bacon and his gratuitous, scarring penis flash – and "i.e." has to list every single applicable example. Another example: I could say: "I test my web designs in a bunch of different web browsers, e.g. Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome." That is correct. So is this phrase: "Microsoft doesn't make very good web browsers, i.e. IE." 4. Chomping at the bit. The correct phrase is "champing at the bit" – which, in a classic case of proper English trumping logical English, doesn't make as much intuitive sense. Basically, the word chomp was derived from the word champ, which means "to bite or chew loudly." But chomp is a transitive verb, meaning it needs an object – so while "chomping the bit" is grammatically correct, "chomping at the bit" isn't. Around this point in the list I would expect you're thinking to yourself: "Wait – homeboy is giving us a lesson on transitive and intransitive verbs? The very same guy who does lists on beer pong rules and the sexiest items for sale at the 99 Cents Only Store? What the hell?" And you make a valid point. But hey – at least it's not the Internet's 12 billionth article called "Why the iPad sucks but we're gonna buy it anyway." February 6, 2010 Copyright © 2010 11 Points
|
