40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

I remember being surprised by how many people incorrectly used of/have and then/than. After years of reading message boards and emails, I no longer think much of it. I do wonder why people don't realize the misuse.

Lose vs loose. Your pants can be loose and you can lose your wallet.....

On 3/6/2015 LizAnne said:

I remember being surprised by how many people incorrectly used of/have and then/than. After years of reading message boards and emails, I no longer think much of it. I do wonder why people don't realize the misuse.

Those drive me nuts.

I often don't make the who/whom distinction unless I really stop to think about it. Whom does sound stilted to me

Ensure/insure is one of the most common mistakes I notice, along with loose/lose.

I can't believe how many people don't use your/you're correctly. The misuse of apostrophes is astounding too.

My pet peeve has become acceptable. My English teacher of many moons ago said done only referred to cooking. Is the cake done? Now everyone says are you done yet? I still say are you "" finished"" or are you ""through"". Just a pet peeve that I can't overcome !

On 3/6/2015 stargazer said:

My pet peeve has become acceptable. My English teacher of many moons ago said done only referred to cooking. Is the cake done? Now everyone says are you done yet? I still say are you " finished" or are you "through". Just a pet peeve that I can't overcome !

I don't understand where your teacher got that idea. It's the past participle of the verb DO. DO, DID, HAVE DONE. More things besides a cake can be done. I am an English major and an English teacher, and I have never heard that teacher's claim before today. To quote Lady Macbeth: "Done is done. What's done can't be undone." Now I'm done.

The one that annoys me is when people say ""I could care less"" ..... when what they REALLY mean is ""I COULDN'T care less"" ....... do they even hear what they are saying?