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Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,917
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

I used to have really excellent grammar but over time it has been downgraded.I cringe when people say baby daddy or yous and I don't like when I hear someone say I gotta get me some.
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Posts: 2,589
Registered: ‎12-16-2012

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

On 3/21/2015 mdgrammy said:
On 3/6/2015 RainCityGirl said:
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 ! Smiley Happy

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.

My Grandmother would correct me too if I asked if she 'was done'. She'd say 'No! I'm not a cake, only cakes get done, I am finished.

According to Webster's Dictionary of American Usage, this is a grammar myth that has been passed on by word of mouth for ages. They suggest that one of the objections to using "done" to mean completed is its origins in Irish, Scots, American English, which to some apparently was considered substandard. The Participle "done" existed in the language long before "finished." "Done" is a perfectly correct participle (verbal adjective), but because of this perpetuated myth, people shy away from using it. I say, if it was good enough for Shakespeare, it's good enough for me. However, if you don't like it, there's always the synonyms completed, finished, through, fulfilled, executed, performed, come to fruition, concluded, accomplished, achieved, all having various applications, but meaning "done" in one way or the other.

Super Contributor
Posts: 4,044
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

On 3/6/2015 MomOf4 said:

My pet peve is when people mix up, There, They're and Their.

Oh that's the worst one, IMO. Drives me crazy.

Super Contributor
Posts: 607
Registered: ‎07-16-2010

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

Would of, could of, should of, drive me absolutely up the wall. Terrible!!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,347
Registered: ‎07-25-2010

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

Sushi. Sushi is rice. It is not raw fish. Sashimi is raw fish.

Super Contributor
Posts: 2,589
Registered: ‎12-16-2012

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

I thought Sushi was the name of a dish made mainly of rice and other veggies, fruits, meats, fish and wrapped in seaweed.

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Posts: 11,045
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: 40 INCORRECTLY USED WORDS THAT CAN MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB

On 3/22/2015 birddrops said:

Would of, could of, should of, drive me absolutely up the wall. Terrible!!

What about woodda, shouda, couda?

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