I Could Care Less
by Ted Slater on 11/06/2009 at 11:10 AM
Hm. Yeah? How much less?
I think what you mean is that you couldn't care less.
Carry on.
Hm. Yeah? How much less?
I think what you mean is that you couldn't care less.
Carry on.
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Glad to see someone else out there actually gets this phrase right. Most people don't have a clue what they are saying. The hard part is knowing when to correct them and when to let it go. I think this post is a nice, friendly reminder. Good job!
I actually say that when I actually sort of care about something, but not a whole lot. It's fun. =)
Irregardless, people need to be careful of using figure of speeches incorrectly.
=)
I am completely with you on this. I actually clicked on the post title angrily thinking I would have to post a correction comment.
This one and the inversion of the "let alone" phrase really get to me. Statements like, "I have no time to cook a 8-course meal, let alone take a breath!" Come on, people.
YES YES YES.
Ted, I love you for this.
Funnily enough I've never heard a British person say this, must be one of those cultural things.
Definitely not a result of British people being cleverer or better at grammar though. I see mistakes on professional signs and products everywhere I go and I have a mini tantrum each time. My chemist actually changed its name to include the name of the local area, and spelled the name of the local area wrong. I mean, how hard is that? It's IN THEIR ADDRESS.
Awesome! Can we start a post on commonly used and misused idioms? I love hearing them used and misused, it brings joy to my heart!
Here are some I hear that have made themselves cozy in my memories:
That will go over about as well as a fart in a space suite.
If if’s and but’s were candy and nut’s we’d all be happy people…
It is what it is.
Thanks Ted. I'm constantly reminding people of the difference between the two. Oh, the hardships of being a grammarian. :)
Thank you, Ted. Thank you!
Now, could you write a post on "for all intensive purposes" and "irregardless" and three million other little, tiny nothings that still drive me crazy?
: )
It drives me crazy when people say this. In the lingo of facebook... "like" this brief but to the point post. Grammar girl would be proud.
#4 Irregardless... brilliant! Arguably one of the worst abused expressions. (See what I did there?)
Bravo! Thanks for addressing a personal pet peeve!
Really, folks, we should all just give up on our other jobs and be English teachers.
Now if only I could get everyone to realize that the plural of "Lego" is "Lego"...
Ted is doing the nice thing and not calling me out publicly. He actually got this bad example from my writing. :p
To be honest, I'm getting rather annoyed with all the irrelevant posts that have been on here lately. Why on earth are you making an entire post just to correct someone's grammar? I thought this was a website about dating, singleness and marriage. Why is it that lately there have been so many random posts like this. The other day there was one (I think from Ted) about a big spider that he found in his house. I'm afraid of spiders too, but honestly, I don't care!
Okay, I'm done venting.
Since we're talking about grammar...
Adam Sloope (#9):
Apostrophes don't make things plural, they make them possessive. Alternatively, they are used in a conjunction. :)
Is it ever okay to use "funner" in a sentence? Or is it "more fun"? I also don't like the confusion between affect and effect.
Amber,
"I'm afraid of spiders too, but honestly, I don't care!"
I think the question is, could you care less? :)
Dani (12): I didn't realize that "for all intensive purposes" was actually "for all INTENTS AND PURPOSES" until I saw it written in a friend's essay in college. Then I thought... that makes much more sense!
Tara (17): Now if only I could get everyone to realize that the plural of "Lego" is "Lego"...
I just read a short piece that touched on this! :)
That's like people saying, "My life did a 360." Really? You're back in the same direction you were going?
Tara #17, some of us are English teachers. :) I promise we do teach it! A phrase we use in education, "We can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them drink." Our job, as educators, is to make the horses thirsty!
Samantha #23, more fun is always correct. If a word is one syllable, (example: fun) then you need to add more or most before it. If a word is two or more syllables (example: hungry) then you can add the -er or -est endings. There are always exceptions, but that's the general rule.
I get a little confused by effect and affect also. They are both nouns and verbs. The easiest explanation is to think of effect like cause and effect. 'I wore a raincoat because it was raining.' Affect most often means "to act on" or "to move." 'His words affected the crowd so deeply that many wept.'
It's "more fun."
"Affect" is a verb, while "effect" is a nown. The mass effect of this blog should affect Ted! :)
I know this from also getting criticised Suzanne!
The thing that gets me:
"If I would have" instead of "If I had".
"Should have went" instead of "should have gone".
Correct: If I had left on time, I would have seen my friend.
These set my teeth on edge!
Holly (#30):
"Affect" is a verb, while "effect" is a nown.
Exactly! ... except for the special cases, "effect a change" (where "effect" is a verb) and "an unresponsive affect" (where "affect" is a noun). Isn't English wonderful?
This is one that was beat into our heads by a wonderful high school English teacher, so it may not be as bothersome to others, but I still notice it every time: use "fewer" when referring to discrete items ("fewer sugar cubes"); use "less" when referring to something non-discrete ("less sugar").
And by the same token, use "number" for those discrete items ("a greater number of sugar cubes") and "amount" for non-discrete ("a greater amount of sugar").
Too often people use "less" and "amount" for everything.
S. #33:
""If I would have" instead of "If I had".
"Should have went" instead of "should have gone"."
Aw, I think those are cute. I have an American friend who says both of those all the time and it always makes me smile.
But if I heard lots of people doing it frequently, it would definitely start to annoy me. I just have double standards, apparently. :)
Exactly! When I used to say "I couldn't care less", people would tell me that it's "I could care less" and I knew that didn't make any sense. :)
Jo (8): Are you actually Lynne Truss posting under a pseudonym? :)
Funnily enough, my children (in Britain) seem to understand most of this sort of thing, and liked the version of Eats, Shoots and Leaves aimed at children.
Alyssa (28): Surely the sentence "[w]e can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them drink" switches from singular to plural halfway through?
(I'll stop poking holes in things now :) )
I want to also point out that "should of" is not right. It's "should have". I know in speech we abbreviate it to "should-uv", and so it does sound like "should of". But that makes no sense. Should have. Would have. Could have.
Thank you that is all. :)
#29 Megan- I've wondered about that too. I've come to two possible conclusions
1. Annoys me with out any end in sight (ie never ending annoyance)
2. Annoys me without any foreseeable reason. (ie, the "means' being the annoyance with the "ends" being a reason)
hum? Oh well thank u boundless for not only teaching me about singleness and mariage but also English lol.
I really appreciate it as an International student with English as my fourth language. I always tought "I could care less was a good sentence!! and some americans have told me that they do not speak English but they speak American =)
I am still a litle confuse with some words here... so is it correct to say "my bad" or not?
edwige (#42) wrote:
>>I am still a litle confuse with some words here... so is it correct to say "my bad" or not?<<
Only if you're wearing an iPod...
LOL Sadly, you've unleashed a monster.
My biggest peeves?...
1) "me" vs. "I" A new trend I see is everyone using "I" all the time just because they think it sounds more formal, so of course it must be right.
Ex. "Are you coming to the store with George and I?"....that's WRONG!
2) "was" vs. "were"
Ex. "I wish I was a surgeon" ...WRONG! Unless you're saying you wish you used to be a surgeon.
3) there/they're/their
4) your/you're
5) its/it's
6) The shocking number of people who misspell the word "definitely"
PS- I used to run a little side business helping people with their resumes. I've seen some pretty hideously flawed resumes in my time, written by presumably intelligent people. Given the current nationwide unemployment rate, I think it would behoove us all to focus a little more on grammar (not grammer).
The grammar mistake I like the least is when people us "then" in a comparison.
Ex: He speaks so much better then she does.
Correct: He speaks so much better than she does.
Irks me sooooo much!
I agree with all of the above grammar pet peeves. The one that really bothers me is using good as an adverb. It's supposed to be "I did really well" not "I did really good."
I wish there was a gender-neutral English word that allowed us to avoid saying things such as "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him or her drink." Sort of an "it" without the implication that the living individual was an inanimate object.
Consider the following: "You can't have your cake and eat it too." This old saying is often used as a reprimand for greediness and/or unreasonableness. Yet, what is so very grasping and irrational about having and eating one's cake? The more logical arrangement is this modern equivalent to the original: "You can't eat your cake and have it too."
#42 Edwige - "my bad" is slang and shouldn't be used in formal conversation, such as a job or classroom. However, in the course of normal conversation with friends its perfectly acceptable.
Luke (#20): according to my often-read copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, apostrophes DO indicate the plurals of letters and words. They can also indicate the omission of figures in dates (He was born in '89.) or the omission of letters in words (oh! the joys of it's/its). Perhaps this came about because it would be rather difficult to talk about ss (s's) without an apostrophe?
And one of my pet peeves is people not using the subjunctive anymore. It's very sad. :( If I were to teach them...
Grammar Nazis annoy me.
AMEN
No wonder so many of you people are single. You spend valuable time, which could be spent getting to know a potential mate, whining about grammar. Get a life.
Trevor:
I can confirm that I am not Lynne Truss. :) My best friend (equally picky about these things) got a copy of Eats Shoots and Leaves which has stickers at the back of apostrophes and "The panda says no!", so you can correct posters and stuff if you so choose. :P
Elizabeth 51:
Can you give an example of when an apostrophe can be used to indicate a plural? I didn't think it ever could.
Creating plurals from words ending in "s" is a tricky one, but it's always correct to add "es", not "'s".
For example, if you're talking about a family with surname Jones, it's correct to say "The Joneses", rather than "The Jones'", even though it looks ridiculous (well, both do really). I had this debate with some friends and later looked it up, so I'm sure I'm right on that one. :)
It's not surprising that foreign people learn to speak English much easier than they do to write it! We have a lot of crazy rules.
Alyssa (#28):
A phrase we use in education, "We can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them drink."
Shouldn't that be, "can't make him drink"? Singular? Since there's only one horse?
;-)
This post made me snicker, thanks Ted! I have been known to take out a pen and correct printed signs at work. *sigh* I just can't help myself! I know my grammar isn't perfect but some things are just plain silly. My very good friend is a writer, in fact she writes for Boundless regularly. I blame her for my need for proper grammar.
Elizabeth (from Canada)--I have a copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss. Mine came with a Punctuation Kit in the back that is a bunch of pages with peel-and-stick punctuation to fix signs! Haha! Brilliant!
Eye reely h8 thuh inglich languwitch sum daze. It no make cense thuh way it writes and reeds. Eye more like too camunic8 with cliks and grunts.
Tanks Ted four making me laf and givng me thuh chance too have thuh wurstly write-en post in this thred.
>;-)
--NMM
#40,
What you're hearing as "should of" is actually should've- a contraction of "should have", which technically would be correct.
Emily #50
I am in big trouble if you are not supposed to use "my bad" at a job or in a classroom. I am a social studies teacher and I use this slang expression frequently. That means I use it in my job and in a classroom. ;(
Really though, I am amazed at how many people are annoyed by these grammatical errors. It's one thing if these errors are in writing, but as Americans we are so loose in our way of talking that it just isn't that big of a deal. Seriously, who cares!!
Story Time! (this is not true)
So I was writing sentences in class the other day. I wrote, "I had had an icecream". My teacher told me off and said I only needed one had. I demanded a second opinion and went to the principal who confirmed my use of the phrase "had had".
So, I, where my teacher had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had the approval of the principal.
WIN!
Btw, grammar yay! I love grammar!
As long as we're grammar venting here, I may as well bring additional light to some already touched-on subjects:
#1- LEGO. It's an adjective. Always. And always spelled in caps. For example, it's LEGO bricks, LEGO sets, the LEGO Company. No, I'm not a LEGO nerd. I just work for them:)
#2- To #44, "Me vs. I." I would argue to say that the biggest trend right now is actually using "myself" instead of me or I. For example, "Jen and myself went to the store." "The speech will be graded by myself."
It's a reflexive pronoun, people, and should only be used accordingly. "I bought myself a new car." "She gave herself a pep talk."
#3- To those of you who would call posts and discussions such as these meaningless and pointless, you just remember what we told you the next time you're giving a big speech or writing a big report. Whether you like it or not, your grammar reflects you and gives others an impression.
Not to mention we're just having fun and building community as we come together on common ground:)
People mix up affect and effect all the time. "A lot" is two words, not one. People should also know the difference between their, there, and they're. It really amazes me how bad people's grammar can be. Didn't we learn all this stuff in elementary school? Drives me nuts...
I would like to point out one exception to the affect/effect rule of thumb: the use of affect as a synonym for emotion. We use it frequently in the mental health field. :)
THANKYOU.
I get SO sick of seeing people say "I could care less". I think to myself "uh, you just said that you do actually care" when clearly they mean the opposite.
Elizabeth from Canada: apostrophes are not used for plural. The only time it's mildly acceptable in plurals is for individual letters.
It should be CDs, not CD's. (eg. "There are dozens of CDs lying on the floor.")
It should be 1990s, not 1990's.
(That is, unless you are talking about possessive, eg. "Ice Ice Baby was one of 1990's biggest hits". But if you're talking about plural, there's no apostrophe, eg. "Fashion in the 1990s was terrible!" That's referring to the entire decade, not the specific year, so it's plural. And if it's a combination of possessive and plural, then the apostrophe goes after the 's'. eg. "1990s' music was pretty lame".)
Also, a word ending in 's' does not have an apostrophe and another 's' added to it. It has an 'e' put between the two 's's for plurals, or just a plain apostrophe with no second 's' if it's possessive.
eg. For the plural of "pass" it's not "passs" or "pass's", it's "passes".
And the possessive of "cats" is not "cats's", it's "cats' ".
edwige - "my bad" is appalling English. It is, however, a common phrase. I use it, but I know I'm using bad English when I do :)
Jeffrey J Stables (15)... what? "I couldn't care more"? Why don't you just say "I care a lot"??
Megan (29) - It means the annoyance has no end! Just like "that confuses me no end" means it continually confuses you.
Holly (30) and Jeremy (34) - hehe, I'm another affect/effect nazi! The thing to remember with the verb version of "effect" is that its definition has nothing to do with the normally-used "affect/effect". Because...
Affect (v) - to change or impact something. "How will that affect things?"
Effect #1 (n) - the change or impact. "The effect was rather disastrous."
Effect #2 (v) - to make something happen (you could effect a change, but it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with change). "We will put the plan into effect" OR "We will effect the plan tonight".
Also Holly... "effect" is normally a noun, not a nown ;)
Another one that really annoys me: step foot. As in, "I'll never step foot in here again". It's SET foot, darn it!!!!
Hm. Yeah? How much less?
From the "Frasier" show, Frasier says, Roger, at Cornell University
they have an incredible piece of scientific equipment known as the Tunneling Electron Microscope. Now, this microscope is so powerful that by firing electrons you can actually see images of the atom, the infinitesimally minute building blocks of our universe. Roger, if I were using that microscope right now, I still wouldn't be able to locate my interest in your problem.
Haha, "for all intensive purposes"! I haven't heard that one before!
One thing I've learned being married to a man not gifted with words-- don't let grammar damage your relationships!
I always assumed the two statements were used depending on which meaning the speaker intended to convey; either they cared so little about something that it was impossible for them to care any less or they did care about something but it has so little influence over them that caring for it less would not have any effect on their lives.
Apparently I'm wrong. Oh well. :)
Farmer Tom:
Sheesh, did you get kicked in the face by a cow this morning?
There is thing call a sense of humor. It causes people to smile and laugh at funny stuff, which this thread is.
My suggestion, go get one. >;-)
Respectfully,
--NMM
Farmer Tom (71):
Looks like you did find your sense of humor. I'll still on the floor with that one.
--NMM
Jo (54) & Leah (69):
Both of the two grammar books that I have that actually cover unusual plurals (Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Woe Is I) say to use 's for the plurals of letters (s's, a's, etc.). Eats, Shoots & Leaves also says to use 's for times when you are talking about words in the plural ("What are the do's and don't's?"), while Woe Is I says to use 's for the plurals of abbreviations and numbers, as well (which Eats, Shoots & Leaves mentions is still the convention in America). Mind you, Woe Is I also notes that "No two authorities seem to agree on how we should form the plurals of abbreviations, letters, and numbers... This is more a matter of taste and readability than of grammar, and frankly, we have better things to worry about." :) So it seems as though unusual plurals are, well, unusual, and different people deal with them differently in terms of making them understandable as plurals.
Yey! Discussion on grammar (oh, yes, with an "ar" at the end!)--more people who actually care :) Yey!
kb (#64) "Myself-itus" took off where I work a few years ago. I've actually worked my back to the source, but it's unfortunately too late.
My pet peeves: "super" as an adverb (super tall, super long, super boring) and adding "-wise" to words not created to include such a suffix (precipitationwise, weatherwise, reportwise).
Their is to many grammar, punctuation and usage pet peeve's for myself too list hear. And I definately have alot of spelling pet peeves.
Zusanne (77), the examples you gave of "super" as an adverb (describing a verb) are actually adjectives (describing a noun).
Most adverbs end in "ly".
You could think of it as the person saying, "I *could* care less . . . (but I don't!)." In that case, it would mean essentially the same as "I couldn't care less."
This is how people say it in the good ol' UK! I do NOT understand why some Americans say "I could care less". It does not make any sense! Also: "I got off of the couch". No. "I got off the couch"! Why is the second so necessary? Reason: it isn't...:)
Whoops, in my previous comment I meant why is the second "of" so necessary to people? It drives me crazy!
Something that annoys me is the Americanism "write me" instead of "write to me". I can't quite articulate why I hate it so much, or why it's incorrect. I think it has something to do with the fact that "write" is always a verb. For comparison, "call". "Call me" is correct (though of course, so is "call to me", though it has a slightly different meaning), but "call" can also be a noun (as in "she gave me a call"). "Write" is never a noun.
Clarifying: super tall man, super long novel, super boring class.
Yes, some adverbs end with -ly. Super, when used this way, is being abused.
How about when people use, "same difference" when they are intending to say that two things are the same?
Amelia (#83): what you're objecting to in the phrase "write me" has to do more with the verb being intransitive than with it never being a noun. That is, "write" can be either transitive or intransitive (can either require an object or not). My dictionary says that one should use "write to" when talking about a personal letter, but "write" when talking about SENDING a letter. Basically, it seems rather confusing, and I imagine most people would simply make the verb transitive in all cases.
Sorry, I can't let this one go. We're talking about grammar after all.
Adverbs (79) modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs. They generally answer how, when, where, how often (and sometimes why).
"Super" is an adjective, but when it's put into that construction, it's modifying an adjective and answering the question how?--which is incorrect.
Also, words that end with -ly don't have to be adverbs. Curly hair (what kind of hair--hair is a noun), early bird (which bird--bird is a noun).
omg! i saw this and it really BUGGED me! shud i correct her? she ALWAYS duz this:
Amy Lo
"could care less about the relationships between variables..let along describe/draw/label them. Boo to CAS 301! Elaine Iem gets my pain ;["
If you'd like to leave a comment, we're afraid you'll have to use a non-mobile device to do so. I just couldn't get the mobile comment entry form to work right. Alas. ~Ted.
1. BDB said the following at 11:35 AM on Nov 6:
The Editor Strikes Back.
2. Susan H. said the following at 11:40 AM on Nov 6:
I couldn't agree more. Thank you.
3. John123 said the following at 11:42 AM on Nov 6:
Glad to see someone else out there actually gets this phrase right. Most people don't have a clue what they are saying. The hard part is knowing when to correct them and when to let it go. I think this post is a nice, friendly reminder. Good job!
4. Scott said the following at 11:47 AM on Nov 6:
I actually say that when I actually sort of care about something, but not a whole lot. It's fun. =)
Irregardless, people need to be careful of using figure of speeches incorrectly.
=)
5. Laura said the following at 11:56 AM on Nov 6:
Thank you. It bugs me to no end when people use that phrase. :-)
6. Jeremy said the following at 12:15 PM on Nov 6:
I am completely with you on this. I actually clicked on the post title angrily thinking I would have to post a correction comment.
This one and the inversion of the "let alone" phrase really get to me. Statements like, "I have no time to cook a 8-course meal, let alone take a breath!" Come on, people.
7. Sarah P. said the following at 12:24 PM on Nov 6:
I could care less.
Often.
Sometimes it would be nice.
8. Jo said the following at 12:26 PM on Nov 6:
YES YES YES.
Ted, I love you for this.
Funnily enough I've never heard a British person say this, must be one of those cultural things.
Definitely not a result of British people being cleverer or better at grammar though. I see mistakes on professional signs and products everywhere I go and I have a mini tantrum each time. My chemist actually changed its name to include the name of the local area, and spelled the name of the local area wrong. I mean, how hard is that? It's IN THEIR ADDRESS.
9. Adam Sloope said the following at 12:28 PM on Nov 6:
Awesome! Can we start a post on commonly used and misused idioms? I love hearing them used and misused, it brings joy to my heart!
Here are some I hear that have made themselves cozy in my memories:
That will go over about as well as a fart in a space suite.
If if’s and but’s were candy and nut’s we’d all be happy people…
It is what it is.
10. paige said the following at 12:30 PM on Nov 6:
THANK YOU!
It drives me CRAZY when people say "I could care less..."
11. Nicole (from Boston) said the following at 12:33 PM on Nov 6:
Thanks Ted. I'm constantly reminding people of the difference between the two. Oh, the hardships of being a grammarian. :)
12. Dani said the following at 12:36 PM on Nov 6:
Thank you, Ted. Thank you!
Now, could you write a post on "for all intensive purposes" and "irregardless" and three million other little, tiny nothings that still drive me crazy?
: )
13. Jennifer said the following at 12:44 PM on Nov 6:
It drives me crazy when people say this. In the lingo of facebook... "like" this brief but to the point post. Grammar girl would be proud.
14. Ultraviolet said the following at 1:04 PM on Nov 6:
Seriously?
15. Jeffrey J. Stables said the following at 1:05 PM on Nov 6:
Amen! I couldn't care more!
16. Mike said the following at 1:08 PM on Nov 6:
#4 Irregardless... brilliant! Arguably one of the worst abused expressions. (See what I did there?)
17. Tara said the following at 1:14 PM on Nov 6:
Bravo! Thanks for addressing a personal pet peeve!
Really, folks, we should all just give up on our other jobs and be English teachers.
Now if only I could get everyone to realize that the plural of "Lego" is "Lego"...
18. Suzanne Hadley Gosselin said the following at 1:17 PM on Nov 6:
Ted is doing the nice thing and not calling me out publicly. He actually got this bad example from my writing. :p
19. Amber B. said the following at 1:23 PM on Nov 6:
To be honest, I'm getting rather annoyed with all the irrelevant posts that have been on here lately. Why on earth are you making an entire post just to correct someone's grammar? I thought this was a website about dating, singleness and marriage. Why is it that lately there have been so many random posts like this. The other day there was one (I think from Ted) about a big spider that he found in his house. I'm afraid of spiders too, but honestly, I don't care!
Okay, I'm done venting.
20. Luke said the following at 1:25 PM on Nov 6:
Since we're talking about grammar...
Adam Sloope (#9):
Apostrophes don't make things plural, they make them possessive. Alternatively, they are used in a conjunction. :)
21. Ted Slater said the following at 1:31 PM on Nov 6:
Luke -- better mind your p's and q's. ;-)
22. Pak said the following at 1:41 PM on Nov 6:
Obviously, people are missing the irony of Scott's (#4) post. :)
23. Samantha said the following at 1:52 PM on Nov 6:
Is it ever okay to use "funner" in a sentence? Or is it "more fun"? I also don't like the confusion between affect and effect.
24. Jo said the following at 2:00 PM on Nov 6:
Amber,
"I'm afraid of spiders too, but honestly, I don't care!"
I think the question is, could you care less? :)
25. Tami said the following at 2:32 PM on Nov 6:
Dani (12): I didn't realize that "for all intensive purposes" was actually "for all INTENTS AND PURPOSES" until I saw it written in a friend's essay in college. Then I thought... that makes much more sense!
Tara (17): Now if only I could get everyone to realize that the plural of "Lego" is "Lego"...
I just read a short piece that touched on this! :)
26. dwightk said the following at 2:33 PM on Nov 6:
when I catch myself make that mistake, I usually say "But not much." :D
27. Megan said the following at 2:33 PM on Nov 6:
That's like people saying, "My life did a 360." Really? You're back in the same direction you were going?
28. Alyssa said the following at 2:33 PM on Nov 6:
Tara #17, some of us are English teachers. :) I promise we do teach it! A phrase we use in education, "We can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them drink." Our job, as educators, is to make the horses thirsty!
Samantha #23, more fun is always correct. If a word is one syllable, (example: fun) then you need to add more or most before it. If a word is two or more syllables (example: hungry) then you can add the -er or -est endings. There are always exceptions, but that's the general rule.
I get a little confused by effect and affect also. They are both nouns and verbs. The easiest explanation is to think of effect like cause and effect. 'I wore a raincoat because it was raining.' Affect most often means "to act on" or "to move." 'His words affected the crowd so deeply that many wept.'
29. Megan said the following at 2:37 PM on Nov 6:
Serious moment here: what does is mean when you say, "bugs me to no end". I'm confused.
30. Holly said the following at 2:37 PM on Nov 6:
It's "more fun."
"Affect" is a verb, while "effect" is a nown. The mass effect of this blog should affect Ted! :)
I know this from also getting criticised Suzanne!
31. skp said the following at 2:52 PM on Nov 6:
Grammar Nazis annoy me.
32. BDB said the following at 2:53 PM on Nov 6:
Attack of the Grammar Mavens
33. S said the following at 3:01 PM on Nov 6:
The thing that gets me:
"If I would have" instead of "If I had".
"Should have went" instead of "should have gone".
Correct: If I had left on time, I would have seen my friend.
These set my teeth on edge!
34. Jeremy said the following at 3:14 PM on Nov 6:
Holly (#30):
Exactly! ... except for the special cases, "effect a change" (where "effect" is a verb) and "an unresponsive affect" (where "affect" is a noun). Isn't English wonderful?
This is one that was beat into our heads by a wonderful high school English teacher, so it may not be as bothersome to others, but I still notice it every time: use "fewer" when referring to discrete items ("fewer sugar cubes"); use "less" when referring to something non-discrete ("less sugar").
And by the same token, use "number" for those discrete items ("a greater number of sugar cubes") and "amount" for non-discrete ("a greater amount of sugar").
Too often people use "less" and "amount" for everything.
35. BDB said the following at 3:42 PM on Nov 6:
Grammar Check: A New Hope
36. Jo said the following at 4:00 PM on Nov 6:
S. #33:
""If I would have" instead of "If I had".
"Should have went" instead of "should have gone"."
Aw, I think those are cute. I have an American friend who says both of those all the time and it always makes me smile.
But if I heard lots of people doing it frequently, it would definitely start to annoy me. I just have double standards, apparently. :)
37. BDB said the following at 4:04 PM on Nov 6:
Return of the Little, Brown Handbook
38. Chantel said the following at 4:05 PM on Nov 6:
Exactly! When I used to say "I couldn't care less", people would tell me that it's "I could care less" and I knew that didn't make any sense. :)
39. Trevor Dolby said the following at 4:12 PM on Nov 6:
Jo (8): Are you actually Lynne Truss posting under a pseudonym? :)
Funnily enough, my children (in Britain) seem to understand most of this sort of thing, and liked the version of Eats, Shoots and Leaves aimed at children.
Alyssa (28): Surely the sentence "[w]e can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them drink" switches from singular to plural halfway through?
(I'll stop poking holes in things now :) )
40. Emily said the following at 5:06 PM on Nov 6:
I want to also point out that "should of" is not right. It's "should have". I know in speech we abbreviate it to "should-uv", and so it does sound like "should of". But that makes no sense. Should have. Would have. Could have.
Thank you that is all. :)
41. Emily said the following at 5:09 PM on Nov 6:
#29 Megan- I've wondered about that too. I've come to two possible conclusions
1. Annoys me with out any end in sight (ie never ending annoyance)
2. Annoys me without any foreseeable reason. (ie, the "means' being the annoyance with the "ends" being a reason)
42. edwige said the following at 5:58 PM on Nov 6:
hum? Oh well thank u boundless for not only teaching me about singleness and mariage but also English lol.
I really appreciate it as an International student with English as my fourth language. I always tought "I could care less was a good sentence!! and some americans have told me that they do not speak English but they speak American =)
I am still a litle confuse with some words here... so is it correct to say "my bad" or not?
43. BDB said the following at 6:11 PM on Nov 6:
edwige (#42) wrote:
>>I am still a litle confuse with some words here... so is it correct to say "my bad" or not?<<
Only if you're wearing an iPod...
44. Kyra said the following at 6:58 PM on Nov 6:
LOL Sadly, you've unleashed a monster.
My biggest peeves?...
1) "me" vs. "I" A new trend I see is everyone using "I" all the time just because they think it sounds more formal, so of course it must be right.
Ex. "Are you coming to the store with George and I?"....that's WRONG!
2) "was" vs. "were"
Ex. "I wish I was a surgeon" ...WRONG! Unless you're saying you wish you used to be a surgeon.
3) there/they're/their
4) your/you're
5) its/it's
6) The shocking number of people who misspell the word "definitely"
PS- I used to run a little side business helping people with their resumes. I've seen some pretty hideously flawed resumes in my time, written by presumably intelligent people. Given the current nationwide unemployment rate, I think it would behoove us all to focus a little more on grammar (not grammer).
45. Larissa said the following at 7:12 PM on Nov 6:
The grammar mistake I like the least is when people us "then" in a comparison.
Ex: He speaks so much better then she does.
Correct: He speaks so much better than she does.
Irks me sooooo much!
46. Serena said the following at 7:16 PM on Nov 6:
I agree with all of the above grammar pet peeves. The one that really bothers me is using good as an adverb. It's supposed to be "I did really well" not "I did really good."
47. Tami said the following at 8:25 PM on Nov 6:
I wish there was a gender-neutral English word that allowed us to avoid saying things such as "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him or her drink." Sort of an "it" without the implication that the living individual was an inanimate object.
48. Sarah said the following at 8:34 PM on Nov 6:
Consider the following: "You can't have your cake and eat it too." This old saying is often used as a reprimand for greediness and/or unreasonableness. Yet, what is so very grasping and irrational about having and eating one's cake? The more logical arrangement is this modern equivalent to the original: "You can't eat your cake and have it too."
49. Emily said the following at 9:25 PM on Nov 6:
Yes!!!! I was just talking to a friend about this statement!
50. Emily said the following at 9:34 PM on Nov 6:
#42 Edwige - "my bad" is slang and shouldn't be used in formal conversation, such as a job or classroom. However, in the course of normal conversation with friends its perfectly acceptable.
51. Elizabeth (from Canada) said the following at 9:45 PM on Nov 6:
Luke (#20): according to my often-read copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, apostrophes DO indicate the plurals of letters and words. They can also indicate the omission of figures in dates (He was born in '89.) or the omission of letters in words (oh! the joys of it's/its). Perhaps this came about because it would be rather difficult to talk about ss (s's) without an apostrophe?
And one of my pet peeves is people not using the subjunctive anymore. It's very sad. :( If I were to teach them...
52. BDB said the following at 10:11 PM on Nov 6:
Tami (#47) - "Folks" is gender neutral.
53. farmer Tom said the following at 10:31 PM on Nov 6:
Grammar Nazis annoy me.
AMEN
No wonder so many of you people are single. You spend valuable time, which could be spent getting to know a potential mate, whining about grammar. Get a life.
54. Jo said the following at 2:24 AM on Nov 7:
Trevor:
I can confirm that I am not Lynne Truss. :) My best friend (equally picky about these things) got a copy of Eats Shoots and Leaves which has stickers at the back of apostrophes and "The panda says no!", so you can correct posters and stuff if you so choose. :P
Elizabeth 51:
Can you give an example of when an apostrophe can be used to indicate a plural? I didn't think it ever could.
Creating plurals from words ending in "s" is a tricky one, but it's always correct to add "es", not "'s".
For example, if you're talking about a family with surname Jones, it's correct to say "The Joneses", rather than "The Jones'", even though it looks ridiculous (well, both do really). I had this debate with some friends and later looked it up, so I'm sure I'm right on that one. :)
It's not surprising that foreign people learn to speak English much easier than they do to write it! We have a lot of crazy rules.
55. Mike said the following at 6:26 AM on Nov 7:
Alyssa (#28):
A phrase we use in education, "We can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them drink."
Shouldn't that be, "can't make him drink"? Singular? Since there's only one horse?
;-)
56. Alexis said the following at 7:15 AM on Nov 7:
This post made me snicker, thanks Ted! I have been known to take out a pen and correct printed signs at work. *sigh* I just can't help myself! I know my grammar isn't perfect but some things are just plain silly. My very good friend is a writer, in fact she writes for Boundless regularly. I blame her for my need for proper grammar.
Elizabeth (from Canada)--I have a copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss. Mine came with a Punctuation Kit in the back that is a bunch of pages with peel-and-stick punctuation to fix signs! Haha! Brilliant!
57. Nate said the following at 8:47 AM on Nov 7:
Eye reely h8 thuh inglich languwitch sum daze. It no make cense thuh way it writes and reeds. Eye more like too camunic8 with cliks and grunts.
Tanks Ted four making me laf and givng me thuh chance too have thuh wurstly write-en post in this thred.
>;-)
--NMM
58. shonatiger said the following at 9:24 AM on Nov 7:
Amen! I just thought it was an Americanism.... A slightly annoying one :)
59. LuLu said the following at 12:30 PM on Nov 7:
I love this phrase. And I could care less if it is incorrect!
60. GrammarLover said the following at 12:31 PM on Nov 7:
#40,
What you're hearing as "should of" is actually should've- a contraction of "should have", which technically would be correct.
61. Lis said the following at 1:39 PM on Nov 7:
even from adults, i am amazed at how often i see "should of."
62. DJS said the following at 10:03 PM on Nov 7:
Emily #50
I am in big trouble if you are not supposed to use "my bad" at a job or in a classroom. I am a social studies teacher and I use this slang expression frequently. That means I use it in my job and in a classroom. ;(
Really though, I am amazed at how many people are annoyed by these grammatical errors. It's one thing if these errors are in writing, but as Americans we are so loose in our way of talking that it just isn't that big of a deal. Seriously, who cares!!
63. Kathryn said the following at 12:11 AM on Nov 8:
Story Time! (this is not true)
So I was writing sentences in class the other day. I wrote, "I had had an icecream". My teacher told me off and said I only needed one had. I demanded a second opinion and went to the principal who confirmed my use of the phrase "had had".
So, I, where my teacher had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had the approval of the principal.
WIN!
Btw, grammar yay! I love grammar!
64. kb said the following at 8:30 AM on Nov 8:
As long as we're grammar venting here, I may as well bring additional light to some already touched-on subjects:
#1- LEGO. It's an adjective. Always. And always spelled in caps. For example, it's LEGO bricks, LEGO sets, the LEGO Company. No, I'm not a LEGO nerd. I just work for them:)
#2- To #44, "Me vs. I." I would argue to say that the biggest trend right now is actually using "myself" instead of me or I. For example, "Jen and myself went to the store." "The speech will be graded by myself."
It's a reflexive pronoun, people, and should only be used accordingly. "I bought myself a new car." "She gave herself a pep talk."
#3- To those of you who would call posts and discussions such as these meaningless and pointless, you just remember what we told you the next time you're giving a big speech or writing a big report. Whether you like it or not, your grammar reflects you and gives others an impression.
Not to mention we're just having fun and building community as we come together on common ground:)
65. Lis said the following at 10:31 AM on Nov 8:
People mix up affect and effect all the time. "A lot" is two words, not one. People should also know the difference between their, there, and they're. It really amazes me how bad people's grammar can be. Didn't we learn all this stuff in elementary school? Drives me nuts...
66. Kristen said the following at 12:55 PM on Nov 8:
I would like to point out one exception to the affect/effect rule of thumb: the use of affect as a synonym for emotion. We use it frequently in the mental health field. :)
67. Thomas said the following at 6:18 PM on Nov 8:
Thanks for posting! The phrase "I could care less" is one of my biggest pet peeves.
68. edwige said the following at 6:36 PM on Nov 8:
# 43. BDB >>Only if you're wearing an iPod...<<
Lol =)!!!
69. Leah said the following at 10:31 PM on Nov 8:
THANKYOU.
I get SO sick of seeing people say "I could care less". I think to myself "uh, you just said that you do actually care" when clearly they mean the opposite.
Elizabeth from Canada: apostrophes are not used for plural. The only time it's mildly acceptable in plurals is for individual letters.
It should be CDs, not CD's. (eg. "There are dozens of CDs lying on the floor.")
It should be 1990s, not 1990's.
(That is, unless you are talking about possessive, eg. "Ice Ice Baby was one of 1990's biggest hits". But if you're talking about plural, there's no apostrophe, eg. "Fashion in the 1990s was terrible!" That's referring to the entire decade, not the specific year, so it's plural. And if it's a combination of possessive and plural, then the apostrophe goes after the 's'. eg. "1990s' music was pretty lame".)
Also, a word ending in 's' does not have an apostrophe and another 's' added to it. It has an 'e' put between the two 's's for plurals, or just a plain apostrophe with no second 's' if it's possessive.
eg. For the plural of "pass" it's not "passs" or "pass's", it's "passes".
And the possessive of "cats" is not "cats's", it's "cats' ".
edwige - "my bad" is appalling English. It is, however, a common phrase. I use it, but I know I'm using bad English when I do :)
Jeffrey J Stables (15)... what? "I couldn't care more"? Why don't you just say "I care a lot"??
Megan (29) - It means the annoyance has no end! Just like "that confuses me no end" means it continually confuses you.
Holly (30) and Jeremy (34) - hehe, I'm another affect/effect nazi! The thing to remember with the verb version of "effect" is that its definition has nothing to do with the normally-used "affect/effect". Because...
Affect (v) - to change or impact something. "How will that affect things?"
Effect #1 (n) - the change or impact. "The effect was rather disastrous."
Effect #2 (v) - to make something happen (you could effect a change, but it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with change). "We will put the plan into effect" OR "We will effect the plan tonight".
Also Holly... "effect" is normally a noun, not a nown ;)
70. Jo said the following at 1:34 AM on Nov 9:
Another one that really annoys me: step foot. As in, "I'll never step foot in here again". It's SET foot, darn it!!!!
71. farmer Tom said the following at 5:22 AM on Nov 9:
Hm. Yeah? How much less?
From the "Frasier" show, Frasier says,
72. Kelly said the following at 7:00 AM on Nov 9:
Haha, "for all intensive purposes"! I haven't heard that one before!
One thing I've learned being married to a man not gifted with words-- don't let grammar damage your relationships!
73. Heidi M. said the following at 8:52 AM on Nov 9:
I always assumed the two statements were used depending on which meaning the speaker intended to convey; either they cared so little about something that it was impossible for them to care any less or they did care about something but it has so little influence over them that caring for it less would not have any effect on their lives.
Apparently I'm wrong. Oh well. :)
74. Nate said the following at 9:27 AM on Nov 9:
Farmer Tom:
Sheesh, did you get kicked in the face by a cow this morning?
There is thing call a sense of humor. It causes people to smile and laugh at funny stuff, which this thread is.
My suggestion, go get one. >;-)
Respectfully,
--NMM
75. Nate said the following at 10:34 AM on Nov 9:
Farmer Tom (71):
Looks like you did find your sense of humor. I'll still on the floor with that one.
--NMM
76. Elizabeth (from Canada) said the following at 10:51 AM on Nov 9:
Jo (54) & Leah (69):
Both of the two grammar books that I have that actually cover unusual plurals (Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Woe Is I) say to use 's for the plurals of letters (s's, a's, etc.). Eats, Shoots & Leaves also says to use 's for times when you are talking about words in the plural ("What are the do's and don't's?"), while Woe Is I says to use 's for the plurals of abbreviations and numbers, as well (which Eats, Shoots & Leaves mentions is still the convention in America). Mind you, Woe Is I also notes that "No two authorities seem to agree on how we should form the plurals of abbreviations, letters, and numbers... This is more a matter of taste and readability than of grammar, and frankly, we have better things to worry about." :) So it seems as though unusual plurals are, well, unusual, and different people deal with them differently in terms of making them understandable as plurals.
77. Zusanne said the following at 2:45 PM on Nov 9:
Yey! Discussion on grammar (oh, yes, with an "ar" at the end!)--more people who actually care :) Yey!
kb (#64) "Myself-itus" took off where I work a few years ago. I've actually worked my back to the source, but it's unfortunately too late.
My pet peeves: "super" as an adverb (super tall, super long, super boring) and adding "-wise" to words not created to include such a suffix (precipitationwise, weatherwise, reportwise).
78. Lisa Q said the following at 3:40 PM on Nov 10:
Their is to many grammar, punctuation and usage pet peeve's for myself too list hear. And I definately have alot of spelling pet peeves.
79. Larissa said the following at 4:31 PM on Nov 10:
Zusanne (77), the examples you gave of "super" as an adverb (describing a verb) are actually adjectives (describing a noun).
Most adverbs end in "ly".
80. Karen said the following at 7:56 PM on Nov 10:
You could think of it as the person saying, "I *could* care less . . . (but I don't!)." In that case, it would mean essentially the same as "I couldn't care less."
81. Jen said the following at 8:36 PM on Nov 10:
This is how people say it in the good ol' UK! I do NOT understand why some Americans say "I could care less". It does not make any sense! Also: "I got off of the couch". No. "I got off the couch"! Why is the second so necessary? Reason: it isn't...:)
82. Jen said the following at 8:41 PM on Nov 10:
Whoops, in my previous comment I meant why is the second "of" so necessary to people? It drives me crazy!
83. Amelia said the following at 4:04 AM on Nov 11:
Something that annoys me is the Americanism "write me" instead of "write to me". I can't quite articulate why I hate it so much, or why it's incorrect. I think it has something to do with the fact that "write" is always a verb. For comparison, "call". "Call me" is correct (though of course, so is "call to me", though it has a slightly different meaning), but "call" can also be a noun (as in "she gave me a call"). "Write" is never a noun.
84. Zusanne said the following at 7:16 AM on Nov 11:
Clarifying: super tall man, super long novel, super boring class.
Yes, some adverbs end with -ly. Super, when used this way, is being abused.
85. John said the following at 8:59 AM on Nov 11:
How about when people use, "same difference" when they are intending to say that two things are the same?
86. Elizabeth (from Canada) said the following at 11:22 AM on Nov 12:
Amelia (#83): what you're objecting to in the phrase "write me" has to do more with the verb being intransitive than with it never being a noun. That is, "write" can be either transitive or intransitive (can either require an object or not). My dictionary says that one should use "write to" when talking about a personal letter, but "write" when talking about SENDING a letter. Basically, it seems rather confusing, and I imagine most people would simply make the verb transitive in all cases.
87. Zusanne said the following at 7:48 AM on Nov 14:
Sorry, I can't let this one go. We're talking about grammar after all.
Adverbs (79) modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs. They generally answer how, when, where, how often (and sometimes why).
"Super" is an adjective, but when it's put into that construction, it's modifying an adjective and answering the question how?--which is incorrect.
Also, words that end with -ly don't have to be adverbs. Curly hair (what kind of hair--hair is a noun), early bird (which bird--bird is a noun).
88. michelle said the following at 3:40 AM on Nov 18:
omg! i saw this and it really BUGGED me! shud i correct her? she ALWAYS duz this:
Amy Lo
"could care less about the relationships between variables..let along describe/draw/label them. Boo to CAS 301! Elaine Iem gets my pain ;["