Misused words

[Fishyash]

Hello!

Let's inform each other on words you often hear used wrongly. Here's one I've wanted to talk about.

Song. Songs are sung, by people who sing, if there is no singing, then it is not a song. You can call it by other things, for example, a piece, a track or an instrumental.

What words have you heard that are often misused?

 

[krazykidd]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

Experssions used wrongly ( or said wrongly ) : I could care less .

Words used wrongly : underwear . Underwear is not only boxers , panties and bras . It's anything worn under your clothes.

 

[Something Amyss]

Immersion is pretty commonly misused.

Which totally ruins my immersion.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Allow me to educate you on the meaning of the word "inconceivable."

 

[l3awl3ag]

Irony and ignorance. A lot of people just use those words wherever they want, to mean whatever they want.


The worst case of that I've come cross was online (thankfully making the use of physical violence impossible). Some guy multi-quoted bunch of people who he disagreed with and replied to them with "Irony @ all of your posts." I'm pretty sure there was a "ROLF" in there somewhere too, but I forget.


My dad also uses the word "ignorant" to describe things he doesn't like. He's nearly 50 -_- I literally facepalm. Every time. No amount of explaining will show him his error, so I've just given up. Thankfully, I don't think he knows the word "irony". Like he just hasn't learned it at all. He got as far as "an apple is green" at school and then stopped progressing mentally.

 

[CulixCupric]

Plethora. Plethora is used as "a lot", it means "an excess, too much, more then enough" as in "too much of a good thing is BAD".

 

[Jedoro]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

How do you say "rendition?" We go with the accepted, official pronunciation because English isn't a phonetic language.

OT: When people type "could/should/would of" instead of "could/should/would have." There's a reason the contraction is "-'ve" and not "-'f."

 

[IrisEver]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

'Zz' in Italian is pronounced 'ts'. PEAT-sa is right, PIZ-ZA is wrong.

This one is just a pet peeve of mine and I'm sure I'm deviating slightly here, but 'friend'. He's my friend, she's my friend. No, hardly knowing someone does not make them your friend. Someone you couldn't care less about doesn't make them a friend. Someone you only say 'Hey' to once in a while when you're bored does not make them your 'friend'.

 

[l3awl3ag]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

Experssions used wrongly ( or said wrongly ) : I could care less .

Words used wrongly : underwear . Underwear is not only boxers , panties and bras . It's anything worn under your clothes.

Pronunciation is a difficult topic though, in my opinion. Everyone pronounces words differently. There has to be a point where "right and wrong" stops coming into play when it comes to pronunciation.


Put it this way, I'm Scottish lol. No word I say will EVER sound correctly pronounced to you, in any language. Purely because of my accent.

 

[Woodsey]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

Experssions used wrongly ( or said wrongly ) : I could care less .

Words used wrongly : underwear . Underwear is not only boxers , panties and bras . It's anything worn under your clothes.

Nope, its pronounced peat-sa.

OT: When something's a coincidence, people try and say its ironic.

 

[Yak Johnson]

Enormity. People think it means 'a lot of something'. It actually means a 'outrageous or heinous on a grand scale'. The holocaust was an enormity. Your sandwich is not.

 

[l3awl3ag]

The holocaust was an enormity. Your sandwich is not.

Surely that depends what I put on it?

 

[dekcahw]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

Site needs a rule that if you complain about spelling you also need to post a piece of writing art you've made.

 

[MysticToast]

Peruse. People thinks it means to glance over when it means the exact opposite

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

Experssions used wrongly ( or said wrongly ) : I could care less .

According to Yahoo answers, in the Italian language "zz" is pronounced "ts", so Pitsa is the correct phonetic pronounciation.

Also, I totally agree on your "I could care less". In Britain it's "I couldn't care less", which seems to make a whole lot more sense to me. I mean... well, I'll let the comedians explain it...

 

[l3awl3ag]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

Site needs a rule that if you complain about spelling you also need to post a piece of writing art you've made.

This thread isn't about spelling. Or, it shouldn't be.

 

[VladG]

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

[ˈpiʦ:a] is the correct pronunciation. So yeah, It would be something like Peet-sa/Peat-sa not Piz-za. The double z is pronounced as a sharp ts with a hint of a z.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Irony, but I cut people some slack because I half understand it.

Not used wrongly , but pronouced wrongly . PIZZA . I have no idea why but i'm the only person i know that say it the way it's spelt. I say PIZ-ZA , everone else says PEAT-SA.

Experssions used wrongly ( or said wrongly ) : I could care less .

According to Yahoo answers, in the Italian language "zz" is pronounced "ts", so Pitsa is the correct phonetic pronounciation.

Also, I totally agree on your "I could care less". In Britain it's "I couldn't care less", which seems to make a whole lot more sense to me. I mean... well, I'll let the comedians explain it...

-video snips-

Number of people I've seen misuse that phrase: 0
Number of people I've seen complain about someone misusing that phrase: too freaking many to count

 

[VladG]

Nothing really major pissing me off in English, but there's something in my native tongue that makes me want to slap all the motherfuckers who use it. It's basically saying "as if"(it translates over pretty well to English) when referring to using an object for a purpose.

Ex: Using the hairbrush as if a hammer. Instead of just "Using the hairbrush as a hammer."

For some reason this form has become very popular in the last couple of years, probably due to some illiterate moron on tv.