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And I really don't like to hear "fixina", which I assume is short for "fixing to". How are you "fixina go to mah sister house"? Even if you were to say "I'm fixing to go to my sister's house", what exactly are you fixing?
Ha!
When I lived in Minnesota I heard 'finna' a lot. I'm finna go to the store.
Living in this south I hear alot of grammatical faux pas. And I have no problem with people using them. However, what really bugs me is when people write like this. Not on a forum like this-but on essays, emails to colleagues etc.
Most people mispronounce the word forte. It is NOT pronounced fortay. It is pronounced fort.
Your turn....
"Due to." Most of the time, you want to say "because of." I'm amazed at how widespread this misuse has become.
"Due to" modifies nouns, usually immediately follows a form of the verb "to be," and answers "what." It's synonymous with "caused by."
"Because of" modifies verbs and answers "why."
So imagine someone says "I can't eat pizza due to my strict diet." Because "due to" is an adjective phrase, it needs a noun to modify. The only noun is "pizza." So this sentence is saying that the pizza was caused by someone's strict diet, which obviously makes no sense. "I can't eat pizza caused by my strict diet" -- that's literally what the sentence says.
*Why* can't you eat pizza? *Because of* your strict diet. When you're answering "why," you need "because of."
You could also say this: "My reluctance to eat pizza is due to my strict diet." That's proper usage. *What* is your reluctance caused by? Your strict diet. "Due to" works exactly the same way predicate adjectives do.
And for the love of God, please don't ever say "due to the fact that" when you can just say "because."
In my prior post, I forgot about another common usage issue that bugs me. I don't know if it is technically incorrect but using the words "male" and "female" as nouns just irks me!
"We saw two females walking down the street". Um, two female whats?
I was always under the impression that "male" and "female" are adjectives, used to describe nouns. A female cat. A male bunny. I'd much prefer to hear people say "man", "woman", "lady", "fella". Heck I'd be happy with "guy" and "gal". Just no more "male" and "female", please!
Can you or someone set me straight on who/whom? I never got this...
"Who" is the subject; "whom" is the object. Easy mnemonic device: Use "whom" whenever you'd use "him." (Get it? They both end in "m.") "Who," then, correlates with "he" (or "she," just so we can be all-inclusive here!).
In my prior post, I forgot about another common usage issue that bugs me. I don't know if it is technically incorrect but using the words "male" and "female" as nouns just irks me!
"We saw two females walking down the street". Um, two female whats?
I was always under the impression that "male" and "female" are adjectives, used to describe nouns. A female cat. A male bunny. I'd much prefer to hear people say "man", "woman", "lady", "fella". Heck I'd be happy with "guy" and "gal". Just no more "male" and "female", please!
I'm with you. You also hear the exact opposite -- "woman" being used as an adjective, as in "women authors." Gee, who are my favorite *men authors*? Sounds ridiculous!
I wash clothes and when I do it, I do it without an R in the word.
I have never been known to warsh my clothes.
Another thing that makes me crazy is when people take a word and change the meaning of it, how many threads have you seen that start out What does it mean to you? when it comes to a certain word, well it doesn't matter what it means to you, the definition is a real, solid thing, its in the dictionary, use it, learn it, know it.
Too Funny! Because for some reason I always Warsh my clothes. I don't know why I just do!
I always remember that "whom" goes with "to". "To whom should I give the letter?" as opposed to "Who should I give the letter to?" I know "To whom..." sounds a bit more stuffy, but it's the correct usage.
In my prior post, I forgot about another common usage issue that bugs me. I don't know if it is technically incorrect but using the words "male" and "female" as nouns just irks me!
"We saw two females walking down the street". Um, two female whats?
I was always under the impression that "male" and "female" are adjectives, used to describe nouns. A female cat. A male bunny. I'd much prefer to hear people say "man", "woman", "lady", "fella". Heck I'd be happy with "guy" and "gal". Just no more "male" and "female", please!
This seems a perfect example of what Dick Cavett calls "copspeak".
"The individual entered the establishment and purchased a large popcorn..." and so on.
"copspeak"! ...EEK!
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