I can't take it anymore. (sentence, participle, quote, cost)
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Just saw this in another forum here - the writer was discussing an upcoming transition in his life, and wrote that he was going to "segway" from one career field to another. And he didn't mean he was going to ride a two-wheeled vehicle.
Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, but I can't stand "The thing is is that...!!" Why isn't "The thing is that..." sufficient?
Can you give us a complete sentences, so we can see the context?
If [the thing that is] is the subject, then a verb [is] is required in addition.
Cf: "The things that kids do do not bother me." The subject of the sentence is [The things that kids do]. There is no verb yet.
Also:
"Whatever he takes takes precedence over what he buys."
"The toilet paper stuck to his shoe when he leaves leaves with him."
The teacher ask Bill to write the past participle of the verb 'to have' on the black board. He writes "had had". Joe raises his hand, and says that's wrong and goes to the board and erases one of the 'hads'. But the teacher shook her head. Joe where Bill had had had had had had had had had had her approval though.
Correctly punctuated, the sentence would read: Joe, where Bill had had "had had", had "had"; "had had" had had her approval, though.
Two errors usually bother me: people will often say" I could care less" which is the complete opposite of what they mean. It should be " I couldn't care less".
I also cringe when adverbs are not used properly. For instance:" You read bad" instead of "you read badly". So often the LY is left off.
As far as some business fliers using incorrect grammar ( the real estate letter, for example), writers are sometimes instructed to use the vernacular instead of correct usage in order to identify with the targeted audience and to make them feel more comfortable.
Just thought of one more I must mention: I dislike it when "was" is used in place of "were". As I recall from my high school English,if a statement is made about an unknown outcome the correct word is "were". "If that were true...." I don't think I have explained it correctly, but instinctively know when to use "were" and when to use "was". As I think about it now, any time a sentence starts with "if" it seems to demand the use of "were". I'm sorry I can't explain it better than that. (I also don't know how to change the color of a word in a sentence to make it stand out, so used quotation marks instead......)
We all make mistakes, so I seldom correct anyone when they are speaking for fear of sounding pretentious or prissy. But I silently scold!
Here's one that always gives me pause...after I've given someone my name, the person will later after some discussion of the business at hand will ask, "what was your name?" when they are ready to write it down.
I always smile, and say, "it still is..." and give it to them again. One's name doesn't change in that space of time.
people will often say" I could care less" which is the complete opposite of what they mean. It should be " I couldn't care less".
"I couldn't care less", a grammatically correct statement, evolved into "As if I could care less", and then "I could care less?", which then, even more sarcastically, dropped the interrogative tone of voice.
The form became that of "Yeah, right!", which semantically means "You're wrong!"
Or maybe it means "I could care less . . . (but I don't)", which is a play on words that was already well know in 1945, when Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics: So I should care, I should let it upset me
I should care but it just doesn't get me
Maybe I won't find someone as lovely as you
But I should care . . . and I do
Two errors usually bother me: people will often say" I could care less" which is the complete opposite of what they mean. It should be " I couldn't care less".
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
"I couldn't care less", a grammatically correct statement, evolved into "As if I could care less", and then "I could care less?", which then, even more sarcastically, dropped the interrogative tone of voice.
Ah, one of my all time pet peeves, I've been chomping at the bit to answer this one.
Like to think I learned the proper expression from my English teacher. Sad to say it was from Steve Allen in the 60's. He had a National Jerk Test and the only two things I remember was, if you say I could care less, you're a jerk. And if you say sherbert ice cream, you're a jerk.
Anytime I hear that expression, my response is: How much less could you care?
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One's name doesn't change in that space of time. 
