24 Things You Might Be Saying Wrong

[snopes]

The Reader's Digest Version of all those confusing words and seemingly random rules you missed in English class.

http://www.rd.com/family/24-things-y...-saying-wrong/

[Dasla]

Most of them make sense. I have noticed on American programs that they say "Could care less" when in Australia we say "Couldn't care less" (or at least I do).

Most of the others I think I get correct. I might not be able to spell and sometimes I type things and later think "What on earth was I saying?" But in theory I understand the correct way of expressing myself. Whether I do it correctly all the time is another thing .

[ganzfeld]

The "could care less" variant goes back at least as far as "couldn't". It's a bit silly nitpick to try to pry out some meaning from either expression.

Likewise, I don't see the point in discouraging "hone in" in favor of "home in". We're rarely talking about pigeons, after all. As has been pointed outon this board several times, "whom" is increasingly dated and irrelevant (well, I don't think it was put so delicately). I find that "that" is more often appropriate where some well-meaning but not very skilled editor thinks it should be "which". (That always reminds me of when Prince sings, "a picture of you and I engaged in a kiss" where the "I" sounds like he's being a grammarian but is wrong; it's "a picture of you and me".)

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

"You don’t speak Spanish by adding vowels to the end of English words"

Wait. What?!

Now I'm going to have to rewrite that entire Spanish to English dictionario I was working on.

[Lainie]

Why is "whom" any more dated or irrelevant than "him" or "her"?

[ganzfeld]

Basically I feel the same way. I just noted that last time we talked about it, several people were very willing to do away with whom.

[GenYus234]

Whom wants that?

[Don Enrico]

Not mem. Youm?

[ganzfeld]

The page alleged to have been set up in recent days by George Zimmerman to support his defense says it's "dedicated to persons whom have displayed their support..." Nice try.

[erwins]

I don't think it needs to be done away with, but I do think that people should err on the side of using "who" if they aren't sure. It doesn't sound that bad to me when someone says "who" where "whom" is proper, but using "whom" when it should be "who" is really jarring. (Like the above example).

[Floater]

Humorous interlude: http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2012/04/07

[Chloe]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

The "could care less" variant goes back at least as far as "couldn't". It's a bit silly nitpick to try to pry out some meaning from either expression.

What do you mean by "pry out" meaning? Surely the meaning of at least one of them is totally obvious.

[ganzfeld]

The meaning of both is obvious: They both mean the person doesn't care at all. Anything else is prying, IMO. I don't like one but I don't think it warrants a "you're saying it wrong".

[GenYus234]

IOW, both versions are more sayings than phrases to be taken at their literal meaning (even though the literal meaning is the same as saying in the "right" version)?

[RichardM]

I suppose I could care less about which expression is correct but I really don't think it is possible.

[Lainie]

I always assumed "I could care less" was meant sarcastically.

[Jeffrey]

as long as the speaker get's the point across, it's not like cows in the woods

[Chloe]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

The meaning of both is obvious: They both mean the person doesn't care at all. Anything else is prying, IMO. I don't like one but I don't think it warrants a "you're saying it wrong".

It's not obvious. The first time I heard someone say "I could care less" that he'd failed a course I thought he was saying it was somewhat important to him to pass it.

[Darth Credence]

I think I may be a bit evil. I have used the expression both ways, following the literal meanings. We were trying to figure out where to go to dinner, and one person said that they could care less. They turned and asked me, and I paused a moment, and said that I could care less. The next person said they wanted Chinese food, and I piped up to vote against that. When someone asked why I said I didn't care when I clearly did, I told them I did not say I didn't care, I said I did care. Long argument ensued, but it actually resulted in someone vowing to not say could care less again.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Chloe

It's not obvious. The first time I heard someone say "I could care less" that he'd failed a course I thought he was saying it was somewhat important to him to pass it.

Sure, and especially if you grow up with "couldn't" I could understand the confusion. But once you find out that the version with "could" means the same thing, doesn't it become obvious that it's being said sarcastically rather than incorrectly? (Obvious to everyone except people who write things like the OP article, I mean.)