Friday Five: Words that Drive Me Crazy

“Prezzies”

You mean presents? Shortening a word, but not actually shortening it, doesn’t make you appear more intelligent.

“Punkin”

See also “punchin” and “pumkin.” These are supposed to be endearing terms for small children, but I can guarantee you, I got called “pumpkin” a lot as a child and never really felt the endearment… so spelling it wrong or hashtagging it won’t really gain you points. Often times it looks more like “punching” or “punking” than pumpkin anyway.

“Elts”

This one is more for Brad than anyone else, someone that he knows mispronounce the word “else” as “elts” (and not due to an accent).

“Isle”

Not that the word isle is annoying, but I never see it used as isle to mean “island.” I see it used almost exclusively to refer to  walking down the aisle for a wedding or in the aisle of a store.

“Wife” (as a verb)

I like being a wife, that usage doesn’t bother me, it’s when “wife” is used in the same manner as verbs like “run” or “change.” For instance, “He wifed her” makes my skin crawl. He married her? He proposed to her? I also don’t “wife,” I cook, I clean, I bake, I sew… but those wife-like duties aren’t wifing because people who aren’t wives can do them too.

I get that English can be tough and that people like to show personality in the way that they speak, but often using or misusing words like this can take away from your credibility, readability and even cause people to ignore your messages.

Are there any words that people use or misuse that drive you crazy?

4 thoughts on “Friday Five: Words that Drive Me Crazy

  1. What drives me crazy is when I get an email asking me to “Pls” do something, and it’s then signed “Thx”.

    If you want to use manners and ask me to do you a favor, please have the decency not to abbreviate those manners, otherwise I can’t take you seriously. Thank you.

  2. I cringe every time I hear someone pronouce nuclear as nucular. I don’t know why it bothers me but it does.

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