Earlier this week, I wrote about three common language mistakes that make me nuts. The post drew thousands of comments from readers eager to share their own pet peeves. "The one that has been driving me crazy lately is 'in regards to,'" one reader said. "Should be 'regarding' or 'with regard to.' The misuse is so common it's now replacing the correct use. Ugh!" Another reader wrote: "I'm amused when I ask younger members of my family how they are and they reply 'I'm good!' -- to which I respond that I'm glad to hear they've been behaving themselves." And yet another said: "It is 'sneaked' not 'snuck.' I hear snuck all the time and it drives me crazy!"
As a result of the response to that post, I decided to write about another thing that drives me insane: mispronunciations. There's no shortage of words in the English language that are consistently mispronounced. (Who can forget former President George W. Bush's much-cited pronunciation of nuclear, which may or may not have been correct?) Here are just four of them that I find particularly irksome. Feel free to add your own pet peeves in the comments.
1. Used/Use
Why people still get this wrong I have no idea. But if you've previously done something, you USED to do it. For example, one would write or say "I used to go running, but then I broke my leg." One would not write or say "I use to go running, but then I broke my leg."
2. Various words with the letter "x" or "x" sound
Okay folks. When you say "escape" it is "es-cape" and not "ex-cape." And when you say "ask" it is ass-k" and not "axe." Along this same line, there is no "X" in espresso. I hate hearing people say "I'd like an expresso."
3. Supposedly
There simply is no such word as "supposably." And it's "supposed to" and not "suppose to."
4. Anyway/anyways
Come on... there is no "s" at the end of the word "anyway."
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
