"bespoke" - first time I heard it I thought of the spokes on a bicycle wheel. I'll pass on that word. Just say "custom". A little less pretentious.

I was born & raised in central Florida, and I say "kew-pon" and "bow-quet". Around here BBQ written out is spelled "barbecue."

Around here there is also lots of poor grammar. It makes me wonder if anyone paid attention in school, ever. "I seen" is used a lot, also "me and so-and-so" and "I had went" and lots of other mistakes that have been mentioned here.

My DH is a very bright guy who reads a lot, so it surprises me that he butchers words on occasion. The latest was when he was talking about a surgeon, but kept saying "surgeont." I thought perhaps I had misheard him the first time, but when I heard it for the second time I asked him if he was putting a "t" on the end of the word for some reason. I think it embarrassed him, and then I felt a bit like a bully for calling it to his attention. He grew up hearing words mispronounced, so it's no wonder that he does the same. I try not to cringe when I hear statements from him such as "I seen" or "he lives acrossed the street", and I make a concerted effort not to correct him. He isn't ignorant by any means - he just has a rather unique take on certain words! :-)

Yes, it sounds odd to, in essence, stop one's english sentence for a french word. That's why I mentioned it in the context of someone saying it had to be "coo pon" not "kyoo pon" because that is how the French say it. I don't know the right answer, because kre-sont sounds odd to me too!

Actually, fact is, I don't care for them. So I don't need to say them at all come think of it.

Sad note from my childhood: We were living in NY, and I had just gotten an extensive grammar lesson in school, partially relating to a certain word it was apparently ALWAYS uncouth to say.

So, just about immediately after, my immediate family and I went down to oue ancestral home in Kentucky to celebrate Thanksgiving with my grandparents.

I caught severe hell for correcting my grandmother for using the word, "ain't".

Well, I don't do the N up in my nose if I'm saying coupon. I'm not trying to sound French, in fact, I couldn't if I tried. I never got the French R right. I don't have a very good French accent at all. But I'm aware of original vowel sounds and would rather not just give up and Americanize everything.

Artemis, maybe because "ain't" was considered absolutely the worst growing up, I get great satisfaction from using it now for emphasis.

I too enjoy using "ain't" for emphasis - even in my very professional workplace. I've been known (if the situation warrants) to adopt a sort of a John Wayne stance and spew out the side of my mouth between gritted teeth, "Well, I ain't gonna do that!"

Ida, exactly. "Uh, that ain't gonna happen!" So much more satisfying than, "Dear me, no, that's unlikely to happen."

Cringe worthy: "We're pregnant." No, y'all ain't. She is. You two are expecting.

I find "we're pregnant" cringe-worthy too. I once mentioned this and was roundly chastised for not recognizing that pregnancy is a couple's event, and apparently old hard-hearted me was a real horse's rear for not wanting to hear it put that way.

I say "croissant" like I have a mouthful of one.

Tweak. In business settings. Just put it together and we can tweak the numbers later. Like nails on a chalk board and I hear it all the time!

"Unpack." This has become common in church-speak, as in taking a passage of scripture and "unpacking" it -- breaking it down, delving into the deeper meaning. I hate unpack used in this sense.

Also common in church-speak is "do life." My husband is the man I've chosen to do life with. Why not simply say live? I really, really hate "do life." Ugh.

Cringe worthy: "We're pregnant." No, y'all ain't. She is. You two are expecting.

Even worse is when a man says that he is "babysitting" his own kids while his wife is out of the house.

Eek, I really dislike it when men "babysit" their own kids, too. I've worked with women who would panic at the thought of getting home late because their husbands "didn't know how" to feed, bathe, and put their own children to bed.

I cringe at some of the short hand used on texts--"u" for "you," "r" for "are." Yuk.

I also bristle at "thanks in advance." It usually means you will do whatever I've asked.

Uh oh. When I'm requesting information, or any kind of help here, I often add TIA. A lazy way of saying thank you for helping, if you're able.

I was reminded today of another phrase I can't stand and frankly wonder about the person's common sense. I feel like I may vomit a little just by typing it. "It is what it is" Well OF COURSE it is what it is! What else would it be? :o My husband is a way laid back. A neurologist once called him my "shock absorber" :) He rolls his eyes at the phrase too. The other night we were driving home from our daugher's and I said "that's insane". He asked me if I realized I said that a lot. He said it was one of my words :o

I don't like the phrase "It is what it is" either. I don't like hearing it because it always seems to indicate a bit of a defeatist attitude. It's as if you're just going to accept the situation for what it is even though you may not like it and not even try to change it in some way - even if it's just making an attitude adjustment to it.

On line for standing in line. Reaching out for contact or call. Dh and I have been making fun of poor grammar for so long that I don't know what is correct anymore. It's all mushed up in my head.

Toe cleavage. Yuk, I said it.

Share out, as in passing along or sharing information. "We are in the midst of a remodel and will share out information as it progresses.". Ugh.

Ida, I also hate that we have to "unpack" everything in church! I haven't heard "do life" at my church.

In addition to things like U R for you are, I also hate lite, nite, donut, etc. I realize they are probably now all accepted spellings but they just look wrong to me.

My DH's family all say they "marionate" a steak. I always imagine it dancing around on strings.

Donna

Monica, I confess I've said that now and then, and I hate myself for it. Next time I will try:

• It isn't what it is.
• It is what it isn't.

msmeow, you have to "unpack" at church too, huh? LOL! The church we now attend doesn't use that phrase, but a previous church did. They had a young, very hip vibe and seemed to want to appeal to those on the cutting edge. Obviously, that wasn't a fit for us old curmudgeons. (I was horrified once when, to make a point relative to his message, the pastor handed out tiny bags of candies to the congregation and then proceeded to refer to them as "dime bags." So inappropriate!)

Something that bothers me is when someone says, "What it is is ..." instead of simply saying "It is ..."

Of course, I'm sure I use words and phrases that drive some people bonkers as well.

It is common to see on forums people asking for "advise," when I believe what they are seeking is "advice." I always wonder why that mistake is so common.

Sas95, I think that may be a British spelling.

Ida, how 'bout "this is where it's at"? LOL

Another one is people saying they "could care less" when they mean they "couldn't care less".

Regarding learned mispronunciations - I used to work with a gal (who I admit wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack) who mispronounced lots of things. She said them the way she heard them and didn't care to know the right way to spell or say it. :) One of my favorites was when she had "kabasy" for dinner. I quizzed her about it and finally deduced she meant "kielbasa".

Donna

Advice (noun) and advise (verb) are two different words and the Brits know the difference.

I don't think it's a British spelling. Advice is a noun, advise is a verb.

"Can you give me some advice? "

" Can you advise me? "

It's similar to device and devise.

Ida- If you google 'pronounce kielbasa' you'll get two pronunciations, KEEL-basa, and KA-basy. I am ethnic polish, my poppa said kabasy.

On other mispronunciations, I often hear people say that something is MUTE, when the mean MOOT. Cracks me up.

OK, but I'm not the one who mentioned kielbasa.

But now I want to eat one. ;-)

Oh, I just read up-thread about unpack. That's a hoot. I am in IT and we have packed data and unpacked data. I am always asking someone to dump a file and make sure to unpack it first, now I will always think of church. ROFLMAO

Localeater, the same girl who said "kabasy" also turned up the "Valium" on her radio...

Donna

Per say instead of per se.

Mute for moot! (autocorrect changed it to mute lol) Yes! here in my neck of the woods lol we have barbeque BBQ and a cue is used to play pool.

Never heard of unpacking in church but I have been doing a lot of it here in the house.

Pregant for pregnant.

And top of the list not pronouncing t and double t in words. Pretty - pr--e. City - ci--e. It is so prevalent these days and I really cringe when I hear supposedly educated people doing it including teachers. The British speak those words that way so I assume it is a form of copying. The show Ladies of London has a theme song that says "you may be pretty but this is my city" both pretty and city are missing their t's. Kitty- ki--e.

https://youtu.be/8l4plvR378U

Oh, no you di'in't!

I'm also bugged by the term "heavy lifting" to describe mental activities. i.e., "The author of the paper did a lot of heavy lifting in proving his thesis."

Ugh.

One and only one word I can't tolerate the use of.....'love' when it applies to inanimtate objects....like home decor.

Mangling words--I once had a friend who used to refer to the furniture in which you store clothes as a chester drawers LOL.

My husband mangles words constantly; I"m never sure how much is deliberate and whether some is an odd side effect of his learning issues. For example, he tells me occasionally to check the real estate on that website Godzilla.

Running, my dad has called scones " sconces" for years. I prefer to think of it as a charming peccadillo.

I'll second 'unthaw.' My Dad HATED that! He would correct it every time.

When people mispronounce Realtor as rel-a-tor, especially when they are Realtors themselves.

And when people add an H onto height, making it heighth.

A friend told me most Parisians dislike Canadian French. It sounds old fashioned to them. The words and phrases that come into common use from rap or low income urban culture sometimes bother me as well. In the twenties, jazz slang offended the former Victorians, but most of that slang has died away. People use current slang for its freshness and with time it begins to date a person. I know people who still say groovy, awesome, swell, fascinatin', whooped, pops, knickers,and the so and sos. I enjoy the regional American differences in spelling and pronunciation and some of the word choices. I hope we never lose that. Australian slang is fun but I hear British slang being used in California more often. Disneyland is a good place to listen to variations of english.

I was staying at a hotel in Colorado and got up early to pack my car. A group of Japanese men wearing suits were waiting for their bus. I went to say hello and they gathered around me wanting to practice their English. I asked one man where they were going and he said enthusiastically, " We go to the Denver! ".

I always call it The Denver now. In Orange County ( I never started using the O.C. ) there are many Asian communities and the spelling and word choices on signs can make me smile when I see them. I was told to use the word Asian, because oriental is only for rugs and pottery now.

I don't like crude swear words. Luckily no one in my circle of family and friends curses, in public at least. I think people who pepper their conversation with foul language are a real turn off. I also can't stand the "near" swear words people use on places like Facebook or other forums--ie. "f-ing." Yuck.

jmc101, rut ro. I'm guilty of using the word "love" as in I LOVE my new "the most beautiful lamp in the world" lamp...and a slew of other inanimate objects. My mother gets on to me all the time for that. I'm 56 again. Aren't a little old to be getting chastised by my momma? (g)

Speaking of loving inanimate objects, I seriously feel like punching a person that calls inanimate objects "sexy" "My new Galaxy S7 is one sexy phone". I just don't get it! Burt Reynolds used to be sexy. Harry Connick Jr IS sexy, but phone, car or watch?

Ending a sentence in a preposition. A pet peeve of mine as well but sometimes I do it because to say the sentence correctly sounds too "stuffy" (for lack of a better word). But ending a sentence with "at", NEVER! I had a high school HISTORY teacher that would answer any question that ended in "at" with "between the a and the t". Like, "where's a box of new chalk at?" I don't know if he's right but my one of my brothers researched the grammar rule of never ending a sentence with a preposition. I can't quote him exactly he said it was a Frenchman who decided that Americans shouldn't end sentences with a preposition and that it's not really a "rule" of English grammar. Does anyone have more information on this?

I hope all my grammar, sentence structuring and punctuation is right. I'm really feeling self conscience now :o

My DH ends sentence with "at." "Where are you at?" "I don't know where my keys are at." I keep my mouth shut, but I shudder. Otherwise, his grammar is fine.

Shouldn't be thinking hateful thoughts on Christmas Eve, but if I see one more person write "ur" for "your", I will scream.

Ending a sentence with a preposition.

Me too. That is something up with which I will not put!