OT: Pet Peeve

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boomhower wrote on 2/21/2006, 2:17 PM
A judge once told me about a defendant in his court that suddenly found himself in a trick bag on the stand. Hoping to save his neck, he suddenly stopped answering questions. The attorney was pushing him to answer and finally the guy turns to this judge and says, "Your Honor, I plead the fifth dimension."

Another one I was present for was a fellow in a similar boat who told a different judge he (the defendant) was "an escape goat" in the case.

Good Stuff

JohnnyRoy wrote on 2/21/2006, 2:19 PM
> Pretty funny, Don't know the author

Sounds like something George Carlin would say. One of my favorite quotes from him (and pertinent to a thread on English) is:

"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

Think about it. ;-)

~jr
JJKizak wrote on 2/21/2006, 2:24 PM
CD's is easy. Change it to read "Seedeez"
JJK
winrockpost wrote on 2/21/2006, 2:26 PM
NC State baketball player being interviewed on television after a game , explained he could go to the bucket with his left hand or his right because he was blessed being amphibious.

Saw it and heard it with me own eyes and ears.
boomhower wrote on 2/21/2006, 2:27 PM
Would that be the same as:

Did uze guys seedeez prices?!
PossibilityX wrote on 2/21/2006, 2:31 PM
"Plead the 5th dimension."

I love these Norm Crosby-esque mistakes.

I visited a carnival one time and the freak show announcer kept saying the fat lady was in the "Genesis Book of World Records." Made me want to visit a bar and order a Genesis Stout.
rmack350 wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:27 PM
That's really interesting, actually. I'd guess the broadcasters are saying "An istorical event". They're following the rule automatically, based on their pronunciation.

R
rmack350 wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:32 PM
People's language skills really do break down under stress. I think this also gives rise to made up words.

Language is a fairly new invention in the larger scheme of things.

Rob
rmack350 wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:36 PM
I think that's a Canadian peeve. It's really a "point", not a "dot".

The only person I know who gripes about it is a Canadian.

Rob Mack
rmack350 wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:39 PM
Math works that way too when you multiply two negative numbers.

I'm just sayin'...

Rob
rmack350 wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:49 PM
We've talked about it a bit while driving through Arizona. Don't know much about the language but I love the idea of being on "Dine' time" as we drive through the state.

Aren't the Dine' one of the few native north american groups who've tried to form an writing system? Seems like I'd heard that somewhere. Maybe Jared Diamond.

Rob
johnmeyer wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:51 PM
I love these Norm Crosby-esque mistakes.

When he died a few months ago, I figured I was the only one who knew who he was. "It was hot and muggy. You could feel the humility in the air," was one of my favorites.
winrockpost wrote on 2/21/2006, 3:53 PM
Rob,, you OK ?
PeterWright wrote on 2/21/2006, 4:52 PM
One which crops up here now and then:

"could of", "should of", "would of" instead of "could have", "should have", "would have"

Probably caused by a misunderstanding of the contracted form, "could've" etc.
jeff_12_7 wrote on 2/21/2006, 4:56 PM
Another broadcaster favorite: Incorrectly saying the word "and" in the year.

Welcome to the "Two thousand AND six" (2006) Olympics. Get rid of the "AND".

Two thousand six.
Spot|DSE wrote on 2/21/2006, 4:56 PM
Din'e, Tin'e, B'in'e, all Athapascans, some migrated north, and the Tin'e of Alaska do have a written language, but they're very, very different in language use, culture, etc. They had a lot more exposure to settlers than did the Din'e of Din'e Biikii'yah. So...there are some "civilized" differences, I guess.
Serena wrote on 2/21/2006, 5:22 PM
I never expected to see such a thread on the internet. That people don't care how their sentences are constructed or whether their words are correctly spelt is my pet peeve. Making unintentional mistakes is a different matter and I guess we've got used to our computers picking up the obvious errors. When checking (before posting) we tend to read what we meant; frequently I have to go back in and edit. Text messaging looks like the face-of-death for sophisticated writing, but hopefully not.
In this country the current fashion for teaching English is by immersion. The problems of spelling and grammar are put into the background because they're thought to be stumbling blocks to free expression. There was an attempt by a teaching body to change, at seniour level, the English literature syllabus to reduce the number of books read (to 1) in favour of text messaging, internet, films and video. Fortunately that was 'done-in' by community outrage (as Eliza Doolittle would have said).
dibbkd wrote on 2/21/2006, 5:48 PM
I may as well add mine...

When people use alot instead of a lot.

Do you have alittle or alot? :)

Also, I know the other poster explained what (sic) meant, which I knew what it meant, but what do the letters sic mean? Is it an abbreviation for something?
epirb wrote on 2/21/2006, 6:03 PM
My pet peeve is people who use letters to spell words.
PossibilityX wrote on 2/21/2006, 6:09 PM
My favorite Norm Crosby line was when he talked about an appreciative audience who gave him "a standing ovulation."
jwcarney wrote on 2/21/2006, 6:17 PM
Don't worry Jay, I aint never gonna disagree with ya'll on that one.
B.Verlik wrote on 2/21/2006, 7:35 PM
I don't know for sure, but I always assumed that SIC stands for 'situation in correct'
Heavy emphasis on the word assumed. (one of those things I always wondered about, but I never found the answer to, so I made up one of my own. I got the idea from SNAFU, which is not easy to figure out either.)
corug7 wrote on 2/21/2006, 7:37 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic

Amazing what one can find in a few seconds on the 'net.
B.Verlik wrote on 2/21/2006, 7:40 PM
Hmmmm. I like mine better