Pet Peeves of Grammar: 7 Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
Pet Peeves: Everyone has them, and they drive us crazy. One of mine is grammar. I may be a little old fashioned compared to the average college student, as I hate most slang and abbreviations. Please do not ever send me a text message containing any of the following: smh, lmao, omw, np, etc. I can’t stand seeing that I misspelled a word in a text message or email right after I hit send. If I find a grammatical error in one of my tweets, I’ll automatically delete it. Sometimes the 140-character rule on twitter kills me when I have to sacrifice perfect grammar by getting rid of a couple apostrophes or commas in order to shorten my tweet. Clearly, grammar can drive me crazy. But here are just a few of the common grammatical errors that make me cringe:
1. Literally
Admit it, we’ve all used this one incorrectly. How many times have you said, “I’m laughing so hard I’m literally peeing my pants”? But how many times have you truly peed your pants? Hopefully you’re just using the word incorrectly because literally is defined as “actually, with without exaggeration or inaccuracy.” We may have more of a problem than just your grammar if you are literally peeing your pants whenever you laugh.
2. Couldn’t Care Less
Most people say “I could care less” which in reality, actually means the exact opposite of what they intend.
3. Your/ You’re
Your = possession. You’re = you are. It’s really not that difficult.
4. May As Well
We’re not talking about possession. It’s a common tendency for people to say “mine as well” instead of “may as well.” But the word mine, if properly used, denotes possession.
5. Supposed To/ Used To
Don’t forget the ‘D.’ I get it; we live in a generation that loves to shorten words. But you are changing the tense of the word. Try to avoid saying, “I was suppose to” or “I use to.”
6. Take For Granted
People commonly misuse the phrase by saying “take for granite” rather than saying “take for granted.” Unless you are remodeling your kitchen, you probably have no use for taking any granite.
7. Their/ There/ They’re
This one isn’t that difficult to differentiate either. Their = possession. There = position, point, or place. They’re = they are.
