Wrongly used words - a pet hate

There are 2 wrongly used, very common words that I see everywhere, including in this forum. The reason it irks me is because people who are not native english speakers can easily learn them wrongly - Marcel is one such person, and I've seen others. The words are "than" and "have".

THAN (then)
Some americans, probably because of their particular accents, use the word "then" when the word is "than" - it sounds like "then" when they speak it, and I imagine they think it is the correct word, but it isn't. Example: "this item costs more then that item" - should be "this item costs more THAN that item". That's a wrong word that Marcel has managed to pick up.

HAVE (of)
I don't think this one is limited to americans, because many or most english speakers pronounce it similar to "of", by dropping the H. Example: I should of seen it coming" should be "I should HAVE seen it coming".

It may be harsh, but I tend to see native english speakers, who use those words wrongly, as lacking in education. To my way of thinking, even though people pronounce them differently to how they are spelled, and can easily start out thinking that "then" and "of" are the right words, as we grow up we should all come to know that they are not.

The than thing irks me probably more than it crosses you, and I am not an English native speaker. Fun thing is, I have seen far more US people use it wrongly than non-natives...

Hmm, guess it's a regional thing.

Of course the main reason english is so hard to learn for even native speakers is the fact it's fluid and changing all the time. Plus the fact for every rule there is an exception.

There are people that hate the use of words like can't, don't , and the like. Preferring can not, do not.

i would have said 'should've seen it coming'

yes, im english, from england and i HATE it when people correct my speech

shouldn't it be "words not used correctly?"

my biggest error is use of 'as' and 'has', always annoys me when I cannot make up my mind which is the correct one to use, my home town dialect is to drop 'H's' so that doesn't me at all either.

Don't get me started on peak, pique and peek:

"A peek at a peak was enough to pique her interest."

Affect/effect, less/fewer and the various abuses of the words ironic and literally also annoy me. Less people use them correctly than you'd think, which effects me so badly I literally explode. Which is ironic.

I'm guessing that these misspellings really hurt comprehension by non-native English speakers. (Ikklespeak must be fiendishly difficult to puzzle out.)

Although I doubt it will apply to the cited examples, the "living language" thing is interesting; I think we're less than a generation from "a whole nother" becoming standard parlance.

I just wish I could always and only "apostrophize" the "it's" contraction and not the "its" possessive when typing fast. Dunno why my fingers won't reliably type the "r" in "your"--to say nothing of getting "your"/"you're" correct every time.

And even "there"/"they're"/"their". It's not like I don't know which I mean, and I can see it instantly when somebody else types it, yet I've been known to screw these up, even on Forum posts.

Awww, you lot and your grammar and spelling peeves!

I never laughed so many since I were a children!

Ain't nuffink more irritating then improperly using grammar innit?

I suspect that common "speech" in chat windows suffers from a desire for speedy communication over accuracy. This is fine for native english speakers who usually get what you mean but also a great way for learners to pick up bad practises.

While I am a native English speaker I often use SL to switch to German just to practise so the argumanet is valid whatever or whichever language you are referring to.

Actually it would, since there are places where the examples are the norm for spoken use of the language. They are also used so in the media further adding to the integration into the english language. Much like many words are added from slang and general usage by a large portion of the speakers.

Plus you got to remember : The united states, screwing with the queen's english for over 200 years!

I don't think they do it on porpoise

Some do, hence the rise of hooked on phonics and similar programs

(not to mention 1337 and many of the chat room shortcuts)

And nobody mentions the overuse of the word 'like'? Have you sat on a bus full of teenagers lately, gasp

I'm easy about changing language and use of abbreviations etc - more so in chat than forums.

I've noticed that some French people leave out apostrophes in their chat. E.g. 'voulez-vous descargot'? or 'lenfant terrible' That's confusing!!!

"Misused" is the word I think you want.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I just want to add "irregardless" to the list.

kthanxbai

ugh, even my spell checker thinks it's a word.

yes a very good word

i no wat u mèan. I h8 all abbrv. Need a teenager on the grid 2 txL8

A lot of slang is used in America because of so many different cultures blending at teen ages.
The changes in the language come mostly from the teen generations over the decades trying to separate themselves from past generations and parents..
There is a lot of peer pressure to be in the loop in every way including slang..Over time certain things make it to main stream and before you know it the adults are using some of the slang to keep up or businesses trying to market with the slang even inventing their own words..

Then there is the resentment Factor..Having it thrust upon someone that does not feel it is the only way to communicate..That school is school and when school is over it's over..When in an area of a relaxed atmosphere one should feel they can relax and be themselves while still getting their point out there and understood..

Because someone doesn't choose to use it doesn't mean they can't..They may feel they express themselves better in their own words..
The Queens English is fading from America because America is always changing and melding with other cultures..
I would have loved to learn my cultures language but Apache just doesn't cut it anymore lol

Speaking to Phil's original post, I think people have simply gotten lazy. We see misused words or misspelled words over and over in forum threads, emails, chat rooms, etc, and become conditioned to repeat the errors in our own composition.

I would add to the list of peeves the abuse of the apostrophe. When ever did it become proper to pluralize nouns using the apostrophe?

Irregardless... I get "flustrated" when the "dog needs walked".
and I never know what I'm "suppose" to do when someone is waiting for food to "dethaw"
I was also trying to be discreet about setting up two discrete levels of gift giving last Christmas.

People really need to talk gooder then they do

Oh that's just like phonetic for people who haven't actually seen those words used that way.

What's the real annoyance is when people use lightening for lightning.

Hah! Made ya cringe!

The have-of error is the one I see most of, maybe it's more British than the then-than one.

What annoys me the most is people who deliberately use mis-spellings and text-speak just because they think it's somehow cool. They know perfectly well how to spell, they just choose not to, because they can. I would personally like to round up everyone who ever says "u r so gay" (or anything similar) and drop them all into a bottomless pit.