I just thought to add this comment...at the beginning, rather than the end...most of the irritants mentioned below cause me to instantly turn off the radio or TV...or change the channel. It's all like chalkboard screeching and I can't stand it.
I don't pretend to know or speak perfect English...but there are so many things I hear and read that really annoy me! Here are some...in no particular order...and I'll add to this as I come across...or remember...others.
Sportscasters using the term, "difference maker". Somehow, to me, this term sounds childish at best. There simply must be another way to describe a person or event in a contest making a difference better than that.
Washington State sports announcers who can't seem to say, "Washington State". Instead they say, " Wash State, Washing State, Wahston, Washtn"...etc. It's only recently I realized the same thing occurs when media people speak of Washington DC...or the Washington Redskins...etc.
Ekcetera...no way!
Even though it's totally wrong to say..."Him and I did so and so..." or "Him and me did so and so..."...it's far worse when they say..."to he and I..."...That just indicates someone is really trying to sound intelligent and educated when it's just plain ignorant!
Weather reporters saying "temps" or "précip" just gets under my skin.
Anybody on the radio or TV who says, "This particular time..." Lose the 'particular!
So many people say, "at the end of the day"...or "net net"...or "as it were..."
Meaningless fillers are used, apparently just to appear educated...or something...How about just ending a statement with "with", which is nonsense...and other times, just inserting "if" without meaning...like, "if you will follow me...", without continuing with the "if" part...better to say, "please follow me..." (make sense?)...and too often, I hear "per se" and "I digress..." Those things are just meaningless comments...fillers, best left, unsaid.
Calling dollars 'bucks'!
"Speak to the issue..." I don't understand that. One speaks about and issue...not 'to' an issue.
"...at the same time..." That's certainly overused!
Okay..."Try and see what's going on..." or "Try and find out something..."...etc. What in the world is that all about? You don't "try AND see". You "try TO see"! If you're trying AND seeing, there's no need to try since you've already indicated you know you'll see whatever it is. You're trying TO see something!
Traffic reporters saying traffic is backed up in "either direction" rather than "both directions". This, while grammatically acceptable, is a pretentious way of speaking.
And, speaking of being pretentious, how about pronouncing the word "either" with a long 'I" rather than a long "E" sound.
Pretentious again...news media of all kinds and everyone else speaking...misuse of the descriptive words "further" and "farther"! For example, saying something is "further away" rather than "farther away" seems to be a feeble attempt to sound enlightened and intelligent while exposing ignorance of the language.
Anyone who says "nuculer" rather than "nuclear". President Bush said it so many times, I had to look it up, thinking I must be wrong.
The inability or lack of desire to pronounce the letter "L" normally. The Tom Bokaw, Peter Falk, Pete Rose (and others), tendency of speaking with a dark, velarized, Slavic, liquid "L" really irritates me. This is dialectical and can be corrected. There was a local weatherman with that problem and it was hilarious when he said he was a "meteorologist".
A certain, local, radio personality actually pronounces the word "err" with a short "U" sound...as in "her". This is simply preposterous and highly pretentious. When I hear it, I immediately switch stations.
Sports broadcasters placing emphasis oddly. For example, with the score of three to two, and the leading team scores again, the announcer says, "Now the score is four to TWO", emphasizing the two...rather than, "FOUR to two".
All sports people who claim a team is 'within one or two...or whatever number' when they're actually trailing by that amount. They are not within that amount! Say, the score is 10 to 3 and the trailing team scores 1 more to make it 10 to 4. They are NOT within 6 at that point.
Another...ending a sentence with "at" such as, "Where are you at?" The "at" is unnecessary of course.
How about all those "gots"? "You've got to see this" is really, "You have got to see this" and should be, "You have to see this". Better yet, "You must see this". The main issue is the insertion of "got" in so many places where it shouldn't be. Arby's ran an ad for a long time..."We've got the meat". However, they've seen the light and now the ad is, "We have the meat". (How nice!) Similarly, the word "that" is thrown into so many sentences, unnecessarily, it makes my blood churn! Also, the word, "that" is used to describe people when the word, "who" is better used.
"I could care less"! I was reading a Salon article the other day which described Trump's apparent feelings for immigrants. In it, the author wrote, "He could care less". When I read or hear such things, I stop right there...and move on to some other article or station.
There are so many ways people start sentences oddly...some people I know begin every sentence with, "I mean..." or " Ya know..."
Saying, "carmel" instead of "caramel"...
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