05/2015 - The Grammar-Us Blog - Grammar-Us

As a self-described “grammar nerd,” I can assure you that there are far more than twelve errors making me gnash my teeth and making my dentist clap his hands with glee! However, for the sake of saving my time and your eye strain, I will limit this blog post to only those which have caught my attention lately, mostly because I have heard them more than once in the last few weeks:

1. Can’t hardly/won’t hardly/doesn’t hardly: This is a double negative, something about which I devoted an entire blog post not long ago. Double negatives cancel each other out; therefore, you end up saying the opposite of what you actually intended to say.

2. I could care less: This is an example of what I call a “hidden” double negative. If you could care less, that means you do care to some extent. If you really don’t give a hoot, then you could not (or couldn’t) care less.

3. Not a good ideal: I have never understood why some folks put an “l” at the end of “idea.” That changes the word from a noun to an adjective. To express the opinion that a thought or suggestion is not the optimal one, you should say, “It’s not a good idea.”

4. I feel kindly sick today: “Kindly” is an adverb meaning benevolent, warm-hearted, caring. “Kind of” means more or less, approximate. So, if you are feeling a little under the weather, then you are kind of sick.

5. Waiting with baited breath: To bait something is to lure it (think of fishing and that worm dangling on the end of a hook). However, if you want to suspend or reduce something (your breath, perhaps), then you would bate it. “Bate” appears to be a derivative of “abate,” which means to reduce, lessen, moderate, decrease or subside. One trick to help you remember: “Bated” has fewer letters than “baited.” Therefore, if you are decreasing your breathing, you also decrease the size of the word describing it.

6. Centers around: “Centers” implies specificity, pinpointing something. “Around” is much more vague and approximate. Therefore, it is illogical to state that something “centers around” something else. "Centers on" or "revolves around" are preferred.

7. Hot water heater: If your water is already hot, why do you need to heat it? “Hot water heater” is redundant. Simply call it a “water heater,” because that’s what it is!

8. Realtor: This one is a pronunciation error.  Do you remember the flak that President George W. Bush got when he said, “nuke-u-lar” instead of “nuke-le-ar”? Well, people who say “real-a-tor” instead of “real-tor” elicit that same reaction from me!

9. No problem: When used as a reply to “Thank you,” this phrase is insulting! I did not ask if you encountered any difficulties in fulfilling my request; I am merely expressing my gratitude to you. Similarly, replying with “Sure!” is not responsive. The proper thing to say when someone expresses thanks is, “You’re welcome.”  

10. Alls I’m telling you is…: This one really drives me nuts! “All” is already a collective, meaning the whole. In effect, “alls” pluralizes the plural, making it redundant and making it wrong.

11. The baby is one years old: Kind of the opposite of #10 above. “One” is singular; therefore, “year” should be singular, also. “The baby is one year old.”

12. I seen it: You might have seen something, or maybe you saw it. But you never seen it. “Seen” is the present perfect form of the verb and must be accompanied by “have” or “has.” “Saw” is the simple past tense.

BONUS TIP:

OK, okay, O.K.: Which is correct? I was surprised when I researched this in order to answer a question. According to what I learned, it is OK to use “OK” and “okay,” but it is not OK to use “O.K.” Regarding the first two versions, “OK” is the most widely-used. Only about a third of the population uses “okay.” The reason that “O.K.” is unacceptable is that the periods imply an abbreviation, but there are no real words being abbreviated.

Whether you choose “OK” or “okay,” please keep in mind that either is perceived as informal speech or writing. Therefore, if you are writing formally, it is preferable not to use it in any form.