Using a word wrong - does it annoy you?

Question

I often come across people who say `wondering` instead of `wandering.` (My daughter does).

I often feel like correcting them, but of course I don`t. It also seems petty that it grates on my nerves, but it DOES!

Do you know anyone who uses a word `wrong` and does it annoy you?

Answer 1

Hi no it doesnt bother me at all as long as I know what the other person is trying to say and I can make sense of it I dont really care how they spell stuff.  

Answer 2

Yes it drives me nuts.

My boss keeps saying "How comes', instead of "how come", and it gets properly on my nerves.

He has another word he uses regularly completely out of context- destructive, instead of constructive. i go loo-lah when i hear him yapping on about destructive criticism, as though thats a positive thing.

How do you tell your boss such things?

Answer 3

What keeps you from correcting them?

There usually is a very subtle yet overpowering transference of annoyance when I correct someone (and yeah, it does bother me when the word is used wrongly in a context not merely spelt wrongly).

Answer 4

I am totally with you 100% on this one. Inarticulation can drive me to a rage. And I think we all have a responsibility to correct each other when honest mistakes are made. In fact if we don't then this epidemic only escalates. I see it all the time - I use the Internet as part of my work and I find it unbelievable how many apparently legit websites there are with classic spelling errors like "focussed" strewn about

Answer 5

YES...my gran children say" will you borrow me something instead of lend me "" also people who keep saying ABSOLUTELY all the time  

Answer 6

Yes, using a word WRONGLY (it's an adverb not an adjective you need here) annoys me!

Answer 7

I dislike it when people say 'of' instead of have.."I should of done that" or" I should of seen to it "instead of should or could have..maybe I am just fussy

Answer 8

Oh yes, Oh yes, and incorrect pronunciation drives me insane! Decayeds as opposed to Decades is the first that springs to mind but there are dozens of the blighters lol. The most recent to drive me mad is "Bored of whatever" one is not "bored of" one is bored "with".or preferably, (whatever) bores me. For the record, I am not perfect, I am no English professor but some of the errors are so in your face it beggars belief.

My big problem is that I do tend to correct those whom I know, those who really know me take it for what it is, something I cannot help

myself from doing lol. Those who do not really know me take it as an insult or that I am simply trying to be superior, neither of which is the case.

"Do I know anyone who uses a word wrong"? Yes loads, myself included occasionally.