Let's start a blitz on bad grammar - nationwide

I am firmly on the horns of a dilemma here. I am both slightly pedantic and a teacher of English as a second language. In the latter guise I understand that language has always evolved and changes over time according to common usage; but oh how it challenges the pedant in me!

I agree with most of the above but it's the misuse of less and fewer that really annoys me. I was going to write 'gets my goat' but then I don't have a goat or any other similar creature!

Aww that bugs me too, my daughter does it all the time, "shall i come over to yours for tea?" my what? my kitchen, my house, my garden yaaagh.

Also 'issues', everyone seems to have issues with just about anything and everything. While I'm on a bit of a roll here, what really annoys me is when reading reviews especially on Amazon the amount of people who 'brought' something instead of 'bought' two entirely different meanings, and different spellings, so why is it so hard to get it right.

There's a big difference between poor/bad grammar and the development of language though.

Maybe we need to' lighten up'. I would consider myself quite a pedant but there is a difference between slang and bad grammar. Slang, good, bad grammar, bad. I love some of the slang terms that people, mainly young people, use. Some of them are very expressive. We had our slang when young and our parents despaired of us. Chillax people!!!

oh yes this is a very irritating one

My grammatical hates on TV are: Weather forecasters saying 'few and further between (as in showers) instead of fewer and further between and people starting an interview with 'I mean.... ' Surely 'I mean' should only be said when you are explaining something that you have said before.

Hear! Hear!

Beginning a sentence with "Basically". is irritating. Saying "I am sat .... " instead of "I am sitting" and "I must of ..." instead of "I must have..." How about "gunna" instead of "going to". Am having a field day here!

Ever tried counting the number of grammatical errors during a news bulletin on TV. It would amaze you how many there are.Surely we should be able to trust organisations like the BBC to get it right. They should be setting a good example but instead, they appear to be one of the worst culprits.
Another thing that they don't seem to teach in schools anymore is table manners. I hate the way so many people now can't hold a knife, fork or spoon correctly.

Have you also noticed how often, even in the quality press, they start a sentence with and or but?That is to say And and But. Something I was taught at my school was never to happen.

I can't stand "For my Sins" it makes me cringe :-)

People who say "To be honest" while answering a question. Should I have reason to doubt their ability to tell the truth?

How about waiters or shop assistants who say." See you later." This is certainly not true as, unless I return to their place of work I have no plans to meet up with them again at a later date.

init! drives me to distraction,

'I'm loving.....' when magazine editors are endorsing a favourite product. It really sets my teeth on edge and don't get me started about the misuse of apostrophes with plurals.

The 3 worse offences for me are: pronouncing the letter 'aitch' as 'haitch', but then sometimes dropping the letter altogether in front of a word! Saying 'sicth' instead of 'sixth' - where did that come from?? I've never heard anyone say 'sicteenth' or 'sictieth' so why 'sicth'?, and then the one which seems to have been adopted in all walks of life - pronouncing 'th' as 'f'. This drives me insane! (Am I turning into a grumpy old woman?!!)

Long live grumpy old women who recognise things like misplaced apostrophes, double negatives and split infinitives - you (actually we) are pearls beyond price!

I totally agree with HazelB about the pronunciation of the letter 'H'. It's one of my pet hates. I get fed up with all those overused phrases such as 'at the end of the day' 'the bottom line is....' etc. When someone asks me how I am I say 'fine/very well, thank you'. So many people now reply 'I'm good'. What does that mean? You are well-behaved? Righteous? I think it may have come from the USA or Australia. Well they can have it back!!

You are so right. I hate different than and different to. It's different FROM.

My pet hate is 'between you and I'. They seem to be scared of using 'me' because of they way some people incorrectly say 'so and so and me did something'.

How do you explain why it is wrong though, when they have no idea what a preposition is, or what the subject or object of a sentence is?

My pet hate is "there is nothing worse than..." as in, for instance, "there is nothing worse than smudged mascara".

What makes me cringe is hearing someone say 'yous' when referring to more than one person, as in 'yous two ....'

As a former teacher in a comprehensive school - whenever I heard this I would kindly and patiently explain that 'ewes' were female sheep and that 'you' was both singular and plural, as in 'you two boys come here'. It did make the pupils laugh though.

OK, can I check: is this a dislike of poor grammar or the misuse of words? I've just bashed out a long rant about the misuse of words only to note someone had pointed out this link was about grammar...to me that means apostrophes in the right place etc...if so I'm going to slink away now as I'm not brilliant at that...but the misuse of words, now that really gets me moaning!

Sorry, just wanted to be sure...call me a picky

OK, back to misuse of words.

Here in Australia they mix up bought and brought, and they often say decimated, which means 10% destroyed, when they really mean completely destroyed. Also, they say literally when they mean metaphorically.

I have to admit that I love some new meanings for old words. Mouse is a good example - the perfect word for a little thing with a sort of tail that moves around a lot!!