The most annoying expressions...

ETA: Sorry, just noticed that I wrote "say" above, when I meant "write". I blame the cold meds/fever.

I love it when people interchange sensory words.  Like when you read something and you say, "I heard...." even though you technically saw it or read it...not heard it...as it wasn't literally spoken.  I do this all the time and after the fact realize that if someone was being anal, they would 'say' something about it.

I love it when people interchange sensory words.  Like when you read something and you say, "I heard...." even though you technically saw it or read it...not heard it...as it wasn't literally spoken.  I do this all the time and after the fact realize that if someone was being anal, they would 'say' something about it.

I am probably totally missing the point, but how would anyone know whether you actually read it or heard it?

I've actually heard people say 'I should of'- they quite clearly pronounce 'of', with the full 'o' sound, rather than the quick contraction sound in should've. Then of course they often follow it with 'went' and I launch into a diatribe about appropriate use of past participles.

Have you seen the Finished Files thing?

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS."

Just count them once; do not go back and count them again.

My "of" isn't pronounced with an "o" sound so I'm having trouble picturingimagine-hearing your example.

I mean the sound of the o in of, not a long o. They make a clear gap between the word should and the word of and stress the vowel sound in of to make it clear that they 'know' it's two words and that the second word is 'of'. So it doesn't sound like shoulduv all run together, it sounds like should ov (almost more like the sound of o in off than the more schwa-like uh sound in of). 

My father, when describing an action to be performed, would say "you take and [do whatever]" I used to think this was just him but I notice that one of the guys on the "This Old House" show says it all the time: e.g. "I want you to take and rake this all in."  Must be a regionalism.

And I think with the "heighth" thing Tremula was trying to say that they're still saying it the way people did in the 17th century just like the Northerners who still use thee/thou/thine even though the rest of us consider it archaic.

Oh, I understand what he's saying. It's just that I disagree that that's the reason people say 'heighth.' I believe most people say it for the same reason they say 'exscape' and 'aks.'

But enough about that.

My current irritation is not really an expression, but a pronunciation. I pronounce the word 'vegetables' sort of like this: veg-ta-bles. My MIL says veg-ed-ub-bulls. And there's no stress on any one syllable; she sort of says it in a robotic way. It drives me mad!

When I was in school, my father had a friend who had a really odd way of speaking. Instead of peppering his speech with 'um' or 'you know,' as a lot of people do, he'd say 'a thing on it.' It would come out like, "Yesterday I wanted a thing on it one of those screwdrivers but the thing on it hardware store was all out of them." It was truly bizarre.

I mean the sound of the o in of, not a long o. They make a clear gap between the word should and the word of and stress the vowel sound in of to make it clear that they 'know' it's two words and that the second word is 'of'. So it doesn't sound like shoulduv all run together, it sounds like should ov (almost more like the sound of o in off than the more schwa-like uh sound in of). 

I know exactly what you mean, but can't recall ever hearing it here.  Is it a regional US thing?  You're from the Midwest somewhere, right?  I know I used to hear this in Wisconsin all the time. 

The thing I've noticed people saying recently that really gets to me is "sleeps," as in "only two sleeps until Christmas."  I don't know why, but this really irritates me.   

Yes, I should have specified! These are Cincinnatians I'm talking about.

I am probably totally missing the point, but how would anyone know whether you actually read it or heard it?

When you said you missed the point, you didn't say it...you wrote it.  Therefore, it is impossible that I heard gretel say that she missed the point.

The thing I've noticed people saying recently that really gets to me is "sleeps," as in "only two sleeps until Christmas."  I don't know why, but this really irritates me.   

I think that's a Mummyism to explain time to kids who don't understand about "days"?

My father, when describing an action to be performed, would say "you take and [do whatever]" I used to think this was just him but I notice that one of the guys on the "This Old House" show says it all the time: e.g. "I want you to take and rake this all in."  Must be a regionalism.

I'd never heard this until I moved to New England when I was 16.  Upon arrival, I had a driving instructor that used "take" to excess when giving instruction -- and in some cases, coming up with completely hilarious instructions -- "I want you to take and leave the parking space."    

The thing I've noticed people saying recently that really gets to me is "sleeps," as in "only two sleeps until Christmas."  I don't know why, but this really irritates me.   

The only time I've heard "Only one more sleep til Christmas" is the song from The Muppet Christmas Carol and references to it.

I'd never heard this until I moved to New England when I was 16.  Upon arrival, I had a driving instructor that used "take" to excess when giving instruction -- and in some cases, coming up with completely hilarious instructions -- "I want you to take and leave the parking space."    

"Take and" was colloquial in UK English up to the 19th Century, people would say things like "He took and died" or "She took and ran" - it appears in Dickens - and is still colloquial in some parts of the US.

I hear 'sleeps' all the time as the in-laws say it frequently and now DD does...even though she's well-aware of what days are.

I also hate 'take and'..."You take and put the ingredients in the bowl...then you take and mix them up...then you take and put them in the over..."    Luckily I don't hear it often.