Things you really wish people wouldn't say

wow, really? 

I know I tend to slur my words. I could easily imagine someone thinking I said "should of", "would of", or "could of"...but I'd never write it the way I pronounce it! 

I've come across quite a lot of mis-spellings like this online - especially from young teens who obviously have never been taught the grammar or how to spell the words. I remember reading something online a few years ago in which the poster had used a well-known phrase, but obviously didn't realise that it was 3 separate words - they just made it into one word (or maybe it was 2 words, I can't remember) and spelled it phonetically!

You can also tell when people spell have spelled words the way that they pronounce them. One example that bugs me is 'make due' - you don't 'make due' with something, you 'make do' with it... it's a common mistake because 'do' and 'due' are generally both pronounced the same in the US, but to me it looks weird because 'due' and 'do' are two completely different sounding words when I say them .

soulmate.

Don't know why but it bugs me.

soulmate.

Don't know why but it bugs me.

eeeew.
snap.

oh, and LOVER.  EWWWWW.

soulmate.

Uuuuuugh! You should of not said that, Mindy!   

P.S.  Yes, I will be suing you.

Or 'Do you miss your family?' 

DH's grandma is especially adept at asking very direct, pointed questions at the exact WRONG time.  One time several months ago, we went out to dinner with grandma after I'd had a big cry with DH about being homesick and being slow to adjust.  She turned to me halfway through the meal and asked, "you don't have any friends here, do you?"  Hahahahaha!!!  We actually laughed about it on the way home.  She really knows how to fire them off!

oh, and LOVER.  EWWWWW.

Don't you mean LOV-AH?!

DH's grandma is especially adept at asking very direct, pointed questions at the exact WRONG time.  One time several months ago, we went out to dinner with grandma after I'd had a big cry with DH about being homesick and being slow to adjust.  She turned to me halfway through the meal and asked, "you don't have any friends here, do you?"  Hahahahaha!!!  We actually laughed about it on the way home.  She really knows how to fire them off!

Don't you mean LOV-AH?!

I have actually learned to value (some!) people who are like that. They don't mess about, they get straight to the point. Directness and empathy are not mutually exclusive. Some of my best friends are people who initially got my back up in that way.

I try not to mind personal questions when people are obviously just trying to be nice, like "How are you adjusting?" and "Are you liking England?" though I always have to fight back the temptation to tell them the whole, detailed truth just to see how they'll react.  But there are two things that really annoy me.  One is that people seem to think we don't have weather in the US.  They're always saying things like "Bet you're not used to this cold!" or "What do you think of our English weather?  Do you have anything like this in the States?"  I grew up in Wisconsin, 10 degrees celsius is NOT THAT COLD.  It barely ever drops below freezing here (southwest England).  And even southern California, my adopted home, has a rainy season.  Please.    

The other question I hate is "Is this your first time in the UK?"  I'm sure people who ask this are just trying to make conversation, but I can't help being offended by the implication that I'm some hick American who's never bothered to set foot outside my own country until I married an Englishman and moved here, sight unseen.      

I have actually learned to value (some!) people who are like that. They don't mess about, they get straight to the point. Directness and empathy are not mutually exclusive. Some of my best friends are people who initially got my back up in that way.

Oh, I have no problem with directness!  I don't think I made my point about grandma as well as I could have, because it's not so much her directness that packs a punch, but her timing!  She seems to know exactly what the most sensitive subject it at any given times, and chooses *that* as a conversation starter.

Saying "partner." I always assume it's a homosexual couple when I see or hear people use that term for a romantic relationship but often it's not! Political correctness can be way too confusing. I just don't understand what's the big deal about saying boy/girlfriend, fiancé/fiancée, husband/wife. For some reason "significant other" doesn't bother me.

Saying "partner." I always assume it's a homosexual couple when I see or hear people use that term for a romantic relationship but often it's not! Political correctness can be way too confusing. I just don't understand what's the big deal about saying boy/girlfriend, fiancé/fiancée, husband/wife. For some reason "significant other" doesn't bother me.

Well, when you get to my age, "boy" or "girl" has a way of sounding slightly ridiculous, and "partner" conveys a certain level of commitment that boyfriend or girlfriend might not. While we're at it, this DH DW DB etc thing gets on my t*ts.

Well, when you get to my age, "boy" or "girl" has a way of sounding slightly ridiculous, and "partner" conveys a certain level of committment that boyfriend or girlfriend might not. While we're at it, this DH DW DB etc thing gets on my t*ts.

You mean TTs?

Saying "partner." I always assume it's a homosexual couple when I see or hear people use that term for a romantic relationship but often it's not! Political correctness can be way too confusing. I just don't understand what's the big deal about saying boy/girlfriend, fiancé/fiancée, husband/wife. For some reason "significant other" doesn't bother me.

In all the postnatal wards I've been in, the midwives don't even say that!  They referred to DH as 'your man'.   

You mean TTs?

I mean manb**bs.

Saying "partner." I always assume it's a homosexual couple when I see or hear people use that term for a romantic relationship but often it's not! Political correctness can be way too confusing. I just don't understand what's the big deal about saying boy/girlfriend, fiancé/fiancée, husband/wife. For some reason "significant other" doesn't bother me.

Tim's parents and grandparents call me Tim's partner.  It drives me nuts because like you, I always assumed partner was used for homosexual couples!  But I think they do it because of our age (or at least Tim's age. He feels stupid callin gme his girlfriend to his friends, so I'm "lady friend")