It's Just DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

[gettinaclue]

When my children said they did something "on accident", it drove me crazy; but even worse was my ex-husband saying "incentivize" instead of "motivate".

Incentivize? ..... oh. my. goodness.

 

[gettinaclue]

I work on phones all day and could post up a HUUUGE list of phrases that drive me up the wall.

One that amuses me though is "you want me to mash connect?"

Yes. Mash it. Mash all the buttons on the screen, darlin'.

I'm with you on this one. "Mash the button" and "cut the lights off". sigh.

 

[Wannabefree]

My mom says "mash" the button My grandma "warshes and wrenches" her dishes. She sleeps on a pillar(must be uncomfortable) and eats marshmallers. All of her friends whose name ends in "A" gets an "R" tacked on. Her best friend for years was "Vader", instead of Vada. I wondered why in the world someone would name their child after Darth Vader, and that is always what I thought of when grandma mentioned her. For years I had no clue that wasn't her real name! I have noticed folks from Indiana say warsh a lot as well. I just think it's funny how dialect interferes with properly speaking.

Did you all know that "alot" is not correct? It should be two seperate words "a lot"

 

[gettinaclue]

My mom says "mash" the button My grandma "warshes and wrenches" her dishes. She sleeps on a pillar(must be uncomfortable) and eats marshmallers. All of her friends whose name ends in "A" gets an "R" tacked on. Her best friend for years was "Vader", instead of Vada. I wondered why in the world someone would name their child after Darth Vader, and that is always what I thought of when grandma mentioned her. For years I had no clue that wasn't her real name! I have noticed folks from Indiana say warsh a lot as well. I just think it's funny how dialect interferes with properly speaking. You're totally correct here. Local dialect does make a big difference.

My ex-mother in law lived in the holler of WV and they had a totally different way of speaking. I was in Louisiana quite a few years back and that was very different as well. My MIL warshes her dishes and clothes, she also sleeps on a pillar etc, but that doesn't bother me to much.


Did you all know that "alot" is not correct? It should be two seperate words "a lot"

Yes, I found this out the hard way. I once had one of my papers hanging up in the hall of my elementary school to show what a good job I did. My teacher, who was very strict, gave me a 100%. I was thrilled and was proud to have everyone see my hard work. A couple of days went by and I went to look at my paper and bask in the glory of my 100% and saw a red mark on it separating the "a" and the "lot". I was very upset and ran to my teacher and asked her why she did that. Apparently, another teacher had gone over all the papers in the hall and had corrected them and my teacher didn't know anything about it. LOL She soothed me - bless her - and explained that we had not gone over that so she didn't mark it. (apparently she wasn't as strict as I thought). It taught me though, and I have never forgotten it. I sometimes miss it and leave them as one word, but mostly, I separate them.

I had a Great Aunt Vada...pronounced VA-duh, a great lady.

 

[abifae]

"warshes" always makes me giggle.

I don't mind dialect as much as I mind just gross neglect of any communication.

On the phones, people just blur their words together and they have no thought process trying to explain anything.

And they can't listen.

"do you see a green button?"
"I mashed some button."
"was it the green button?"
"wow! now my computer says..."
"do you actually want any help? or can i go now?"

 

[hoosier]

I don't think I have heard 'how come' except from a two year old.

Warsh is common here as is oil being pronounced oral, and light bulb being light bub.

. . . "do you actually want any help? or can i go now?"

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I almost forgot - chimney - I hear people say chimley CHIMLEY??! or Chim-i-ney ugh.

I tell my husband all the time there is no L in chimney!

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

"warshes" always makes me giggle.

I don't mind dialect as much as I mind just gross neglect of any communication.

On the phones, people just blur their words together and they have no thought process trying to explain anything.

And they can't listen.

"do you see a green button?"
"I mashed some button."
"was it the green button?"
"wow! now my computer says..."
"do you actually want any help? or can i go now?"

OOOhhhh this is so familiar to me. I work on a help desk and luckily I only have to talk to other employees and not customers, but our guys to the same thing. The device we use has a blue button. Just. one. blue. button........
"Push the blue button"
"Which one?"

Every single day this happens.
Or
"I can't get my email to work" and it tuns out that the problem is that the computer won't turn on.
I could go on for days!! One guy couldn't figure out how to get a capital 5. Yes, you read that correctly....a capital 5.

 

[gettinaclue]

A capital 5?!!!! Bwwwwaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I want to know how to make one of those!

Hhhhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Snort snort

((Wipes tears))

 

[Lady Henevere]

Interesting discussion. I have never heard a criticism of "how come," and I hear people use it all the time. It's not wholly interchangeable with "why." "Why" asks for a reason, and "how come" is short for "how did that come to be," or "how did you come to that conclusion" -- it's asking about a process, not just a reason. JME.

First let me say - NONE of what I am about to say is meant to be offensive AT ALL. I would simply like to talk about this and exchange ideas and information. Please don't think I'm being ugly.

No offense taken. As someone who works with language for a living, I find these kinds of conversations really interesting.

I have never heard a criticism of "how come," Really? That is shocking to me. When I went to school, we were NEVER allowed to say it in class under penalty of ..... I dunno....some sort of medieval torture? I just know that we NEVER EVER EVER said it in the classroom. I ASSUMED ( and we all know what that does) that it was the same way in every school.

Really truly. I have never heard "how come" criticized as incorrect -- not in elementary school, not in community college, not in university, not in graduate school, not working for professionals or professors, not when I edited professional journals or books, not as someone who writes for a living. I have never, ever heard anyone say "how come" is incorrect...until I read this thread.

and I hear people use it all the time. Yes, me too, but I had always thought that they didn't particularly care for English class. I'm not being funny or ugly here.

It's not wholly interchangeable with "why." "Why" asks for a reason, and "how come" is short for "how did that come to be," or "how did you come to that conclusion" -- it's asking about a process, not just a reason. Why not ask "Why did that happen?" instead of "How come that happened?" I have sat and thought about this for a while and I have not thought of a single instance where you could not replace "how come" with "why".

I would really like to hear your thoughts here.

The difference in "why" and "how come" really subtle. It's not as much that it changes the question, but that it anticipates a different answer.

If Mary said, "Jack is a jerk," and Jill said, "Why?" Mary might answer, "I don't know -- maybe his parents are jerks." Asking why Jack is a jerk is asking for a reason for his "jerkiness." In other words, here "why" means, What has caused him to be a jerk?
If Mary said, "Jack is a jerk," and Jill said, "How come?" Mary might answer, "I saw him stealing candy from a baby." Asking how come Jack is a jerk is asking how Mary came to that conclusion or what led up to that statement, rather than what caused Jack to be that way.

Sometimes people just use them interchangeably, which makes defining a distinction more difficult.

I was curious about the whole "why/how come" thing, wondering whether I have been speaking incorrectly my whole life without knowing it. I was not able to find anything saying that "how come" is incorrect. I did find that the use of the phrase confuses a lot of English learners, and that many people asking and answering forum-type questions don't like the way it sounds (the most entertaining question I found: "He replaces 'why' with 'how come' in certain situations that don't sound grammatical to myself.").

I didn't find anything saying "how come" is improper, just that it's informal. I think it's possible that disdain for "how come" may be just a preference without much basis in actual rules (kind of like the distain for ending a sentence in a preposition or starting a sentence with "however," neither of which is improper, but that fact doesn't save them from the loathing of many elementary school teachers).
Grammar Girl says "'how come' is a legitimate substitute for 'why.'"
The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as informal and asking how or why something happened.
The Word Detective doesn't have a problem with it (and notes that his wife has published three books with "How Come?" in the title).

So while it may have been beaten into you as kids to never say "how come," perhaps you should have asked, "How come?" I'm kinda curious about how it came to be hated by some teachers, but I'm all researched out at the moment.

My least favorite phrase: "10 items or less."