Annoying spelling, galling grammar, irksome words, frustrating phrases

[Alex The G and T]

Perhaps she is an employee of the Apple Corporation and the idon't is a new secret project..

 

[Ursa major]

Apropos nothing in particular.... There's a theory on the web that Apple stopped developing its self-driving car because they couldn't get the car's software to understand that when the driver entered their ident it wasn't a command to bump into other cars....

 

[Ambrose]

'Going forward'!

 

[Phyrebrat]

‘Let me address that directly…’

<does anything but address it directly>

 

[Toby Frost]

Apropos nothing

Apropos of Nothing always sounds like the hero of a satirical 1970s New Wave fantasy novel. "Apropos of Nothing, wielder of the Sword of Heavy Metal, friend of the bard Windhawk and sworn enemy of the Ion Lady Morgrot Tatchor, tyrant of Ingerlund..."

 

[Matteo]

...sworn enemy of Count Konnick, ruler of the Wildlands of Whayels...

 

[AllanR]

"falsely believed" --makes me think the person didn't believe x, rather than the intended -that the person believed x to be true even though x is false.

 

[Ursa major]

"falsely believed" is kinder than "idiotically believed"....

 

[Pyan]

"falsely believed" --makes me think the person didn't believe x, rather than the intended -that the person believed x to be true even though x is false.

I thought you were talking about x, formerly known as Twitter...

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

"guesstimate"

What's wrong with 'educated guess' or 'rough estimate'?

Guesstimate

= a fusion of <em>guess</em> and <em>estimate</em> and synonymous with both.

grammarist.com

"Guesstimate might be considered out of place in formal writing. It’s often used to affect the kind of cutesy tone that is more likely to annoy readers than amuse them."

My emphasis. Exactly.

 

[Pyan]

"And an early touch for the (goalkeeper)..."
Yeah, just in case he's forgotten what a football is like since the kickoff.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Football commentators take annoying to a whole different level

 

[mosaix]

Football commentators take annoying to a whole different level

"He's played the ball, the Dutchman..."

What's wrong with "The Dutchman's played the ball."?

 

[Pyan]

"He's played the ball, the Dutchman..."

What's wrong with "The Dutchman's played the ball."?

And funnily enough, I've never heard "The Englishman's played the ball."

 

[dask]

Regardless of the amount - a lot, too much, enough - I don’t want it “on my plate.”

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Not grammar or spelling, but another annoying example from last night's commentary...
"If Giroud scores, he will be the third oldest player to score at the European championships."
..waiting
...waiting
....waiting
.....no? So you're not going to tell us who the other two are then?

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Another one from the world of football...
When two games are going on at the same time and a goal is scored in one of the games, they (the media) always have to put up an 'As it stands' table.
Well, actually, no it is not 'As it stands' because the points aren't awarded until the end of the game, it's more like 'this would be the table if the games finished with the scores as they are now'. Maybe 'predicted table'

Maybe I'm just being overly pedantic, but it still annoys me.


Grrr!

 

[Ursa major]

Well, actually, no it is not 'As it stands' because the points aren't awarded until the end of the game

It can get worse: I can't recall whose website does this, but I've seen Euro 2024 tables showing the "as it stands" stats without identifying them as being that.

 

[Ursa major]

I've found the culprit (there were no games in play when I last posted), and the Grauniad's UEFA Euro 2024 Table, which has, for example, Portugal with two wins and one loss, in spite of the last game only having been in progress for 19 minutes and with no mention of "as it stands" or something similar.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Football commentators take annoying to a whole different level

The word 'commentators' in that sentence is superfluous.