It bugs me when people say “the thing is is that” (if you listen for it, you’ll start hearing it… or maybe that’s something that people only do in my area.) (“What the thing is is that…” is fine. But “the thing is is that…” bugs me.)

Also, “just because <blank> doesn’t mean <blank>.” That sentence structure invites one to take “just because <blank>” as a noun phrase which my brain really doesn’t want to do. Just doesn’t seem right. But that sentence structure is very common.

And I’m not saying there’s anything objectively wrong with either of these. Language is weird and complex and beautiful. It’s just fascinating that some commonly-used linguistic constructions just hit some people wrong sometimes.

Edit: I thought of another one. “As best as I can.” “The best I can” is fine, “as well as I can” is good, and “as best I can” is even fine. But “as best as” hurts.

  • @tatterdemalion
    4•2 months ago

    OP, thanks for asking. I feel seen.

    1. Using the past tense instead of the subjunctive mood. “What if she was gone?” Nope. It should be “what if she were gone.” People (in the US) seem to get this wrong most of the time, except for a few common phrases like “If I were you, …”.
    2. The words “whilst,” “amongst,” and “amidst.” I get that there is a certain history to these words, but I personally never use them as they seem like meaningless alterations. When I hear them, I roll my eyes, but I try not to judge too quickly.
    3. “Irregardless”. It’s not a word.
    4. “Could care less”. An oldie but a goodie?
    5. Overuse of commas. I don’t like seeing them as strictly a way to introduce a pause in speech. Commas have specific grammatical purposes, and using them without such a purpose breaks my expectations as a reader.
    6. Confusing “nauseous” and “nauseated”.
    • @[email protected]
      4•2 months ago

      “What if she was gone?”

      Not a native speaker. That’s what I was taught. Subjunctive wasn’t a thing in my English lessons. Common phrases like “I wish I were you…” were introduced as a non-standard alternative…

      • @tatterdemalion
        2•2 months ago

        Interesting! It’s possible your teacher was trying to keep things simple, especially since most English speakers probably couldn’t tell you what the subjunctive mood is.

        I don’t think I learned about the subjunctive mood in Spanish class for 5 years, by which time I was in the 8th grade.

    • @[email protected]English
      2•2 months ago

      5 is one that I see a lot lately. People just seem to think, that if they can possibly pause, there’s a comma.

    • @[email protected]
      0•2 months ago

      The first one is something of a lost cause, so long as English grammar continues to be neglected in schooling. I very much doubt that more than a couple of students in my high school had ever heard the term subjunctive mood outside of French or Spanish lessons, where it was always presented as this very alien concept.