Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[teamsaint]

Can you give an example, ts?

.

One thing I keep hearing from the western side of the Atlantic is the phrase “I could give a damn” (or other 4 letter alternative ), when surely what the speaker means is “I couldn’t give a .....”

Oh and I continue to at the regular “the thing is, is that...” or similar, not as a stutter or hesitation but as if “thing is” were a composite noun

Not a paricularly annoying example, but the first one ( that) I could find....


“ It was hoped ( that) parkrun , which .......”

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/health/hopes-of-october-parkrun-comeback-dashed-1-6854819

So that’s that. And all ( that) there is to be said about it.

[french frank]

Something I find irritating and occasionally confusing is the lazy ommission of “ that.”

Journalists are frequently guilty of this.

Quite right, ts. Following a sub-editors course for the local rag, we went through the copy and ritually removed 'that' where it was possible without creating confusion as to the meaning.

PS Smith where Jones had had that, had had that that. That that had had the examiners' approval.

[Bryn]

Quite right, ts. Following a sub-editors course for the local rag, we went through the copy and ritually removed 'that' where it was possible without creating confusion as to the meaning.

PS Smith where Jones had had that, had had that that. That that had had the examiners' approval.

That understood.

[Padraig]

.

One thing I keep hearing from the western side of the Atlantic is the phrase “I could give a damn” (or other 4 letter alternative ), when surely what the speaker means is “I couldn’t give a .....”

I find myself using the construction (eg) 'I doubt it's going to rain', when I mean 'I think that it will rain'; and conversely, 'I doubt it's not going to stop', to mean 'I think that it will not stop'.

Is it just us ? I think it might be.

[ahinton]

I find myself using the construction (eg) 'I doubt it's going to rain', when I mean 'I think that it will rain'; and conversely, 'I doubt it's not going to stop', to mean 'I think that it will not stop'.

Is it just us ? I think it might be.

Whilst I'm uncertain about this, might not your anticipation of rain be grounded by chance in expectations of precipitation in Ireland?...

[Pulcinella]

Can you give an example, ts?
...

It's this sort of use (missing that) that annoys me:

The spokesperson announced the government would issue a press release later.
The newspaper reported the jury had made a decision.

Not the best examples, perhaps, but in both cases a 'that' really helps the sense.
The spokesperson did not announce the government; neither did the newspaper report the jury.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Quite right, ts. Following a sub-editors course for the local rag, we went through the copy and ritually removed 'that' where it was possible without creating confusion as to the meaning.

PS Smith where Jones had had that, had had that that. That that had had the examiners' approval.

PIGANDWHISTLE

Leave more space between pig and and and and and whistle.

[teamsaint]

It's this sort of use (missing that) that annoys me:

The spokesperson announced the government would issue a press release later.
The newspaper reported the jury had made a decision.

Not the best examples, perhaps, but in both cases a 'that' really helps the sense.
The spokesperson did not announce the government; neither did the newspaper report the jury.

Yes, exactly.

[LMcD]

PIGANDWHISTLE

Leave more space between pig and and and and and whistle.

Not relevant as such to this thread, perhaps, but yet another example of an increasing number of spooky coincidences that I've experienced lately ... last thing yesterday I finished looking at a book of 'then-and-now' photographs and discovered that the beautiful thatched cottage owned by friends just a few yards away used to be a pub called the Pig and Whistle.

[Pulcinella]

Another pet hate is the replacement of 'to' with a dash, but still retaining the 'from'.
We should have
The shop is open from 09:00 to 17:00
or
The shop is open 09:00–17:00
but not
The shop is open from 09:00–17:00

[LMcD]

Where did 'between ... to' (as against 'between ... and') come from?

[Pulcinella]

Where did 'between ... to' (as against 'between ... and') come from?

Not me.

But having checked in my 2005 edition of Practical English Usage I found this (in a section headed Mistakes become part of the language):
And recently people have started using between ... to instead of between ... and (e.g. There were between 50 to 60 people on the bus). This, too, could end up as a normal and correct expression.

[Padraig]

Whilst I'm uncertain about this, might not your anticipation of rain be grounded by chance in expectations of precipitation in Ireland?...

Thank you for replying, ah. I do appreciate it.

[FFRR]

Can you give an example, ts?

One thing I keep hearing from the western side of the Atlantic is the phrase “I could give a damn” (or other 4 letter alternative ), when surely what the speaker means is “I couldn’t give a .....”

If I may butt in? The commonest iteration is "I could care less". That used to irritate me too, until I learned (that ) the full expression is "I could care less - but I dont!", which makes the expression perfectly understandable and is quite a nice play on words. The unsaid bit should of course be rendered "I could care less..." The ellipsis is all important!

[Nick Armstrong]

If I may butt in? The commonest iteration is "I could care less". That used to irritate me too, until I learned (that ) the full expression is "I could care less - but I dont!", which makes the expression perfectly understandable and is quite a nice play on words. The unsaid bit should of course be rendered "I could care less..." The ellipsis is all important!

Is it?! I’ve never heard the “I could care less / I could give a ****” version, save recently on broadcast programmes from the US.

Even “I could care less but I don’t” doesn’t seem to me to have the right logic i.e. that one’s level of caring is at absolute minimum...