Wednesday, February 4, 2009

4 Annoying turns of phrase

Maybe I'm pickier than most people because I'm a writer and a reader but honestly, I wish humans would pay a little more attention to what they're saying before they spit it out.

1. "He did a complete 360." No. He didn't. Not unless he spun around himself and came back to the exact same point. You mean, he did a 180. 360 degrees is a complete circle. 180 degrees is half the circle. When you want to mean, "he's doing the opposite of what he used to do," you say, "he did a 180."

2. "Supposably, she left the party." The first word in that sentence is not a word; it's simply a collection of letters. You actually mean to say, "supposedly," which is defined as "believed to be."

3. "Six and a half dozen of the other." The correct phrase is "six of one, half a dozen of the other," used when you want to imply, "both options are the same." HH is guilty of this one and while I do chuckle, it actually makes absolutely no sense.

4. "I sent it in, irregardless of the rules." Nothing grates on me more than this doozy. I don't care what Webster's says, "irregardless" is NOT a word. The correct word is "regardless." Do not write it. Do not speak it. And in fact, only use it if you're making fun of someone - and even then, be very careful because someone might take you seriously.

Whew...now, was that so hard?