So, I understand that it may be a lot to ask for every English speaker to have perfect spelling and grammar (myself included). I would like to expect, however, that we English speakers at least have a general understanding of commonly used words and their pronunciation. As I listen to my fellow speakers, there are a few uses of extremely common English words that are difficult for me to forgive. In fact, there is a small uncontrollable shudder when I hear them.
Here are the top 10 unforgivable words:
(Feel free to add to this list)
Here are the top 10 unforgivable words:(Feel free to add to this list)
10. oviously
9. heighth (I have heard drafters and architects talk about the hieghth of a building)
8. irregardless
7. supposevly, supposebly
6. nuculus, nucular (Tyler's science teacher would talk about the "nuculus of the atom")
5. drownd (ex. don't drownd), drownding
4. sell, in place of sale (I actually saw a sign that said "Contract for Sell")
3. excetra
2. exspecially, and on occasion, even "exscape"
...and the number one bizarre and annoying pronunciation heard daily...
1. acrost
I really don't understand this one. And I have heard it in many different contexts:
My design classes: "Draw a line acrost the page."
My exercise class: "Reach acrost your body."
Film sets: "The camera will pan acrost the stage."
Stadium of Fire: "They'll run acrost the field (actually, "feld") AND "The cords will go acrost to the portal."
I really don't get it. One day, I heard it 4 times. 4 times! I think it was 100% of the times I heard the word "across" used that day. Do these users spell the word that way?? I mean, why on earth would anyone add a random "t"?
I actually read why someone would add a random "t". I guess as humans, we naturally want to end words with a hard consonant. Ending with an "s" makes us nervous, so sometimes one adds the "t". That's interesting, but come on. The word is acrossss.
The biggest problem I have with this epidemic is I don't see how I can help solve it. How can I, just one little girl, tackle a problem that is so widespread? It is rude to correct people, even though I think I would want to know if one of my "mouth habits" caused people to make unforgivable lists. I guess all we can do is take notice and try to correct our kids. Other than that, I am at a loss for ideas.
