Words That Aggravate and Annoy
BY ARLENE HARDER, MA, MFT
Explore a quotation, affirmation, fact, phrase or question that annoys and aggrates you.
My family loves to tease me by saying, "Well, you know, it's the exception that proves the rule." They are seldom disappointed because I'll almost always rise to the bait by responding, "Oh no it doesn't. The exception always disproves the rule."
"The exception proves the rule" is a perfect example of commonly-used words that grate and annoy because they're used as though they represent the truth. That's why they get on my nerves. For all of us there are words that pain our ears and infuriate our sensibilities.
We want to accept the mistakes of our fellow human beings with the same forgiveness we hope we'll be granted when we, ourselves, say something in error. However, some words do try our patience, especially grammatical errors. One that grates on my nerves is the far too common misuse of pronouns when connected with the simple word "and" as in the sentence, "They gave the award to Susan and I." Since you wouldn't say "They gave the award to I," why in the world do people forget the rule when they add another person's name?
I know what the person is trying to say — and I recognize that grammatical "rules" get shifted when enough people misuse them. After all, English is a fluid language. Nevertheless, that particular mistake bothers me greatly.
Other mistakes and other words bother other people. Chris Burdett-Parr, who has written several of our book reviews, grew up in England and what is maddening for her to hear isn't quite so uncomfortable for me. For example, when the news anchor says right before a commercial, "Stick around, we'll be right back," I don't give it much thought (or I didn't until she mentioned it). But when she hears it, her blood pressure rises. Why "stick around," she wonders? Do they expect us to stick to the sofa?
A grammatical error she hates — again, one that is common — is the tendency of people to say "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less." If you think about it, you can see the logic, but the problem is that we don't think about the words we use. We just use them. Often correctly. Sometimes incorrectly. And when we use them incorrectly, they are sure to grate and annoy someone somewhere.
©1999, Revised 2002, Arlene Harder, MA, MFT |
