While busing to work I love to read the BlogLog in the Washington Post's Express magazine. Today they had a grammar peeve about the sentence "I'm doing good." I'd like to give a hearty "hell yeah" to that, and add my own grammar peeve.
I absolutely cannot stand it when people say "Where are you at?" Even worse is the ghettified "Where you at?" I have heart palpitations whenever those ridiculous Verizon walkie-talkie commercials air. They say "Where you at" about 86 times in 30 seconds. Torture, I tell you. Torture.
I know that my grammar isn't 100% perfect all of the time. So there's a little he-who-is-without-sin-cast-the-first-stone going on here - but COME On. Can we just, for the sake of humanity and my nerves leave that little "at" off? "Where are you?" is sufficient.
Thank you for your support. In return, tell me your grammar peeve and I'll try to accommodate.
5 comments:
i was totally just thinking about this the other day. in fact, i was going to do my own post on it! this one isn't necessarily grammar, but i hate it nonetheless. when people say they will be driving somewhere more northern (or southern) than where they are, they still say, "i'm going down (or up) there now." you're not going down...you're going north---up! it's probably not even a real issue, but it bugs the grammarian and geographer in me. i'll have to think of more.
i know one of chuck's too. he HATES when people say, "i could care less." that's not the right way to say this. more than likely, they mean, "i couldn't care less." if you say the former, you're implying that you actually do care some! he cringes when smart people say this. i even caught a post reporter using it once.
Yeah, I really don't like that one at all. Another one that I used to say a lot that I have since corrected is "these ones." Just as "where are you" is sufficient, so are "these."
ooh, i thought of another one. i HATE it when people think that they are being so smart when they say things like, "That box was for Gretchen and I." They know that they're supposed to use "gretchen and i" in the subject, but use it completely wrong in this case. i also hate it because when i say it correctly (that box was for gretchen and me), they think i'm dumb. BUT I'M NOT.
I used to watch a local morning show where the anchor would frequently ask "Is that not beautiful" or "Is that not the most amazing thing?" and it bothered me every time she said it--what answer was she looking for? I wanted, just once, for someone to respond "Yes. I mean, no. It IS beautiful, Tracy." But alas, it never happened.
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