Things that are winding me up of late: the wrong word or phrase being used by people who should know better (usually in places like Radio Four, where they *really* should know better!)

(Yes, yes, I know language changes over time, but I see no reason why I should have to suffer because some illiterate decides to decrease the intelligibility of his prose. So there.)

Here's a few to get you going. I'm sure Brian will be able to supply a few...

Insure/Ensure
To insure is to make payments to a third party to indemnify oneself should a certain event occur. To ensure is to take active steps to prevent that event occurring. One does not, for example, race to the station to insure that Charlie catches the train.

Near to
No. 'Near' means 'close to'; 'near to' therefore means 'close to to' which is obvious gibberish. Either near or close to is acceptable and largely a matter of taste, but 'near to' is a crime against the language.

Ahead of
... when used as a marker of time, for example 'ahead of the meeting later today'. It is, strictly, acceptable even though the perfectly good 'before' may be preferred. Its use is a creeping Americanism. Away with it!

Quizzes that ought to know better
A BBC2 quiz that prides itself on its difficult questions doesn't help when it uses the term 'adjective' when it means 'adjectival phrase' - 'tired' is the former; 'dog-tired' the latter. Bah. Also, the presenter acquired the humour gene from neither her father nor her husband, but seems unaware of this fact.

(Why yes, I am at home with a stinking cold and bored silly today. Can you tell?)

Replied back.

Go and watch Top of the Lake.

Accept/except is one which is rather irksome.

Irregardless, I wouldn't of thought these would bother you.

Barnacle is almost unique in having these rants.

Someone has to keep the faith, in AndrewR's absence.

I saw what you did up there Simon.

Is that like being half-pregnant or even being in a quantum state?

If I know where I am, I don't know how fast I'm going. If I know how fast I'm going, I'm lost...

btw... what's the issue with 'almost unique'?

Something is unique or it's not.

Mrs. Jimbob just did my favourite, she split a cookie and offered me the bigger half.

Thank you Pete


@ jimbob

You're lost?!





"Pro-active" is my nemesis

Defuse and diffuse.

Navigation is the science of knowing where you were and the art of predicting where you will be.

Indeed it is. But 'almost unique' is prefectly valid; it's stating that the object is *not* unique but is very rare and so something to be treasured - like me



It's all to do with quantum, I expect.



Yep; one is the ability to stop the bomb exploding and the other is what you are if you lack it.

So...
There's a bad habit of pundits starting every answer with 'So...'. It gets a little wearing after a while. Nearly as bad as ending every sentence with a rising interrogative?

Does that mean there's possibly two?

The word I find really irritating is "gotten" totally unnecessary letters used without adding anything.

Slightly off topic but the use of historic present in TV programmes discussing historical events but narrating as if it is happening currently. It is history and therefore should be past tense.

Prefectly/Perfectly


Treasure - isn't that something that should be buried? Or even dug up? Eh?

"Affect" and "effect" are often misused.

Specific and... Pacific.

It's almost like it's infectious when someone uses it in a meeting.

I like to switch to 'Atlantic' and watch for raised eyebrows

"Sea-change"

The catch-all "Raft of" possibilities/ changes/any other random grouping

Trappy can you be more Atlantic and give us an example of when you said it?

I've just been reminded of another pet peeve on a cycling forum, can anyone guess what it may be?

When people say cyclists don't pay road tax? (when its actually Vehicle Tax...)

That one actually doesn't bother me at all, I like to make new friends by informing them I also pay zero VED on 2 of my cars.

However, if one more person tells me they're "peddling" their bicycle and then refuses to sell it to me, there may be war.

Meddling is a verb, but it doesn't mean getting a medal...

Yes, defiantly - under better circumstances I would be straight in there to support Neil's rants and very probably add to them. I'd probably loose my cool.

Unfortunately, I've just received a 'parking charge invoice' from Asda - for the time I was there trying to fix the broken hose!! Grrr! As you would imagine, my mood is black and my attention already distracted.

Everyone seems to think that £70 for overstaying their time limit is excessive, since they are not allowed to levy a fine; it has to be a reasonable parking charge for the period.

Not so, apparently. There was a case taken to appeal at the High Court, where the judges thought £85 was a reasonable charge. What can you say??

Any sentence that is started with "So...." - is this just a slightly more eloquent version of "erm..."?

So?