English pet peeves

[Harisenbon]

People who fill their sentences with meaningless fillers. Makes me feel like yelling at them "spit it out, just get on and say it"

Japanese is the master of beating around the bush.
Even taking that into account my (gaijin) friend takes it to town. I've listened to him babble for 5 minutes straight with mindless japanese polite filler when all he was saying was "I had a tough day at work." =)

I can understand people who fill their sentences with meaningless filler such as umm and well... it just shows that they're trying to think of the right way to say something. What is weird is when that crosses into written language.

[chikara]

..... I can understand people who fill their sentences with meaningless filler such as umm and well... it just shows that they're trying to think of the right way to say something. ....

I don't have a problem with "umm", "well" and "err" in spoken language which, as you say indicate that the person is thinking of the right thing to say. Personally I don't use them.

"you know" can be used to illicit confirmation from the listener, similar to one of the uses of ね in Japanese, and in that context I don't have an issue with it. It is when a person is telling me something which they know I don't know, the very reason they are telling me, and they preface it with "you know".

..... What is weird is when that crosses into written language...

That depends on the context. I sometimes start a post with "errrr"

[Yudan Taiteki]

We actually read a paper in pragmatics last quarter on "I mean" and "you know" in English; although some people probably overuse them they usually do import meaning and are not totally meaningless fillers. You need some way to signal to your listener that you are about to go back and correct what you said, and "you know" serves a function similar to ね in Japanese (in some of its uses, at least). (Even the oft-criticized "like" frequently does convey some meaning and cannot just be randomly sprinkled anywhere, although once again some people may overuse it.)

I remember that my parents use to criticize me for using "go" to mean "say", although I don't think they had the exactly the same meaning. I think I probably still use this, and I also use "like" to mean "say" sometimes as well, although it tends to mean more "said in this fashion" or "said with this tone of voice".

(We also read a paper on "Yeah, no..." at the beginning of sentences.)

[chikara]

..... "you know" serves a function similar to ね in Japanese (in some of its uses, at least)....

I thought I said that

I agree with what you are saying Chris-san but it is the overuse and incorrect use that I find irritating.

..... I remember that my parents use to criticize me for using "go" to mean "say" ..

There was a comedy sketch show here in the late 80's that had a character, Kylie Mole, whose speech patterns were built around the use of "go" for "say" or one of the current "like" meanings. They released a single titled "I go, I go" which reached the top 10 on the Autralian charts. It was so excellent

[two_heads_talking]

(We also read a paper on "Yeah, no..." at the beginning of sentences.)

Unless answering a direct yes/no question, starting a question with no or yes makes my head spin. Especially when two people are trying to keep from offending each other, but aren't smart enough not to say stupid things..

IE.. me: I didn't mean that your hair was all Grey.
them: No, I didn't take it to mean that way at all, in fact I thought you were just commenting on my grey roots.
me: You're just getting older and that's what happens.
them: No, I can't imagine that getting older causes grey hair..

[AJBryant]

(We also read a paper on "Yeah, no..." at the beginning of sentences.)

I would love to see that paper. It really weirds me out.


Tony

[two_heads_talking]

(We also read a paper on "Yeah, no..." at the beginning of sentences.)

I would love to see that paper. It really weirds me out.


Tony

Please tell me you didn't just say that......

[becki_kanou]

(We also read a paper on "Yeah, no..." at the beginning of sentences.)

I would love to see that paper. It really weirds me out.
Tony

I seem to recall this being discussed over on Language Log not too long ago.
Here you go! (with links to several related posts on the "Yeah, no" phenomenon)

[Yudan Taiteki]

Yeah, it was language log I was remembering, not a paper. Thanks for the links.

[Gundaetiapo]

One thing that bugs me is when people ask a "why" question when they really mean "how". For example "why is he wrong?" when they clearly mean "how is he wrong?"

I guess I generally assume there's an implied, but omitted, [do you say]: "Why [do you say] he is wrong?" That makes more sense. Without that assumption the question is semantically odd.

[astaroth]

It bugs me a bit when people get the "wrong" plural of Latin, Greek, or foreign words in English. Like radiuses instead of radii, or phenomemons instead of phenomena, or cappuccinos instead of cappuccini.
Also, I got used by now but it has always sounded very weird, using Italian plurals as singulars like one cannoli. (Not to mention the whole capisce thing, which is very rude to Italian ears as it implies the listener's inability of basic understanding.)

Sorry for the rant ...

[Yudan Taiteki]

Why should English use foreign plurals anyway? That just makes the language even more irregular and difficult than it already is They're not even used consistently; nobody talks about a town having two football stadia.

[astaroth]

Why should English use foreign plurals anyway? That just makes the language even more irregular and difficult than it already is They're not even used consistently; nobody talks about a town having two football stadia.

I know but when I studied English grammar I was told that was kind of a rule, whether that's true or not I can't say. From experience it's like ... nobody knows, for there are words for which the foreign plural is the correct one like radius or phenomenon and others for which it's not (and I know it was a bit of a stretch with cappuccino, though at times I'd really appreciate people taking the effort to spell check the word ...)

[burstandbloom]

Why should English use foreign plurals anyway? That just makes the language even more irregular and difficult than it already is They're not even used consistently; nobody talks about a town having two football stadia.

No one does, but from now on I will. Two football stadia, that's great.

I see a lot where I'm from and it doesn't really bug me but makes me laugh, when people misuse the word 'literally', when they didn't literally do anything at all.

e.g. "It was so funny I literally sh*t my pants."

You did what?

[Okayamapiper]

I guess I have two.

One is when a chap say that a person has done good.

The other is when a bagpiping student tells me he is going to perform a song. Pipers play tunes not songs!!!