I have always hated Dr. Phil, even without seeing his show. It’s just unconscious knowledge that he is a jerk.
This week, everyone on TV is talking about him because of his interview with Casey Anthony‘s parents. He’s been pimping his show with the Anthonys everywhere. And in one discussion, he agreed that the Anthonys had “a menagerie of excuses” for their daughter’s conduct.
ENGLISH, MOTHERFUCKER! DO YOU SPEAK IT?
Menagerie is a collection of animals, you fucking idiot Dr. Phil! You can find some online dictionaries that say you can also use it to mean a diverse group of things, BUT YOU CAN”T BECAUSE IT MEANS ANIMALS.
Words matter, remember?
Have you heard anyone misuse a word recently but you couldn’t kill them? Feel free to share your pain.
He’s not a real doctor. That’s why I like Dr. Oz. Plus, Dr. Oz gives you tips on eating healthy and which household remedies not to use.
I’m constantly irked by the misuse of the word “infamous” by bloggers. I’ve addressed it multiple times and am now on the verge of acting like the Word Police by leaving definitions in the comments.
Agree with infamous, adding atypical when trying to say something is typical.
Maybe he did mean menagerie though. I imagine the excuses to be:
“Her dog ate the police report she meant to file.”
“She was going to call the police but then her cat threw up and she forgot.”
“See, she has this pet ferret and it ate through her phone line.”
“Her house lion ate all her fingers and they had to be surgically reattached and by the time she got her fingers back the mad cow disease she picked up from Bessie made her forget that she hadn’t yet reported her daughter missing.”
Cache when they really mean cachet. The former is what stores things on the internet after you delete shit. It is NOT a stand-in word for approval/validation/whatever you get by being associated with cool things.
Another one that hurts my ears is “anyways”. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING THE FIRST-MOVER BEHIND THIS ABOMINATION AND PLEASE CAN I KILL THEM AAARRRRGH.
“Abdicate” for “articulate”, and I’m not kidding.
I’m guessing he meant to say “myriad” instead of “menagerie” . . . that would make a lot more sense. I hate bag english and improper use of words, especially when it’s obvious the person is just using words they think will make them sound more intelligent. My Dad was a total stickler for proper english when i was younger so i always perk up when i hear people say things like “Me and Molly went to the store.” it’s “Molly and I went to the store” stupid!
I SEEN IT …makes me homicidal.
Do phrases count? Every time I hear someone say “he graduated college” (omitting “from”), a little part of me dies. See:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/graduated-from.aspx
Do pronunciations count? Every time I hear someone pronounce the “t” in “often,” I reach for my gun. See:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/mispronounced_words.html
Weren’t you with me on Robertson once when we saw him and his ex-wife loudly and animatedly arguing at lunch? He was bellowing. He’s a bottom-feeder.
Recent misuse I’ve heard about: A headmaster/headmistress of a private school in Tennessee used ‘niche’ instead of ‘clique’.
regime for regimen … hear it all the time. drives me crazy.
I know someone who uses the phrase “divide and concur” instead of “divide and conquer.” I cannot describe the rage that fills my soul when I hear it spoken, or worse, when I see it written in an email.
“in spite of” when they mean “despite”. If you do something “in spite of” someone else, you’re doing it to provoke (spite) them.
“Divide and concur.” ROFL!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-using-the-phrase-at-the-end-of-the-day/141227355936831
He (or his male writers) probably thought it was a “sexy” word. Because Casey is “sexy”. And he’s sexing up his show. And Menagerie sounds ever so slightly like ménage à trois, something male writers can’t quite get over. But as a shrink, he should be ever so slightly more self-aware.
I thought it was funny the first time I saw the phrase “I could care less” in print. Then I saw it everywhere. It’s amazing to me that a person who had enough brain to learn the alphabet and sufficiently corral their motor skills into writing can write that sentence and think it makes sense.
I generally like it when people fuck with language on purpose, but when thoughtless drivel is allowed roll of the tongue/pen unchecked, there should be public floggings.
What do you think of Dr. Drew?
There is a cafeteria in the basement of my building, mostly for the seniors.
They send round a menu sometimes, and frequently mention “a melody of vegetables” . It doesn’t really make me mad, but it makes me choke with laughter.
I’m with Annemarie on that one. It drives me mad. It seems to be most prevalent stateside.
I’m tired of seeing ‘loose’ when someone actually means ‘lose.’
I still hear people saying Pacific when they mean Specific. Why???
Brought instead of Bought. Seems to be a very English mistake.
My ultimate right now is Set of Draws….they are fucking Drawers!!! They have always been Drawers!!! There is no such thing as a Chest of Draws you moronic shit brain.
It’s not that I want to find any understanding but a lot of these errors seem to be down to dialect.
I’m with annemarie. I can’t stand it when people say “I could care less” when they mean “I couldn’t care less”
AGGGRAVATING!
Holy god, Chip Smith’s link to the list of mispronunciations is shocking. I am guilty of so many of them!! I’ve been saying “larnyx” my whole life instead of “larynx.” And that’s just one example!
I am humbled and ashamed.
I feel like how I did when I was a child and realized that I supposed to say Chicago not Chicargo. So mortified. I was supposed to be the smart one.
To this day, I occasionally pronounce the “h” in heirloom. If someone notices, I accuse them of being bourgeois assholes who actually have in their possession such things as family heirlooms, which is the only reason why they can pronounce it and I can’t.
Of course, this is bullshit. I just hate looking stupid.
All of the above.
“Very unique.”
And heaps more.
The reply “I’m good” when someone enquires after your health. Goodness had nothing to do with it, as Mae West once said.
You are either well or fine or shithouse. Whatever but you ain’t “good.”
irregardless, for all intensive purposes, and the proof is in the pudding.
I hate when people say, “I’ve known her since I’m eight years old” or anything similar. “I’ve known her since I was eight years old” sounds better. I also hate when people call shoes “it”. I tried a pair of shoes today and it was too small. Ugh. Shoes=plural, so use they.
The proof is in the pudding… that’s wrong?
nom – Hahahahahahahaaahhahaha
RackkandRuin – How about when celebrities on TV say “My wife and myself…” because they think it sounds more intelligent than just saying “I?”
Chip – That’s a fun link! I like “for all intensive purposes.” Hahahaaha.
annemaire- Dr Drew is a shameless whore. I hate that fucker more than anybody, even that horrible Piers Anthony.
Andra – Yes, I don’t like “I’m good” either. But when people answer “I’m well,” I feel like they’re showing off and hate them for it.
Sista Coyote – That “I’m” thing always sounds kind of New York or mobster or something. I hate that one, too.
patni – Isn’t the proof in the pudding?? Where is it, then??
I’m with you on the Dr. Phil dislike. I remember one show where he had a family where the son had been sexually abusing the daughter. IT WAS HORRIBLY INAPPROPRIATE. Shame on the family for going on that show. Shame on Dr. Phil for hosting it. Some things aren’t for a television audience, regardless of what people think.
This may not even count but I could actually commit mass murder when people say “cheeky” out of context. “Let’s grab a cheeky curry.”
FOR REAL?
Also “peek” and “peak” are NEVER correct. Even the most eloquent bloggers make this mistake, ofTEN
Admittedly, by pointing this out, I am picking on someone with less education. But I know of a defendant who, upon his arrest, proclaimed to police, “You ain’t got no tropical cause!”
Snort.
Otherwise, I love everything annemarie wrote. Plus “could of,” “had to of,” etc. As in, “You had to of been crazy to pass up that shoe sale. You could of saved 70 percent!” It made my skin crawl just to write that.
I’m glad so many people hate Dr. Phil. I have always thought he’s a sanctimonius, judgmental asshole. I hate him almost as much as I hated Dr. Laura. I’d love to see one of his TV victims slap that old blowhard down. His overly folksy “that dawg don’t hunt” accent annoys the shit out of me, too.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The proof of whether a pudding is good or not, is whether it tastes good or not.
The proof is not hidden in the pudding.
I have a LOT of word usage irritants. I work in an ice cream store. We have an ice cream made from chocolate that came from Belgium, so we call it Belgian chocolate. Our customers however, see Belgian, and call it Belgium chocolate. grrrrrrrrrrrrr
The expresso thing used to bug me, till i got harangued by one too many espresso nerds with no sense of humor that i should stand on one leg and meditate on a blade of grass on a certain hill in Tuscany while I am pulling a shot. Now I call is IX presso. proudly. It riles the coffee nerds.
One of my customer kindly pointed out that skim milk is not skim, it is skimmed. Now that irks me too.
Far too many to list, and if i started to think about it my already cranky morning brain would burst.
I just wish people would think before they spoke.
You and dudeguy could talk about this shit for HOURS – he yells at every incident of poor speech on television. The overuse/misuse of “literally” usually brings about the highest level of irritation.
Very unique
Misuse of its and it’s
Misuse of epic
I done it or I seen it
I could care less
There are many more but I’ll stop at these few.
Bevitron- Oh yes, he’s easily as bad as Dr. Laura. He’s a total whore, trying to insert himself everywhere..remember how he tried to get involved with Britney during her breakdown? He’s just a horrible pig.
Patni – The pudding is too complicated for me! Pudding is dead to me now.
Alicia – I’ve given up on literally. Tell him that I nearly destroyed a family relationship over literally. Literally!
Would it be appropriate to say that Dr. Phil plus the Anthonys are in whole a menagerie that deserve to live in a barn somewhere away from the general public?
How about recent TV ads about Ontario food products: “you can buy The Good”, and Clamato juice: “You can taste The Different”. I get toothache each time I hear this nonsense. People who can’t distinguish “palette” from “palate” are infuriating.
I got an email at work with the wonderful question: “WHOM is going to do it?”
My husband calls Dr. Phil Dr. Philogna. My favorite story about not using the correct word was when we were having a landscape consultation years ago with a designer and he was giving us a tour of the nursery and explaining different plants and how they would be used in the design. He kept saying “this plant will meangle” and this plant will be a vocal point”.
I used to work at a store that sold sconces. People would always refer to them as scones.
i feel for the people who are irritated by “could of,” but unfortunately that is how many people speak these days. it is pretty acceptable speech now. however, this “literally” business needs to stop. “i was dead. like, literally dead.” i remember when “literally” was a word you used when you accidentally made a pun. you got to say, “literally, in fact!” because your words could be taken two ways, and both would be correct in this very specific situation. those days are dead. like, literally dead.
“Between you and I…”
Ah, Debbie, I know what you mean. And you made me laugh. Thank you.
How about people, books, etc. who/which don’t know the difference between – rang – rung: shrank – shrunk, etc.
i.e. “I rung them up.”
“Honey, I shrunk the kids.” They made a fucking movie about this and caused untold millions of idiots to think it is correct English. Wrong, wrong, wrong, fuckwits!!
Why “dove” for the past tense of dive? We, the English-speaking peoples of the world, are happy to say dived. I don’t like “dove” unless you’re a bird.
Americans are too lazy to spell properly too.
However, in the interests of world harmony I am willing to overlook a lot of crap and just niggle about the shit that really, really annoys me.
I suggest the rest of the world does the same thing.
I am now waving two fingers in the area in the general area of the screen.
Baby boomers’ redundant use of ‘that’ like teenagers use ‘like’ drives me bonkers. Case in point the Tom Hank’s movie ‘That thing you do’.
Nothing is identified by the conjunctive ‘that’. It should be ‘The thing you do’. If not call it ‘That thing you like do’ and just give up.
i pretty sure ‘dove’ is the past tense of ‘dive.’
HA!! He laughed when I read him your comment.
Kate: only in America.
I’m so glad others are enraged by spelling/grammar/pronunciation mistakes! I don’t feel so alone now in my pedantry.
Agree with everything above, ESPECIALLY ‘the proof is in the pudding’. I become tearful with rage and disappointment when people choose to keep using this phrase, even once they know the correct version.
Also:
Irregardless
Supposably
And I’ve noticed the following gems cropping up writing:
prefix menu instead of prix fixe
crapes instead of crepes.
And the worst of all: wala instead of voila.
People who abbreviate conversation to convo and restaurant to resto.
Kill them now, please.
Oh Julie,
I temporarily forgot about that one “And the worst of all: wala instead of voila.”
Now my happy mood has turned very sour. “Wala” gives me ulcers.
People who confuse “you’re” with “your” drive me mad. Also, “it’s” and “its” in all the wrong places… THAT SHIT IS EVERYWHERE! Including on an ad that is hanging on the back of the door of the washroom where I have to pee every day at work. It is about 5 inches from my head and I have nowhere else to look. AAAAARRRGHHHHHH. Its all over facebook statuses, text messages and emails. It’s not so hard people, GET IT RIGHT.