My tenant has posted a meme. And so what if it lowers the property values, I'm answering it here. You're tagged if you want to be.
1. What is your favorite word?
I was an English major, so there are way too many. I like these two because of their Latin roots: quintessential, (of the fifth essence, i.e., heavenly matter, unlike earth, air, water, or fire) and mundane (having to do with earthly matters, from the word "mundus"). The problem with being interested in etymology is that I tend to stick to the original meaning of a word, and don't use it in the way everyone else does. Which makes me sound pedantic (another favorite) or pretentious (yet one more.)
2. What irks you every time you hear it?
Irregardless. No. such. word. AND it's a double-negative. People? The word you're looking for is "regardless."
3. Name the first concert you ever went to.
My first concert was classical music--my parents took us to hear Van Cliburn. My first rock and roll concert was The Rolling Stones 1969 "Get Your Ya-Yas Out" concert. Yes, I'm old. (As bloggers go, anyway.)
4. Name a song you'll never get sick of hearing.
"Pump it Up" by Elvis Costello. It the quintessential driving song. It think I should install it as a sound chip on my accelerator.
5. What song, album, or band influenced you most as a teenager OR what song/album is the soundtrack of your youth?
The soundtrack of my youth would be a tie between Led Zeppelin's self-titled first album and Neil Young's After the Gold Rush. My older sister owned both and played them constantly. I've never bought them, but I know every word to every song--even when I don't know the song titles. That's pretty much the definition of a soundtrack, I think.
I can't believe you picked "irregardless." I couldn't pick a number ONE peeve, but that's in my top five. Why? WHY? And working in the real estate/banking field, here's my short collection of words I hear every day that set my teeth on edge:
ReplyDeleteRealAtor. Real-a-tor. Heard most often from...REALTORS!!! Similar in origin to "AthAlete," I'm guessing. This drives me insane because you know that people in the business SEE THE WRITTEN WORD a million times, and they never notice how it's spelled. They also will speak and write of Real-i-ty. Seriously. They write the word "reality" referring to realty. Like there is an alternate universe of real estate that is imaginary.
Fis-i-cal for fiscal. Love those physical years.
Nucular. STOP NOW.
"Itch" to mean "scratch." As in, "Itch my back for me." It's like "learn" for "teach," which I will actually say when I think I'm being funny, as in, "That'll learn ya."
And a less-known mistake, that cringes me. HA! Purposely incorrect word usage! It cringes me!!! HA! Anyway, it's "nauseous." As in, "I'm nauseous." Well, you may be, but used that way, it means you MAKE people sick. The word you want is "nauseated." Something that is "nauseous" CAUSES one to become "nauseated." This one's fighting a losing battle to common usage, because even doctors use it incorrectly.
Also? While we're getting the word out? Everyone on the planet, including in movies, TV, and BOOKS, stop, stop, STOP saying, "I COULD CARE LESS." What you mean is, "I could NOT care less!" I'm not even going to explain this one, so just think about it. It is killing me.
(And please learn that an apostrophe before the letter 's' indicates a possessive, not a plural.)
OK. Really, I'm done. For now.
I'll just say Elvis Costello rocks.
ReplyDelete