"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Judith Latham wrote:

my pet peeves a-

"Can I?" instead of "May I?"

Guilty as charged. I have a friend who, when I say "Can I have another
piece?" always answers, "Yes, you may." Thank you, Mrs. Krabopple.

"Brought" instead of "Bought"

That's an unusual one - never heard it. As in, "Look at this shirt I
just brought"? Maybe that's more common in the UK.

"Regular" instead of "Normal"

I would see those two as pretty interchangeable in many contexts. What
bothers you about it?

"Lend" instead of "Borrow"

Another one I've never heard. As in, "Can I lend some money from you?"
And people understand that?

I haven't heard that, but I have heard, "Can you borrow me a pen?"

This is one reason why, although I can get quite irritated by my
particular peeves, I don't think there's a logical basis for it. Why
does one bother me and another is fine? Why do I choose to continue
committing my own errors, even when I know they're wrong? Because
they *sound* better to my ears. Enough other people do it that I don't
hear it as an error. So, unless someone is an English professor and
their speech is impeccable, and they react the same way to other
people's misuses no matter what they are, I think language peeves
are highly idiosyncratic.

--
Joyce

I deffinitely agree with that.

One thing that bothers a lot of people is ending sentences with a
preposition. There are times when it sounds awkward not to do so. I was
very pleased to hear the linguist, Richard Lederer, say that in those cases,
it is correct to do so.

A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead.
-- Leo Rosten

I love this! In fact, I'm stealing it. ;-)

Joy