Bad Metaphors and Cliches, and Other Writing Blunders

↑ groisamomma

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:11 pm

de_goldy wrote:

I see these ones everywhere and they drive me crazy

sequoia ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:28 pm

staten islander wrote:

a frum classic-are you eating by so and so?

Or staying by so and so!

No, I'm staying inside their house, not on their lawn!

↑ enneamom ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:32 pm

sequoia wrote:

staten islander wrote:

a frum classic-are you eating by so and so?

Or staying by so and so!

No, I'm staying inside their house, not on their lawn!

That reminds me of this Mordechai Schmutter article:
Words to Live By

↑ enneamom ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:33 pm

de_goldy wrote:

I see these ones everywhere and they drive me crazy:

loose weight

I have some loose weight, if you need any! And I'm willing to share! Loose change, though...that's another story.

↑ sequoia ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:34 pm

enneamom wrote:

sequoia wrote:

staten islander wrote:

a frum classic-are you eating by so and so?

Or staying by so and so!

No, I'm staying inside their house, not on their lawn!

That reminds me of this Mordechai Schmutter article:
Words to Live By

Great!

Orchid

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:44 pm

Explicit/ implicit.

There was a radio advertisement many years ago (like 10) and the actress spoke about how she trusted her pharmacist "explicitly." Oy.

Also: "being that"

and "comprised of"

(my DH got me hooked on hating those)

amother ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 8:24 pm

From my three year old: (excuse the potty talk)
"You'll wipe me as much as can be, and then it'll be very constible."

Very articulate little person, but I couldn't quite understand this one.

LOL

ally ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 9:46 pm

staten islander wrote:

a frum classic-are you eating by so and so?

This comes from translating from Yiddish.

↑ sequoia ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 10:00 pm

I never understood the "being that" thing. Why not just say "since"?

hadasa ↓

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 10:47 pm

An odd one I've seen on imamother is "excepting" instead of "accepting", as in "being excepting of someone's faults".

↑ ally

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 11:52 pm

hadasa wrote:

An odd one I've seen on imamother is "excepting" instead of "accepting", as in "being excepting of someone's faults".

Last year my brother applied to a yeshiva and my father received an email along the lines of

"We are sorry we can't except your son. We are not excepting any boys at this time."

And that wasn't even the worst of it.

↑ leomom ↓

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 12:27 am

"Common" for "come on."

(This one is pretty common—no pun intended—on Imamother.)

↑ hadasa ↓

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 1:39 am

sequoia wrote:

staten islander wrote:

a frum classic-are you eating by so and so?

Or staying by so and so!

No, I'm staying inside their house, not on their lawn!

I always have trouble with this one. Even though I know it's not proper usage of "by" in English, I keep on hunting for an equivalent of "bei" in Yiddish, "etzel" in Hebrew, "chez" in French and "u" in Russian. Does English really not have a word for that?

For example, in a recent post I wrote that a relative of mine was "in Yechidus by the Rebbe". What should I have written?

↑ iluvy ↓

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 8:49 am

Today's NYT:

Quote:

Most of the international community considers all Jewish settlements in the West Bank territory that Israel captured in the 1967 war to be illegal but Israel distinguishes between those built with permits on state land and those constructed on private plots or without government authorization.

How can someone seriously grow up to write for the New York Times without learning basic comma rules?

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 10:02 am

de_goldy wrote:

I see these ones everywhere and they drive me crazy:

loose weight

I could care less

What's wrong with it?

↑ bigsis144

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 10:15 am

amother wrote:

de_goldy wrote:

I see these ones everywhere and they drive me crazy:

loose weight

I could care less

What's wrong with it?

*gleefully pouncing*

It should be "I couldn't care less."

As in, "I couldn't care less what she thinks of me!"

My level of caring is at ZERO, so I am incapable of giving it further consideration.

When you say, "I could care less", that means you DO care about it. On a scale of 0-10, maybe your CARE LEVEL is at 1, or 3, or 9 -- but you could care less.

____

A few more manglings of the English language that drive me insane:

"Anyways"
"Irregardless"

↑ enneamom ↓

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 10:48 am

Just saw this, and came to post it here: Smile

"First come, first serve"

IOW, if you're there first, you have to serve everyone else? No thanks, I think I'll just come late. Or maybe it's referring to tennis?

edited for spelling LOL

Last edited by enneamom on Tue, Jun 26 2012, 11:11 am; edited 1 time in total

↑ Hashem_Yaazor ↓

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 10:57 am

enneamom wrote:

Just saw this, and came to post it here: Smile

"First come, first serve"

IOW, if you're there fist, you have to serve everyone else? No thanks, I think I'll just come late. Or maybe it's referring to tennis?

Just to be snarky....you asked for it Tongue Out