This is the misspelling and mispronunciation that iI dislike the most As for, "mispell", why do people know how to add the mis- prefix to other verbs, e.g. they'd never spell "misread" as "misead", yet they can't seem to add it to "spell".
"mispelling", and "mispronounciation"
In American English, buses is the plural for the large vehicle (bus), and busses is the plural for a small kiss (buss). However, I think in the UK and elsewhere, busses is the plural for both. Which actually fits the rule about doubling final consonants when adding a suffix better.
The misspelling and mispronunciation I dislike most is "mispronounciation".
'Buses' is also the more common spelling in Britain. A search of the British National Corpus returns 10 uses of the word 'busses' although only one actually refers to an omnibus and 1438 uses of 'buses', a lot of which seem to refer to that thing with wheels and multiple seats.
My pet hate is "twenny" for twenty.
My average conversation in shops in London goes like this:
Twenny pee.
I think you mean twenty.
That's what I said - twenny.
Twenty!
Yeah, twenny!
No, twenty!
That's what I said - twenny.
No, you said twenny. The word, my dear, is twenty.
My average conversation in shops in London goes like this:
Twenny pee.
I think you mean twenty.
That's what I said - twenny.
Twenty!
Yeah, twenny!
No, twenty!
That's what I said - twenny.
No, you said twenny. The word, my dear, is twenty.
my peeve is "Gotham" pronounced with the 't' of "Got" + the 'h' of "-ham" as a "th" like in "tooth".
It really should be pronounced like Got+ham or > Gottam, the -ham being a suffix meaning "home" (cf. Nottingham, Durham)
Gotham is a town in Nottinghamshire
origin of the name is Old English Gatham (orig. "Goat-Home")
It really should be pronounced like Got+ham or > Gottam, the -ham being a suffix meaning "home" (cf. Nottingham, Durham)
Gotham is a town in Nottinghamshire
origin of the name is Old English Gatham (orig. "Goat-Home")
I would also be peeved by people who mispronounce "twenty" as "twenny", Matt -- everyone knows the right way is "twunny". ;P
Twenny is just an extension of other things like "gonna". "Ahm gonna go'n buy twenny cans".
The fact is, Twenny means twenty to the majority of people in particular areas and it is quicker to say and more efficient. If meaning gets passed across with the word, its served it's purpose. Like Natural Selection, words will always morph into quicker, easier ones over time without losing their meaning. It's nature's way of improving things.
As for Gotham, blame Batman ;) Popular media wins over academic english.
The fact is, Twenny means twenty to the majority of people in particular areas and it is quicker to say and more efficient. If meaning gets passed across with the word, its served it's purpose. Like Natural Selection, words will always morph into quicker, easier ones over time without losing their meaning. It's nature's way of improving things.
As for Gotham, blame Batman ;) Popular media wins over academic english.
LOL - I myself normally pronounce "twenty" as [ˈtʲʰwʌ̃ĩ̯] when I am not trying to particularly careful speech-wise...
"Buses" is the more usual plural form in the UK, and the word "omnibus" fell out of use in the 1920s or 1930s I reckon, when the days of the famous Clapham Omnibus were finally over.
That was the bus which travelled (maybe it still does but in vastly different form now) the route through Clapham (a suburb of South London, south of the Thames) on the London Transport bus system where, supposedly, people were likely to hear one of the verbose passengers (on either deck - top or bottom) pass all sorts of comments and pronouncements on a whole range of issues and topics, and which the eavesdropper would then assume it to be the gospel truth and so s/he would then spread the piece of news around, like a rumour.
When challenged later by a third party about the veracity of what had been said, the eavesdropper would be told that s/he had most probably heard it all from some guy on the Clapham Omnibus.
It was just a standard phrase used by someone who doubted the truth of any particular statement. "Oh, and I suppose you heard that from some bloke on the Clapham Omnibus!"
btw Clapham is prounced "CLAP-um". White faces are very thin on the ground down Clapham way these days.
That was the bus which travelled (maybe it still does but in vastly different form now) the route through Clapham (a suburb of South London, south of the Thames) on the London Transport bus system where, supposedly, people were likely to hear one of the verbose passengers (on either deck - top or bottom) pass all sorts of comments and pronouncements on a whole range of issues and topics, and which the eavesdropper would then assume it to be the gospel truth and so s/he would then spread the piece of news around, like a rumour.
When challenged later by a third party about the veracity of what had been said, the eavesdropper would be told that s/he had most probably heard it all from some guy on the Clapham Omnibus.
It was just a standard phrase used by someone who doubted the truth of any particular statement. "Oh, and I suppose you heard that from some bloke on the Clapham Omnibus!"
btw Clapham is prounced "CLAP-um". White faces are very thin on the ground down Clapham way these days.
>>>btw Clapham is prounced "CLAP-um". White faces are very thin on the ground down Clapham way these days.<<<
Yup. Traitors in government are trying to "elect a new people".
Yup. Traitors in government are trying to "elect a new people".