Language Pet Peeve.

You know what irritates me to no end?

The use of the word Appreciate without the preceding pronoun; The assumed “I”.

Person A: “Appreciate your coming in today!”
Person B: “I finished that report for you.”
Person A: “Appreciate it.”

This is not a phrase of thanks, it’s a command. YOU BETTER APPRECIATE THE RIGHT TO COME IN TODAY! YOU BETTER APPRECIATE THIS WORK!

Ugh!

Here’s the kicker: I do this all the time. And EVERY single time I do it, I hate myself.

Anyone else have self-loathing due to a poor grammatical habit?

5 thoughts on “Language Pet Peeve.

  • 12/18/2013 at 12:49 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve picked up the “needs done” construction (omitting ‘to be’). Like “The cat box needs cleaned.”

    I hate it, but “The cat box needs to be cleaned” seems to take way too long to say.

    Reply
  • 12/18/2013 at 2:15 pm
    Permalink

    I tend to just get rid of all extraneous words when talking.

    “I’m going to shove that whole Bacon Chicken Club sandwich in my mouth now”

    Becomes…

    “Bacon Mouth Now”

    K

    Reply
    • 12/18/2013 at 4:23 pm
      Permalink

      Just “bacon”, the rest is easily inferred.

      Reply
  • 12/18/2013 at 2:55 pm
    Permalink

    I find myself saying all of Corbin’s favorite phrases just like him. I am a grown adult not a two year old, I should not go around talking like a two year old, but it is just somehow enivitable when spending so much time around him. I do feel better that nearly everyone who parents small children ends up doing this a bit.

    Reply
  • 5/18/2014 at 7:23 pm
    Permalink

    I have found myself doing this a lot lately, especially with “localisms.” Luckily, I have grammar police in my family, like my sister and my mother, who keep me in line.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *