Okay, I’m an intelligent person and I am still a little surprised that I find myself a blogger…er, a writer, as it were. I’m pretty good at spelling and I almost have a whole leg to stand on when I cringe at the spelling I see on the internet. I giggle a little bit when I see someone type "wala" when what they really mean is "voila"! Well, when writing the last post I somehow got tangled up enough that I had to go searching for an answer. I use idioms and fall by cliches so much that I have to revise them out – you don’t get to see many. Now I know why . . . I can’t always trust myself there. In the previous post I wanted to say "without further ado" or wait, is it adieu? Aarrgghh!! When I searched for it, I found the answer in many places but I also found several things that I assumed I had right, but I had so so wrong. Now wait a minute . . .I did not get all of these wrong, but enough that I had a good chuckle.
- One’s interest is ‘piqued’, not ‘peaked
- The verb is ‘orient’, not ‘orientate.
- One’s appetite is whetted; it is not ‘to wet the appetite’ but ‘to whet the appetite.
- You wait with ‘bated breath’, not ‘baited breath’. Also, to bate is to moderate or restrain, so please think about the meaning of the phrase ‘to wait with bated breath’ before you slap it onto the end of your exclusive preview.
- It’s ‘prima donna’, not ‘pre-madonna’. It’s Italian for ‘first lady’. What on earth is a ‘pre-madonna’?
- ‘Infamous’ does not mean the same thing as ‘famous’. You are not paying your favourite designer a compliment when you call him infamous.
- We say (or we ought to) ‘without further ado’, not ‘without further adieu’. ‘Ado’ means ‘the stuff that is happening’ – so, if your presentation has been delayed by commotion or ceremony, you may begin it by saying, “Without further ado…” ‘Adieu’, as you surely must know, means ‘goodbye’.
Well my interest has recently been peaked and I’ve bought enough stuff recently to wet my appetite and since CHA I’ve been waiting with baited breath for the new products to become available. Sigh!!! I have learned how to use these correctly now so without further adieu I’ll close. I’ll be back later today with a real post!
That is soo funny and I too have misused some of those sayings.
Isn’t this English language of ours something else? Thanks for sharing with us! Makes me more conscious of what I’m saying – ah, writing!
Love your blog! You are so grifted! thanks for all the work you do!
God Bless!
Ruthie
That was so good to read….and yes, I sometimes balk at the way spelling has gone….way back when were were taught correctness.
Thanks for the tutorial….now will have to search for a chair in the U.K.!
Thanks.
Becca,
You are such a delight, and you have such an amazing talent. I just enjoy your blog and all the art that you share more than you know. Keep it up!
Thanks!
I do like that little chair, and your changes to it. I think I’m going to have to try that myself.
I’m so-o-o glad you posted this list of commonly used errors by internet users. Allowing for a few typos which happen when your fingers type faster than your brain works, it makes you wonder how people can put things in print without knowing it contains glaring mistakes for everyone to see.
Having said that, I do understand that English is a tremendously complex language, and most of the time, the spelling stems from ancient history, makes little sense, and follows few of its own rules. Don’t even get me started on the misuse of apostrophes! End of rant.
The chair… darling! Great tutorial.
And the use/misuse of idioms and cliche’s does make me giggle sometimes. One more fave that you could add to your list (But not applied to your creations or blogger posts):
“I could care less” Um. I’ll bet you could! LOL The phrase should be “I couldn’t care less” hehehehe!
Well, without further ado I bid you Adieu.
Toodles………
Thank you for this, I know exactly what you mean. I often fall foul of cliches …or is that fowl. LOL!!
I gained a credit in my English exams all those years ago and I do cringe when I see bad spelling.
But, hey ho! life goes on, as they say.
But as I come from the UK can you please, please tell me where the word GOTTEN comes from???? US use it all the time and it doesn’t exist in the English language. Baffles me.
Thanks for giving me a good laugh Becca you are a star.
An absolute treasure.
J. xx
Oh this made me smile Becca..I agree whole heartedly.
Love the chair and I too will check T K Max in UK – this project would make lovely gifts.
Keep them coming please.
HW..uk
xx
Gotten is the past participle of the infinitive “to get.” Get, got, have gotten. Of course it always uses a helping verb to create the present perfect, past perfect, etc. It is widely used in American English although not always correctly. :)
How funny! My 18 yr old daughter is a self-proclaimed grammar Nazi. She can’t stand texts that use numbers and letters for words. She tells people that if they don’t have time to text the entire word, they don’t have time to talk to her. I think it’s very funny that we use phrases that we’re not sure of the origin. My pet peeve is ‘you’ve got another thing coming’. The word is think not thing, as in, if that’s what you think, you’ve got another think coming. Well, anyway…thanks for letting me laugh for a minute. The pre-madonna had me almost on the floor. I enjoy your blog so much. Your talent and projects are so inspiring. Thanks for sharing with us. Cathy
Thanks for posting that – I see those mistakes everywhere and it cracks me up. I have to admit I have never seen pre-madonna before and had a good laugh over that one! LOL
….and the little “address rocking chair” is just adorable!
Hi Becca,
Loved your article – My late grandfather was an English teacher, so use correct useage of the language has always been a ‘biggie’ throughout my life, and I too cringe when I hear and see some of the incorrect useage that is here today.
Prime examples are the misuse of there/their and to/too/two!!
I tried to teach my daughter the correct usage of the latter with the sentence – I went to a cafe where I had two coffees too many… doesn’t seem to have stuck, though :-(.
My husband brought home an in-house work bulletin yesterday and I was constantly picking up grammatical and spelling errors. I even offered to be a proof reader for them, but he decided that it would not be appropriate, or maybe it would have been a little too pointed??
My spelling is not the best, but I blame that on the fact that I am not a trained typist and that I often do not pick up typo’s…….
Thanks for the giggle that your article afforded me – a great start to the day.
Blessings
Maxine
Where did you get the info?
O girl! this is priceless……you have found my greatest pet peeve….Poor spelling, punctuation and word usage drive me up the wall. My family just laugh when I go into one of my rants……I loved the pre-Madonna (does that mean there is a post-Madonna) or is that an adolescent before becoming a Madonna…thanks for making me smile and for the neat tutorial……you make my day!
That is so funny and I get really irritated by blogs, articles in national publications and newspapers and colleagues mixing metaphors!
However I am wondering what faux pas I may have committed on my blog!
I love your chair and I found some like it in a local shop but I haven’t bought mine yet. I will soon.
My compliments to you for researching something you weren’t certain of! If only we all did that before putting something in print….or saying it aloud! I’m a retired English teacher for whom spelling has always been easy, but I’m also visual. I ‘see’ the word. That means that I sometimes have to write it out to be certain of the spelling. I’m really happy that you posted this new information! (What about ‘viola’ instead of ‘voila’??? lol)
I wonder what the dictionary will look like in fifty years. I’m a retired teacher. The last ten years I taught 8th grade English. The grammar on forums doesn’t bother me as much as the grammar and spelling on websites meant to inform, instruct or help. There’s one blog that I would love to use but the grammar and spelling is so atrocious that I can’t make myself read it.
Evelyn you were right on target with your comments.
Thank you for shedding light on this sensitive topic.
The chair is so adorable – love this project.
I enjoyed your “jelly head” post. Our English language is a mystery sometimes isn’t it? I’m with you – also one of my pet peeves (the misuse of words/phrases and the lack of concern over poor English and spelling).
I love how, after all that , you ended with your 2nd to last statement “without further adieu I’ll close”.
Thanks for the smiles.
You’re hilarious, Becca. I think I’ve got at least one of those wrong before. And I do share your pet peeve – bad spelling. It jumps right off the page/screen at me. Thanks for sharing!!
This is too funny, Becca. I do hate to see our printed language destroyed. A couple of others that annoy me are ‘using then instead of than’ and ‘prolly’ instead of probably. Thanks for a good laugh.
Becca,
You had me almost in tears with pre-madonna. Which got me to thinking…a pre-madonna is (1)any female singer prior to 1983; (2)A time when bras were worn beneath ones clothes; (3)A time when the word ‘voguing’ did not exist or could possibly refer to voraciously reading Vogue magazine. Anyway, these were just a few thoughts.
Thanks for the clarifications and laughs…Adieu!
D in FL :D
What a fun read Becca!! I also giggled as I read the comments – I am not the only Grammer Nazi!?! Sometimes I think I am crazy for proofreading my blog posts a dozen times before posting. If I do stumble upon an error, I will go back in and fix it because it will just drive me to insanity if I don’t! However, I must admit that I have started using a few slang terms and idioms. Did you know that LOL is now in the dictionary? Hmmm….. :)
Funny, Becca! I’m a teacher and I also cringe at some of the spelling and grammar errors I see out in blog land (or is it blogland?)! I’m always editing my posts and comments so that there are no mistakes! It drives me crazy when I see my posts with errors! LOL!
thank you so much I can say I have used them all wrong at all times so thanks for english 101 and I will be looking for the next helpful tip. I enjoy this blog so much and look forward to reading it every day. thank you so much. have a blessed day
How funny! I really didnt pay attention to others use of the words until I started blogging and now I “see” every imperfection (especially my own)!! Thanks for the lighthearted post. I look forward to your “real” post!
Thank you for pointing some of these things out. I can’t remember exactly whose blog it was but I remember the ‘wala’ too! I cringed but didn’t want to say anything lest I seem elitist! Stuff like that drives me crazy. I think some bloggers should type up their posts in a good word processsor with spell check and grammar rules on. I am of course more lenient when I read comments because we can’t all type those up in a word pro or no one would bother to leave comments. Those are my two scents worth (haha tongue in cheek!)
I think pre- madona must be before the boy toy. Yes?No? LOL
I forgot….have you read any good books or magazines lately? Whatever happened to editing articles and such before printing? Seriously.
Oh, and if you want to have fun, go to McDonnalds and hand the kid $2.02 for for a $1.57 and watch their brains turn to mush as they try to figure out what to do with it.
thanks for the chuckle today look forward to seeing your post for the day
This cracks me up! I’m an English teacher, and I just try my very best not to edit everything I see. All of us, no matter how accomplished we are as writers, make mistakes. Period! One point about the “wala,” don’t you think some people do that intentioanlly, to be amusing? That’s what I’ve always though, because if they were trying to spell it the way it sounds, they would say something like, “vwala!”
Another reminder, which I know you know because you are a believer: Just as soon as you start to feel self righteous, the Master Teacher will find a teachable momnet for you!! I know, because He has to do it all the time with me!!
PS. Your chair is exquisite! You are an immensely talented crafter and I enjoy your work so much!!
Hi! Thanks so much for taking the time to post the chair instructions! It’s a beautiful project, Becca!
I totally agree with Michelle Hoger’s comments on the grammar. Unintentional as it may be, grammatical errors make me laugh at times. I have to say, though, that as a former paralegal making a living at writing, it pays to proofread. I have known of legal briefs thrown out of court for the misuse of a comma or words like “a” or “an,” creating a case to be lost or a settlement to be denied. As the director of a nonprofit, grammar is one way people feel confidence in what we do. If our website, an article or brochure happens to have typographical errors or poor grammar and, God forbid, poor punctuation, we are quickly corrected by some of our bigger donation partners. Some have even said they will always choose the better written presentation between two competing agencies for their giving! It’s a confidence issue.
Also, you’d be amazed at how different our popular phrases are today than their original meaning. It’s really fascinating (okay, maybe just for those nerds like me) to discover the actual origin for some of these things, but that might help to use them in the best way, particularly when talking with those just learning English!
Okay, I’m done. Somewhere down the list from God, my family and stamping, grammar is one of my passions. Thanks, Becca, for you’re beautiful, inspirational work and this great, fun dialogue opportunity!
Have a blessed day everyone!
Kris, Wadsworth, OH
Too funny – and very good points. My pet peeve is this one:
“Wah-laa!”
It’s really french, and spelled “Voila!” The dictionary entry is:
interjection
Etymology: French, literally, see there
Date: 1739
—used to call attention, to express satisfaction or approval, or to suggest an appearance as if by magic
Becca,
You’re a “stitch”!!!!! Just what is “a jelly head”?????
I was raised by an English teacher and I do declare that she critiqued my letters to her!!! It made me so aware of proper language and usage that at times I’m a pain to live with! There goes a dangling preposition! Thanks for a well needed laugh!
I guess we can’t call you “fish breath” when you’re waiting with baited breath, huh? (that one’s my fav)
This was great to read – I cringe at some mistakes of the launguage! My favorite is when someone says they are feeling “nauseous” (meaning they are making everyone around them sick) instead of “nauseated” (meaning that they do not feel well). fun, fun fun!
What a delightful post! So glad you took the time to research these words. I wish the media (tv, radio, and print) would do the same. It is so sad to see and hear the way our language has been sliding down, down, down. One of my pet peeves is “there’s” followed by a plural noun…definitely makes me nuts. Oh, well…guess it means I’m getting older. LOL! Thanks for your beautiful creations…and a laugh now and then. (P. S. Does anyone know what a gerund is these days…and how to use them properly? LOL!)
You’re too funny Becca…but I am of the same mind! I am always checking little things too. My biggest hurdle was the word segue…which I could not find anything for because of course it’s not spelled phonetically (segway) as I tried when I googled it LOL! Good to know the bated breath…I would have done the other, and infamous….well, I’ve used that way too many times without intent to insult. How very fun and informative!!
I LOVE this post. Just this week I was complaining to myself about the dismal state of English spelling and grammar found on the internet. I’m not an expert, but some of the errors are just so GLARING!! My mental list included the “wala” that you mentioned, and there were many others. My most/least favourite though, is “prolly”. As in: “I prolly won’t see him after class.” OR “My kids prolly wouldn’t mind McDonalds for dinner again.” Is this some new internet lingo that’s only loosely based on the English language? In any case, I’m glad I’m not the only one bothered by this new trend!
PS – I caught myself in one of these ‘woopsies’ recently. I had intended to write about an internet ‘site’, and only after posting did I realize that I had typed ‘sight’. I knew the difference, but was in a hurry and just didn’t think. Good job I can laugh at myself! LOL!
fabulous post. i get very irritated by bad use and misunderstanding of the English language. your list of faux pas (not sure if there’s a plural LOL) cracked me up.
The chair is just beautiful- ingenious!
I just HAD to comment on the wala vs. voila’. It is my biggest pet peeve. And honestly, I don’t think people do it just to be funny, because the same people who say “wala” couldn’t pronounce voila’ when Stampin’ Up! put that set in the catalog. I can’t tell you the number of people who have called to order that set and just couldn’t pronounce it!
I thought your post was hysterical. My husband has a friend he IM’s with and every day he says (types) “good mourning”. Finally my DH gently corrected him. It’ so hard because you don’t want to embarrass people by correcting them, but at the same time you’re doing them a disservice by not speaking up.
Anyway, thanks for the great post! I love your blog and that chair just took my breath away!
Enjoyed your post! Personally I’m not a good speller and I would be the first to admit it! Sometimes when I speak…the word in my head is pronounced differently than what I planned. LOL – I hope that made sense. Love, Con.
I love this note! I love words and phrases and often wonder if I or someone else is stating an idiam correctly. My mom, friends and I aslo like to exchange phrases that we thought people said and then give the correct phrase… this is can be tremendously funny.
Also, while here posting I wanted to let you know you have a great introduction! Great quotes, too. Yes, I’ve copied a couple with credit to the author to use in my ever changing signature block for persoal use. I’m one of those people who find kind people, gentle words and smiles make my day….and help others.
Keep posting
Hugs!
I was JUST SEARCHING to see if “walah” is ACTUALLY a word! The craft blogs around seem to have their own “blogger lingo,” and use the most hilarious words! “walah” has been my fav so far!