Things That Bug Me

There are four things that bug me. Oh, on a day-to-day basis there are lots of things that bug me, but these four consistently bug me. Three of them are English language and grammar changes that some yahoo must have started, for they are the most unintelligent-sounding words I have ever heard. At first when I came upon them I thought they were typographical errors but then after having come across each of them more than a few times, I realize it has apparently become the norm.

The first thing that bugs me is hearing someone say, "I'm going (somewhere), do you want to go with?" Go with? What is that? Go with whom? With what? With you? Absolutely not - you can't even speak proper English. If someone who says this cannot manage enough breath to eke out the word "me" at the end of that sentence, they really have no business being upright for as long as it would take to go wherever they are going.

Next is hearing someone say or see it written that something is "on sell". This is apparently a new one. The first time I came across it was on an online message board and I thought it was a mistake. Then I saw it in print in a newspaper article. I have seen it and heard it more since then. How did this come about? Is something that is "on sell" even more of a bargain than something that is "on sale"? I realize that when "on sale" is said, it can sound like "on sell", but this is a word that is not supposed to be spelled phonetically, as it sounds. Next I suppose I will see ads for long-distance fone survis.

The third thing is when people say they "waited on line" at the bank, grocery store, wherever. No - unless they were using their Palm Pilots and actually using the internet while waiting in a line, they were not on line. One can be in a line, but one cannot be on line unless one is sitting on something with lines on it or connected to the internet. I have heard this spoken as well as read it in print.

Okay - here's the fourth thing, which was called to my attention today because of the impending snow this weekend. The headline on the news story read "Grocery stores packed. Shelves emptied in anticipation of snow". The story went on to state that "milk, bread and toilet paper were flying off the shelves in anticipation of this weekend's winter storm". I do not understand this. Is this the only time people use these items? During a snow storm? "Yay! It's going to snow! Let's break out the toilet paper and live like kings!" Don't most people already have these things in their homes? I should hope so - as at least one is, well, kind of a necessity.

Well, now that I have vented and feel immensely better, I can get on with my evening. Just as soon as I go wait on line for toilet paper because the snow is coming. Want to go with?