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What's your biggest grammatical pet peeve?

#242
P. Aaron said:
The word "functionality" has always peeved me. The 'ality' part appears superfluous. There's function, and functions. Using the term 'functionality' seems, sounds like someone being defensive having paid too much for some device.
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There's actually a difference in meaning between "function" and "functionality," though of course there's also some overlap, and each word has several meanings. So "-ality" isn't necessarily superfluous, though it may certainly be overused as a wannabe-fancy substitute for "function" (much like "utilize" vs "use"). One example of the difference is this: Function refers to the job a person or thing has, and functionality refers to whether the person or thing is capable of doing that job (ie, whether it's functional).
 
#243
pcake said:
i'm in the communication game. i make a living writing and editing. that being said, when i'm not working, i only use lower case letters most of the time, and i expect that's someone's grammatical pet peeve.



LOL

"don't got" is one of my pet peeves, too.
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I agree with "don't got", it should be "ain't got" especially when it is "ain't got no..."
 
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#246
Richard Lindsey said:
There's actually a difference in meaning between "function" and "functionality," though of course there's also some overlap, and each word has several meanings. So "-ality" isn't necessarily superfluous, though it may certainly be overused as a wannabe-fancy substitute for "function" (much like "utilize" vs "use"). One example of the difference is this: Function refers to the job a person or thing has, and functionality refers to whether the person or thing is capable of doing that job (ie, whether it's functional).
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I suppose I get it that marketing dept's nationwide find utility in its use. However, function, functions, functional seem to adequately cover it.
 
#248

I love functionality — another five syllable gem to tuck away for a rainy day, like congeniality. Words! Honest to goodness. I can't get enough of 'em. The more the merrier — good, bad, or indifferent. They all have a job to do.
​
 
#250
P. Aaron said:
The word "functionality" has always peeved me. The 'ality' part appears superfluous. There's function, and functions. Using the term 'functionality' seems, sounds like someone being defensive having paid too much for some device.
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I agree with others that "functionality" has a distinct meaning, but I've noticed a trend of word expansions with "ality" that irritates me. For example, I've heard "optionality." I've heard others too, but I don't remember them at the moment.

My pet peeve of the year, however, is the rampant use of "serious" instead of "seriously." I hear this constantly, even from folks who should know better.

Also, one pronunciation issue drives me nuts: saying "eck cetera" instead of "et cetera." This has become extremely prevalent, even among some brilliant people who write and speak for a living, like Ezra Klein of the New York Times. I don't know how it started, but it's taking over.
 
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