Is there a word or a phrase you use too much?

[prhoshay]

I'm guessing you all didn't answer him just to drive him crazy, and laughed about it later!

[echo226]

I use the word "actually" far too often. I will type out a paragraph or two, have a quick read through for typos and whatnot, and notice that I've used the word six or seven times in as many sentences. It actually irritates the hell out of me.

I tend to use actually, basically, and technically as transitions or something when actually it's technically because my sentences are way too long and I basically try to save them:

I also use the phrase "know what I mean" ?

[Debb70]

I know I say things that are annoying at times, but I have a problem that is driving me crazy. What should I do? A few people I know, some family, say a few things over and over and I don't understand why they don't know it's incorrect. I know I am not perfect, but wouldn't you think that someone would know that you would say "I have seen" and not "I seen." Apparently, it's a very common thing, as I have heard people on tv and radio say it a lot. Why doesn't that little thing go off in their head that says, that's not correct? There are a few other things they say that just sound so obviously off, but I don't want to insult them. It's like they use "done" when it should be "did" and so on.

I don't want to insult anyone, so I have tried to repeat what they say back to them, only with the correct grammar. It makes no difference. Should I just let it go? I grew up with these people and don't recall them talking this way.

[prhoshay]

A lot of times, the way people speak is the way the people who raised them speak.

You should probably just let this go, unless they are children or THIS will be you......

[pikachu]

It's hard but I think you have to leave people's grammar alone unless they specifically ask you if that's correct. I've had people get so angry at me when I correct their grammar or make a joke about their grammatical errors online. Some people prefer to be ignorant rather than be told off by a know-it-all. Bite your tongue and keep it to yourself how dumb they sound.

The one thing I won't do, though, is repeat their error just to make them feel ok. If a friend keeps using a word incorrectly, I'll say it right while I'm speaking. They can decide for themselves if they want to correct what they're saying mid-conversation or keep using the wrong word.

[Debb70]

Okay. I think you all are right. I'll just keep biting my tongue. It really bothers me though. I don't want to insult them or make them feel bad.

Do you have any idea why they don't notice when others say things differently? Just curious. If they read a book that says "I saw a brown cow" and they hear other people say, "I saw a brown cow," then why would they then say "I seen a brown cow?" I'm just really curious.

[pikachu]

I think like prhoshay mentioned a lot of it is a regional thing or just how people were brought up. In my family, we used the word "pop" for soft drinks. Other families say "soda", "soda pop", "cola", or "coke". If I went to a friends house and they offered me a soda, I'd say "Yeah, I'd like some pop!". I wouldn't consider myself to be incorrect or them to be incorrect.

[Debb70]

I get it. I wonder why some don't follow the mold though. I noticed some people in my family say "semim" instead of "seven." I wonder why I never picked it up. I did call their attention to that, but they deny they say it that way!

A friend of mine from NJ pronounces "saw" as "sar." I'm used to it though and find it charming. lol

[prhoshay]

I have a friend who pronounced "hundred" as "hun-yed".... He was from an extremely rural part of the country. When I repeated it back to him as asked what a "hun-yed" was, he was just about on the floor laughing, as we all were. It was a family thing, but he knew the difference. It actually became kind of endearing....and he considered himself a "cool dude".

I knew a friend's mother who used to say the word "kiver" when she was indicating "cover" (as in, something on a bed). She, too was raised in a country town, and I am sure it was country dialect. She would pronounce "vegetables" as "veg-a-tebbles"....no doubt on where that one came from! And you don't correct people's mothers!

[nennie]

Yesterday morning the pastor was quoting from a particular book in the Bible and he used the short vowel when saying it and it is really long vowels and I leaned over to my daughter and corrected him and she was ready to smack me. I really whispered and she said I could be heard. Oh well sometimes you can't help it.