[KeriVit]

I know we discussed having pet peeves in the English language but this is a mix of language and it just bugs the **** out of me. If I can make ONE person not do this anymore, I will be satisfied. If I am wrong save me from my pain! Here it is:

RSVP on invitations.

As far as I know, this stands for "Respondez Sil Vous Plait"

Now, if I am getting this right- this means Respond Please.

so Why? Why? Why? do people put "Please RSVP" on their invitation.

STOP IT! I work in printing and I see this more than I care too. STOP IT!


Anyone care to clear up any further stupidity?

[MacMan4000]

¡No hablo inglés!

[mdc]

something that bothers me is when people say "you did good" or even ". . . done good"

[KeriVit]

Originally posted by mdc:
something that bothers me is when people say "you did good" or even ". . . done good"

Ok, I'll give you that. But most people that say that actually know what the proper grammar is...

[ghporter]

Welcome to verbing. "RSVP" is not only an acronym in French, it's now a verb which means to respond with your intentions. That's english for you. Modify and alter to suit. It is not CORRECT english, but it is certainly accepted colloquial english.

Now don't get me started on apostrophes!

[nonhuman]

It happens all the them. Ever hear of 'The El Alhambra'?

When words are borrowed from one language to the other the specifics of the meaning are often lost leading to redundancies like this. It's not wrong, it's a completely normal part of linguistic change. Every language does it, every language will continue to do it.

[ReggieX]

Verbing weirds language.

[alligator]

There is some debate about what RSVP stands for:

Réspodez, si vous plaît

or

Répondez S'il Vous Plaît

[historylme]

Originally posted by alligator:
There is some debate about what RSVP stands for:

Réspodez, si vous plaît

or

Répondez S'il Vous Plaît

I'm not fluent in French, but the first one looks to be correct.

Répondez S'il Vous Plaît, has the "S'il" part that indicates "Si Il." "Il," most commonly referring to "he." Hence, when conjugated with "Répondez" in Respond (you formal, e.g. Thy, Thee), in a letter format, is quite incongruous.

my 2 pees

[MountainMac]

Originally posted by history1me:
I'm not fluent in French, but the first one looks to be correct.

Répondez S'il Vous Plaît, has the "S'il" part that indicates "Si Il." "Il," most commonly referring to "he." Hence, when conjugated with "Répondez" in Respond (you formal, e.g. Thy, Thee), in a letter format, is quite incongruous.

my 2 pees

I believe that the literal translation of Répondez S'il Vous Plaît is more like "respond if it pleases you," with "il" meaning "it" rather than "he."

But it's been 10 years since I've taken French...

[KeriVit]

OK- regardless of exact spelling- it is still redundant to say Please RSVP.

note: I did not use "irregardless" as that is just an uneducated way of saying "regardless". It wasn't even a word until it got misused so much they decided to put it in the dictionary.

[Sage]

Using “there’s” with a plural subject is my big pet peeve.

Irregardless – brought to you by the makers of flammable!

[historylme]

Originally posted by MountainMac:
I believe that the literal translation of Répondez S'il Vous Plaît is more like "respond if it pleases you," with "il" meaning "it" rather than "he."

But it's been 10 years since I've taken French...

I can see that, "Il" is used for many things, props.

[ASIMO]

Originally posted by ghporter:
...

Now don't get me started on apostrophe's!

Better.

Or as the kid's say, "Fixed."

[anthonyvthc]

Coupon.

If you make a 'Q' sound when you say this, try again.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by anthonyvthc:
Coupon.

If you make a 'Q' sound when you say this, try again.

People pronounce words differently for all sorts of reasons, region being a big one. Kyoo-pon is common enough to show up on dictonary.com. I've been known to say both, with kyoo being more common than koo.

There is no clear cut line on what a person should be annoyed at vs. what they should shrug off as just being different. I still cringe at phrases like "I seen him." and "I'm doing good." They are incorrect. But in 20 years, they might be correct. You can't stop the evolution of language. You can try to fight it, but it's an uphill battle.

I guess it bothers me most when it is uneducated people I see making the most mistakes. It makes me sad for them that they can't/don't choose to go to school, and almost sad for the language, because our language just gets "dumber". That is harsh, I know, but when we hit a point where "I seen him" is grammatically correct, our language has dumbed down.

Yes, I'm up on a high horse here. Just try to look through the arrogance to see my point. I don't think that educated people are better than uneducated people. But I do think a society of educated people is better off than a society of uneducated people (crime, economy, etc) and therefore have issues with the language of our "educated society" going downhill.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by history1me:
I'm not fluent in French, but the first one looks to be correct.

Répondez S'il Vous Plaît, has the "S'il" part that indicates "Si Il." "Il," most commonly referring to "he." Hence, when conjugated with "Répondez" in Respond (you formal, e.g. Thy, Thee), in a letter format, is quite incongruous.

my 2 pees

No, quite the opposite in fact. 'S'il vous plaît', as MountainMac pointed out, means 'if it pleases you', the 'il' being used as an impersonal (generic) subject pronoun meaning 'it'.

'Répondez' is the second person plural imperative form of répondre, to reply. This is congruous with the use of 'vous' in 's'il vous plaît' (the vous in this case being the accusative case of the second person plural personal pronoun).

And for good measure, thou/thy/thee is the informal pronoun, the second person singular, in older English. The formal pronoun is 'you'.

'Répondez, s'il vous plaît' is the correct term (in Modern French at least). 'Réspondez [not réspodez, though] si vous plaît' would probably be acceptable in slightly older French, and you could even argue that RSVP is short for 'Respondate, si vos placat' (Latin - although I'm not sure of the conjugation of placere (?) off the top of my head...)

My 25 øre

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by Xeo:
People pronounce words differently for all sorts of reasons, region being a big one. Kyoo-pon is common enough to show up on dictonary.com. I've been known to say both, with kyoo being more common than koo.

There is no clear cut line on what a person should be annoyed at vs. what they should shrug off as just being different. I still cringe at phrases like "I seen him." and "I'm doing good." They are incorrect. But in 20 years, they might be correct. You can't stop the evolution of language. You can try to fight it, but it's an uphill battle.

I guess it bothers me most when it is uneducated people I see making the most mistakes. It makes me sad for them that they can't/don't choose to go to school, and almost sad for the language, because our language just gets "dumber". That is harsh, I know, but when we hit a point where "I seen him" is grammatically correct, our language has dumbed down.

Yes, I'm up on a high horse here. Just try to look through the arrogance to see my point. I don't think that educated people are better than uneducated people. But I do think a society of educated people is better off than a society of uneducated people (crime, economy, etc) and therefore have issues with the language of our "educated society" going downhill.

You make valid points, but I still stand my ground. Grey Poupon, Coupe deVille, soup; no "kyoos." Why should 'coupon' be any different?

[blue storm 1337]

The rôle of RSVP is very clear, quod erat demonstratum. RSVP is simply a better way ask for a response; id est an expression of courtesy. Plus, it is de rigeur to use foreign expressions that capture that je ne sais quoi. I'd try to keep sang frois about it, because you are going to encounter such expressions whenever you are dealing polite society and formal events.

[philm]

RSVP is not redundant. It's a way of telling you that we need to know if you are coming to our party as a good estimate of numbers is required. So you might get this on a dinner invitation, but not on a general invitation to a house-warming or something.

[IonCable]

Ok, I'm going to add my preve. Impact is NOT a verb! It is a noun, as in "the point of impact." Impact is defined as a collision, not the act of colliding.

Thank you.

[Anders]

Originally posted by philm:
RSVP is not redundant. It's a way of telling you that we need to know if you are coming to our party as a good estimate of numbers is required. So you might get this on a dinner invitation, but not on a general invitation to a house-warming or something.

Its not RSVP that is the problem. Its the redundant "please" in "please RSVP".

When you use a foreign language in your communication with someone you share you first language with you look like a pompous ass. When you don´t master the language used good enough to know what you write means you look like a funny pompous ass.

[OreoCookie]

Get over it. In other languages, the influence of English is much stronger than the other way around. Most of the things you describe were imported a long while ago, whereas English keeps on spilling over to German, Japanese, and most other languages I know.

Germans say motherboard, cache, cool, etc. Although there are `native' German words for most of them.

I speak in English about 50 % of the day, and I don't know many words in math or physics in German anymore (I have to think about it) which is kind of embarrassing.

[Eriamjh]

ATM machine
VIN Number

One of the problems is when words from other languages get used in english. Do the rules of english still apply?

In this case, RSVP is being used like a verb for "f*cking tell us you are coming or not so we don't waste the time and money setting up a seat and dinner plate for you".

The "Please" is their way of making it a little more polite.

[ghporter]

Originally posted by ASIMO:
Better.

Or as the kid's say, "Fixed."

"Must.....control....fist....of....death!"

AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

OK, I'm better now.

The issue I have with apostrophy usage is that this is SECOND FREAKIN' GRADE MATERIAL and supposed adults apparently cannot manage to get it right. It makes me wonder how much else to trust them with, such as my credit card number, putting the correct part in my car, or ensuring that the prescription I have just requested to be filled will in fact contain the correct medication.

While I have had my own issues with "its" versus "it's" in the past (this being one of the situations where the basic apostrophy rule does not apply), that has usually been my typing fingers being faster than my thought process, which is no great feat. It is phrases such as "I am going to buy two television's" or "50% off all refrigerator's" that really get to me.

I can deal with the acquisitive nature of english altering an acquired word or phrase, such as "RSVP" into something that is simpler and easier to use without effort, but the basic nuts and bolts of the language, the very foundation of current structure, is something that I am adamant about.

[starman]

"no nothing"

[mdc]

Originally posted by anthonyvthc:
Coupon.

If you make a 'Q' sound when you say this, try again.

hey now, that's just horrible.
to tell you the truth, i've never heard someone say quepon, but oh man, when i said it to myself it jumped up on my list of words that bother me.

quepon, oh no no, no no

[d4nth3m4n]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
Verbing weirds language.

subtle reference.

"irregardless"

[Cody Dawg]

+1

[blue storm 1337]

+1

[Mithras]

Originally posted by nonhuman:
It happens all the them. Ever hear of 'The El Alhambra'?

When words are borrowed from one language to the other the specifics of the meaning are often lost leading to redundancies like this. It's not wrong, it's a completely normal part of linguistic change. Every language does it, every language will continue to do it.

what he said

[ghporter]

Originally posted by Mithras:
what he said

Ever heard of "La Quinta Inns?" That's a nationwide chain of hotels. "La quinta" means "the inn." So their corporate name is "the Inn inn." Talk about dumb!

This is kind of like naming a new subdivision "Vista del Camino" or "Vista de las Azateas."

[IonCable]

Didn't the French government try to ban use of "email" when refering to electronic mail in favor of something more French?

[blue storm 1337]

Originally posted by IonCable:
Didn't the French government try to ban use of "email" when refering to electronic mail in favor of something more French?

yes, the Academie Francaise created a new word, courielle, which is a combination of the words courrier and electronique. The Academie Francaise, an institution left over the Ancien Regime, "governs" the french language, although nothing they do makes that much of a difference. They tried to ban the use of e-mail in official government publications, but it never workd out.

[vexborg]

Originally posted by blue storm 1337:

Oh! Will someone please take this fluff thing out it's misery - it must be one of the most annoying things... Evar!

[paul w]

Originally posted by IonCable:
Didn't the French government try to ban use of "email" when refering to electronic mail in favor of something more French?

Courrier électronique. It's not that email woulbe "banned" it's that the Academie Française comes up with new French versions of new foreeign words, rather than just accept and assimilate them like English.

A couple examples (see if you can guess the English/International equivalent):

Ordinateur
Baladeur
Courriel (there's even a Pourriel)
Logiciel
Cédérom
Pare-feu
Téléchargement

etc...

[blue storm 1337]

Originally posted by vexborg:
Oh! Will someone please take this fluff thing out it's misery - it must be one of the most annoying things... Evar!

It'll keep tweet-tweet-tweeting in your ear until you die! At least its better than that **** frog with the weird penis.

[vexborg]

Originally posted by blue storm 1337:
It'll keep tweet-tweet-tweeting in your ear until you die! At least its better than that **** frog with the weird penis.

Eeiih!

The frog needs to die as well...

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by ghporter:
Ever heard of "La Quinta Inns?" That's a nationwide chain of hotels. "La quinta" means "the inn." So their corporate name is "the Inn inn." Talk about dumb!

This is kind of like naming a new subdivision "Vista del Camino" or "Vista de las Azateas."

Another Americanized name for a business: Del Taco. What the hell? 'Of the taco?'

[tooki]

Originally posted by blue storm 1337:
yes, the Academie Francaise created a new word, courielle, which is a combination of the words courrier and electronique. The Academie Francaise, an institution left over the Ancien Regime, "governs" the french language, although nothing they do makes that much of a difference. They tried to ban the use of e-mail in official government publications, but it never workd out.

"Courielle" was not invented by the Academie, but rather is a Quebecois word adopted by the Academie to supplant "email".

tooki

[nonhuman]

Originally posted by ghporter:
Ever heard of "La Quinta Inns?" That's a nationwide chain of hotels. "La quinta" means "the inn." So their corporate name is "the Inn inn." Talk about dumb!

This is kind of like naming a new subdivision "Vista del Camino" or "Vista de las Azateas."

But what are they supposed to call it? Just 'La Quinta'? A lot of people would have no idea what that means. 'La Quinta Inn' means it's an inn called 'La Quinta'.

Same thing as 'REAL Cheese™'. Just because a word usually means one thing, doesn't mean it can't be something completely different in another context.

[Goldfinger]

Oh and I've seen people use "mél" to say "email" in French. So we have 3 words for the same thing in French

[starman]

Originally posted by vexborg:
Evar!

[deej5871]

Originally posted by IonCable:
Ok, I'm going to add my preve. Impact is NOT a verb! It is a noun, as in "the point of impact." Impact is defined as a collision, not the act of colliding.

Thank you.

Umm..no. Dictionary.com lists it as a verb as well as a noun, and even goes into some detail about it:

The use of impact as a verb meaning “to have an effect” often has a big impact on readers. Eighty-four percent of the Usage Panel disapproves of the construction to impact on, as in the phrase social pathologies, common to the inner city, that impact heavily on such a community; fully 95 percent disapproves of the use of impact as a transitive verb in the sentence Companies have used disposable techniques that have a potential for impacting our health. ·It is unclear why this usage provokes such a strong response, but it cannot be because of novelty. Impact has been used as a verb since 1601, when it meant “to fix or pack in,” and its modern, figurative use dates from 1935. It may be that its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts continues to make people suspicious. Nevertheless, the verbal use of impact has become so common in the working language of corporations and institutions that many speakers have begun to regard it as standard. It seems likely, then, that the verb will eventually become as unobjectionable as contact is now, since it will no longer betray any particular pretentiousness on the part of those who use it.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by Goldfinger:
Oh and I've seen people use "mél" to say "email" in French. So we have 3 words for the same thing in French

Mél is also listed in the dictionaries (as an abbreviation for message électronique).

Oh and Blue-something-something: It's sang-froid, not sang frois

My own little pet peeve (in Danish):

When people say "Det vil jeg ikke have noget med at gøre". Wrong. Word. Order. "Det vil jeg ikke have noget at gøre med" is the only acceptable form! And when people say things such as, "jeg farede vild" (jeg for vild!), or "jeg bedte ham om..." (jeg bad ham om...).

(This is of course for the sole benefit of Anders, vexborg, Erik, and the few others here who understand enough Danish to tell the difference)

[iLikebeer]

old roomate: I'm going to dethaw my steak.
me: Why? I thought we were grilling tonight.

It took a year, but I finally taught him what thaw means.

[Person Man]

Originally posted by paul w:
Courrier électronique. It's not that email woulbe "banned" it's that the Academie Française comes up with new French versions of new foreeign words, rather than just accept and assimilate them like English.

A couple examples (see if you can guess the English/International equivalent):

Ordinateur
Baladeur
Courriel (there's even a Pourriel)
Logiciel
Cédérom
Pare-feu
Téléchargement

etc...

Um, let's see:

Ordinateur = Computer
Baladeur = I don't know (Looks like Barad-dur)
Courriel = e-mail (Pourriel = I don't know)
Logiciel = software
Cederom = CD-ROM
Pare-feu = I don't know
Telechargement = I used to know this one, but I can't remember right now.

[tooki]

"Baladeur" is a walkman.

And "mél" is parallel to German, where the English loan-word verb "mailen" means "to email". (I have to point out to German speakers now and then that in English, "mail me that file" doesn't mean to send it electronically, hehe!)

[tooki]

Oh, and to add to the list of French:

Octet: byte (as in a "disque Zip 100Mo")

tooki

[MountainMac]

Originally posted by ghporter:
Ever heard of "La Quinta Inns?" That's a nationwide chain of hotels. "La quinta" means "the inn." So their corporate name is "the Inn inn." Talk about dumb!

This is kind of like naming a new subdivision "Vista del Camino" or "Vista de las Azateas."

What about "The La Brea Tar Pits"?

="The The Tar Tar Pits"