Originally posted by Erika
[BThe one thing that really bothers me at the moment is the fact that so many people are suddenly saying conversate instead of converse. And now it's in that song- every time I hear that line I want to bang my head against the steering wheel. [/B]
Amen! However, I think it was in a "song" a good while back, which is why it's already such a prominent non-word that people are using.
When stupid people want to sound intelligent, they try to use the most impressive sounding words that they can think of, even if they have to make them up....conversate just sounds so much more impressive than converse, so what if it's just a made up word! Besides, an "intelligent businessman -
slash - rap star" used it, so it must be legitimate! Bleh.
It's right up there with such non-phrases as:
incorrect: I could care less
correct: I couldn't care less
or
incorrect: irregardless
correct: regardless
The list is pretty much endless. However, it can be argued that language is what the people make it, and if enough people start using non-words, they eventually become part of the accepted vocabulary. A good example of this would be insecure vs. unsecure. The latter has become an accepted word, especially in the financial world, but it sprang forth from the mouths of jellyheads that, for whatever reason, couldn't say insecure. Being that a large portion of these offending individuals and institutions were/are in the financial community only serves to further enforce my general disdain for the majority of the severely confused MBA's of the world.
Oh, and as far as people getting Disney facts wrong....getting ticked off at someone who thinks he knows it all when you are convinced that he is obviously incorrect because you, in fact, know it all is kind of a cyclic type of situation that I try and avoid. A know it all is a know it all, and whether they happen to be right or wrong on any given point is irrelevant.
Now, when someone is presented with clear and obvious facts but still cling to the notion that he/she is clearly correct and let the facts be damned - well, ok yeah, this type of person would tick me off. Just make sure that the clear and obvious facts that you present to the know it all are in fact clear and obvious and, of course, correct.
UncleJeet
