It's not really that difficult to cushion a response. We have smilies and fonts and colours ... the English language has tons of words.

I wish folks would, first, decide if their objection even needs to be said and then take a minute to phrase it pleasantly.

Adding another vote for preggers and prego. It is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Thank you, Optical Goddess. I've been bothered by "aholic" used as a suffix also. The suffix is simply "ic."
Although now you've got me creating a fantasy molecular structure in my head for "carbohol.":dizzy:

My pet peeves are the use of... LOL, ROFL, ROFLOMFGASDFASDFSDA, etc

They really irritate me and the use of them in messages irritates me. People use them for things that aren't even funny.

One example is my mom got an email from a friend who apparently was used to some form of online chat where LOL was used quite frequently. The email was basically illegible to my mom so I had to help her decipher it. There must've been 30 LOLs in that single email.

Actually "-holic" and "-aholic" are suffixes:

"The form -holic is used with words already ending with vowels. For stems ending with consonants, the phonetically pleasant form -aholic appears more common in general, but both spellings are seen, even for the same stem." From http://en.wiktionary.org


I am NOT trying to discredit your peeve; if it bothers you, it bothers you!

OpticalGoddess: "a pop" = apiece: that must be a common East Coast-ism, I see it in New York Times crossword puzzles all the time as well as a few other sources. Doesn't bug me.

"-aholic": obviously supposed to liken the monkey-on-back of choice, carbs, shopping, whatever, to alcoholism. Surely it bugs those who recognize what a serious problem alcoholism and other substance abuse really is ... er, make that ARE?

blooeyedgirl: :welcome2: :hug:

Another peeve: When people discuss things online, and when they have different points of view others assume they are angry, negative or argumentative. :mad: Sometimes seeking to clarify things only makes it worse, apparently! :(

Soulbliss, You hit the head on the nail with that comment. You can't see facial expressions or tone of voice when reading online posts. It's not like normal conversation, where you can get your point across with a smile on your face or a relaxed body posture. Everyone reading it may pick up a different attitude from it, possibly misinterpreting it. I guess I'm more laid back and don't take offense easily. It helps to use the smilies. :)

what serious problems alcoholism and other substance abuse really are

Yes, I concur and that is why I make LIBERAL use of the smilies!!! ( ;) this one is my "being friendly" smile!) . :^:

:thanks:

Battle Ax, I owe you an apology.

I don't know if SoulBliss's post is directed to me, but she is right. I went back and re-read your post. It's clear you weren't disparaging what I said in my first post. I'm so used to being told that the points I made are not any longer considered linguistically incorrect that I reacted reflexively -- and defensively. The mistake was mine, and I should have read your post with more care.

Since the purpose of language is to communicate clearly and your post did that, my curt reply to you was most unfair.

I am sending this as a PM also, in case you are no longer reading this thread, but I felt you were owed a public apology. I hope you will accept it.

All the best, Rae

P. S. I would have laced this post liberally with smilies, but I'm posting in the Quick Reply box. :) Again, I am sorry.

Raebear, it wasn't directed at you at all! I wasn't even aware there was a potential misunderstanding here, and anyway, I am pretty direct, so if I was worried about a miscommunication between us, I would send you a PM :lol: ;)

SoulBliss, that's good to know -- but I had a guilty conscience... I misunderstood a post of Battle Ax's and she was absolutely entitled to that apology!

Fortunately, we're sorted now and I will be more careful in future in how I read someone's posts replying to mine. :)

Rae