Ann Curzan's latest Lingua Franca post describes ten common peeves. They have been conveniently summarised as follows by Barrie England, who has blogged extensively on the subject of the negative canon:
1. 'I could care less'
2. Apostrophe used for plurals
3. Hyperbolic use of 'literally'
4. Confusion of 'loose' and 'lose'
5. Confusion of 'your' and 'you're'
6. Confusion of 'their', 'there' and 'they're'
7. Misunderstanding of 'nonplus'
8. Confusion of 'affect' and 'effect'
9. Confusion of it's' and 'its'
10. Claim that 'irregardless' is not a word
There is one other that is worth mentioning: the use of a superlative adjective for two items is often held to be a solecism. Nevertheless, Jane Austen wrote in Emma:
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.
She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father, and had, in consequence of her sister's marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses, and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in affection.
Less common surely is the reverse, the use of the comparative with more than two items. Nevertheless , in the Sherlock Holmes story of The Five Orange Pips Watson recalls some cases that are not described in full.
The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson, of the singular adventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa*, and finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time -- a deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the case
Watson, or rather Doyle of course, uses latter to describe the last of five items.
*The Adventures of the Grice Patersons in the Island of Uffa by Sandor Jay Sonnen is available in Kindle format from Amazon.
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