Like every old fogey before me, I see that the world is getting worse. At least, the world of writing seems to be taking a bit of a tumble, judging by some of the stuff I see floating around the Internet and in print (which includes press releases, advertisements and supposedly professionally-made signs).
Not to say that I haven't made my share of howlers over the years, and undoubtedly will do so in future, but it still irks me whenever I see an otherwise well-written piece with a glaring error. Not a typo, which I can almost forgive (and I better, because I make enough of them), but genuine lack of understanding of what one has written. Here's a partial list of what makes me grind my teeth to powder these days. Feel free to chirp in with any others you regularly see.
Impact. Yes, it can technically be used as a verb, but that impacted me just sets me off. What's wrong with "affect"? The problem with throwing impacted around as much as people do is that it loses its potency. Once we overuse our big-ticket words, we get into such silly situations as having to use "superstar" for a real actor, because we've used up "star" for people on reality shows. An impact is big. If a two-cent increase in the price of coffee impacts you, how do you describe what's happening to people in Japan?
Begs the question. It's properly used to describe an unsupported conclusion. You can read a very good description of its proper use by clicking here. It does not mean the same thing as "raises (or asks) the question," although many writers seem to think it does.
Its and it's. One's possessive, one's a contraction. It's time to look at its use.
The colon. For some reason, overuse of this poor little piece of punctuation has recently spread throughout the writing community. It isn't always necessary to use it to introduce a list. The car has power windows, locks and mirrors, not The car has: power windows, locks and mirrors. If a word introduces the list, you don't need to throw in a colon as well (unless, of course, you're a proctologist).
Utilize. What's wrong with use?
Literally. It means exactly what it says: something actually happened. A car can't literally raise the bar, because it doesn't have any arms. If your jaw literally hit the floor, the rest of your body better be down there too. Many writers confuse it with figuratively. And even if you are using it properly, it usually isn't necessary. She literally fell to the ground really isn't an improvement over she fell to the ground.
Unique. It's an absolute. If something's unique, it's the only one of its kind. It can't be more unique, mostly unique, kind of unique, the most unique, a little more unique or anything else you want to throw in. First resist the urge to describe how unique it is, and then ask yourself: is it actually unique? Very few things really are.
Got any others?
