MetaChat - Peeve:

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13 January 2010

Peeve: It's FLAIR, copywriters of the world, not FLARE. You're trying to say your boot/pants/home decor has FLAIR. A person or company has a FLAIR for design.→[More:] Argh. Last time my stuff had "flare" it took a visit from the fire department to quell the excitement.

I feel like I've been seeing this one all over the place lately.

Any special peeves you've got running today?

post by: Miko at: 09:50 | 27 comments

hahahahaha... Yeah I've been seeing that one too.

I will not throw stones though, I am the typo-queen.

posted by dabitch 13 January | 09:55

I've been shocked at how many times I've seen people who should know better spelling "withdrawal" as "withdrawl." Argh.

posted by BoringPostcards 13 January | 10:01

"disinterested" used when "uninterested" is meant.

posted by JanetLand 13 January | 10:24

Except/accept confusion runs rampant on other forum I'm on.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 13 January | 10:26

Peek/peak.

I was talking with my boss yesterday, who mentioned a Newsweek article she recently read that discussed "living variously through the characters." Clearly, vicariously was meant.

posted by initapplette 13 January | 10:32

or peak/pique "peaked my interest"?
also faze/phase

posted by gaspode 13 January | 10:40

tow/toe "tow the line". Gah.

and since most of these fall into this category, homophone (same sound: too/two/to) v. homonym (same name: record/record)

posted by plinth 13 January | 11:02

I've been hearing "resiliency" a lot, when a good ol' "resilience" will do. That one bugs me a lot.

posted by mudpuppie 13 January | 11:19

"living variously through the characters."

I love the idea of living "variously!" So much more interesting than living homogenously.

posted by Miko 13 January | 11:27

Not writing -s or -ed at the end of a word which because it's not "heard."

I'm thinking, especially, of all the female personal-ad writers who refer to their big, beautiful breast. Now, surely, it is quite possible to have one breast, and for that breast to be a beautiful one. But I suspect, strongly, that this is not the situation being described in a vast majority of these ads.

posted by mrmoonpie 13 January | 11:33

Do personal ads charge by the letter, mrmoonpie? Maybe those folks are omitting the s to save a little dough. And if that's the case, I'd like to offer a happy compromise: Ta-Tas.

posted by Atom Eyes 13 January | 11:58

gaspode, I was describing my exhaustion a few days ago and fell into the "piqued" trap. No, I am tired and wrung out, not spurred to interest! But it was a ripe time to make such a mistake: I was feeling pretty peakèd.

posted by Elsa 13 January | 11:59

pups, you've been watching a lot of sports, then? Commentators are notorious for "resiliency". Cracks me up every time I hear it.

A bit of a sidebar, because these are not peeves, and I don't think they are wrong or anything, but before I moved to the US, I had never heard -

"healthful" instead of "healthy"
"normalcy" instead of "normality"
and... crap there is one other.

Every time I hear them I get jarred, just because I'm not used to the word. It's an odd feeling.

posted by gaspode 13 January | 12:08

You got it, 'pode. Football commentators are the worst. (But I also heard it a lot on CNN at my folks' house. CNN runs 24 hours a day on multiple TVs there. It's almost like being in the airport.)

posted by mudpuppie 13 January | 12:11

Solar FLARE, FLAIR for drama.

And, when did wrack become rack? Wracked with guilt is so much more angsty.

posted by theora55 13 January | 12:39

'Everyday' vs. 'every day' is my current mid- to long-term peeve.

posted by chrismear 13 January | 12:52

'Normalcy' is a mildly interesting story, if you like stories with Warren Harding in them.

posted by box 13 January | 13:11

Well, who doesn't like a story with Warren Harding?

(actually, that rang a bell. hrrm. I may have looked it up some time back in the day when I was wondering about the word.)

posted by gaspode 13 January | 13:15

My wife ALWAYS says "less," even then "fewer" is the correct usage. It drives me crazy, and it drives her crazy for me to correct her on this, so I suffer in silence.

posted by danf 13 January | 14:32

You haven't seen my place. It's totally LENS FLARE Deco™. There's also some Bryce if you look hard enough.

posted by Eideteker 13 January | 14:37

-ly free adverbs irk me, as the swapping of Good for Well. My wife makes these mistakes sometimes, even though she is the one who played the related School House Rock song for me, which I now sing in my head whenever I hear someone say they did something "quick."

posted by filthy light thief 13 January | 14:41

Dear Boss:

It makes SENSE. NOT SINCE.

kthxbai,
lysdexic

posted by lysdexic 13 January | 16:38

Using my left turn signal with plenty of warning, yet people still ride right up on my bumper when they could have easily passed me in the right lane.

Oh, and people who don't read the other comments and write something totally disrelated.

posted by Ardiril 13 January | 16:42

before I moved to the US, I had never heard -

"healthful" instead of "healthy"

"Healthy" doesn't grate on my ear, and I get irriatated when people correct my use of it. I still think a dinner is "healthy" if it is "conducive to good health." I just don't perceive an error there, though by some style guides I would be wrong.

posted by Miko 13 January | 17:28

So, what do we think about "nauseous" vs. "nauseated?"

posted by Obscure Reference 13 January | 17:30

I'm still gnashing my teeth over the whole premature ending of the "decade" when we still have 11+ months to go.

posted by terrapin 13 January | 22:39

Hey, my flared pants totally have flair.

posted by cortex 13 January | 23:54

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