The good/well distinction.

It's entirely too easy to screw up yet people never seem to get it right.

Finally, a stupid one that shouldn't bother me but does. People that preface their discussion, especially one based on opinion, by saying "I think"...no shit, you're the one saying it, I know this is what you think.

A pronunciation oddity here in Central PA that I hate is when someone is talking about their COUSIN, they say cousinT. Makes me want to kick a puppy.

God that drives me ****ing nuts, I don't know what the story is behind that nor do I care to learn. Needless to say, I don't pronounce it that way.

Hmmm... not really. The reason it's called a verbal "crutch" is because you rely on it in conversation in lieu of original phrasing or words that actually mean anything, or as filler while formulating the next sentence. "Umm", "like", and "I mean" are all examples of verbal crutches. People with bad grammar or who mispronounce things aren't relying on it; rather, they're saying them out of reinforced ignorance.

At my last job, people would always end emails with "Please advise." For example:

"I found some rotting cabbage in the refrigerator. Please advise."

or

"I weigh 300 lbs and hate life. Please advise."

It got to the point where the emails were completely cryptic and filled with abbreviations and acronyms with no explanation whatsoever or a request that was really something that they should have done for themselves and then they would end it with "Please advise." In hindsight it wasn't so bad, but I still really hate the saying and feel a sting of bitterness each time I see it in an email.

Boy, you must really hate it when people say/write, "Please advice."

Not understanding the difference between "fewer" and "less."

"They got their asses kicked because they had less guys."

FEWER, damn it. Fewer.

I'd also appreciate it if everyone would learn the difference between "infer" and "imply."

This thread is now about almost everything linguistic except verbal crutches....

Yes, we've changed the paradigm.

More to the point on the fewer/less confusion:

You have less chocolate. You have fewer Hershey's Kisses.

Man, you really think outside the box. Big picture.

:shake:

I'm bitter just thinking about it.

I HATE THAT WORD!

And "conflate" can be put in the toilet with it.

When I lived in Central PA the people would say, "How's come?" instead of "How come?"