Like

Can we add adverbs to like? Real is not an adverb. Really is an adverb. It seems that people just don't understand this. Rather than grate on me every time they say it I'd rather it was banned.

I so agree about excessive use of 'like'.I could scream.
Even worse is 'kind of like' or 'sort of like'
Did you see a recent Graham Norton programme when the
wonderful Miriam Margolis reprimanded a young pop star guest for inappropriate use of 'like'.A very hilarious interchange.
I've often thought that a fine for every time 'like' or 'kind of' was used could raise a lot of money on Red Nose Day.

My pet two pet hates are "yeah" spoken like a question at the end of a sentence amd "you know" again spoken like a question - makes me want to give the speaker a good slap!!

New pet hate of the moment - medalling. Please, please, please can the commentators just say - "so and so has won a (hopefully!) gold medal.

I have to admit I dislike the use of 'like' when it is used to quote what someone said. For example, instead of saying : "I was saying xyz", they say "I was like xyx".

I also dislike the use of many words when one or two will do. The most famous one, I suppose, is 'at this moment in time' when they really mean 'now'.

When I worked in the civil service in the 60s and 70s I loved it when a certain little note was changed, which we used for forwarding paperwork that had been misdirected. The original one said something like: 'The accompanying communication appears to have been inadvertently sent to the wrong place and is therefore forwarded to you herewith, for appropriate action'. The new one said: 'This seems to be yours'.

A personal niggle is 'listen up'. We used to just 'listen' until the Americans got in on the act. I know, I know: language changes and there is lots of leakage between the various Englishes, which can be a good thing, but do we really have to add unnecessary words?

I did hear an explanation for 'listen up', which was that 'listen' on its own was not enough to gain attention as your voice goes down on the second syllable.

I agree wholeheartedly with GillieB about 'medalling'. Surely the use of nouns as verbs, or verbs as nouns should be discouraged. Another of my pet hates is 'a big ask.'

WOW, Oh My God and Amazing.
And does the letter T still exist?

Where did the expression 'a space of time' come from? Think about it.

As it were! Grrrr

And what about 'th' - and perhaps absolutely

Medicalise,incentivise,just two of about six of these examples of mistreatment of the English language on radio 4 in the last two days! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Examples of jargonisation. Should be incineratorised.

You are a card ! LOL

well better be getting on with work!

Found Zara Phillips quite difficult to listen to, yesterday, without the odd cringe.

When did bloods slip in, what happened to blood test.

Didn't that start out as a sort of hospital/nursing staff abbreviation, though, Faye?

Yup! It's me speak, innit?

JENI u always seem to hit the right spot .

We saw "Thanks to all our donators" outside a charity shop last week. Their donors must be a bit put out...

'Like'-bespattered speech irritates me too, but it's just, like, a new cool dude thing for the younguns .

Not only are we subjected to "to medal" during these Olympics, but also "to podium" and "to gold/silver/bronze"