Pet peeve: service vs. serve

Reba

Reba

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One of my word use pet peeves is the use of service as a verb when serve should be used.

People are served, not serviced.

People can be provided services. (Service is correctly used as a noun.)

Cars, AC units, refrigerators, and Johns are serviced.

RIGHT: The clerk served the customers.
WRONG: The clerk serviced the customers. (Unless they were getting a little something "extra" from the clerk :naughty: )

RIGHT: The mechanic serviced the car's engine.
WRONG: The mechanic served the car's engine. (For dinner?)

RIGHT: The electrician provided services to his commercial customers on weekends.
WRONG: The electrician serviced his commercial customers on weekends.
RIGHT: The electrician serviced commercial equipment on weekends.


Anyone else have word use pet peeves?
 
Too many to enumerate.

Hit the hay.

Hit the sack.

Chow down.

Yummy.

Words that are not conceptually accurate!
 
My husband & MIL both say the word wrestling wrong and it drives my up a wall. I can never understand what they are meaning by reading their lips. They say it as "wrassling". Also, they both say "arthuritis" instead of arthritis.
 
Bottesini said:
Too many to enumerate.

Hit the hay.

Hit the sack.

Chow down.

Yummy.

Words that are not conceptually accurate!
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Not conceptually accurate, true, but I think the phrases you listed would be considered idioms, which don't follow the rules. :)

Yummy is just a descriptive word, probably derived from "mmmmm." :giggle:

I can't stand "Yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy." Ugh!
 
Reba said:
Not conceptually accurate, true, but I think the phrases you listed would be considered idioms, which don't follow the rules. :)

Yummy is just a descriptive word, probably derived from "mmmmm." :giggle:

I can't stand "Yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy." Ugh!
Click to expand...

Ok, I guess that is a good description. I hate it when language does not follow rules.
 
KristinaB said:
My husband & MIL both say the word wrestling wrong and it drives my up a wall. I can never understand what they are meaning by reading their lips. They say it as "wrassling". Also, they both say "arthuritis" instead of arthritis.
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Probably a regional dialect pronunciation.

I knew some people who said "terlet" (toilet), and my mom said "Cuber" (Cuba). :lol:

Every time my MIL tells about a funny experience, she starts out, "I had to laugh." I think that's a clue for us that it's a funny story. Otherwise, we wouldn't know it was funny (sometimes we don't see the humor in her tales.) Really, if a story is funny, people don't need a hint or cue cards to know when to laugh.
 
Bottesini said:
Ok, I guess that is a good description. I hate it when language does not follow rules.
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Me too, but idioms are the exception. Good grammar is the meat and potatoes of the English language. Idioms are the salt and pepper. They add flavor but must be used sparingly.
 
I hate it when people use 'there' their' wrong!! I see this a lot on another blog I use.
 
Reba said:
Me too, but idioms are the exception. Good grammar is the meat and potatoes of the English language. Idioms are the salt and pepper. They add flavor but must be used sparingly.
Click to expand...

:lol: A whole paragraph designed to make me grit my teeth in fury!

My hat is off to you!
 
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