Grammar

And the same with "could of" rather than "could have".

And 'hone in on' instead of home! Grrr

'Off of it'
'less' when it should be 'fewer'.I can still hear my English mistress saying' Less money,Fewer coins'

I never know when to use 'effect' or 'affect'. It's bothered me for years.

Effect is most usually a noun

eg: George Clooney has a funny effect on me.
But can be a a verb as in the phrase 'to effect a change', meaning 'to bring about a change'

Affect is a verb:

eg; George Clooney affects me deeply.

Not to be confused with infect....

Disinterested instead of uninterested

Oh yes, Nsube - one of my pet hates!

"May" when you mean "might" as in "the outcome may have been different if..."

snube, that drives me mad too but I'm beginning to think it's a lost cause because even people one would expect to know the difference use the term disinterested when they mean uninterested.

Ok, I admit it, I don't know the difference between the two....

Children were told off so often for saying "Can I ..." instead of "May I ..." that they used to overcompensate by saying things like "May you pass me the butter, please"

I also get riled at "That begs the question" which I always thought meant "That avoids asking the question "in the sense that it makes it unnecessary but most people take to mean "asks/poses the question" so I looked it up and it can be used both ways. Still niggles though.

Language changes with time, but when there are two different words (uninterested and disinterested) with quite different meanings, it's a shame to lose the distinction.

Agreed!

I sometimes wonder if I'll ever give up being an English teacher.

syberia, 'uninterested means 'having no interest in', 'disinterested' means 'impartial'.
I am completely uninterested in football.
A football umpire needs to be disinterested.

Tabloid editors exploit the confusion between two meanings of 'interest'. They defend publishing some piece of gossip on the grounds that it is 'in the public interest', which should mean 'the public will benefit from knowing this', but actually means 'the public is greedy for this sort of rubbish and will pay good money to read about it'.

"Different to" gets on my nerves!

And I am constantly shouting at the radio when people who should know better confuse 'appraise' and 'apprise'.

"Moot" and "mute" confused too!

Me too, Annobel; it's bred in the bone!

thank you raggygranny

Can anybody tell me if the following is correct? Sometimes, in an advertisement, these words will be written "Send no money now!" This has bothered me for a long time because how can I send no money? I can't send 'nothing'. How could it be re-worded? "Money required after delivery?" I'd be interested in hearing thoughts regarding this.
Isn't it funny how seemingly little things in life can annoy.

I think they are just looking for a shorter, snappier way to say Do not send any money until we've contacted you directly. There's no need because we have satisfactory ways of fleecing you later.

It's a bit like the old slogan for Anadin - 'Nothing acts faster than Anadin' - well, in that case I'll take nothing!

Oh upcoming instead of forthcoming- drives me witless!!!