I have long held, and been slightly proud of, the title of GrammarNazi. Most of my living is made by fighting the evil forces of sloppy dangling participles and superfluous commas and apostrophes.
However...
My battle for truth, justice, and correct punctuation does not stop with the written word. I can be just as annoyingly picky with the way some people talk.
In an effort to make the world a better place, here's a short list of words and phrases that should cease to exist immediately.
These Ones - "Are you talking about these ones?" In this context, the word "ones" is totally unnecessary. "These" is all it takes to indicate what you're talking about. The same goes for "those ones" and "that one", by the way. Now, if you want to replace, "ones" with the actual-factual name of the object you're discussing...as in, "Are you talking about these fruit-flavored, chewable globs of high-fructose corn syrup?"...I'm all in favor of that.
I'm Good - I've spouted off about this before (you can read the aforementioned spouting by clicking HERE), but it has become persistent and irritating enough for me to go into Nagging Mode.
Have a Good One - A good what? A good day? A good nap? "I've got these ones here; some are caramel-filled and some are coconut. Have one. In fact, have a good one...which of course would be a caramel-filled one."
I Could Care Less - If you're choosing to express a modicum of concern about something without indicating any exuberance whatsoever, then have at it with this phrase. For example, if someone asks whether you think Sprite or 7-Up is better, you might have an opinion but still not think it's a very important subject. In that case, you might rightly say, "I could care less, so I guess I'll say 7-Up is better." But you and I both know that when most people say "I could care less," what they really mean is, "I couldn't care less. This subject holds no interest for me whatsoever." (You know, the way most people are feeling about this particular blog post right about now.)
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