Stop Being So Anal!

Anal being characterised by a particular trait, e.g. meticulousness, ill-humour, etc.
[9/10 readers thought it’s going to be about anal sex, right?]
A few friends and I are prim and proper when it comes to certain …. err …. things. We’ve been considered anal that we have always had to defend ourselves. ;P
For example, there is the pronounciation pronunciation of certain words which may be incorrect but makes sense, but we’d correct the person nevertheless. Once, someone pronounced Hermes, the brand as “erms” that we couldn’t help be laugh, before correcting the person – it is pronounced ‘er-mezz’, with a French accent.
However, I admit that I may not be able to get that pronounciation pronunciation right. ;D
Some deliberately slang their words in their speech that it gets irritating after a while. For example, making a word plural when there is no plural – ‘okays’, ‘anyways’, etc. If used repetitively, my ears start to twitch because I can’t stand the sound of the unnecessary ‘s’.
“Do you have a lisp?” I’d furiously ask a friend, after a while.
“Err, no.” my friend would answer, wondering where I’d be coming from.
“What’s with the ‘okays‘ and ‘anyways‘? Do you speak that way in the office, to your boss?” I asked.
“Err …” my friend fumbled.
“OMG! I wonder what does he thinks about your English,” I snobbily said.
For chatting online, other spelling for words are OK, I guess. E.g., “bai-bai” for bye bye, “fren” for friend, “alwiz” for always, “kiut” for cute, etc …
Just be sure that you don’t spell that way in your work.
My friends and I are of the opinion that we can be allowed to speak among ourselves that way occasionally, but people should refrain from speaking that way when it comes to work. After all, professionalism must be maintained. ;P
p.s. But I do cringe at bad spelling when I’m sure the person means something else. A friend gave me some examples, grateful and greatful are 2 different meanings. So is than and then. 😉
[Disclaimer: I’m not saying my English is spectacular, so please don’t shoot me down. Thank you! I learn from mistakes, too.]

49 thoughts on “Stop Being So Anal!”

  1. well, i can’t pronut it properly either. BTW, what happen to our site meter? I can’t see how many people visit our site like last time. It’s so addictive sometimes. I will go to the site meter to see whether we are “No.1” or not, just like how i check the prices of the shares on stock market.

  2. The mistake I cannot stand is when people say: “I’m so boring” when it should be “I’m so bored”.
    And it’s usher not usherer, tuition is too-i-tion and not tiu-tion, Michael Buble is pronounced Bu-blay, not bubble! >_<;;

  3. I have to agree with “than” and “then”.. but worst of the worst is “your” and “you’re”. It makes me want to stab myself in the eye repeatedly and then rip out my ears. Oddly enough, it’s so common in a natively English speaking country such as Canada and US. GET SOME FUCKING GRADE ONE EDUCATION, PEOPLE!@#
    And, “OMG! I wonder what he thinks about your English,” >_< At least I’m pretty sure it’s that way!

  4. frank: when you say someone is “so anal about it”, it means that they are damn …. must stick to their own ways la. i gave you an example what, hehe, whenever my friends speak with all the ‘s’ in the wrong places, i cannot stand it and have to correct them.
    therefore, some say i’m being anal about it. ;P
    Applegal: haha, no no, you spelt it out, so i was just rolling my tongue to pronounce it. i pronounce it that way, too. so i guess i’ve been wrong all this while. but usherer is a new one!

  5. as johnny storm would say , “flame on!”
    as a full fledged banana(yellow outside white inside) i’m unable to speak much chinese so I cut non natively english speakers the same slack as I’d expect them to cut me when i speak their language…

  6. i hate it when people pronounce temporary wrong, they go tempelary….. fuck
    and liaise would be pronounced something like lai-yes… bah

  7. sigh…don’t care la..as long as the message gets across it’s good enough for me..can’t stand those anal retentive people.

  8. sigh…don’t care la..as long as the message gets across it’s good enough for me..can’t stand those anal retentive people. 😉

  9. dogma: sure, but some people are willing to learn and discover the proper way. cough. i can’t believe i’ve been pronouncing ‘tiution’ all this while, when it’s tu-ee-tion. ;P
    Ben: good one! to pronounce “liaise” is not the same as “liability” then. this is embarrassing, yet interesting. ;P
    pokai: ahaha pls see my comments above. we all have to learn to improve ourselves, we can’t always think we are correct as we may be wrong. ;P
    yes, if it’s a face to face conversation, the spelling errors will not be picked out, but the pronunciation will matter. but anything typed or printed, 2 different words of different meanings used may not get the message across. imagine writing an email or a letter:
    dear Ms. Lee,
    hi, how are you? thank you for your quick response, i am really greatful. i spoke to Mr. Tan regarding your complaint. after listening, Mr. Tan than apologised. He regrates what he has done.
    i think delaying the project is a better option then to scrape off the entire project.
    ….
    OK, grammar might be wrong, but the spelling errors are there. ;P

  10. lol i teh england bery powderfull!!
    bimbo: can start to open a england class @ xes.cx kar??If can,i’ll be teh 1st student in ur england tiuuu-tiooonn class..

  11. Well, as long as the message is pass abroad to the other end…I don’t mind talking England..hehehehe…cause being a Malaysian.…you gotta talk like one or else you can’t communicate with them lar…..So…got any england class arr??

  12. Karheng: apa kinky ni,diff org okie?I is Khinko..bimbobum@powderful-engrand-tiu-shern-klutz-dot-com??ahahaha..email liao…
    e-fly: ….nonono,it’s tiuuu-tiooonnn…

  13. Heh….i lagi hate ppl who pronounce their names wrongly, and worse, deliberately pronounce their names wrongly.
    Some Ah Lian picked the name Athena for herself cause she thinks its cool. Guess how she pronounces it? “Ah-Duh-Nah”.
    Another one has the name spelled as Celeste. How she introduces herself as? “Seh-Less-Tee”. This one was deliberate btw.
    And some try to be too creative, come up with totally new names, like Kervin. >_>

  14. No one can beat the dude named ‘Crayon’!! 🙂 But heck, other people outside of Klang Valley- think Ipoh, Penang etc think that speaking and writing English correctly is SO LANSI. Its not as prevalent as Klang Valley kids think it is.

  15. by drafting too much contracts day and day…i is very tired..i is wants to takes a breaks from englandss…
    bimbobum..haha, i agree !! professionalism!!
    :).. i hate ppl using..okayz..’jialatz’…’anywayz’…but i take it as decoration, rather than having anymore meaning to it..zomggggggggg

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