What mis-stated phrases or words do you feel still need to be corrected (online or in person) in 2025?
What mis-stated phrases or words do you feel still need to be corrected (online or in person) in 2025?
Please state in which country your phrase tends to be used, what the phrase is, and what it should be.
Example:
In America, recently came across "back-petal", instead of back-pedal. Also, still hearing "for all intensive purposes" instead of "for all intents and purposes".
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Forte being pronounced for-tay.
This isn't music.
... It's Latin. That is, in fact, how you pronounce that
It's French, it's the strongest part of a sword, and it's pronounced fort.
Isn't the for-tay pronuciation literally the first example on this link?
It is, as well as being 3/4 of the provided usages and a large proportion of the examples.
I didn't know what Merriam Webster is smoking, but the word fortis, forte derives from the Latin word for strength.
what Merriam Webster is smoking
Remember, Noah Webster fucked English for America, and then somehow they made a dictionary to keep fucking it. Just exclude it from any kind of discussion.
And, keep in mind, what's popular has no bearing on what's right. America has a chequered past with doing the wrong thing in great numbers.
If it were music it would be forta, as in the Italian pronunciation of pianoforte. Which would be correct, according to M-W.
I will start using this pronunciation immediately. I always assumed it is derived from the French forté.
So thanks for pointing this out!