Are there terms, words, and sentence structures that just drive you nuts? One of my pet peeves of late is hearing people refer to the year as "Two thousand AND six". Isn't it strange that a few years ago no one said, "Nineteen AND 99. Is the current year "two thousand six" (without the AND) or is it "twenty oh six". Does it matter? Numbers, properly stated, do not contain conjunctions. The number 125 is correctly stated as "One hundred twenty five" (notice no AND). With regard to the year, one might expect or at least excuse the "AND" in common usage, but when one hears it from professional speakers such as newscasters and political speakers or preachers, it pushes my every button of intolerance. Ban the "AND".
Thursday, December 14, 2006
A Pet Peeve
Are there terms, words, and sentence structures that just drive you nuts? One of my pet peeves of late is hearing people refer to the year as "Two thousand AND six". Isn't it strange that a few years ago no one said, "Nineteen AND 99. Is the current year "two thousand six" (without the AND) or is it "twenty oh six". Does it matter? Numbers, properly stated, do not contain conjunctions. The number 125 is correctly stated as "One hundred twenty five" (notice no AND). With regard to the year, one might expect or at least excuse the "AND" in common usage, but when one hears it from professional speakers such as newscasters and political speakers or preachers, it pushes my every button of intolerance. Ban the "AND".
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