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| Topic | Are you bothered by slang and improper grammar? |
| darkknight109 09/14/23 4:46:22 AM #20: | The only one that really annoys me is "on accident".
The first time I saw it, I thought it was an understandable and innocuous mistake by someone for whom English was not their first language. Like, I get it, if you do something intentionally you do it "on purpose", so the opposite of that would naturally be "on accident", right? Just one of those adorable misconceptions you make when learning a new language. But no, this was apparently started by native speakers in the American south and it is now a plague that must be stopped at all costs. The only time this phrase is acceptable is in the rare circumstance where you happen to be standing atop a three car pileup. The correct phrase is "by accident". Actually, if you want to be truly pedantic, the *real* correct phrase is "accidentally". "By accident" is acceptable, as it is a contraction of "by way/means of an accident", which is grammatically sound, but nothing about the phrase "on accident" flows properly or makes any grammatical sense whatsoever. It's not even slang; it's just wrong. --- Kill 1 man: You are a murderer. Kill 10 men: You are a monster. Kill 100 men: You are a hero. Kill 10,000 men, you are a conqueror! ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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