Common Grammatical Errors in English

[Paidion]

Even among smart folks, I often hear the phrase "very unique" and cringe every time. Smart people are also fond of using the phrase "begs the question" when they actually mean "raises the question." The former is a logical fallacy and does not mean "one statement leads us to another."

Good points, Jason! I, too, have been bugged by "very unique." Clearly those who use it do not know that "unique" means "the only one of its kind." When they say "very unique," they actually mean "very unusual."

And yes, "begs the question" is a term in formal logic which means to assume the conclusion of an argument as one of the premises.

[steve7150]

I guess this doesn't qualify as a grammatical error but most people will say,

"I could care less" when it s/b "I couldn't care less" , when the meaning is supposed to be "I don't care at all."

[dizerner]

Weird al made a song for some of his 'pet peeves' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

[Paidion]

I guess this doesn't qualify as a grammatical error but most people will say,

"I could care less" when it s/b "I couldn't care less" , when the meaning is supposed to be "I don't care at all."

Oh, it qualifies. Definitely qualifies. I was rather surprised that you guess MOST people would say, "I could care less," instead of "I couldn't care less." My own experience has been that most people say, "I couldn't care less." This makes sense. I have heard only a few people say, "I could care less." That is the precise opposite and it doesn't make sense in the context in which it is uttered.

Suppose someone says, "The Habs won the hockey game."
Jack says, "I couldn't care less." Jack doesn't care at all, since he isn't interested in professional sports, and therefore he is correct in saying that he couldn't care less than he does. But what would Sam's remark, "I could care less," mean? Is Sam doesn't care at all, then it is impossible for him to care less. So how COULD he care less? Yet, he just said that he could!