What are my readers' top pet peeves about poor English usage? (Of course, I would never commit any these errors myself.)

Irregardless of their geographic location, people tell me they detest the use of "irregardless" for "regardless," while others find it nerve-wracking when people write "nerve-wracking" instead of "nerve-racking." Other readers object when people flaunt the rules and use "flaunt" instead of "flout" to mean "defy."

Many readers go, "I hate the use of 'go' for 'say!' and I go, 'Oh, yes, I hate that too!'" There's a lot of people who object to "there's" when "there are" is correct. And, between you and I, several folks hate the use of "between you and I" for "between you and me."

They can't, like, understand why, like, you know, people use "like" and "you know" as filler words, you know? They say writers who confuse "lay" and "lie" are laying down on the job, and they write to other columnists and myself to complain about the use of "myself" for "me" or "I."

When they thank me for condemning the substitution of "no problem" for "you're welcome," I reply, "No problem!" And they strongly object to "the reason is because." Why? The reason is because "the reason is because" is redundant. And they don't give a single kudo to anyone who uses the non-word "kudo."

They say it's not alright to use "alright" for "all right." I have to go no further than my own mailbox to find objections to the use of "further" instead of "farther" to refer to physical distance. And when I reach in the mailbox, I find letters objecting to the use of "in" for "into."

All's I know is that people hate the substitution of "all's I know is" for "all I know is." Readers detest the use of the contraction "it's" for the possessive form "its"; they vehemently object to it's use. Another pet peeve that seems to reoccur is objection to the use of "reoccur" for "recur."

A couple times I've had people criticize the use of "couple times" for "couple OF times." Less people than I would expect object to the use of "less" for "fewer" with countable items, but the amount of people who object to "amount" used for "number" is large.

When readers describe they're pet peeves, their often angry about misuses of "their" and "they're." But perhaps the most prominent of all their pet peeves' is the insertion of apostrophes' at the end of plural nouns that aren't possessives.

Frankly, I have no idea of what all these people are complaining about, OK? Oops, sorry! I forgot that one, OK?

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254.

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