1. "For Granted." Many people do not use this phrase correctly. This is a problem that can be corrected by simply thinking about what the words mean before we use it. 'For'... 'granted.' To take something for granted means you assume it is granted to you and always will be there. So to take your girlfriend for granted means you think she will be there no matter what.
2. "I could care less." Many people use this phrase which is meaningless. If you 'could care less' that means that you are not at the absolute bottom level of caring. People use this phrase when they mean to say "I couldN'T care less," indicating that their current level of caring about the subject is as low as possible.
3. "Often." This one just really irks me. Many of the commonly mispronounced words are often commonly misspelled as well. However, often is one of the few words in the English language in which knowing how to spell it correctly does not help us pronounce it. DO NOT pronounce the t! It is pronounced "ofen." The worst part about this is that inexperienced public speakers who are trying to be (over) articulate pronounce the t even harder and it is just painful for me to hear.
4. "You guys." The Wichita Eagle did a survey a number of years back and the #1 complaint at restaurants was not bad service or cold food, it was when servers use to the "you guys" to refer to a group of ladies or a mixed-sex party. Unless they are all guys, kapeesh?
--RW
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