The classic example in this category is "ain't." This is a curious contraction because it refers to more than one verb ("am not" and "have not"). Even though "ain't" flourishes in common speech, some grammarians even go to the extreme of saying it's a nonword ("Ain't isn't in the dictionary"). This brings up two separate ideas. Notice the "-ish" ending in "flourish." It seems we can add "-ish" to almost any noun to mean it is like that noun. So if I want to say something feels like flour, do I say it's "flourish?" Now look at that word "nonword" which my spell checker doesn't even recognize. The dictionary defines "nonword" as a word that has no meaning, is not known to exist, or is disapproved of.
Wouldn't it be a surprise if you looked up a word and there was either a blank entry or it said, "This word has no meaning?" We certainly show plenty of disapproved words in this chapter, but a couple of examples of "nonwords" are trying to refer to nieces and nephews as one group as we would normally do with words like "cousins." Likewise there needs to be a word for "aunts and uncles." Grammarians really blow their tops when I refer to "he or she" as a group such as, "when they are nominated."
Most people who say, "could care less" really mean "couldn't care less." It may be more of a phrase abbreviation than it is a lack of attention to the grammar. When I was in college, I recall a friend asking me, "Jeet yet?" meaning "Did you eat yet?" Is there a difference between "can hardly" and "can't hardly?" Maybe the use of "can hardly" is out of fear of using a double negative.
Sometimes words take on the opposite of their literal meaning. "Fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing. "Literal" can literally have a "figurative" meaning in the example, "He literally turned the world upside down.
Does "go to the bathroom," mean the trip to the room, or what you do when you get there? Ever hear the phrase that "he went to the bathroom in his pants?"
"Funny" can be used to mean "peculiar," but when referring to a serious topic, it's a good idea to stick to the word "peculiar."
My third grade teacher had a conniption fit when we said, "I don't got no."
"Irregardless" is considered nonstandard. So why isn't "inflammable" considered a redundancy for "flammable?"
It's ironic that the use of "learn" for "teach" is common among the uneducated. "Run" is commonly used as a past tense among the elderly.
One of the most common spelling errors that I know of among the educated is "mischievieous" for "mischievous." Likewise, it's "unequivocally" and not "unequivocably."
Often, people are not succinct. Instead of: earlier, now, and later, they say, "prior to, at this point in time, and at a later date."
The same people who argue that "complected" is not standard English will say that "early on" is not American English.
Some will say that the phrase "a couple hundred" is sloppy because it drops a preposition, but will claim that the phrase "I write my father" is stylish.
There are those who insist on the "-ly" adverb form for, "open wide" or "drive slow." Likewise for words like "careful" and "sure."
"Drownd" may not be as uneducated as it looks, because it is simply the phonetic rendering of "drowned."