Yep, here I go on another language rant. This one is prompted by an e-mail message I got today from the organizer of a trade show. The greeting was, “Dear Perspective Exhibitor.” It’s good to know that this person, whom I’ve never met before, understands that I have good perspective — but her greeting will keep me from being a “prospective exhibitor.”
I also find it mildly amusing and somewhat annoying when people misuse colloquialisms. One I hear a lot is, “I could care less.” What people really mean is “I couldn’t care less.” When I’m feeling somewhat obnoxious, I tell people who make this mistake, “I’m glad you care so much about that issue.” They look surprised and say, “No, I don’t care.” I respond with, “But you must care some because you just told me that you could care less than you do.” Yes, I can be rather annoying at times! 
One more that I saw in two e-mail messages this week. I’m not sure where this one originated, but I hear and see it a lot. Here are a couple of examples: “Let’s try and meet sometime next week.” “We’re going to try and go to lunch together.” I don’t get the “try and” combination. You’ll either “try to meet” and “try to go” or you’ll just “meet” and “go.” The “and” doesn’t work there. Now that I’ve pointed this out, you’ll start seeing it everywhere!
By the way, I’d love to hear any good malapropisms you come across.
