Pet Peeves

I know I covered these in class, but I think they might need reinforcement. My first pet peeve is the use of the word "troop" instead of "soldier." I don't know why this has become so common, but even NPR uses it now: "14 troops and 7 civilians were killed in a car bomb explosion." A troop is a group of soldiers, not a single soldier. I have seen speculation that the reason they started using this word incorrectly is that "soldier" sounds more personal than "troop," although I don't think this is really true. It could also be because "soldier" sounds like somebody whose primary objective is combat, while "troop" may seem less hostile. You sometimes hear of troops deployed to distribute medical equipment or to help out in some other way.

My other pet peeve is the use of "prior to" when you mean "before." People say this to sound more educated. I used to use this phrase myself, and part of the reason I find it disturbing may be that I was embarrassed that nobody pointed out how ridiculous it sounds. I didn't figure it out until I read The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. The funny thing is that I rarely hear students use it, but frequently hear teachers using it. Remember that you can get extra credit if you correct your teacher for using this overworked phrase. Just write down the incident and let me know about it.