Recently I noticed a lot of people seem to like their exes. To be honest with you, I'm not one of those people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMNw_-yUm_0
Oh wait, did you—no, not that kind of ex. My ex-relationships are fine. I'm talking about the syllable. As in "the express purpose of the opening line was to trick you."
Those of you who know me in person have heard me rant about the word "expresso" before, so you might know where this is going. And yes, while "expresso" drives me crazy (because again, it's espresso, god dammit), at least there's a good reason for it. There's a song with the word expresso in it, there's workspace software called eXpresso; hell, there's even a 1994 concept car called the Expresso.
So while "expresso" is a pet peeve, at least it has its roots in culture. There are others that just... well, they just don't make sense.
Some of the more inexplicable ones are "expessially," "excetera," and my personal (least) favorite, "excape."
As a matter of fact, I heard someone say "excape," out loud and un-ironically, not two weeks ago.
I guess I can be sympathetic, because "es" and "ex" are similar, at least phonetically speaking. If you heard someone say "escape" really fast, it might be reasonable to assume it was "excape."
(I guess).
The thing that astounds me is that all of those words are exceptionally common. I probably don't go a day without hearing "etcetera." Incidentally, you'll notice there's no "es" in that one, so I have no sympathy for that.
"Especially" is pretty common too, and while "escape" isn't part of my regular conversation, it's not like it doesn't come up every once and a while.
And really, as soon as you read the word, it should be cleared up.
Especially.
Escape.
Etcetera.
Espresso.
See the common thread? No. Goddamn. Ex.
I try, but I will never understand how people mix this up. You've read it, you hear it on a regular basis, and you've probably written it one point or another. There is no bloody reason to use the wrong syllable.
So I'm asking you—begging you, even—please, please, just stop with the exes.
Your more literate friends will thank you.