It’s been posted out to me that I often misuse the word “Open” – for example, I will asked if a store is “opened” rather than “open”, even though I consciously know that the latter is correct. It makes me wonder how we begin to butcher and misuse a word – where do these bad little habits begin?

I have never had an issue with the common misuses that I frequently notice in other people – affect vs. effect, their/they’re & your/you’re & its/it’s etc. and yet I cannot seem to conquer my “open” issue. Granted, my examples are usually only obvious in the written word – and stare out at me like a glaring red marker – but I believe they are still of the same beast.

I’m almost certain this is a social idiom – perhaps along the same lines as a person who will say “I seen” instead of “I saw” – which, incidentally, grates my nerves and makes me cringe! Yet, I also recognize this as having a social/familiar/dialect root.