Here’s another writing pet peeve — when folks confuse peak (or peek), and pique. Here’s an example of proper usage: I live in Denver, Colorado, so I have a lovely view of the mountain peaks when I look to the West, but my interest is piqued when I find a good book about world history.
Instead, what I see most commonly is “this really peaked my interest,” or “I thought this would peek your interest.”
This doesn’t trouble me too much when I see it on blogs, mailing lists, and so forth. I’m used to seeing language atrocities there… but it’s just a different story when it’s something from a communications professional, i.e., from a PR person.
(This post originally posted on Zonker.net, rescued from /dev/null thanks to copy/paste and Archive.org)