"I was giving you the benefit of the doubt."
Such a universally common expression that it has become accepted, but it still grates painfully across this Grammar Nazi's nerves like nails down a chalkboard. I want to stab myself in the ears when I hear it spoken (or stab myself in the eyes when I see it written). Properly speaking, it is horribly wrong to have a definite article there; it ought to be, "I was giving you the benefit of doubt."
Such a universally common expression that it has become accepted, but it still grates painfully across this Grammar Nazi's nerves like nails down a chalkboard. I want to stab myself in the ears when I hear it spoken (or stab myself in the eyes when I see it written). Properly speaking, it is horribly wrong to have a definite article there; it ought to be, "I was giving you the benefit of doubt."
Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
