EDIT: you guys have dug up some truly horrible pisstakes :D Thank you for those.
To the serious folk - relax a little. This is Mildly Infuriating, not I'm dying if this doesn't stop. As a non-native speaker I was taught a certain way to use the language. The rules were not written down by me, nor the teachers - it was done by the native folk. Peace!
Totally agree. I need to bite my tongue when I hear it.
Also see: ‘Very unique’ And ‘jealous’ when they mean ‘envious’.
Very unique was originally an insult veiled as an unintentionally incorrect usage of the expression. The hidden meaning could be explained as “I think it’s retarded but I don’t want to say that in public.”
Source: chick movies.
As for Jealous vs Envious. Are you sure it isn’t merely your perception that’s mistaking the use?
I know I tend to confuse the two because one wants something that resembles what you have and the other wants what you have directly.
So the perception of those involved can mix up the two concepts in this regard.
@Lath the way to remember is the phrase “jealous husband”.
Obviously he doesn’t just want to have a wife (he’s already a husband), he specifically wants his own wife to be talking with him not some other guy.
Jealous vs envious is super common to misuse as I did for years because envious seems ‘old fashioned’ these days.
‘Very unique’ is used widely but I doubt your attribution or source. It’s just a common sloppy lack of rigour in meaning.