What are some of your biggest editorial pet peeves?

I'll get the ball rolling:

• Almost any mention of 'unique.'
  
• Using 'current' just to mention the obvious that you are talking about right now.
  
• XXX is located in Dallas. No: XXX is in Dallas. The 'located' is not needed.

Yes, I am a true joy to work with when I am copy-editing!

My biggest pet peeve is misuse of literally. As in, "Her heart literally jumped out of her chest." Well, then she'd be dead. I sometimes wonder if anyone has ever used figuratively in that sentence. I guess it just doesn't sound as dramatic.

Another one is miles from. "The such-and-such hotel is miles from the Astrodome." What does that mean? My house is miles from the Astrodome, too, just a whole lot more! And it's miles from Jupiter. Big deal!

Oh please, I could go on all day! unique is a good one (incredibly unique... come on, it is unique or it isn't and um, it probably isn't)...
but my two are platform agnostic (oh really, your platform doesn't feel qualified to confirm or deny the existence of God?)
and all of the meaningless marketing jargon (my columnist David Scott calls it gobbledygook): best of breed, cutting edge, enterprise class, flexible, industry standard, mission critical... eesh.

The increased use of "waiting on" instead of "waiting for" is a peeve of mine. I think it signifies the end of civilization as we know it.

It's becoming all-too common, but I hate it when anyone uses "impact" as a verb.

So many choices.
This week: People who think they are writing for a creative writing class instead of communicating with the readers. And the near kin: Using 10 words where 2 or 3 will do.

People who don't understand the difference between affect and effect! This seems quite common, based on the contributed things that I see.

Affect & effect is our editorial director's pet peeve. He used to charge writers a soft drink for its misuse.

I've always been bugged by "it's" and "its" abuse. Arg.

That and statements without information, like boasting "high efficiency" for a device without quoting a figure.

Speaking of "it," one of my biggest pet peeves is the use of unqualified "its." The same goes for unattributed quotes in a multi-interview story. This is English 101 - clear and concise.

Definitely the misuse of then and than, which is far more common then, I mean than, you might think.

Also, I don't see it much in this pub, but at my last gig, overuse of that awful marketing jargon and the non-word impactful (along with its brother impactive).

We will never be rid of jargon. Language is one of the primary ways people differentiate themselves.

Editors who have lost touch with their readership,

I write for a few auto magazines, niche market titles mostly.

I would say 50% of the editors i supply copy to do not have a clear understanding of the lifestyles, education levels and general expectations of their readership.

An excellent example being, editing the use of slang terms, that most of the readers use and are familiar with, and inserting language most reader do not use in their daily interactions.

My peeve is writers who have decided to use "em" dashes instead of commas. I have three freelancers who use them all the time, even after repeated requests to stop! Now even my own staff is falling into the same trap. grrr