Grammar question

[ItalianFan]

And I just turned on the news on a different channel. The banner said "Christmas Tree Theif". "I before E except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weight (and weird)"......

As far as annoying goes, I'd say that's right up there with....
don't waist water or, alternatively, her waste was slim....

 

[Vash01]

It has become unbearable to read (incorrect grammar/spelling, etc.) and this thread is my safe haven because posters here actually care about those things. I have become more aware of my own typos and mistakes because of this thread. So here are my pet peeves.

Where do I start? I know that some of these have been mentioned before but I may include them because it is so irritating to see these because they are not complex at all:

1.Incorrect plurals. For example, Chair's instead of Chairs, Ash'es instead of Ashes

2.The ever popular- It's instead of (correct) Its

3.Consistant instead of the correct Consistent

4.Waist instead of the correct Waste, and vice versa

5.Effect/affect and vice versa

6.(Already mentioned by me) Should of instead of (correct) Should have.

7.Definately instead of (correct) Definitely

8. Different than instead of Different from (this is less irritating than some of the other examples)

9.An historical instead of A historical

10.Recieve instead of (correct) receive- it's amazing how many people ignore this rule ('i' before 'e' except after 'c')

11.Then instead of Than (and vice versa)


I will think of more later.

 

[Prancer]

Er.....

Vice versa.

 

[Vash01]

Er.....

Vice versa.

Thank you. Will edit the post.

 

[Vash01]

It's really annoying to see a major TV station misspell a common word like Receive (what appeared on the screen was Recieve)

 

[JasperBoy]

I subscribe to some family history message boards. It is amazing how many people think that a burial ground is spelled cemetary.

 

[Artemis@BC]

^ I was going to say something about them all being Stephen King fans, but he (deliberately) misspelled it another way: Sematary.

Hey, at least they're spelling it with a "c"!

 

[Tinami Amori]

It's really annoying to see a major TV station misspell a common word like Receive (what appeared on the screen was Recieve)

Oyza aiza ziza zi...
az doze nut wont zi bed ti-vi

 

[Vash01]

Oyza aiza ziza zi...
az doze nut wont zi bed ti-vi

Translation please!

I know you are trying to be funny but I don't find it funny.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Translation please!

I know you are trying to be funny but I don't find it funny.

I know spelling and structure are important. But being a lousy speller in all languages, i find "receive" vs. "recieve" to be a speckle, which describes the writer as a poor speller and may cause him problems at school or at work, but certainly is no skin of anyone's nose and does not affect the ability to "understand' the phrase.
I was laughing because there are legitimate writing methods/styles, like dada and zaum, which have no rules at all..... if letter switching is an issue, take a look at this... And if I misspell I can always claim "dada"...

Dada
http://www.poetsworld.org/uploads/1/9/5/7/19578473/9549748_orig.jpeg
https://illustratedpoetry.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/59wordcut_up.jpg

and in zaum you make up your own words.
https://erinmizrahi.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/dadism-poem.jpg
http://judithbaumann.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ilziad08.jpg

 

[Vash01]

I know spelling and structure are important. But being a lousy speller in all languages, i find "receive" vs. "recieve" to be a speckle, which describes the writer as a poor speller and may cause him problems at school or at work, but certainly is no skin of anyone's nose and does not affect the ability to "understand' the phrase.
I was laughing because there are legitimate writing methods/styles, like dada and zaum, which have no rules at all..... if letter switching is an issue, take a look at this... And if I misspell I can always claim "dada"...

Dada
http://www.poetsworld.org/uploads/1/9/5/7/19578473/9549748_orig.jpeg
https://illustratedpoetry.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/59wordcut_up.jpg

and in zaum you make up your own words.
https://erinmizrahi.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/dadism-poem.jpg
http://judithbaumann.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ilziad08.jpg

Whatever "........

This thread is for those of us who actually care about correctness.

 

[just tuned in]

It's really annoying to see a major TV station misspell a common word like Receive (what appeared on the screen was Recieve)

About a month ago (?) the scrolling news feed on The Rachel Maddow Show said "{some number of people} flea Typhoon in Philippines."

 

[PeterG]

How many errors do you see here:

mean my home but it is no where near a mine so your ok you a smoker then

It's a message I got from a friend of a friend I accepted on facebook only recently. He had sent me a message that was poorly written, something about "visiting mine". Partly as a joke, but partly as a jab at his lazy writing, I said, "I just saw a movie about men who died in a mine...I'm steering clear of mines for a while"! And this was how he responded.

I'm not sure if it's laziness or someone who went through the worst school system ever. But now as I type this, maybe he has had a brain injury and this is his best functioning. Now I'm feeling guilty...

Anyway, I count eight errors. It's tough to fathom having any contact with someone who can make eight errors when there's only 17 words. Actually, it should be 16 words but he made "nowhere" into two words...

 

[Susan1]

(not in reply to the above)....I was thinking about an email from eons ago that was called why English is so hard to learn - though/thought, and refuse (trash)/refuse (decline) - and tried to find it on the internet and found this funny page -
http://rencontresfrancoanglaise.blogspot.com/2010/12/poems-showing-absurdities-of-english.html

 

[Japanfan]

mean my home but it is no where near a mine so your ok you a smoker then

Anyway, I count eight errors. It's tough to fathom having any contact with someone who can make eight errors when there's only 17 words. Actually, it should be 16 words but he made "nowhere" into two words...

Well, I'm an editor - and told often that I'm a very good one - but I couldn't begin to count the errors in that sentence. Grammar and syntax are largely intuitive to me, always have been.

What immediately strikes me about that sentence is what being a smoker has to do with living near a 'mine' or 'my' home.

I would construe the sentence to mean 'I'm glad your home is nowhere near mine, as you are a smoker'.

Would that be heading in the direction of a correct interpretation?

I'll add my favourite ESL sentence of all time: When men are castrated, their sex drive tends to decline.

 

[Vash01]

It's (It is) driving me crazy these days- numerous people (even presenters) using "it's" when they mean "its". I don't understand this penchant for adding the ' after it.

I know this has been discussed, but I just wanted to let out some steam here.

 

[PeterG]

I would construe the sentence to mean 'I'm glad your home is nowhere near mine, as you are a smoker'.

Would that be heading in the direction of a correct interpretation?

I think he was talking about smoking and when I didn't unfriend him, he took my lack of to mean that I was also a smoker. Luckily, our conversing on facebook has died off, so I don't need to figure out what the heck he is trying to say anymore. He's a white man from the U.K., and it's my understanding that quite a few people over there speak English.

It's (It is) driving me crazy these days- numerous people (even presenters) using "it's" when they mean "its". I don't understand this penchant for adding the ' after it.

Is "its" something that even exists? I thought there were only two options: it's and its'. I googled how to use those last two a while back and was clear about it. And then I forgot. So now I just always use it's. I probably irk some people here by not using its' when I should, but no one has disliked any of those posts so far.

 

[Skittl1321]

Is "its" something that even exists? I thought there were only two options: it's and its'. I googled how to use those last two a while back and was clear about it. And then I forgot. So now I just always use it's. I probably irk some people here by not using its' when I should, but no one has disliked any of those posts so far.

Yes- its is a word. An example-
The church had its picnic this weekend.

 

[vesperholly]

its'

does not exist.

 

[skatingfan5]

Yes- its is a word. An example-
The church had its picnic this weekend.

Right. "Its" is the possessive form of "it" while "it's" is a contraction of "it is."

 

[PeterG]

Yes- its is a word. An example-
The church had its picnic this weekend.

does not exist.

Right. "Its" is the possessive form of "it" while "it's" is a contraction of "it is."

This is way easier to remember than what was in my head...which I then forgot!

 

[Susan1]

It's (It is) driving me crazy these days- numerous people (even presenters) using "it's" when they mean "its". I don't understand this penchant for adding the ' after it.

I know this has been discussed, but I just wanted to let out some steam here.

Well, there's been a sign at a busy corner for decades advertising "Appraisal's First". no no no no no no no no Every time I am sitting at the traffic light, I want to call them and tell them they are idiots.

 

[PeterG]

Yes, who is this young lady named Appraisal? And it will be her first what, exactly?

 

[Susan1]

Yes, who is this young lady named Appraisal? And it will be her first what, exactly?

I've always said they were the LAST place I would trust for an accurate appraisal.

 

[Susan1]

No comments since mine in February 17? I could post on here every day. ha ha However, this one really struck me funny (?) - banner on the news last night about "parashooters" practicing at Wright Patt AFB. Maybe that's a new mash up of parachute and paratroopers? :-( Or jut some dumb kid who never learned how to spell. I hope they weren't shooting at anything as they were floating down.

 

[Vash01]

No comments since mine in February 17? I could post on here every day. ha ha However, this one really struck me funny (?) - banner on the news last night about "parashooters" practicing at Wright Patt AFB. Maybe that's a new mash up of parachute and paratroopers? :-( Or jut some dumb kid who never learned how to spell. I hope they weren't shooting at anything as they were floating down.

I had a good laugh at 'Parashooters'. Thanks.

 

[Prancer]

Or jut some dumb kid who never learned how to spell.

Or maybe someone just made a mistake. People do.

 

[rjblue]

I prefer to use Pepper spelling ams punctuation, but my tablet makes it very hard to be perfect. Fir instance it will usually put I when i touch the letter i, but not always. It makes it deathly slow to Tiptree.

When I use the voice command to type it is much more accurate. But I can't always use it, and so I end up with having to edit ridiculous errors like in the paragraph above. It is very tiresome.

 

[Artemis@BC]

Not a grammar issue, but something that's just too funny not to share:

The other day I was working on a job and ran a spellcheck before sending off the draft to the client. I'd mis-typed the word "individual" in a way that Word's spellcheck wanted me to change it to "infidel." In a resource for Syrian refugees.

 

[Vash01]

There is a painted sign (meaning it cannot be easily erased) on the glass door of the building where I work. It reads: "CAUTION ENTERING TO THE ALLEY".

I don't know why anyone would want to add "TO" after "ENTERING", but someone did. I assume it was the building management, which is different from the agency I work for. Sometimes I notice the bad grammar, and sometimes I am just happy to be out of there at the end of the day, so I don't notice it.