Correct Spelling and Grammar

pearljgirl2010

I know I'm not the only spelling and grammar dork out there....I mean, I know I don't always say or type things right myself, but this particular phrase prompted me to start a thread:

"I could care less"

Am I the only person that gets irritated when people say this?? it's "I COULDN'T care less!!"

think about it--it just makes sense....I know it HAS to drive other people crazy besides me, right???

Fifthelement

No, you're not the only one :oops: I am also a spelling/grammar geek. Sometimes I have to physically restrain myself from commenting in some thread. I absolutely despise 'text' speak. It's sad to see how lazy people have become in regards to spelling and grammar. Granted, for some it's not laziness. It could be that they have a learning disorder or that English is not their first language. And that's cool, cause it's not stopping them from communicating

Unfortunately, it's not just on message boards, but also in mainstream media such as newspapers, news tickers and even billboards! :shock: I became so disgusted at my local bi-weekly paper that I finally had to stop reading it. People rely way too much on spell check and don't bother to actually read what they have written to see if it actually makes sense. I know that most people tend to write as they speak and not as if they were writing a term paper or something, but it can be frustrating.

However, that being said, I find it more annoying for people to be condescending, ignorant or downright mean when they point out another person's mistakes, which seems to happen a lot on message boards.

I personally think the term 'grammar rage' will become all the rage (pardon the pun) over the next few years as people communicate more and more in immediate written mediums such as message boards. At least until all of us grammar fiends finally give up in exasperation




P.S. I love commas, and I use them far too much in my writing and often incorrectly :? :oops: (I just needed to confess that so I don't come across as a condescending, ignorant and/or mean bitch. )

pearljgirl2010

I think you're pretty much right in all points made...I was talking to a friend who is a teacher and she was saying that kids are such poor writers now, and that they actually use "text speak" in papers. I think it's sad.

I know that I'm IMing, I don't use proper grammar and it bothers me a little...I know if I just took that extra few seconds to type slower or pay more attention, it would look and sound better!

oh, and I love semicolons and use them whenever I can! and, I WAY overuse "...." :oops: :oops:

Fifthelement

What is really frightening is imagining the "text" generation using these grammar skills in a post-secondary or professional environment. I can see it in my mind and if I wasn't so tired at the moment I would attempt to apply my interpretation of a monologue from a Shakespeare play done in text speak. Or perhaps an application for a job. Actually, that might make for a fun thread :shock:

I'll think on it and perhaps I can come up with something tomorrow (or later today as the case might be). I'm going to need a text speak encyclopaedia though :? It will be like a second language for me

Cheers and goodnight

Hitch-Hiker

pearljgirl2010 wrote:

I know I'm not the only spelling and grammar dork out there....I mean, I know I don't always say or type things right myself, but this particular phrase prompted me to start a thread:

"I could care less"

Am I the only person that gets irritated when people say this?? it's "I COULDN'T care less!!"

think about it--it just makes sense....I know it HAS to drive other people crazy besides me, right???

Oh GOD! that pisses me off so much. It's a very american turn of phrase though. An while I'm on that contentious subject the phrase "I know, Right?" also pisses me off. Why end in a question?

And txt spk (yes I intended it there), I hate that with a passion too. What puzzles me, is thta it actuallt takes me longer to type in text speak than it does to spell properly because I have to stop and think about how to shorten the word. I know it began for a reason - with older phones people had limited space to write a message, but that isn't a problem anymore. Why do people continue to use it?

ZiggyStar

DefinItely / DefinAtely is the one that annoys me -- as well as there/their/they're and your/you're.

Rhinocerous Surprise

Seeing "I would of", or "could of", or anything like that, actually makes me collapse into a shivering wreck of pure rage.

Brisk.

I'm terrible at english as you are all probably well aware, maybe its because i just type so fast so i think what i want in my mind and type and dont bother checking.

One thing that does annoy me though is when people use 'their' and 'there' wrong, also 'to' and 'too'.

pretext

One word: Irregardless.

pjfan31

I may cop some flack here, What annoys me is when people use American spelling. I have nothing against how Americans spell, but when Australian's spell like Americans, that annoys me. Organize opposed to Organise, Standardized opposed to Standardised. Any 'ized' words really. Even some of my lecturere's at Uni spell American. We are in Australia, not America.

I'm pretty shit with grammar really. It was taken out of our curriculum during school for some unknown reason.

P.S America, I'm not having a go at you guys.

Thoughts_Arrive

What irritates me is ....

His a good guy
His cool

It is he's you morons!
Everyone I know spells it as his.

JTH

"I could care less" really doesn't bother me, but pretty much everything else mentioned so far does. (I have yet to see the his/he's confusion, but now that I'm aware of it, I'm sure it'll drive me nuts the first time I notice it.) I can definitely empathize with pjfan31, albeit in reverse. I hate it when Americans use "colour" instead of "color", "grey" instead of "gray", etc.

One other thing that used to bug the hell out of me but doesn't anymore is "mediums" rather than "media", since I've finally accepted that "media" has become a singular word and the two words aren't really synonymous anymore. But using the word "criteria" as a singular (e.g. "this is the criteria") is anathema to me. Oh, that reminds me of another one. I hate it when people use "i.e." where they should be using "e.g." Here's a good rule of thumb for telling those two apart. If you're not sure which one to use, don't use either one.

There's one thing that amuses me, though. I work with a guy who confuses "or" and "are" all the time for some reason. He'll send me e-mails saying things like "Or you looking at this issue?" and it just cracks me up.

hinx

pretext wrote:

One word: Irregardless.

:evil: :evil:

That word makes me insane. Although I was an English major so pretty much everything mentioned here drives me insane, haha.

pearljgirl2010

JTH wrote:

"I could care less" really doesn't bother me, but pretty much everything else mentioned so far does. (I have yet to see the his/he's confusion, but now that I'm aware of it, I'm sure it'll drive me nuts the first time I notice it.) I can definitely empathize with pjfan31, albeit in reverse. I hate it when Americans use "colour" instead of "color", "grey" instead of "gray", etc.

One other thing that used to bug the hell out of me but doesn't anymore is "mediums" rather than "media", since I've finally accepted that "media" has become a singular word and the two words aren't really synonymous anymore. But using the word "criteria" as a singular (e.g. "this is the criteria") is anathema to me. Oh, that reminds me of another one. I hate it when people use "i.e." where they should be using "e.g." Here's a good rule of thumb for telling those two apart. If you're not sure which one to use, don't use either one.

There's one thing that amuses me, though. I work with a guy who confuses "or" and "are" all the time for some reason. He'll send me e-mails saying things like "Or you looking at this issue?" and it just cracks me up.

TROGDOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Irregardless" is another good one...I'm glad that I'm not the only person that shudders when hearing some of the butchered words or phrases.
I'm glad I'm not the only

HeavyHands

ZiggyStar wrote:

...as well as there/their/they're and your/you're.

It's just not that hard. Or at least I didn't think it was.

Horos

I'm probably the only person in my group of friends who tries to text in complete sentences and with proper grammar. I don't know why but I too get irritated but I hate the text lingo. I try to always spell correctly in my posts to the point of looking up a word if I'm not sure. Sometimes I'm sure I miss them though. Then/than is another commonly missused group.

Horos

Horos wrote:

I'm probably the only person in my group of friends who tries to text in complete sentences and with proper grammar. I don't know why but I too get irritated but I hate the text lingo. I try to always spell correctly in my posts to the point of looking up a word if I'm not sure. Sometimes I'm sure I miss them though. Then/than is another commonly missused group.

Guess I should fall in love with the comma also.

Ledbetterman10

my all-time spelling beef will always be when people spell Led Zeppelin as "Led Zepplin"

eMMI

I find it bewildering when English-speaking people are worse at spelling than me. :?

pearljgirl2010

eMMI wrote:

I find it bewildering when English-speaking people are worse at spelling than me. :?

It's true...it seems that non-native English speaking people almost always have better spelling and grammar...

then/than is also annoying :-)

Gary Carter

Hahahahaha

I'm probably known around here for being a bad grammar/spelling person. Its not that I'm lazy or anything, its just I'm either playing online poker or on im or texting people with people.

Back_Pedal

I always try and make sure I'm saying "Couldn't" when I say "I couldn't care less". It irks me too...it's pretty much a pointless sentence, if you leave the n't off.

I also try and keep my typing pretty grammatical and neat - I know it's the internet, but seeing things typed lik diz just makes me want to kick someone in the head.

Fifthelement

eMMI wrote:

I find it bewildering when English-speaking people are worse at spelling than me. :?

That is not surprising at all. I have found that when you learn grammar rules for a second language you generally become more aware of their purpose. When it is something that you grow up doing, you're not always sure of the reason why, you just know that you have to do it. I speak from experience, as I have studied French, German, and Latin in both high school and university. I personally found that when I studied Latin I was able to comprehend English and French grammar rules so much easier :oops: :?

comebackgirl

Poor grammar doesn't bother me THAT much on a message board, but it drives me crazy when people don't bother to proofread professional documents. I've received cover letters with the most horrendous grammar and spelling errors - which drives me insane. A new restaurant opened in town and they put on their menu "no reservations excepted" :twisted: :twisted: proofread dammit!

Who Princess

hinx wrote:

Although I was an English major so pretty much everything mentioned here drives me insane, haha.

So was I, and this whole thread is making my day.

When I'm on a message board, I try really, really hard not to let stuff bother me and especially not to correct people, because I know how little that's appreciated. But it takes a lot of effort. I just look like this little guy: :roll:

iluvcats

Back_Pedal wrote:

I also try and keep my typing pretty grammatical and neat - I know it's the internet, but seeing things typed lik diz just makes me want to kick someone in the head.

A lady used a PC to type like this on one of my friend's Facebook wall: "I need 2 talk 2 u." She was not texting. I agree with you.

pearljgirl2010

whoprincess wrote:

hinx wrote:

Although I was an English major so pretty much everything mentioned here drives me insane, haha.

So was I, and this whole thread is making my day.

When I'm on a message board, I try really, really hard not to let stuff bother me and especially not to correct people, because I know how little that's appreciated. But it takes a lot of effort. I just look like this little guy: :roll:

hee hee..I try not to too, but there are some things that just irritate the bejeezus out of me, like the "couldn't care less" thing...I always want to correct people, but then I'd be a jerk :?

Fifthelement

pjfan31 wrote:

I may cop some flack here, What annoys me is when people use American spelling. I have nothing against how Americans spell, but when Australian's spell like Americans, that annoys me. Organize opposed to Organise, Standardized opposed to Standardised. Any 'ized' words really. Even some of my lecturere's at Uni spell American. We are in Australia, not America.

I'm pretty shit with grammar really. It was taken out of our curriculum during school for some unknown reason.

P.S America, I'm not having a go at you guys.

Welcome to Canada

My husband, an officer in the Navy, was writing a performance review; his WO came back with a copy of the proof that had been 'corrected' with all the ised words changed to ized :shock: :roll: Needless, to say my husband had to firmly, but politely, tell the guy to correct the corrections.

It's not surprising though, most of our text books for school are produced in the US. As well, our media sources are full of Americanised words and grammar. I don't think people here are even aware that the Queen's English has been supplanted by American English, and even more sad is, I don't think they even care :(

HeavyHands

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

my all-time spelling beef will always be when people spell Led Zeppelin as "Led Zepplin"

You've probably never heard of Deaf Leopard then either, right?

ZiggyStar

I literally died from laughter ---- that annoys me too.

Rygar

You're not the only one.
Probably just the only one making a thread about it