NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I'll admit that I'm incredibly bored. I have a bit of an abnormal obsession with spelling errors. My FI's spelling & grammar are both terrible. I often feel myself longing to grab a red pen and make corrections on cards and such. It's really a terrible fixation, but those in my life have grown to deal with it.

I've realized that there are specific words that bother me more than others. I'm wondering if any of you suffer from the same "Red Pen Syndrome" that I do.

Every time I see DEFINITELY spelled incorrectly, I go insane. Since when is the word spelled with an A?

Anyone else have any words that drive them a little batty?

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I am so with you on this!
The "your/you're" phenomenon gets me most of the time!

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

Ooh, that's one of mine, too!

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I hate when apostrophes are used when it's unnecessary. The your/you're thing gets me too.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

Someone on here (who I think is great) consistently spells vendors like this "venders"...it drives me insane! But I would never say anything...

OCD and spelling freaks don't go hand in hand...and NYCTherapist, I used to re-write my fi's cards (in blue pen though) from when we were dating - there were way too many errors for me to ignore. LOL. I have since stopped because I would consider it a miracle if I received any cards now (after almost 9 years he stopped giving... )

Great post for control freaks (like me!)

EFS: Don't you love irony?

Message edited 2/11/2005 11:16:48 PM.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I long for the red pen when:

People write "should of" instead of "should have" or "should've."

People use "I" instead of "me" incorrectly

When someone refers to him/herself as "myself." (i.e., They invited Carol and myself to the party)

ETA: I know this is my own "issue" and I've learned to accept that.

Message edited 2/11/2005 11:19:33 PM.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I should care.. I am speech language pathologist.. really really should care.. But I don't. I have the WORST spelling and grammar when I am writing and the spell check feature on here takes sooooo long. Oh well..... It just doesn't bother me. I think it is the whole internet thing that has caused it.. no one cares about spelling and abbreviations are easier. It's a shame but when kids have spell check and grammer check to use they won't bother to check it themselves... myself included.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I am the same way...I always correct ppl when they use the wrong spelling for there, their, they're & I can't stand when people say "Supposably" it's Supposedly.

God, I'm so anal

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

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Posted by gNi1125

I am the same way...I always correct ppl when they use the wrong spelling for there, their, they're & I can't stand when people say "Supposably" it's Supposedly.

God, I'm so anal

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Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

Great thread!!!!! I teach college and told my students that there are three things that drive me insane and if they dont have those things correct on a paper, they wont do very well.

1. Mixing up good and well - for some reason it drives me crazy.

2. Mixing up I and me - so glad to know that I'm not the only person who is anal about this.

3. Subject verb agreement.

I had a professor in college who only let us use the passive voice 3 times in a paper - and we had to number each use. If we did it incorrectly, we failed. A bit extreme, but it worked!

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

The misuse of their, there, and they're bugs me.

ETA: TRAIL instead of trial

Message edited 2/12/2005 12:30:26 PM.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I am a complet grammar freak. It doens't bother me when people do semi esoteric things wrong like misplacing commas or misusing "who" and "whom" and "Which" and "that", those aren;t so bad. The ones I feel are really egregious drive me crazy "your" and "you're" being the worst.

My Fh also has excellent grammar. I've never actually dated someone who didn't (I went to a nerd school), but I honestly don't think I would. It's that bad. Someone who doesn't have complete mastery of written and spoken standard american english would really drive me insane. Is that bad? I honestly could never date someone who I didn't feel was my intellectual equal, and even if it wasn't true, I'd feel like someone who doesn't use proper grammar is stupid.

I don't mean this in terms of friends or people walking down the street or online, but with someone you're dating, you spend a llot more time with them.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I am a teacher of children with special needs both academic and social-emotional. I understand the limitations of a child - whether challenged or not. However, when it comes to adults, I have little if any patience for poor grammar, spelling or punctuation. If you have a HS diploma, you should, at least, have the basic skills for writing a letter. You would be surprised how many people lack the skills to communicate effectively. Despite my higher education, I was still able to write well before college and graduate school. To this day, I sit with an APA manual and self-correct as I find the need. I still make mistakes, but at least I have presence of mind to look to make improvements.

Here are common errors made in the English language that pi** me off:

1) "a whole nother" - example "It is a whole nother thing to say that..."

There is no such thing as a "nother." It is either "a whole other" or "another"

2) "ask" vs. "axe" - AAAARGH!!! People REALLY need to work on this one.

3) "would of," "could of," "should of,"... -

OMG PEOPLE!!!. Try "would HAVE," "could HAVE," "should HAVE." Enough said.

I have been asked by many people to proofread essays for school. I have also been asked to write and proofread essays for friends to gain entrance into graduate school. With all of the essays I have worked on, I could be enrolled in as many as four graduate programs at this very moment.

I could go on for hours and pages but I don't want to bore you all to tears. Some people call me a snob and that things like this aren't important. THEY ARE IMPORTANT!!! I will never apologize for having standards. Nowadays, kids rely on grammar and spell-checking to correct themselves. I say, READ a newspaper or a book. That is the best way to get a strong grasp of proper English.

I am hereby done with this diatribe.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I am a big spelling freak too!

Some misspellings on here you can tell are because people just hit the wrong key, etc. but a lot of them are AWFUL!!!!

I hate when people write "ect." instead of "etc."

UGH!!!

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

well, grammar and spelling mistakes on this website are usually the result of people tying very quickly. I've looked back on lots of things I've written and thought, "Man, I don't even appear literate!"

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

Online errors are understandable. I am referring to common, everyday errors. Chatting on LIW is not exactly on par with writing a doctoral thesis.

Message edited 2/12/2005 4:18:44 PM.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I can't stand when people use quotation marks for no reason. A lot of homemade advertising will use quotes for emphasis. For example: A "great" deal. Ugh. Don't they know what that implies??

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I have a lot of grammar pet peeves:

1) The misuse of there, they're and their.

2) Same for your and you're.

3) People who pronounce "ask" as "ax".

4) These are often the same people who refer to more than one person as "yous" (the joys of growing up on Staten Island...)

5) Misplaced apostrophes drive me insane!! I have seen signs in fast food restaurants that say stuff like, "Free Big Mac's." I'm always like "Big Mac's what?"


There are SO many others....

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

Oh thank the Lord for this thread, I thought I was the only one.

First of all:

Bo-k.
Your and you're, there, they're and their, oh it goes on and on.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I have this problem too. I really hate when apostrophes are used inappropriately!

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

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Posted by Jax430

I have a lot of grammar pet peeves:

1) The misuse of there, they're and their.

2) Same for your and you're.

3) People who pronounce "ask" as "ax".

4) These are often the same people who refer to more than one person as "yous" (the joys of growing up on Staten Island...)

5) Misplaced apostrophes drive me insane!! I have seen signs in fast food restaurants that say stuff like, "Free Big Mac's." I'm always like "Big Mac's what?"


There are SO many others....

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Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

I am one of the worlds worst spellers so I probaly drive all of you insane with my spelling/grammar errors

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

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Posted by Jax430

I have a lot of grammar pet peeves:

1) The misuse of there, they're and their.

2) Same for your and you're.

3) People who pronounce "ask" as "ax".

4) These are often the same people who refer to more than one person as "yous" (the joys of growing up on Staten Island...)

5) Misplaced apostrophes drive me insane!! I have seen signs in fast food restaurants that say stuff like, "Free Big Mac's." I'm always like "Big Mac's what?"


There are SO many others....

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Message edited 2/12/2005 9:05:18 PM.

Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

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Posted by NYtherapist

I was in Neiman Marcus today. My FI decided to use the restroom and the sign said, "Mens Room." Hmm...MENS? You'd think SOMEONE would know that MEN is already a plural.

The misuse of then & than drives me a wee bit bonkers.

Those who don't realize that certain words are to be written in the past tense (i.e., I use to know a girl who...It's 'I useD to know a girl who...')

And Jax hit my all-time pet peeve: YOUS! Um, the collective form of YOU is YOU. It's never, ever YOUS. In all honesty, if I were interviewing someone for a job and the made-up word, YOUS, came out of his/her mouth, the interview would be over.

Ah, one last one before I get back to life. It's never okay to say, "I seen the movie." You SAW the movie, you didn't SEEN it.

LOL, edited for spelling!

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Re: NWR: Grammar & Spelling pet peeves

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Posted by sarahbelle

I can't stand when people use quotation marks for no reason. A lot of homemade advertising will use quotes for emphasis. For example: A "great" deal. Ugh. Don't they know what that implies??

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