Grammatical NIGHTMARES

[isaku5]

One of my pet peeves when marking senior English essays was the same word spelled three different ways, and I''m not talking about the "it''s, too''s"etc. Many times, I circled the different spellings and wrote....Make up your mind. Which is it??? I know, know......mean teacher...boo, hiss

Just a side note here: My granddaughter''s grade seven teacher regards spelling as "merely a convention". Yep, he can''t spell : two errors in his instruction sheet

 

[anchor31]

How about people calling their fiancé their "finance"?? Come on, I know it''s a French word, but it''s not that complicated... Say it with me "f-i-a-n-c-é". Oh, and if it''s a woman, it''s "fiancée".

Anyway, if I do mistakes, I actually appreciate being told. I''m a Frenchie, and although I learned my English from my mom in my early teens, I never really learned my proper grammar. FI is taking English classes at work, and I''m learning lots of stuff too!

 

[somethingshiny]

I am cracking up here! I had to rewrite that because my cyber sitter won''t allow "crack." That''s funny. "I am ing up here!"

Another "supposedly" I hear constantly around this area is "supposively." Really? You can''t put the "d" in there instead? You''re SO close!

OH, and "pert ner." No, not another term for "partner" but for "pretty near." Like, "I laughed so hard I pert ner wet the bed!"

My DH''s family says the word "milk" like "melk."
And, his grandma used to say (oh, that''s another one, saying "use" insead of "used.") Tydenol instead of Tylenol. If I said to her, "I had a headache so I took a Tylenol," she''d reply, "Tydenol, mm hmm." (Like she was correcting me!)

 

[lyra]

Ack. Well, I know the grammar fairy needs to visit me once in a while. Usually early in the morning or at night when I''m tired. I cringe at what I''ve written sometimes. My personal pet peeves are then/than, fusstrated/frustrated, and lose/loose.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 11/14/2007 2:55:08 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 11/14/2007 2:50:32 PM
Author: decodelighted
I''m an indignant grammar rebel? Oxymoron or just regular moron. You be the judge!

Better than being an indigent grammar rebel.

Afraid that term could be apt as well!

Anyone got any non-specific fairy dust for a freelancer??

 

[Maisie]

I have to admit I don''t know this:

Its mine or It''s mine

I went to Shelleys house or I went to Shelley''s house.

In my defence though, Its a long time since I was at school

 

[E B]

Maisie,

Here is a quick lesson on it''s/its from the website Deco posted:

its/it''s

 

[Maisie]

No, I don''t get it. I think I need to go back to school.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 11/14/2007 3:20:12 PM
Author: Maisie
No, I don't get it. I think I need to go back to school.

The only thing I use for it's is replace it with it is; if that doesn't work then it is its.

I am bad at spelling but I try; I am better at math. I try to get it right.

ETA: I get advise and advice mixed up.

ETA again: I hate when people say Almonds w/the l (I know weird pet peeve).

 

[blushingbride]

OK, I''ll play! How about using effect and affect?? It drives me nuts when I have to sit here and figure out which one to use. ...And I''m a communications major! Go figure..

Also, lately for whatever reason I''ve been spelling the word congratulations like congradulations (with a d instead of t)...I have no idea where I got that one from!

 

[simplysplendid]

Date: 11/14/2007 2:02:01 PM
Author: somethingshiny
It bugs me when I see the wrong There,Their,They''re and You''re,Your. But, I know I''ve probably done it when I get typing quickly, too.

My BIG pet peeve is when people use the word IRREGARDLESS. ''regardless'' = ''without regard''. So, ''irregardless'' = ''without without regard'' = ''WITH regard''. drives me bonkers!

Another one is when people don''t pronounce the ''B'' in ''obviously''. IT''s not ''oviously''!!

And, of course, ''CUTLET''!

LOL! Totally agree..

A few on top of my head:

-it''s vs its
-they''re vs there - the Thomas and Friends VCD drives me nuts with "they''re two, they''re four, they''re six and they''re eight"..
-parallel vs pallarel
-fiance vs fiancee... how many guys on Show Me The Ring has bought a ring for their fiance? The only guy I ever knew who did so was Elton John.

 

[E B]

Date: 11/14/2007 3:20:12 PM
Author: Maisie
No, I don''t get it. I think I need to go back to school.

Does this website make more sense? I agree, the way the first website presents it is a little confusing.

It''s vs Its

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 11/14/2007 3:27:37 PM
Author: blushingbride
for whatever reason I''ve been spelling the word congratulations like congradulations (with a d instead of t)...I have no idea where I got that one from!

HA!!! I did that while decorating a bride & groom''s getaway car ... in SOAP, on the WINDOW! FWIW - I think the confusion comes from "graduation", which is a common time to "congratulate" someone. WHEW! I was sweating that one.

 

[Gypsy]

I humbly apologize to everyone on this thread. I KNOW I''ve made your eyes bleed many many times with my many many errors.

I am lazy. Plus I’m slightly dyslexic. So I KNOW I am one of the worst offenders on here.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 11/14/2007 3:39:05 PM
Author: Gypsy

I humbly apologize to everyone on this thread. I KNOW I've made your eyes bleed many many times with my many many errors.

I am lazy. Plus I’m slightly dyslexic. So I KNOW I am one of the worst offenders on here.

Gypsy, I am a one of the worst too! I apologize too.

ETA: Nicrez, heehee that made me laugh!!!

 

[CrownJewel]

I also have a grammar OCD. And I make mistakes too, but that doesn''t keep me from

whenever I see/hear OBVIOUS grammatical errors. Even my fiance, who didn''t learn English until he was 11 has learned proper English grammar, so I am amazed that some native English speakers never learned certain rules.

How about "I would of won if I ran a little faster," when it should be "I would''ve..." or "I would have..." GRRRRRR!!!

Another one that makes me want to pull out my hair is, "Here is a photo of David and I." You are combining two sentences, "Here is a photo of David," and "Here is a photo of ME." So it should be "Here is a photo of David and ME!" I see that a LOT.

Glad I''m not the only one here!

 

[Nicrez]

I hereby apologize for all past and future spelling errors.

As a super-multi-tasker I often type so fast I mispell or miss a letter, if an incorrect letter wasn''t included in it''s place already! I am terrible.

When writing letters by hand I am impeccable, but I get sloppy when typing. No excuse, I have been typing for more years than I care to remember and speed is not as good as accuracy. Although amen for delete and spellcheck. Remember typewriters and their limitations? (man I am dating myself!)

Hence why I write so much. I often do it in a few seconds flat. (with about 40 errors per line!)

My humble apologies to the (necessary) grammar police...

 

[Fly Girl]

I was membership chair for a small club, and the president kept referring to finding "perspective members". Drove me nuts. I would write back that "from my perspective, we are looking for prospective members", but I don''t think he ever got it.

 

[Sparkster]

Date: 11/14/2007 2:55:46 PM
Author: anchor31
How about people calling their fiancé their ''finance''?? Come on, I know it''s a French word, but it''s not that complicated... Say it with me ''f-i-a-n-c-é''. Oh, and if it''s a woman, it''s ''fiancée''.

Anyway, if I do mistakes, I actually appreciate being told. I''m a Frenchie, and although I learned my English from my mom in my early teens, I never really learned my proper grammar. FI is taking English classes at work, and I''m learning lots of stuff too!

But FI IS my finance - he earns waaaaayyy more than I do and finances my ilfestyle!!

 

[baby monster]

Date: 11/14/2007 2:41:35 PM
Author: AmberWaves
Ha, my favorite is ''altar''. ''I''m going to the alter''. Our rehearsal lady actually used that word many times in an email to me. Isn''t that her JOB? I actually dated the son of the head of a fancy private school here in Los Angeles- he had private education all the way. Still- he told me a video was all set, just had to be ''rewinded''. That killed it for our relationship.

Too funny. I hold spelling mistakes on resumes against people. I saw one person misspell the name of their current employer in addition to other spelling mistakes. That one went right to the recycling bin.

 

[goldenstar]

I hate when people say "taken back" when they mean "taken aback".

I also hate the misuse and misspelling of the term "per se". Its not persay or per say. Here''s the definition: per se

Those are my ultimate peeves...

 

[CrownJewel]

I don''t really mind spelling errors though. I think I''m a very good speller, but I just adore seeing spelling errors. I think it''s cute (*see I used "it''s" because it is a contraction for "it is"). Many of my friends are brilliant people but cannot spell. I love to read their emails because I get a chuckle out of the visual images that some of their mispelled sentences convey.

It''s hard to spell in English. It doesn''t always make sense. There are a zillion spelling rules and it''s impossible to keep track of them.

 

[Miranda]

Date: 11/14/2007 2:55:55 PM
Author: somethingshiny
I am cracking up here! I had to rewrite that because my cyber sitter won''t allow ''crack.'' That''s funny. ''I am ing up here!''

Another ''supposedly'' I hear constantly around this area is ''supposively.'' Really? You can''t put the ''d'' in there instead? You''re SO close!

OH, and ''pert ner.'' No, not another term for ''partner'' but for ''pretty near.'' Like, ''I laughed so hard I pert ner wet the bed!''

My DH''s family says the word ''milk'' like ''melk.''
And, his grandma used to say (oh, that''s another one, saying ''use'' insead of ''used.'') Tydenol instead of Tylenol. If I said to her, ''I had a headache so I took a Tylenol,'' she''d reply, ''Tydenol, mm hmm.'' (Like she was correcting me!)

My DH''s family says that, too!!! Along with ahrange instead of orange, warsh instead of wash - it''s laundry anyway!!!

This thread is so funny! I think most everyone makes a typo or grammatical error in haste. I always catch other people''s misspellings, but, not necessarily my own. I am using a fabulous landscape company to put in my yard. In the contract the word ''committees'' is spelled wrong. It drives my crazy. I almost couldn''t sign it. Take the extra 5 minutes and have someone proofread it! Or spell check it! Something like that should be caught. Good thing he''s hunky...I can overlook it easier

 

[Allisonfaye]

Wow, I can''t believe no one has mentioned this one yet.

Weary. Leary. Wary.

WEARY MEANS TIRED. WARY MEANS SUSPICIOUS. I see weary used to mean wary or leary so many times it makes my head spin.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 11/14/2007 4:12:06 PM
Author: Miranda
Good thing he''s hunky...I can overlook it easier

Ya mean "more easily"?

*this is fun!*

 

[Sparkster]

I hate hate hate it when people use an apostophe in a plural word, ie, "I took the dogs'' out for a walk" or "I took the dog''s out for a walk"

 

[AmberWaves]

Okay, I must admit: I have said "yolk" and "folk" pronouncing the "lk" since I was a baby. I try to tell the mockers that I was raised to read things using phonics, and it just made sense to pronounce it.

 

[CrownJewel]

This is not at all a grammatical pet peeve, just a cute story. I think it''s funny when people with accents pronounce words differently. My FMIL is Russian and she was telling me about her visit to the Frick Collection (museum of art, a collection formerly owned by Mr. Frick). But the way she said it sounded like "I went to see the Freak Collection. Oh it was very interesting." I was mortified until I realized what she was talking about.

A friend of mine misspells the word "sore." She wrote in an email "ugh my legs are so soar." Haha...I thought that was cute.

 

[CrownJewel]

Date: 11/14/2007 4:23:14 PM
Author: Sparkster
I hate hate hate it when people use an apostophe in a plural word, ie, 'I took the dogs' out for a walk' or 'I took the dog's out for a walk'

Yeah! I hate that too!!! I was in line for the dressing rooms at a Marshalls. There was a sign on the left side (not just a paper sign, these were actual manufactured signs just for Marshalls, in their colors, design and everything) that said, "Men's" with an arrow. And there was another one on the right side with an arrow that said "Ladie's." EEEEK!

ETA: I had to edit my own post. I guess it's Marshalls not Marshall's.

 

[Harleigh]

I think I posted this before in another thread much like this, and I believe it may now be an actual word in Webster''s, but people using the word FLUSTRATED drives me batty!

Tell me, are you flustered or frustrated? Make up your cotton-pickin'' mind already!

Also, being an elementary school teacher, the following could possibly lead to insanity:

kindygarden and kindygardners-it''s kindergarten and kindergarteners...our principal is a horrible speller, so in the newsletter he just writes "kinders"

punkin-pumpkin...it really IS a word, try it sometime! (This goes out to my mother...)

fridgeraider-refrigerator...I can handle "fridge" for an abbreviation, but fridgeraider is like a cold Raiderette IMHO!

And along with all of the other homophones listed, HERE are a few of my favorites I often HEAR: here/hear, pair/pear/pare, no/know, toe/tow, knew/new, wood/would, one/won, our/hour/ and are, even though that last one shouldn''t be included, etc... It''s amazing how many teachers cannot spell well, so it''s no wonder the darn kids can''t either!

For Skippy...we pronounce almond as all-mond where I come from. FI''s family grows them and to them they are am-onds. I tell them the difference in pronounciation must occur when the dang nuts hit the ground and arrive on the shelf in my local grocery store!

They also say "ain''t" and "It don''t matter," so I have just learned to keep my big mouth shut!!!

Phew! Thanks for letting me get THAT off my chest! I''m sure I''ll think of some more later!