Spelling thread - all help welcome (Grammar is free...but not guaranteed! :-D)

[Catty1]

This is where it started:

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...5&page=1&pp=15

And this is from that thread:

Randi:

I'm a little unsure about its and it's. And is it "the animals' toys"? I think I tend to forget the apostophe.

RedHedd:

It's is a contraction for "it is;" the apostrophe stands in for the missing "i".

"The animals' toys" - the apostrophe is used to indicate possession. If there is more than one animal with the toys, it would be the plural animals' - only one animal, it would be the animal's toys.

Just to add to RedHedd's info:

One pet with many toys: "the animal's toys"
More than one pet with many toys: "the animals' toys"


Next: "lose" and "loose" for Randi

[Catty1]

"lose" - what a lot of people do with their car keys. If you LOSE your car keys, then you will say you have LOST them.

"loose" - what your clothing is like if you weigh 200 lbs then lose 100.
Also, a button can "come loose" on your clothing, meaning the thread is loose and your button is about to fall off. Time to sew it back on!

[Randi]

Actually, I knew that it's is short for it is, but non the less, I get confused sometimes. So it's (talking about a cat) "its fur".

Good explanation! LOL about the botton coming loose - I have a few of them! and I have lost my keys several times.

[Catty1]

"does" and "dose" for Buttercup:

When you take a DOSE(an amount) of medicine, DOES it make you feel better?
If it DOES, then you are taking the correct DOSE(the right amount, same but different).

DOES that help?

[Giselle]

Can I add one?

Confirmation is the act of confirming something and/or a Christian rite.

Conformation is a dog show.

I can't stand it when people misspell conformation

[Catty1]

I didn't even know there WAS such a word as "conformation".

Cool - learning a new word!

I have seen the wrong word used here on occasion, and was pretty certain the dogs were not receiving their first Communion, St. Francis notwithstanding!

[crow_noir]

OK, here's one. I just tried to spell hawk as in to throw something... I can not for the life of me remember the correct spelling.

And when one "hawks" their wares are they displaying, selling, or being pushy about what they have for sale? (Syn?)

[RedHedd]

There's always Dictionary.com to answer questions like "hawk" which I believe is a slang term.

[Karen]

Yes, carnie hawkers (and others who hawk their wares) are spelled like hawk the bird - both have loud voices, I guess, if you've ever heard a hawk scream!

The word that sounds exactly the same but is spelled hock is used to describe part of any four-legged critter's body - wait, here's the official definition:

Hock: The tarsal joint of the hind leg of a digitigrade quadruped, such as a horse, corresponding to the human ankle but bending in the opposite.

[cassiesmom]

Karen, such a Midwesterner I am! Hawk (bird) and hock (joint) don't sound the same around here. Hawk rhymes with talk, and hock with lock.

I always had trouble with the word accommodate (two c's? two m's? one of each?) till a friend who's a teacher pointed out that the first two consonants in the word come in a pair. At 40 I still get stuck on curiosity (or is it curiousity?).

[Catty1]

curiosity

If you are very CURIOUS, you have a lot of CURIOSITY.