CongraTulations/ CongraDulations

[JenBKR]

The only thing I really can't stand is when people don't use punctuation and their sentences just run on and on and.....I get out of breath just reading them!

[Danegirl2208]

German shepard.its Germen shepHERD people lmao..OMG i cant tell you how annoying that is to me

[kuhio98]

These bug me for some reason.

advice ~ advise
principle ~ principal
since ~ sense

[vinjashira]

I found an interesting website today. I thought it's very appropriate for this thread:
"Common Errors in English Usage" by Paul Brian
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

[captain]

I found an interesting website today. I thought it's very appropriate for this thread:
"Common Errors in English Usage" by Paul Brian
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

I have bookmarked that .................. thanks!!!
(or is it thank's or thanks' ....................... )

[Suki Wingy]

You know, I've been having troubles with your and you're latley. I clearly know the difference, but I find myself typing you're all the time when I mean you're and just barely catching my mistake.

That site is good! Today on the weather channel the announcer misused a saying, I can't remember what now but I laughed out loud and my dad was like, "What are you laughing at??!"

[zoey]

The *irregardless* mistake mentioned before.( My boss says that!!)
The *loose* for *lose* mentioned before.
Personally, i'm a decent speller for long words.
But sometimes i get the easiest everyday words wrong.
*Definite*, mentioned before, I know I get wrong sometimes.
*Probably*, I spelled wrong for awhile.
I think b/c you get used to doing it wrong, and no one calls you on it, then when it's brought to your attention, you feel like an ass for having done it wrong so much.
I remember having problems with *with* and *which*in grade school, but actually did pretty well in spelling bees. Go figure!
Mostly i try not to let the mistakes bother me too much, because so many times it's either a kid or someone with a bit of a learning disorder, so....

[sirrahbed]

I used to have very good spelling and grammar, but that skill seems to be fading

A couple misspellings that always give me a chuckle are.....

grammer for grammar

alter for altar

That last is one that is pretty funny when used by someone in a religious discussion

[MajesticCollies]

lol I just saw that email the other day about how the human brain only needs to recognize a few letters in a word to actually recognize it. Sooo.....Just to let you all know, I misspell words all the time in typos and hardly ever go back to correct them. Hope all of you can be lienient on me.

[catnapper]

I freely admit I'm an awful typer. I try to catch my mistakes (not always very good at doing so though )

Anyway, my biggest pet peeve that I've seen many people - both young and old do - is using "of" instead of "have"

For instance: I should have gone to the park

Someone would say: I should of gone to the park.

I know they are thinking what they hear. We constantly murder english in our speach. What we are saying is "should've" which is a contraction of "should have".

"Of" is a preposition. "Have" is a verb. Don't mix them up!

Tomorrow is a big one I see. Someone wrote "tomarra" the other day about a dozen times in a handful of posts and I wants to scream. One mispelling is understandable (and if I'm typing even expected ) but spelling the same word wrong the same way time after time?

[mrspunkysmom]

As an educator, I have a plethora of comments and opinions that would most likely start a war about the state of the educational system in the USA.

I will say this: Most people don't understand why it's important to be that particular about spelling and grammar. (These same people also are dependent upon the calculator.) I have argued this until I'm cyanotic, and I have wasted my breath. It is a losing battle.

People can learn the rules regardless of their opinion, but we have set our standards too low. It is embarrassing to me to know that non-native English speakers have a better command of the English language than our high school graduates.

America suffers from a huge independent and individualist streak that appears fabulous and enviable from a distance, but proves problematic for certain areas of concern, such as a unified, national educational system. When the US government gets serious about the education of our young, you will see the difference.

War? I haven't even begun to speak about the American educational system.

Anne
PS. who probably fomented a war anyway
PSS It is scary that as a math teacher I have a better command of the language than most of the teachers in the school, with the exception of the English teachers, that is.

[Logan]

What a neat thread!!!! I grew up in a house with an English teacher as mom.......she still corrects her children and grandchildren on "lie and lay" and many, many other things!!! I can remember her returning a letter to me, when I was in college (long before email) and correcting my spelling on "seperate". I used an "a", rather than an "e" and she let me know about it!

Logan

[Ginger's Mom]

I freely admit I'm an awful typer. I try to catch my mistakes (not always very good at doing so though )

Anyway, my biggest pet peeve that I've seen many people - both young and old do - is using "of" instead of "have"

For instance: I should have gone to the park

Someone would say: I should of gone to the park.

I know they are thinking what they hear. We constantly murder english in our speach. What we are saying is "should've" which is a contraction of "should have".

"Of" is a preposition. "Have" is a verb. Don't mix them up!

I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to say anything more in this thread, but Kim brings up a good point. A lot of spelling mistakes (my own included) are because we do not pronounce our words correctly. Another example would be, "First off;" the actual expression is "first of all" indicating that you are going to give at least two reasons why you feel/believe a certain way. But somehow it has all become run together and may people now just say, and type, "first off." Another example, I have a problem with words that begin with "pre" and "per" (is it "performance" or "preformance", is it "prescription" or "perscription"). I can usually figure it out, but it really takes a lot of concentration on my part as to how to correctly pronounce the word. Another thing I find a little confusing (okay, irritating) is that everyone seems to use the word "anyways", I had always thought the word was "anyway," no "s"; however, now the common usage seems to be with the "s" added on. Is that correct?
Logan, I had to smile when you mentioned "separate," I have to spellcheck that word all of the time; that is how I know the "a" is right.
And kitten645, how do you know the poor lost animal wasn't really "wondering" (where he was-lol).

[dionne]

on my graduation day, a good friend sent me a card that said "congraduations on your gradualations" hahaha...that was priceless!

[sandragonfly]

right, but how could be correct if didn't know? unless you were told you mispelt! what you, blue frog typed always is one of my favorites - it's in scrapbook collection.

this could be really annoyed because .. not only people don't know how to type correct, they type too fast! carefreely. such like ; instead of ' and i instead of o too - biy, yiu, kodding or pozza!!

playing with words is great! these I see most pet talk common incorrections .. please do remember these!

definitely .. (no 'a' or more than two 'a's in it at all!)
then (chronically) or than (more).
here, not hear. (place)
hear, not here. (sense)
we[here]i[/here]rd, not wierd or werid.
yesterday
truly - no 'e' in.
no loosing or no comming.
gor[crossout]a/e/o[/crossout]geous .. oh how I wish pet talk could remove errors automatically before it is posted.. ask santa claws for autospelling system?