"Whenever" and "Seen"

[Sirrahsim]

hehe

[mruffruff]

How about Prolly, y'all? It's 'probably'!!

And don't wait on me to get there. Wait FOR me. This one has become national and international and still is WRONG!

To, too, two are some others that shouldn't be interchanged. To indicates direction, too means also, two is the number.

Some things I can forgive if it's a simple thing such as seperate for separate (or is it the other way around?). And I do understand honest typos. But I do think everyone should TRY.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to look up diarrhea

[AdoreMyDogs]

Oh another one I just thought of...saying "litature" instead of litERature! This is something that's bugged me for a very long time! I actually had an English Literature professor in college pronounce it litature! I couldn't believe it! I'm really not a snob but I found this ironic that a lit prof didn't even know how to pronounce literature

And as for Y'all, I'll never say this unless it's in mocking hehe. I'll always be a Yankee

Oh, and it doesn't really bother me too much, but the southerners here in TX end words like tornado, window, willow, in an 'a'...example: tornada, winda, willa. I've had a few people tell me that Quinn Willa is a pretty name, I correct them and say that it's WilloW not WillA Hehe. Now my husband jokingly calls our daughter Quinn Willa

[Randi]

Spelling IS important - some of us are trying to learn here!! One of these PT Spelling threads even made it into/in to? "Thread of the year"!

I do make some blunders myself, no doubt, but I don't understand how anyone can mix up "then" and "than".

Some of the first things I learned in English class was this:
I am
you are
he/she(it is
they/you/we are

However, I still get it wrong sometimes... just had a look at your link, and I noticed that I've been spelling "definitely" wrong all along. I may remember in the future.

Sirrasim, your first example of using "whenever" wrong/wrongly? is pure ignorance.

It's actually amazing what you're able to read, however bad it is spelt. Someone posted a really funny post about it last year - I can't remember the title.

[Edwina's Secretary]

"at"....as in "where's it at?" "Where is it?" The "at" is useless, unnecessary and hurts my ears.

[RedHedd]

Ah, my favorite kind of thread One that I hear a lot of lately is "on accident" as in, "I did it on accident" instead of by accident. Where did that come from? I even caught my boss saying it the other day - on purpose!!

[Daisy and Delilah]

Is it; waiting "on" line or......waiting "in" line?

All of "a" sudden or.....all of "the" sudden?

Somebody mentioned supposeBly as opposed to supposeDly. That one kills me, among others

[Karen]

This thread reminds me somehow of the Robert Burns quote:

O wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursel's as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us.
And foolish notion;
What airs in dress and gait wad lea'e us,
And ev'n devotion!

In more modern English, it says "Oh, would some Power the gift give us
to see ourselves as others see us!" and I'm sure you can all suss out the meaning of the rest.

I learned by first grade that one would not make friends by correcting one's classmates' grammar - but I did so anyway when it really bugged me, especially my neighbor who pronounced spaghetti as "puzgeddy" ...

My pet peeve are misplaced apostrophes, and when I see them used incorrectly on signage or in an advertisement, I will tell the store employees, especially on handwritten - and therefore easily corrected - signs.

[krazyaboutkatz]

"at"....as in "where's it at?" "Where is it?" The "at" is useless, unnecessary and hurts my ears.

This also drives me crazy and I hear it on a daily basis because this is the way my boss talks.

I also don't like it when people say ain't. I think it makes them seem so uneducated. My co-worker says this word a lot.

The word "seen" being misused has also always bothered me.

I've also been guilty about ending sentences with prepositions and I've done this on Pet Talk.

[cassiesmom]

"at"....as in "where's it at?" "Where is it?" The "at" is useless, unnecessary and hurts my ears.

ES, this is proof that you don't live in Chicago anymore where's it at is a total Chicago thing!
Here is a lesson on Chicago-speak: http://www.seanparnell.com/Chicago/Chicagoese.htm

And Pomtzu, I think "waiting on" might be a Chicago thing too... we're just waiting on Elyse to get here, and then we'll head out.

My future-nephew-in-law is from New Jersey and we have had a lot of laughs over pronouncing marry, merry, and Mary.

I've got two current pet peeves ... nuclear- the word is not noo-kyoo-lar, it's noo-clee-ar. Same thing with jewelry -- the word is not jew-luh-ry, it's jew-el-ry, just like it looks.

And the other is voila. It's from the French language ... say vwa-la, because the V is not silent. Note that it's not spelled wa-la, either.

[Edwina's Secretary]

ES, this is proof that you don't live in Chicago anymore where's it at is a total Chicago thing!

And Pomtzu, I think "waiting on" might be a Chicago thing too... we're just waiting on Elyse to get here, and then we'll head out.

I am a Northsider....that's why!

On the northside, neighborhoods are defined by parks on the southside by parish!

One other Chicagoese that annnoyed me was "I am going by my mother's after work." I would always ask..."Do you wave?"

[finn's mom]

I've got two current pet peeves ... nuclear- the word is not noo-kyoo-lar, it's noo-clee-ar. Same thing with jewelry -- the word is not jew-luh-ry, it's jew-el-ry, just like it looks.

Oh my gosh, those bug me, too! Especially jewelry! I HATE those 'cash for gold' commercials where one or two of the actors always mispronounces jewelry! It drives me completely bananas, it sounds incredibly dumb to me.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Spelling IS important - some of us are trying to learn here!! One of these PT Spelling threads even made it into/in to? "Thread of the year"!

I do make some blunders myself, no doubt, but I don't understand how anyone can mix up "then" and "than".

Guilty....... I don't understand the difference, so could someone please explain this to me??
Something else is this: Preacher'smom wrote this: "it drives me crazy to see " 's" at the end of a word to make it plural. An apostrophe and the letter "s" shows ownership."
I need info on this too.....

I'm really trying to write as less mistakes as possible, but I cannot help writing mistakes.... . I left school 30 years ago, and English is only my 3rd language.....
Please everybody, remember that not ALL members here have English as mothertongue...

[Randi]

Lut, if you look up the words "then" and "than" in your dictionary, you will see it's two different words. "Then" is when you say: Bernard planted some flowers in the garden, then he put the tools away and went inside for a cup of coffee.

"Than" is used when you say: The red flowers are prettier than the yellow.

Here are some more examples from another thread:

Then = at that time. As in "I was still in school then." Or "Come at noon; I'll be ready then."
Next in time, space, or order; immediately afterward. As in "I watched the late movie and then went to bed."
In addition; moreover; besides. As in "It costs $20, and then there's the sales tax to pay."
Used after but to qualify or balance a preceding statement. As in "The star was nervous, but then who isn't on the first night of a new play."
In that case; accordingly. As in "If traffic is heavy, then allow extra time."
As a consequence; therefore. As in "The case, then, is closed."

Than: Used after a comparative adjective or adverb to introduce the second element or clause of an unequal comparison. As in "She is a better athlete than I."
Used to introduce the second element after certain words indicating difference. As in "He draws quite differently than she does."

This is another good example:

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


And a good link:

http://www.dreaded-apostrophe.com/

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Lut, if you look up the words "then" and "than" in your dictionary, you will see it's two different words. "Then" is when you say: Bernard planted some flowers in the garden, then he put the tools away and went inside for a cup of coffee.

"Than" is used when you say: The red flowers are prettier than the yellow.

I'm pretty sure when people mix up "then" and "than" in written language it is a spelling error. These two words are pronounced almost identically in many parts of the country, so someone could mean "than" but write "then" because they sound the same!

I also wanted to add that all of the people who post on PT with English as a second language are quite good at it! I think it's quite impressive. I wish we took bilingual education more seriously in this country.