Eliminate Common Writing Mistakes
Let me just say, spell-check is not your friend. While it is ostensibly a useful service intended to help improve the quality of your written work, it is in actuality the product of a plot between Bill Gates, Richard Stallman, and Kim Jong Il, who are working together to undermine America’s public image in preparation for a non-violent overthrow of our country and our way of life. Really! It’s the only possible explanation for why spell-checking a document allows so many embarrassing and often hilarious mistakes to remain in the final document – mistakes that generally make the writer look more stupid than s/he would if there had been an uncorrected typo or two.
Let me give you an example. Recently I graded a paper in which a student listed the kinds of jobs traditionally held by women. They meant to write “nursing, teaching, etcetera”, as far as I can guess; what they ended up with was “nursing, teaching, excreta.” Now, this might well sum up the social position of women in much of American history, but I don’t think it’s what the author meant to say.
The point is, spell-check won’t catch a lot of mistakes, so it’s important to express yourself in clear English before spell-check is ever engaged. This is even more important because spell-check doesn’t even apply in a lot of cases, like spoken language where we tend to make a lot of mistakes because we’re not really thinking much about how we’re expressing ourselves – which can be deadly in the wrong circumstances, like a big presentation or a job interview.
Those poor speaking skills transfer over into our written work. What makes it even worse is that students and others learn that the best writing is often praised for its “conversational” tone, for the way it captures the rhythms and cadences of speech. So they write like they speak, thinking that it’s easy, when the reality is that the best writers work incredibly hard to make their work “sound” like the way people talk – and most good writers never get there.
So what kind of errors do people make? Allow me to list a few of my personal pet peeves – feel free to list your own in the comments. I’ll avoid the easy ones, like “their/there/they’re” and “than/then” because a) “their” low-hanging fruit (see how annoying that is?!) and b) as it happens the Gates/Stallman/Kim Jong Il Triad, realizing that we’re onto them, has responded by making Office 2007 very adept at correcting these misuses according to their context.
- Supposably: This one’s more common in speech than writing (at least in my experience — and spell-check actually will catch this one). What you mean is “supposedly”, which means roughly “according to my supposition”. “Supposably” supposedly stems from the many other “-ably” words like “reasonably” and “variably” and would mean something like “able to be supposed”, if it were a word, which it’s not.
- “Aisle” vs. “isle”: An assignment in one of my classes asks students to visit a toy store and look at how toys are marketed. I’ve never had a student write about the aisles in the toy store; they always write “isles”. Isles are big hunks of land surrounded by water and probably wouldn’t fit in your average Toys R Us; aisles, on the other hand, are the walkways lined with shelves such as you’d find in a store.
- “Role” vs. “roll”. One rolls dice, wheels, cookie dough, or unsuspecting victims,; one plays a role in a play or in society. One’s a verb, the other a noun.
- “Now and days”: I wouldn’t believe this one if I hadn’t seen it repeatedly. It means “nowadays”; in student papers, it is usually contrasted with “back in the day”, which is another pet peeve of mine but at least it makes grammatical sense.
- “Could of”, “would of”, and “should of”: This is a case where the way words sound when they’re spoken is transcribed directly into print. The correct form is “could/would/should have“, but when we speak we usually contract them into “could’ve” and so on, which sounds like “could of”.
- “Apart” vs. “a part”: I have a special fondness for this product of a missing space typo and sloppy spell-checking, because it spells out the philosophy laid out by the unnamed main character in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. After trying and failing to conform to American society’s expectations of a black man’s role, and then trying and failing again to manage as an outcast revolutionary, the Invisible Man resolves to be “a part of them as well as apart from them” (”them” being mainstream white society). As Ellison’s narrator’s conclusion suggests, it’s rather important to know which of those one means — “a part of” and “apart from” mean the opposite thing.
- “Taken for granite”: Unless you’re looking at a very realistic-looking stone-finish countertop, it’s unlikely that you are going to take anything for granite! When you are discussing things that are so much a part of your life that you have ceased to take notice of them, you are taking them for granted, not for granite. Granite is a type of stone and has few needs; you don’t have to take anything for it.
There is no easy remedy for these kinds of mistakes – you just have to learn not to make them. Ask a trusted reader* to review your work to at least eliminate the ones that get through, but in the end, you have to learn not to make these mistakes in the first place. At risk are two things: clarity and credibility. Clarity because you can’t always count on your readers to put in the time and effort to figure out what you meant to write; credibility because stupid grammatical errors like this make you look at best sloppy and uncaring about your writing (and if you don’t care, why should your reader) and at worst just plain stupid.
What common writing errors drive you up the wall? Let us know in the comments.
* A trusted reader is someone you trust enough to read your work and tell you how much it sucks. This means that your mom, who loves everything you do (remember the fuss she made over your first poopy dipey?), probably isn’t a good trusted reader. You’re looking for that perfect blend of someone who likes you enough not to want to see you fail but who is cruel enough to take a certain grim pleasure in pointing out your failures. Maybe your mom is like that, on second thought. If so, fine– have her read all your work. And seek therapy – you’re going to need it!
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Comments
victor samuels says on October 26th, 2007 at 10:10 am
For a huge list of common mistakes and abuses like these, take a look at the Eggcorn database: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/
Adam Miller says on October 26th, 2007 at 10:15 am
I don’t normally point out grammatical errors in blog posts, but just due to the topic in this one, I couldn’t resist the irony.
‘I’ve never has a student write about the aisles in the toy store; they always write “isles”.’
:)
Joe says on October 26th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Umm, Dustin, did you use spell-check on this article rather than ask a trusted reader to review it?
“I’ve never has a student write about the aisles…”
I know, we all make mistakes. They simply leap off the page (err, screen) and dance when the writing is a warning against similar mistakes.
Darren Meyer says on October 26th, 2007 at 10:47 am
My pet peeves have largely to do with writers not bothering to see if what they wrote makes sense.
* Verb tense: “I’ve never has a student write about the aisles in the toy store” should be “I’ve never *had* a student” (sorry, couldn’t resist!)
* Pronoun reference issues & dangling modifiers. Clarity is the important thing here. “John spoke to Marty; he really loved his work.” is confusing at best. Perhaps the writer meant “John spoke to Marty; he really loved Marty’s work.” But it’s equally possible the opposite was intended. Equally confusing: “Having just finished a long day at work, the comfortable seats were a welcome relief.” This implies that the seats just finished a long day at work; somehow, I doubt this was the writer’s intent.
* Inappropriate use of cliche. It’s one thing to use cliches in writing — though it really should be avoided. It’s quite another thing to use a cliche *wrongly*. I’ve seen mixed cliches — “It’s not rocket surgery” (a cross of “It’s not rocket science” and “It’s not brain surgery”). I’ve also seen cliches that don’t mean what the writer thinks they mean: “John’s realization was a quantum leap forward for his team.” is nonsensical. A quantum leap is either a very small or very sudden change. Making a “quantum leap forward” doesn’t actually make any sense. (My favorite misused cliche is “Give him enough rope to shoot himself in the foot.”)
* It’s/its – the word “it” is a pronoun, like “him” and “her”. To make it possessive, you don’t need an apostrophe: just as “him” and “her” become “his” and “hers”, so “it” becomes “its”. If you mean “it is”, though, you must contract: “it’s”.
Matt S. says on October 26th, 2007 at 10:57 am
I’ve always had an inordinate disdain for people who use superfluous diction when plain, simple wording would do just fine! ;)
Chrissy the EA says on October 26th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Thank you for pointing out “supposably” – this irritates me so much! I’d also like to add “irregardless” to the list. I hear very smart people saying it.
Thanks for the list!
John C. says on October 26th, 2007 at 11:09 am
My pet peeve is the incorrect use of Reflexive pronouns like “myself” as in: “Make sure you update myself and Joe before 4PM.” Huh?
Please don’t abuse myself in this manner.
Dustin Wax says on October 26th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Hoisted by my own petard! (There’s a cliche for Darren — even though I don’t know what a petard is or if I even own one, I do think I’ve used it correctly.) I corrected the “has”, although I probably should of left it in there as proof that spell-check is not your friend — just like I purposely put “should of” here.
Of course, you know I proofread this article doubly close because, when one writes on grammar, one attracts more gleeful is doubly mocked for one’s errors. Maybe I need a new petard, come to think of it…
mawcs says on October 26th, 2007 at 11:29 am
My biggest pet peeve is the use of the word “espouse” to mean, “to spout out” or “to constantly speak of.” Very intelligent writers, journalists and speakers make this mistake. The word means “to mate,” “to marry” or “to be betrothed.”
Ironically, so many people make this mistake that dictionaries add an additional definition like, “to take up and support as a cause : become attached to” in an effort to make some sense of the problem.
Tracey says on October 26th, 2007 at 11:33 am
The one that irritates me the most is the common use of “loose” when the writer meant “lose”.
It’s exceptionally common on weight loss forums where people talk about how much weight they have to loose.
Sure, I think letting weight loose is an interesting idea but they really want to lose it — not loose it.
Mahthellin says on October 26th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Apostrophes top the list. For example, “All Cosmetic’s on Sale!” I’ve seen apostrophe errors on corporate advertising campaigns, packaging, and on billboards, usually as (but not limited to) incorrect plural noun forms.
Pronouns “me” and “I”! “He gave tickets to Bill and I.”
And I agree about the improper use of reflexive pronouns. It is in the DNA of today’s business culture, and it is maddening.
High school and colleges who teach literature, but not the building blocks of good writing (and language), including grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Margot says on October 26th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Where I live, for some reason, people take the ‘t’ that they leave out of words like mou-ain (mountain) and tack it onto the end of “across”. I mostly hear this spoken, but I did once see an add for an apartment that was “a crossed” the street from the school.
In a unique case, I once heard someone say that her son had “off-scounded” with her chocolates. (Rather than absconded.)
Aunt Annie says on October 26th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
It’s just possible that you might remember your mom fussing over the first time you pooped in the potty, but, hey, if you can remember her fussing over your first poopy diaper, I think some folks will want to study your memory!
Mark Dykeman says on October 26th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Flawless or not, this is a great article that I would recommend to all.
Laura says on October 26th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
My boss repeatedly (not repeatably) confuses “complimentary” with “complementary.” I always correct her mistakes when I edit her reports, and she always changes them back, thinking I’m the one who is mistaken. For the record:
Complimentary has two possible meanings. 1) Free. As in, costs nothing. 2) Of the nature of giving oa compliment, i.e. a complimentary remark.
Complementary means that two items enhance each other when used together, i.e. The Chardonnay is a complementary addition to the meal of fish and seasonal vegetables.
Brian says on October 26th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I was going to mention the apostrophes as well. The worst offender I’ve ever seen was a huge sign for a shopping center, which included a Borders book store. The sign said: Border’s Plaza. It’s just sad that something that big and expensive can get produced without that error being caught.
Bryan says on October 26th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Touche! My corrections in uppercase.
“There is no easy remedy for these kinds of mistakeS (subject/verb agreement) – you just have to learn not to make them. Ask a trusted reader* to review your work to at least eliminate the ones that get through, but in the end, you have to learn not to make these mistakes in the first place. At risk are two things: clarity and credibility. Clarity because you can’t always count on your readers to put in the time and effort to figure out what you meant to write; credibility because stupid grammatical errors like thESE (subject/verb agreement) make you look at best sloppy and uncaring about your writing (and if you don’t care, why should your reader) and at worst just plain stupid.”
Subject/verb agreement is probably my favorite grammatical nit to pick.
Similarly, then/than is another one that really irks me for some unknown reason.
Best way that I have found to write well in English, learning a foreign language. Suddenly all the terminology of language becomes important and you simply must understand the difference between a subject and a direct object. Keep up the good fight.
Dustin Wax says on October 26th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
I might have overstated my personal memory just a little teensy bit, but I’ll bet she was proud of what I “made”, and so the facts stand. :-)
I can’t believe I left out compliment/complement — that’s a good one. The misuse of pronouns, too — that’s an actually really interesting linguistic phenomenon called “overcorrection”, where we get the notion from being corrected repeatedly that one word is innately better, regardless of context. In English, we find longer words and “I” more formal, so we use them in places we shouldn’t, like “he gave gifts to Frank and I”. What’s worse, we have a tendency to reach for the bad grammar and long words when we thing we’re writing formally, so we sound snooty and pedantic and nobody understands us because we’re misusing words left and write :-)
Dustin Wax says on October 26th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Brian,
I’m not entirely convinced those are errors, per se, but rather failures of style. That is, the sentences make grammatical sense, as in “several styles of dance”, but I made the changes becuase stylistically your suggestions were better. This is one of the things bloggers give up when we adopt an unedited medium — the perspective of someone with an eye for what work best stylistically. This is above and beyond a trusted reader (which to answer someone’s question, I don’t use for blog posts — the schedule is tight and doesn’t allow for much review) who isn’t necessarily helping with style but just clarity (though one is not independent from the other, either).
Albert says on October 26th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
So, if the same things bother me, does that mean I should be a writer? LoL
You know, I’ve heard it said that most people spell like they talk. And here I thought Hooked on Phonics was a big success?
AnneTanne says on October 26th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
The errors you describe are the kind of errors that I – as a non native speaker – find extremely annoying. But it’s only after reading your article, that I realize why: I rather read than write English, and (almost) every English word I know, is a word I’ve seen in print before.
Because I’m more habituated to reading English than listening to it, I first see the error, and only afterwards I realize what’s really meant.
(And I fear this is a comment with lots of mistakes in it…)
David says on October 26th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I assume that this travesty of English was intentional:
“I proofread this article doubly close because, when one writes on grammar, one attracts more gleeful is doubly mocked for one’s errors.”
I’ve always heard “Hoist by my own petard” rather than “Hoisted…”
Complimentary/complementary is one that I always notice, too. As well, I am particularly senstive to the difference between “principle” and “principal”.
Passing Shot says on October 26th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
when did “heterogenous” and “homogenous” become accepted?
jtimberman says on October 26th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Biggest pet peeve: Affect vs Effect.
Dustin Wax says on October 26th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
“one is doubly mocked” — I was going to write something else and my laptop has a crummy keyboard that doesn’t always take my backspaces.
heterogeneous and homogeneous have pretty well always been accepted, as long as we’re talking about things that are all of different kinds or of the same kind, respectively. Or are you referring to the absence of the “e” in -eous? That, I’d guess, is the way people say stuff affecting (I should’ve done accept/except, but that’s too easy) the way they write.
Reese says on October 26th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
“Could of, would of, should of,” really bothers me. Mostly because people just do not get it when I try to explain it to them.
Not exactly the same kind of error, but it also bothers me when people say (or write) “could care less.” It’s “couldn’t care less!” To say you could care less is saying that you do care to some extent, whereas couldn’t care less means that you either don’t care at all or care so little that you couldn’t care less!
Laura says on October 26th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
My spelling skills have went downhill since the advent of spell check into my life. The computer gives me a crutch to not think about how things are spelled.
Celine says on October 26th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
As an online writer, many potential clients “reject” me when they find out that I’m not from an English speaking country. I always find this funny because their emails display the atrocities you mentioned.
Patrick says on October 27th, 2007 at 12:06 am
A petard is an explosive charge, thus the phrase means blowing oneself up.
Rob O. says on October 27th, 2007 at 7:02 am
“They’re” vs. “there” vs. “their” – that’s an error that irks me quite often.
Lesser-experienced writers often seem to liberally pepper their blog posts with odd words like “whilest” or “learnt.” Those are fingernails on a blackboard for me…
Another biggie that crawls under my skin:
“Fujitsu have introduced a new scanner…”
Arrghh!!
S. Steele says on October 27th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Several people have listed the usage errors that annoy me most – “irregardless,” “given to John and I,” using “myself” as opposed to “me”, “its” used instead of “it’s”, there/they’re/their, your/you’re.
I have also noticed over the last several months, a number of the authors of the blogs I read daily have given up on the correct placement/usage of apostrophes – one in particular just uses them everywhere – I think she thinks she’ll be right 50% of the time! She uses them to make “plural’s” and to indicate “possession.” I find it very distracting. Other favorite blog usages: “I like the contrast of the black and white. And red and black.” “I like that the colors are different.” “Anyways, …”
I have also noted that some authors must argue with spell check, or perhaps, not use it. “Seperate” is frequently seen on the blogs I read.
I also read genre novels, and there are a large number of these published monthly. I have noted that those published in the 1990s and 2000s have a MUCH higher incidence of your/you’re and there/they’re/their errors, together with run-on and incomplete sentences, than those published prior to the 1990s. Is editing is a lost art?
I have also seen “whether or not I should go to the fair” commonly used; my understanding is that the word “whether” does not need “help” from the “or not,” so that proper usage would be “whether I should go to the fair.”
I have also heard anchors and reporters on television, seen reporters in print, and heard politicians making a speech use the word “impact” in a transitive sense. I have not heard people in the street using it in that sense, and I personally think that usage is incorrect.
In my area of the country, there are a large number of pronunciation errors: “screet” rather than street; divorce “degree” rather than divorce decree. People also use bring/take/carry incorrectly in their speech, and in writing, almost always use plural nouns with singular verbs, and mix verb tense within the same sentence.
The funniest book I have read on language errors is entitled: “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” which is authored by Lynne Truss. I really laughed out loud as I read it!
To David: I thought you used every word in your post correctly!
(I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors I have made in this comment!)
Lorie Marrero says on October 27th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I can’t believe that nobody here mentioned “your” and “you’re”– I am looking at a note on my desk right now that says, “I hope your having a great day.”
I want to second the recommendation of the book “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” by Lynne Truss. Anyone who cares enough to comment on this post would absolutely love that book.
grapeshot says on October 27th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I often find myself making the “your/you’re” mistake, as well as the “they’re/their/there” mistake, even though I KNOW better. When I was younger, I never mixed these up, but now it seems to happen all the time. I try to proofread my public postings, but my mind must be slowly turning to mush, and these mistakes still creep in. Lately I’ve even started mixing up “too” and “to”!
Since the onset of what I can only think of as “Oldzheimers” disease, I’ve become a lot more charitable towards these sorts of mistakes. However, my goodwill only extends to the length of my overall sympathy for the writer. If someone is writing in a disagreeably snotty or whiny tone of voice, then I have less tolerance for their spelling mistakes.
Once in a while, someone will post something to a bulletin board or newsgroup with such distinctive mis-spellings that it becomes something amusing to read in its own right, over and above the message the author is attempting to put across. (Think of a sort of unconscious version of Ring Lardner’s “You Know Me, Al”) In that case, I usually sit back and bask in the double enjoyment. I not only read and engage with someone’s opinion, but I get a dose of their distinctive personality, too. Inevitably some busybody feels the need to point out to the writer all of their horrible spelling mistakes, which usually leads that person to withdraw permanently from the ongoing conversation due to terminal embarrassment.
I guess all this is to say that there are degrees to which I can or cannot tolerate these sorts of mistakes.
(If anyone cares to look, “You Know Me, Al” is available on Google Books, and the first page is replete with every one of the spelling mistakes, yet you immediately get a sense of the character of the person speaking.)
Alex says on October 27th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I live in Canada, and personally have never seen anyone write (or say)”supposably”. However, a common error is taut vs. taunt: Her face was taunt; they pulled the rope taunt, etc. It is taut in both examples. Taunt is to mock, insult.
Brianna says on October 27th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
The use of “try and…” is my biggest pet peeve.
Rather than attempting (trying TO complete a task), the speaker implies success and most likely does not mean to do so.
Ben says on October 27th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
The fact that these are even mistakes that people make annoys me quite a bit.
Darrell Cadwallader says on October 27th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
This speaks volumes about our educational system today. What I find particularly unsettling is the use of SMS text-style type in posts online. Anyone that emails me with shorthand type will find their email ignored. I’ve never used LOL, or anything else like that since I’ve been on the net – and I’ve been on usenet since 1988 and the internet since 1994.
Christian Viking says on October 27th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I really hope your students don’t use English as their primary language.
I’m from Norway, and even I correct those kinds of mistakes.
In Norwegian, we have something called, roughly translated, word splitting.
Two words are combined to give a new meaning, however, if you split them, they usually mean something completely different.
Example: sugar cube is written as one word. The word cube (or more like bite) is can mean both a bite, and to bite as a verb. In the store I see boxes of sugar cubes with “Sukker Biter” on the front. Literally meaning “Sugar bites”.. should it say keep away from children and don’t put your fingers in too? :p
This drives me nuts!
Funny article :)
Jim G says on October 29th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Let’s not forget ‘effect’ and ‘affect’. Rule of thumb: effect is the noun and affect is the verb.
Jen says on October 29th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
The mistake I love to hate is “for all intensive purposes” instead of “for all intents and purposes.” What is an intensive purpose?
I also hate when people say “reason being” because they always follow it with way too many unneccessary words, like “reason being is that I have to go to the store.” Why don’t you just say “the reason is” or simply “because” and be done with it?
Eugene says on October 29th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I don’t think you can completely blame the spell checker, its just a tool. Thi big problems lies with people who blindly follow the advice of the tool without thought. I’ve actually learned how to spell a lot of words thanks to use of a spell checker as I start to recognize patterns and repeat words that I would mis-spell.
I see a lof of people now a days typing things like bluee tooth instead of Bluetooth or Microsoft Active Sync instead of Microsoft Attivesync because the spell checker marks the latter wording wrong.
Sara says on October 29th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
People using “of” instead of “have” (could of) is incredibly irksome. What bothers me more is when good writers who don’t make those basic mistakes use “alot” when they mean “a lot” of something. “Allot” means to distribute or allocate a portion of something, like land.
EAPonTheRun says on October 29th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
One of the problem sets of words that drive me crazy is past/passed.
He drove ‘past’ the building. She ‘passed’ the butter.
Doug says on October 31st, 2007 at 4:08 pm
There is a difference between “login” and “log in” (and similar phrases). The former is a noun and the latter a verb.
If you get confused, try forming a present participle: Are you “logging in” or “loginning”?
“We will shut down the plant tomorrow. The plant shutdown will last a week.”
This is especially irksome as WordPress software (which I use a lot and which runs this site, BTW) uses the wrong form by default.
Sue says on November 3rd, 2007 at 8:35 am
I have one that bothers me.
I see all three of these words (palette/pallet/palate)used incorrectly.
For example, my color pallet was blue and green. Should be my color palette was blue and green. I have also seen this as well. My son’s cleft pallet is a bi-lateral. I think using pallet was palette bothers me more than pallet for palate because most of the people who use this consider themselves graphic designers.
adora says on November 4th, 2007 at 1:17 am
Interestingly, these aren’t the usual mistakes that a person learning English as a second language would make. There is a difference between learning the language from speech and from text.
It has always been strange to me how my intern kept messing up “your” and “you’re” when she only knows English.
I also see a lot of people mistaken “purposefully” as “purposely”, and vice versa. I suggest using “on purpose” instead.
Anna says on November 8th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
The standard in American English is that commas and periods should always appear within the end quotation mark.
Christine says on November 8th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
My favorite misuse of a cliché ever was by a writing student I was tutoring. Instead of “downward spiral,” she had come up with “descending coil.” There’s something oddly poetic about it.
Greg says on November 14th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Almost saw mine – when the person mentioned Login and Log In.
The incorrect: Log into or Log onto; the correct: login to or logon to.
Of course, I am a proofreader who only uses the spell check to see if I’ve run something into something else, or to see what suggestions they come up with for capitalized words or acronyms, like FEMA.
You LOGON to the internet, you LOGIN to your email.
I’ve never used LOL and refuse to do so, although I’m trying to introduce a new one and see if anyone likes it:
BNS – Brief Nasal Snort.
That’s the kind of laughter I usually have when I am on an Instant Message site.
The obvious ’s on anything that is plural is the most annoying these days. There was a Public Storage place who was selling “dolly’s” and I was wondering just what of Dolly’s was being sold; then I realized, they meant they were selling “dollies” – the hand carts that drivers use to deliver boxes of stuff to your door.
I’ve even written to webmasters to advise them of misspelled words. Few, if any, have ever written me back to thank me.
It used to be ALOT instead of A LOT, but that one seems to be falling away gently, thankfully.
Kathy says on January 2nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Hi! I’m new to this site, but have become an avid reader.
I have two pet peeves, not previously mentioned (at least I didn’t notice them).
The first is the use of the word “rather” in place of “whether,” as in “I haven’t decided rather to do it or not.” Granted, I’ve only heard this from one person, but it drives me up the wall.
The second is the use of “they” when referring to a single person, as in your second paragraph. “The student” is a “he or she” not a “they.” It seems as if this has become accepted practice, but it seems to me more a case of lazy writing. You can usually rewrite the sentence so that it’s correct and yet not clumsy or awkward.
Sonja Duijvesteijn says on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:48 am
Although I agree writing errs can be irritating it is important to remember that English is a living language, which means that those mistakes you’re describing are evidence of actual language evolution. Some might disappear again, some might stick.
There is a comment which mention a particular misconception of a word is now also added to the dictionary. This makes it no longer a misconception but just another meaning for this word.
BetsyW says on April 18th, 2008 at 7:25 am
What’s with dropping the “e” at the end of “breathe” lately? “I could barely breath” is something I’m seeing frequently. Similar to dropping the “r” when writing in the possessive: “don’t forget to bring you books.” These two are driving me up the wall!
Richard X. Thripp says on June 24th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Supposably is a word. It’s mostly used in the U.S.A., and means “capable of being supposed,” which can signify an unconfirmed supposition where supposedly cannot. Just because your spell-checker says otherwise doesn’t mean it isn’t a word; English has so many archaic variants and nonstandard spellings that new dictionaries are dropping them.
The best way is to do spell-checking, then closely read your work for grammar errors, and then have someone else do the same. You’ll still make mistakes. At least you can change them if it’s on your blog rather than in a book.
Words like camouflage and ephemeral are hard for me to spell. So then I take a photo and title it with them, which burns the words into my mind.
Sudam says on September 30th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Really, spell checker has got its own limitations. Though time taking still manual cleaning is the best. But in this process also some mistakes remain. A group of person like editors can do miracle. In this proof reading, spell checking process the writer should not be involved or his or her involvement should be minimized. Writers should focus hard on this aspect of writing. Writers happen to be myopic and fail to see their silly mistakes even of spelling. And it becomes hard for them to weed out easily.
Word’s spell checker sometimes wreak havoc like you have quoted above. I was a victim of this and felt shame when i discovered those silly mistakes later.
Great reading and amazing resources. thanks