A lot of the time I notice this simple little spelling mistake...

[redforever]

Originally Posted by transplant99

The rampant mis-use of then for than (and vice versa)has reached epic proportions on the internet.

I've even read it in "journalists" blogs/stories.

The two words have such different meanings yet they are exchanged for one another like their and there.

Though it's niether hear nor their.

As well as affect and effect and to a lesser extent accept and except.

[jam26]

I haven't gone through the entire thread, but "could of" instead of "could have" is the one that gets me.

[Burninator]

A lot of you need to get your grammar pantyhose out of that knot.

I must be desensitized to poor grammar and spelling since it dominates the internet, because it doesn't really bother me. I am terrible at it, so that could be part of it. The only thing I ask is that everyone read over their text before hitting post. It's pretty good on this forum, but others it is just god awful. Spelling a word wrong or using there instead of their still makes the sentence readable. But if you are missing multiple words in a sentence that is inexcusable.

[Ryan Coke]

I'm just glad I have a job that renumerates me well. At least I'm not a census taker....

[worth]

http://www.better-english.com/easier/theyre.htm

[FlamingLonghorn]

Yeah I am not really bothered by errors in posting. Seriously, I come on internet forums to get news and insight. I don't expect the posts to be great prose. Those who do need to relax because it really isn't a big deal. Even if it causes you to misread their post it's not like their post is very important anyways.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by AnthonyCook

Grammatically, I hate the misuse of the word 'literally'.

It is often used in the exact opposite way it's meant for.

No man, you don't understand. I didn't actually crap my pants.. I LITERALLY crapped my pants.

Sports announcers should not be allowed to use the word literally.

[Cal-Gal]

Originally Posted by getbak

"Their" indicates the possession of something (or some things) by more than one person. I don't know of any easy hints to remember this one other than knowing what the other two mean, and using "their" when the other two don't fit. The only other hint I could think of is that it contains the word "heir", which is who gets your possessions when you die.

That is an important distinction to make....but a prime example of how the English language is evolving. So many people use the word 'their' incorrectly for posession of a non-specific singular, especially with words like 'person' or 'someone'.

For example, it is technically incorrect to say "That person needs to get their act together"...or something like "a player needs to have their head up all the times". Using a plural pronoun after a singular noun is wrong. The proper form is to use 'his' or 'her' or even 'his or her'. But gender specification is so problematic, that over time, linguists have come to consider 'their' as acceptable for a previously mentioned, non-gender specific singular. Heck, even Shakespeare used it incorrectly.

Similarly, 'they' can be used to describe a previously menioned singular, even though its traditionally considered incorrect. For example "if someone has a problem with it, they can talk to the manager".

[Eastern Girl]

It has already been mentioned in this thread, but when someone says, "I seen," I just want to spit venom. Back when I was in university and editing for our newspaper, I would see often. It's quite sad to see up and coming journalists without basic knowledge of punctuation and spelling.

I can overlook most errors on the internet, but sometimes, they are quite amazing.

[Vulcan]

A lot of my problems come from, I'm a lousy typist and spellar, it's a long time since I went to school and I'm lazy as evidenced by the words i left out of this sentence.

That was pretty terrible post and it usually takes two or three tries before a sentence becomes coherent.

[flizzenflozz]

Originally Posted by Eastern Girl

It has already been mentioned in this thread, but when someone says, "I seen," I just want to spit venom. Back when I was in university and editing for our newspaper, I would see often. It's quite sad to see up and coming journalists without basic knowledge of punctuation and spelling.

I can overlook most errors on the internet, but sometimes, they are quite amazing.

Gave that up, did you?

[Superfraggle]

Three things to comment on...

The origins of English: it's comes from about 1/3 Anglo-Saxon (Germanic), 1/3 Latin, and 1/3 French. Toilet, for example comes from French, where the more Germanic version would be the john.

Defence vs. Defense. "Defence" is the British spelling. "Defense" is the American spelling. As is often the case, Canadians are usually ok with either, although "defence" is the more common.
http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsiss...anAmerican.htm

Linguistically speaking, not only English, but all living languages are constantly changing. Linguistically, the purpose of language is to communicate an idea, so it doesn't matter if you use u, you, youze, etc, as long as the right concept is what is taken by the listener. Things like "Sutter resigns" and "Sutter re-signs" become a problem when the meaning isn't made clear by context.

"Proper" English is constantly changing, and not agreed upon by any two people, in my experience. Something to consider, though, is that it is only quite recently that there has been any such thing as standardized spelling. Compare any two middle-old English texts, and you'll note spelling differences between the two. Often, you'll even find the same word spelled different ways within one text. The one I particularly like is "ye olde...", which is just a ization of old ways of writing. It was always "the old...", but the "th" sound was made by a runic letter which is no longer used, and looked a bit like our "y". The "e" on the end of "olde" is simply their way of making the words like up, since there was no other way to make columns line up nicely.

[chockfullofgoodness]

I just have two pet peeves when it comes to this sort of stuff and it's not so much on message boards, but in everyday conversation.

1) There is no such word as 'mischeeveeous', it's pronounced 'mischievous'.

2) It's not 'orientated', it's 'oriented'.

But that's just me.

[ben voyonsdonc]

One word I have heard before is conversate..the word is not conversate it is converse...as in, I conversed with him.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

Three things to comment on...

The origins of English: it's comes from about 1/3 Anglo-Saxon (Germanic), 1/3 Latin, and 1/3 French. Toilet, for example comes from French, where the more Germanic version would be the john.

But but but... French is a latin derivative.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

One word I have heard before is conversate..the word is not conversate it is converse...as in, I conversed with him.

Those people listen to too much rap music.

[Devils'Advocate]

I detest all grammar snobbery I see on the 'net. As someone who often deals with people who speak english as a second language and someone that has to communicate in his second language, I have learned that the goal is COMMUNICATION. It's not a contest to see who can write messages with 100% perfect english.

I try my best in both english and french, but I'm sure I make a lot of mistakes in either language (those should be capitalized, right?). What I typically find is that these grammar threads make those learning the language get frustrated and stop trying. I know that when I was learning french the francophone that said "SPEAK ENGLISH! YOU'RE BASSTARDIZING A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE!" really made me want to give up.

What I've learned over the last 3 or 4 years while I've been in training is to concentrate on the goal - getting my message across - not worrying about being 110% correct all the time.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by chockfullofgoodness

I just have two pet peeves when it comes to this sort of stuff and it's not so much on message boards, but in everyday conversation.

1) There is no such word as 'mischeeveeous', it's pronounced 'mischievous'.

2) It's not 'orientated', it's 'oriented'.

But that's just me.

I suppose you hate restauranteur as opposed to restaurateur.

ps, sorry for posting three times in a row. People keep posting while I'm posting.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I detest all grammar snobbery I see on the 'net. As someone who often deals with people who speak english as a second language and someone that has to communicate in his second language, I have learned that the goal is COMMUNICATION. It's not a contest to see who can write messages with 100% perfect english.

I try my best in both english and french, but I'm sure I make a lot of mistakes in either language (those should be capitalized, right?). What I typically find is that these grammar threads make those learning the language get frustrated and stop trying. I know that when I was learning french the francophone that said "SPEAK ENGLISH! YOU'RE IZING A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE!" really made me want to give up.

What I've learned over the last 3 or 4 years while I've been in training is to concentrate on the goal - getting my message across - not worrying about being 110% correct all the time.

I would venture a guess that most people on here speak english as their first language. When you're been taught it for 12 years or so, is there any excuse for getting it wrong?

Grammar is part of communication. Punctuation marks are the 'road signs' of writing; they're there to help. Spelling words correctly also helps to enhance communication.

[MoneyGuy]

I was a journalist for over 20 years. Some of my pet peeves:

Kilometre is pronounced kill-oh-me-ter not kill-om-met-her. I'd guess that over 90 per cent of people mispronounce it. You pronounce the kilo part the same as in kilogram.

Please don't put an apostrophe in front of the S to make a plural. It's annoying to intelligent people.

I know it's made its way into some dictionaries, but barbeque is a mispelling of barbecue.

Almost everybody puts capital letters where they don't belong. This is correct: "Ed Stelmach is the premier (not capped) of Alberta. I like (capped) Premier Stelmach's policies." You cap proper nouns, not just because you feel like it.

For those who don't think this stuff is important, you may have the sharpest hockey mind on this site, but you look pretty stupid when you write something like this: "Jerome Iginla is my favorite Flame's player. I also like Kipper. There our star's."

I do understand if English is your second language or when people make a typo,