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

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

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


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

I have a problem when I'm pluralizing an acronym such as UFA, if I just spell it as UFAs, somebody may wonder, what the H is a UFAs but if I use an apostrophe, UFA's, I think it's clearer. Anyways grammer is difficult for me, lots of seemingly illogical rules, comprehension is usually pretty easy.

[IgnitedSoul]

Hahah, this is perfect.

Still being in school (going into grade 10 ) I'm also unfortunately sensitive to grammar. It's sad, but just earlier I was flipping through my mom's University "Writer's Guide and Index to English" book. So, you've all already brought up some of the things I'd noticed.

"I could/n't care less."

Okay, this one I completely agree with. "I could care less" makes NO sense, but here's the real truth:

could(n't) care less
Formerly (and too frequently) a lack of concern was expressed by "I couldn't care less." Recently the negative has been dropped; now "I could care less" is used to mean the same thing: "kids who never heard of Little Richard and could care less" (Ellen Willis, New Yorker).

And then there's the apostrophe use after numbers. Here's what this book says, but honestly it's old, who knows its true accuracy:

[...]
3. In plurals. An apostrophe has ordinarily been used in plurals of figures, letters of the alphabet, and words being discussed as words: the 1920's, three e's, the first of the two that's. But current usage is divided, and the plurals of figures in particular are often made with no apostrophe: "In the mid-1950s, Hoffa was scratching to take over the union" (Newsweek).

I hope I offered a helping hand.

[evman150]

The only time apostrophes are used is to denote possesion or contraction.

There's an electronics shop on granville street in vancouver that has neon signs that advertise "CD's", "DVD's", "Stereo's", "Radio's".

Walking by I felt like smashing the window.

CDs

DVDs

UFAs

FAs

1960s

'60s - Notice how this makes it much more noticably correct. "...'90's..." looks ######ed.

Radios

Stereos

When speaking of people - "There are only so many Trudeaus in a nation...".

Possessive form of words ending in "s" - "The Flames' defence looks solid this season". Too often you'll see a token apostrophe tossed in "The Flame's defence...".

Definitely my pet peeve in writing. Some syntactical things, some obscure grammar...who cares. But the apostrophe thing is so easy, it's amazing so many people f*** it up.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by FireFly

When you're been taught it for 12 years or so, is there any excuse for getting it wrong?

See? I knew exactly what you meant and in any other thread I would have ignored the error. I was fully able to understand what you were trying to communicate. Mission accomplished.

But if your goal is NOT to communicate, but rather be 100% correct all the time, then what is your excuse?

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

See? I knew exactly what you meant and in any other thread I would have ignored the error. I was fully able to understand what you were trying to communicate. Mission accomplished.

But if your goal is NOT to communicate, but rather be 100% correct all the time, then what is your excuse?

But I think many of the errors which drive people crazy are the ones that disrupt communication. I know the differences between your and you're, so when I run across a sentence where the writer uses an incorrect version it disrupts the sentence. I need to stop, beckup and reread up to the point to pick up what they intended to say instead of what they said.

A random spelling mistake or typo isn't as big an issue. The mistake is immediately obvious and can be metally corrected on the fly. But writing an incorrect word sometimes isn't obvious until later in the sentence when the context doesn't makes sense. Needing to go back and re-read a post really screws with the communication process.

And I don't think anyone is criticising non-native english speakers. For as much as he says english is easy, it was apparent The President™ was not a native english speaker. WHen I come across a post like that, I am already aware that a bit more effort will be required to understand the message.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

See? I knew exactly what you meant and in any other thread I would have ignored the error. I was fully able to understand what you were trying to communicate. Mission accomplished.

But if your goal is NOT to communicate, but rather be 100% correct all the time, then what is your excuse?

Well that's a typo. I was thinking of both 'you're being taught' and 'you've been taught' due to the previous post, and when I typed out my response, it came out wrong.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Well that's a typo. I was thinking of both 'you're being taught' and 'you've been taught' due to the previous post, and when I typed out my response, it came out wrong.

What now? I'm being teached?

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

It's annoying to anal people who have nothing better to do than point out others mistakes.

Fixed.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

Why do you care how people write on a blog. Its almost like "texting". Just get your point accross and all should be well. But, then there are the tight @$$ people who care. Teachers perhaps? You don't need to go on a blog to learn the english language, or prove how well you grasp it either. Strange how it bothers people so much.

Since we're on the topic though... some people need to learn the difference between "THEN" and "THAN". hahahaha

I love contradictating myself....

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Well that's a typo. I was thinking of both 'you're being taught' and 'you've been taught' due to the previous post, and when I typed out my response, it came out wrong.

I'd suggest that a good chunk of the errors we see on this site are typos though. I think most people understand what words to use and how to use them. Its just that in our rush to type a post before our boss peeks around the corner - we sometimes fugde up a little.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I'd suggest that a good chunk of the errors we see on this site are typos though. I think most people understand what words to use and how to use them. Its just that in our rush to type a post before our boss peeks around the corner - we sometimes fugde up a little.

Guess the boss peeked in your office)) But I understand what you mean.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by redforever

Guess the boss peeked in your office)) But I understand what you mean.

I believe its physically impossible to type a perfectly correct post when discussing this stuff.

[MoneyGuy]

To those who think that I am and others like me are anal, I repeat: Some of the things people write make them seem like idiots. I was reading the Kevin Lowe-bashing thread (wow 26 pages of Oiler envy* and counting) and it's not "rediculous." But your spelling is ridiculous.

I saw a sign yesterday: "2 K.M.'s"

That drove me crazy. I counted three errors on one small sign. But, as someone has pointed out, those of us who think this is important are anal.

[Antithesis]

I used to think, "God! Idiots!" when I'd read posts with grammatical errors and the like but then I started teaching in a Junior High School ...

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

I used to think, "God! Idiots!" when I'd read posts with grammatical errors and the like but then I started teaching in a Junior High School ...

Wow, that would frustrate me to no end.

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

I used to think, "God! Idiots!" when I'd read posts with grammatical errors and the like but then I started teaching in a Junior High School ...

So then what happened? You became like the rest of junior high teachers and stopped giving a damn?

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by evman150

The only time apostrophes are used is to denote possesion or contraction.

There's an electronics shop on granville street in vancouver that has neon signs that advertise "CD's", "DVD's", "Stereo's", "Radio's".

Walking by I felt like smashing the window.

CDs

DVDs

UFAs

FAs

1960s

'60s - Notice how this makes it much more noticably correct. "...'90's..." looks ######ed.

Radios

Stereos

When speaking of people - "There are only so many Trudeaus in a nation...".

Possessive form of words ending in "s" - "The Flames' defence looks solid this season". Too often you'll see a token apostrophe tossed in "The Flame's defence...".

Definitely my pet peeve in writing. Some syntactical things, some obscure grammar...who cares. But the apostrophe thing is so easy, it's amazing so many people f*** it up.

How about Lasers or LASER'S?

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

So then what happened? You became like the rest of junior high teachers and stopped giving a damn?

I realized that people using apostrophes to denote plurality isn't such a big deal when you get written assignments handed in with things like THX LOL U UR in them ...

[Engine09]

written assignments handed in with things like THX LOL U UR in them ...

You have got to be kidding me.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

You have got to be kidding me.

I wish I was!