The English Language

[RAPPA]

It's becoming overwhelmingly common these days that people are confusing the use of your/you're, their/there/they're etc, saying "could of" and "would of" instead of "could have" and "would have", and making other simple mistakes. Is it really that difficult to understand the differences and the contexts in which they're used? Seems like many belong in the ESL group...

 

[Tiff]

There spelling sometimes is to much too bear.

 

[Tulip]

Your bang on sun

 

[Bluelegs]

"Could of" and "would of" comes from people abbreviating "could have" and "would have" to "could've" and "would've" respectively.

 

[Quivorir]

Someone needs to serve me at Hungry Jacks.

 

[FootyJunkie]

yeah... bit of a pet peeve of mine too

 

[GOAUS!]

Flabberbasted by that comment.

 

[DardySingh360]

I don't really care about that so much, it's just Aussies using American spelling that peeves me

 

[Igloo]

People substituting he's for his is the stupidest thing anyone can do. It makes no sense at all.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I don't really care about that so much, it's just Aussies using American spelling that peeves me

I didn't even realize that was so common until the other day. Uphold the honor of English English I say.
The "of"/"have" one is the one that really irks me. I am constantly surprised by the amount of seemingly intelligent people, who have English as a first language, who do it.

 

[Ed_Gein]

People substituting he's for his is the stupidest thing anyone can do. It makes no sense at all.

Above all of them, this one grinds my gears the most. "His not a bad player..." Not sure what it is about it that makes my blood boil.

I don't really mind people that actually put the effort in to spelling properly etc.... Not even sure why i'm suggesting it's an effort, but it's staggering the amount of people i see using 'txt speak' which slaughters the English language, which i hate. I find myself having to read it at half the pace and it's a struggle to understand sometimes.

 

[Partridge]

I didn't even realize that was so common until the other day. Uphold the honor of English English I say.
The "of"/"have" one is the one that really irks me. I am constantly surprised by the amount of seemingly intelligent people, who have English as a first language, who do it.

Sorry I couldn't resist. Honour surely?

I think my most disliked is the apparent confusion over lose/loose. How anyone can confuse two totally unrelated words staggers me.

 

[RAPPA]

Sorry I couldn't resist. Honour surely?

I think my most disliked is the apparent confusion over lose/loose. How anyone can confuse two totally unrelated words staggers me.

I think Howard Littlejohn was taking the piss, with "realize" and "honor"

 

[revival_mode]

my girlfriend still stuffs these up & she's going to be a teacher. many facepalms have been had

 

[RAPPA]

Despite how prevalent these problems are, it's funny how there are reports saying our numeracy skills are really poor and we need to fix them. Pretty stupid considering that a calculator can remedy that problem, but auto-correct can't help you if you make these grammatical mistakes.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

For all intensive purposes, does it really matter?

 

[Gough]

I find that there is something pathetically amusing about grammar pedants. The fact that you can a parse a sentence correctly shouldn't bring about the ridiculously smug sense of satisfaction that seems to go with the territory.
The English language is an evolving organism and will change over time, people just need to get used to this.

Speaking of which, isn't "RAPPA" spelt RAPPER?

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

It don't bother me none.

What I do despise is the overuse, and incorrect use of the word "like".

"It was like, awesome"

****in' hate awesome and all

 

[Scotland]

The English language is complicated enough in terms of pronunciations, rules etc. but as a word Nazi I am shocked at how many people **** up the basics.

Their/there I could understand if you're not that bright, but they're is a contraction of they and are. They're good, they are good. There/their good doesn't make sense regardless of how bad your spelling is.

Same goes for his/he's. When the **** did this become something people got wrong? He is and his are totally different.

Bias is a noun. You can possess bias, and you can be biased. You cannot be bias, unless you are a football commentator attempting to personify the noun.

There should also be punishment (capital perhaps, for want of a bad pun) for misuse of the word irony. It is not a multi-purpose adjective. Alanis Morrisette has a lot to answer for.

 

[Caesar]

It seems to mostly be a function of apathy rather than ignorance. I am sure most people know the difference between they're/their/there - they just don't place a high level of importance on getting it right.

I find grammar extremely interesting - Usage and Abusage is one of my favourite books. There is however a point when you go past the need to enable good communication, and get to the point of grammar for grammar's sake. I've always been a pretty firm believer that you should write the way that you best communicate. For example most of us don't construct our thoughts by avoiding split infinitives, so it doesn't make sense to be overly concerned with them.

I'm a bit of a pedant but even on here I constantly misuse and omit commas, occasionally finish sentences with inappropriate prepositions, and commit numerous other sins. Most of the time people don't even notice. If I am writing a formal document I will be more careful, but even then it will inevitably involve drafting, reviewing and rewriting to correct mistakes.

There are so many rules that very few people (including pedants) always use perfect grammar. In that context, right and wrong become fairly unimportant. As long as something is relatively easy for its target audience to read and understand, its grammar is generally good enough.

 

[Scotland]

Something that irks me is the number of mistakes you see in news articles.

I work with many technically competent people who get by having poor written communication skills (they're generally called engineers) but when it is your job to write/edit articles for a living if you can't get that right then you should give it away.

 

[Gough]

Something that irks me is the number of mistakes you see in news articles.

I work with many technically competent people who get by having poor written communication skills (they're generally called engineers) but when it is your job to write/edit articles for a living if you can't get that right then you should give it away.

That's the difference mate, if you are doing it for a quid, you should be getting it right. The rest of us are just dilettantes, why should you worry about how we write?

 

[dales.girl38]

Part of me thinks that grammar and spelling are means of facilitating communication, and if we spend our time correcting each other then we are obstructing rather than facilitating communication. The other part of me rages at people who don't understand the difference between his and he's.

 

[Scotland]

That's the difference mate, if you are doing it for a quid, you should be getting it right. The rest of us are just dilettantes, why should you worry about how we write?

Common courtesy.

There's no need to be a pretentious ******** and post like Silent Alarm but when people post things like 'Im bias but i rate jobe watson best player in afl his really good' it's nauseating to read.

 

[Gough]

Just part of my filter system, if you can't write a coherent sentence, it's unlikely you and I are going to have a lot in common.