Yes.
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Spelling and grammar
- Thread starter MoodyBlues
- Start date
Pelled @lunatic59 ?
What's the definition of pelled?
I know. I constantly see misspelled/misused words on TV and in respected publications. *sigh*
Same here. It really bugs me when I come across something that's hilarious, but has misspelled/misused words (usually "your" or "it's).
I've seen similar lists and, indeed, they included "mispelled." And then there's "roomate."
I've been reading books on all my devices except PCs...
Guess it is a generational thing.
I'm a late bloomer, baby boomer.
Guess it is a generational thing.
I'm a late bloomer, baby boomer.
Milo Willamson
Android Expert
Have you visited the eighties yet?
them where just pudding top on my head, hahahaa 
Might a factor here be that a much wider demographic are online these days compared to 30+ years ago? Some of those errors have certainly been commonplace well before most people had internet access.
And of course the online etiquette that says that you don't correct people's spelling or grammar unless they are genuinely unintelligible has the downside that if you are not strong in these respects to start with you will probably just get reinforcement of your errors in other people's posts.
On that topic, can I just get one little personal one off my chest? I have never upbraided anyone for this online (at least I don't think so), but it's the word "voilà". It's a French word, literally meaning "look there" but whose usage is better described as "there you go" or "there it is", and is used in English in exactly the same way it is used in French. But most of the people who use it online have presumably never seen it written, and so I constantly see it being written as "wallah", "wah la" or similar. And for some reason it's this one, above all others, that forces me to count to 10 while repeating the phrase "don't be a grammar nazi"...
(And if I can be a nazi for a moment, the word "data": it's plural.
)
Punctuation marks are hard.
D
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Guest
(And if I can be a nazi for a moment, the word "data": it's plural.
Correct, but I hardly ever hear people use it properly, and it's one of those things that's just become accepted.
Yes, but...
My OP addressed the written word, but I actually had language as a whole in mind. I just had to stop somewhere, you know?
Today, it's very common to hear/see the English language mangled, for example: "me and her went to..." I'm especially annoyed by the misuse of "I" when "me" is called for: "My sister gave this book to my wife and I." ME, it's "me" not "I"--just take the other person out to see: "My sister gave this book to me." It's gotten so bad, now people say "I's"--which isn't even a word: "This is my husband and I's car." Oh dear...
This mangling has made its way into scripted TV shows and movies. But when I watch shows/movies from decades ago, people used proper English; only the uneducated and undesirable types said things like "ain't" or "it don't work right."
Very good point.
Oh, honey, if you ONLY KNEW how much I agree with all that!
I love French. I studied it for years, starting in 7th grade. Your annoyance at its "voilà" being spelled "wallah" (or similar) is something I totally understand. It makes me cringe!
Yep, it sure is--just like "media"--but I almost never hear it used correctly. "The financial data is very clear." No, the data ARE clear. *ugh*(And if I can be a nazi for a moment, the word "data": it's plural.
With all that said, and noting that I used to be a grammar nazi (under certain circumstances), since my recent, long illness, I don't get all worked up about it any more. Putting things into their proper perspective, i.e., nearly dying vs strangers' mangling of language, it's not THAT big a deal. (But I still notice it!
)
Yes the correct singular form of "data" is "datum". But if we stuck with strict Latin grammar, AF would be called "Android Fora".
Party pooper.
Milo Willamson
Android Expert
Af could also mean "Android Fordas"
Damn, I had forgotten all about this thread!
Its poll results made me chuckle. 100% claim to know the correct word for various words, yet every single day I see those words misused right here on AF! Oh I know, the poll's respondents aren't the guilty parties. *nods*
By far, on AF and all other forums I visit, the most common misused words are:
- it's [when it should be its (belonging to it, like hers and his)]
- loose [lose (rhymes with ooze)]
- your [you're (you are)]
- there [they're (they are) or their (belonging to them)]
- the über-annoying would/could/should *OF* [would've, could've, should've (would/could/should have)]. Ugh!
Its poll results made me chuckle. 100% claim to know the correct word for various words, yet every single day I see those words misused right here on AF!
Oh I know, the poll's respondents aren't the guilty parties. *nods*By far, on AF and all other forums I visit, the most common misused words are:
- it's [when it should be its (belonging to it, like hers and his)]
- loose [lose (rhymes with ooze)]
- your [you're (you are)]
- there [they're (they are) or their (belonging to them)]
- the über-annoying would/could/should *OF* [would've, could've, should've (would/could/should have)]. Ugh!
I was already laughing before getting to the explanation!You know, I could care less about those things!
(That one has long been a pet peeve of mine, since the speaker actually means "I could NOT care less," when in fact they are saying that they do care.)
I know you know the right way to say it. By the way, it's one of my pet peeves, too. It may actually be my oldest pet peeve...
I'll have to give that some thought. But it definitely dates back to early childhood.
That one is a peculiarly American error as well - you never hear it on this side of the Atlantic.
It always puzzles me because it is so plainly saying the opposite of what is meant, yet isn't at all ironic. It's as if the speaker disgorges it without any awareness of the meaning of the words they are saying (which is probably literally true: they've learned it as an expression and use it without considering what it says). It doesn't so much annoy me as make me feel like I'm listening to a Chinese room (a philosophical construct which produces intelligent behaviour without understanding - a chatbot would be a real world example of this).
It always puzzles me because it is so plainly saying the opposite of what is meant, yet isn't at all ironic. It's as if the speaker disgorges it without any awareness of the meaning of the words they are saying (which is probably literally true: they've learned it as an expression and use it without considering what it says). It doesn't so much annoy me as make me feel like I'm listening to a Chinese room (a philosophical construct which produces intelligent behaviour without understanding - a chatbot would be a real world example of this).
It's very strange, @Hadron, and struck me that way as a very young child. I remember struggling with its obviously nonsensical meaning, so I had to be really young. Then, once I understood that, yes, my take on it was correct, it became a pet peeve. Every time someone said it, I'd smile quietly to myself. [I didn't dare point it out to the adults saying it...I didn't have the balls then I do now. ]
In a previous discussion about this, I brought up another similarly nonsensical saying I heard a lot: "well, I like that!" It was said [frequently] by my grandmother, and had it been limited to her, I could've chalked it up to learning English as an adult [she was Armenian]. Like maybe she was confused about...something. But I've heard it many times in old movies and TV shows, so it was quite common pre-1960s. In every case, the person saying it definitely does not like whatever it is. It's always said in a huff, with the person obviously mad about whatever it was. I've definitely heard it on I Love Lucy, where one of the women was mad at the other.
[I didn't dare point it out to the adults saying it...I didn't have the balls then I do now. ]In a previous discussion about this, I brought up another similarly nonsensical saying I heard a lot: "well, I like that!" It was said [frequently] by my grandmother, and had it been limited to her, I could've chalked it up to learning English as an adult [she was Armenian]. Like maybe she was confused about...something. But I've heard it many times in old movies and TV shows, so it was quite common pre-1960s. In every case, the person saying it definitely does not like whatever it is. It's always said in a huff, with the person obviously mad about whatever it was. I've definitely heard it on I Love Lucy, where one of the women was mad at the other.
A lot of idiomatic expressions are contrary to their literal meaning.
Think of all the words used for liking, or being impressed with something including, but not limited to: swell, cool, radical, gnarly, bad, sick, bitchin' etc.
Those are learned and deliberate.
Bad grammar comes from laziness and sloth ... and a fanatical devotion to the pope. (Spanish Inquisition time!)
My pet peeve is people trying to use the expression "Voila!" and spell it phonetically because they are totally clueless about its etymology. I've seen "walla" and "wah-lah" too often. One person was close with "Voile" but that actually translates to a veil or a curtain, usually used to obscure something -- exactly the opposite of what they were trying to say.
Think of all the words used for liking, or being impressed with something including, but not limited to: swell, cool, radical, gnarly, bad, sick, bitchin' etc.
Those are learned and deliberate.
Bad grammar comes from laziness and sloth ... and a fanatical devotion to the pope.
(Spanish Inquisition time!)My pet peeve is people trying to use the expression "Voila!" and spell it phonetically because they are totally clueless about its etymology. I've seen "walla" and "wah-lah" too often. One person was close with "Voile" but that actually translates to a veil or a curtain, usually used to obscure something -- exactly the opposite of what they were trying to say.
I have to try so hard not to correct misspellings of "voila" (though sometimes I have to think a bit to recognise what they are trying to spell...).
Mind you when it comes to French terms I'm always puzzled by the American use of "entrée" as the main course of a meal, since in French it is a starter (the "entrance" to the meal) - a particular problem for me because Geneva is French speaking.
Mind you when it comes to French terms I'm always puzzled by the American use of "entrée" as the main course of a meal, since in French it is a starter (the "entrance" to the meal) - a particular problem for me because Geneva is French speaking.
For a few years I mowed for a lady named Viola Mode. She made me nervous.