Remember homonyms?

[happyscooter]

In our local newspaper you can only comment on the stories if you have Facebook.  These are a few mistakes I saw this morning.

there (their) guns

to sale (sell)

I learned homonyms in elementary school.  Words that sound alike but are spelled differently.   Then in another article someone said 'I've saw'.  It's 'I've seen'.  I've is short for 'I have'. 

Rant over.

[Deleted]

I'm amazed at the lack of proofreading lately (even though I'm guilty as well).

One thing I have noticed, though, as I get older is that I make more errors.  I used to have 100% absolute control over stuff like their/there, etc.  I'm an English teacher, and I would never make a mistake.  But now I may type the wrong one.  I asked a friend, who also teaches English, and she says the same thing is happening to her.

I don't know if it is because we see so much error in our students and in general, or if it's early symptom  of Alzheimer's.  I also substitute a random word here and there when I type.  It's very aggravating. 

Of course, I also used to never use emoticons in my writing.

[midjd]

One thing I have noticed, though, as I get older is that I make more errors. I used to have 100% absolutely control over stuff like their/there, etc. I'm an English teacher, and I would never make a mistake. But now I may type the wrong one. I asked a friend, who also teaches English, and she says the same thing is happening to her.

Same here! Was it Opti who said that some recommend only reading well-written literature because otherwise their own writing will be compromised? That's how I feel sometimes. I almost always catch myself as soon as I type "there" instead of "their," but one of these days I'm going to slip and have to turn in my typo crown.

Around here it's common to see both "for sell" signs AND "sale" used as a verb. So people seem to know there is some difference between the words, they just aren't sure what it is.

[steph08]

Their/they're/there, you're/your, its/it's, two/to/too are my biggest pet peeves, plus the misuse of apostrophes. We are Penguins fans and I can't tell you the people who are all "Lets go Pen's!" on Facebook. No, no, and no!

Oh, patients/patience - I love reading "I am lacking in patients today." - What, are you a doctor?


My biggest thing as I get older and more complacent is the use of Microsoft Word auto-correcting my spelling mistakes. So when I am writing out something (by hand) like embarassment or occurence, I really have to stop and think which letters get repeated and which don't - Word always updates it automatically for me so I am starting to have trouble remembering.

[Tiny]

Who sez 'I've saw'?   The slang is 'I saw' .   There is no 'have' in there.    Arrgghhh!!  I hate when people corrupt the 'vernacular'.

I know you guys are talking grammer and all... but people don't always talk (speak) that way.  I'm not sure kids are taught to have a 'voice' when writing that's different from their 'voice' when speaking.      

[mollyanna58]

How about people who write "loose" when they mean "lose"?  For some reason, that affects me like nails on a chalkboard.

[thyme4change]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it has always been that bad.  I sure knew a lot of people growing up that said all kinds of things that were not grammatically correct.  The problem now is that everyone and their pet rabbit can post on the internet all day.  So, now we have a concrete, written version of everyone's poor grammar.  Before, the newspapers would pick the letters to the editors with some care.

[swamp]

May 15, 2013 10:52:46 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it has always been that bad.  I sure knew a lot of people growing up that said all kinds of things that were not grammatically correct.  The problem now is that everyone and their pet rabbit can post on the internet all day.  So, now we have a concrete, written version of everyone's poor grammar.  Before, the newspapers would pick the letters to the editors with some care.

[img]http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/yeahthat.gif[/img]

It's not that there are more stupid people, it's just that stupid people now have the internet to spout whatever random grammatically incorrect thought crosses their minds

[Deleted]

Advice and advise always drives me nuts. 

As for the you're/your their/there/they're thing.  I do find I type them wrong a lot even though I know darn well which one belongs where. 

[thyme4change]

I think I've watched two episodes of Sex in the City, and one of them was where SJP's boyfriend (the one she ended up marrying) was with another girl, who invited her to some event.  SJP was jealous because the girl was super hot, and powerful, etc.  At the end of the episode the new girlfriend had written SJP a thank you note, and used the wrong there/their.  And SJP laughed and laughed and said "I feel better now.  She's an idiot."  

I actually wondered how many viewers saw the note and didn't get it.

[happyscooter]

Oh yes another one.

'I wish she would of gone to the store with me.'  It's 'would have'.  Not 'would of.'

[whoami]

My favs "I seen", "tooken", not understanding that you don't "borrow" someone money and the ever popular announcement of being a "grammer" Nazi.

If you ever want to see people butcher the English language on TV, catch an episode of Judge Judy.

[swamp]

If you ever want to see people butcher the English language on live TV, catch an episode of Judge Judy.

Our local news often interviews "the man on the street" to get their opinion on certain items in the news.  I swear, they get the most illiterate toothless guy who can not speak a coherent English sentence.

[sunshinegal1981]

How about dropping the 'to be' in a sentence that requires it, as in "the broken doorknob needs fixed"?  Or maybe it's just a misuse of word endings?

To me, it should be "the broken doorknob needs TO BE fixed", or "the broken doorknob needs fixing." 

Anyone else notice this?  Is this a regional thing? Am I crazy?    

[steph08]

May 15, 2013 12:04:09 GMT -5 sunshinegal1981 said:

How about dropping the 'to be' in a sentence that requires it, as in "the broken doorknob needs fixed"?  Or maybe it's just a misuse of word endings?

To me, it should be "the broken doorknob needs TO BE fixed", or "the broken doorknob needs fixing." 

Anyone else notice this?  Is this a regional thing? Am I crazy?    

I think it's a regional thing. That is definitely how I speak - The car needs washed; the washer needs fixed - when I know "to be" should be in there but I just don't use it.

Oh yes another one.

'I wish she would of gone to the store with me.' It's 'would have'. Not 'would of.'

I think people say "would've" in place of "would have" and think it should be spelled like it sounds - "would of."

[Deleted]

May 15, 2013 5:55:48 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

In our local newspaper you can only comment on the stories if you have Facebook.  These are a few mistakes I saw this morning.

there (their) guns

to sale (sell)

I learned homonyms in elementary school.  Words that sound alike but are spelled differently.   Then in another article someone said 'I've saw'.  It's 'I've seen'.  I've is short for 'I have'. 

Rant over.

Just to be a jackass... actually, those are homophones.  Homonyms are words that are spelled/pronounced the same but have different meanings (like left foot/left the building).

But I agree, they are super irritating no matter what you call them.

[sunshinegal1981]

May 15, 2013 12:10:37 GMT -5 steph08 said:

May 15, 2013 12:04:09 GMT -5 sunshinegal1981 said:

How about dropping the 'to be' in a sentence that requires it, as in "the broken doorknob needs fixed"?  Or maybe it's just a misuse of word endings?

To me, it should be "the broken doorknob needs TO BE fixed", or "the broken doorknob needs fixing." 

Anyone else notice this?  Is this a regional thing? Am I crazy?    

I think it's a regional thing. That is definitely how I speak - The car needs washed; the washer needs fixed - when I know "to be" should be in there but I just don't use it.

Ahhhh, I see... thanks for the clarification!  I honestly didn't know.  I apologize... didn't mean to gang up on your 'region'.  :-)