There, Their......

[Droptail]

Those are helpful pointers for writing, and yes, it's a quite useful skill to know how to communicate in standard English. However, to the extent that prescriptivist rules are invoked to 'correct' all speech or writing, I heartily disagree.

 

For one, the language's orthography has needed an update for awhile now...txtspk is a (somewhat-incoherent) response to a baroque system of spelling.

The written (or spoken) word can be formal or informal, and language evolves, but right and wrong still exist. Txtspk is a shorthand that evolved when a proper keyboard wasn't available for typing; similar shortened "words" evolved when the use of Morse code became prevalent. If people learned arithmetic to the extent many have learned spelling and grammar, they wouldn't be able to make change, know which coins to insert into a vending machine, or calculate a proper tip. Lazy speech and spelling have the effect of causing one to appear less intelligent; why handicap yourself needlessly?

 

Yes, I again agree that it's useful to know the conventions of standard language, like, as you point out, in regard to the social linking of use (or perhaps non-use) of a certain dialect with perceived intelligence, but it's not at all necessary (or germane to the well-being of English) to observe that norm exclusively. If I say 4+4=7, I have the wrong sum at whatever point I said that in spacetime. If I use "ur" as shorthand for either the possessive "your" or contraction "you're", the context (for example, whether in a formal letter to a stranger or a text message to a friend) is quite relevant.

[Ro-bear]

My wife consistently uses "then" for "than" and "than" for "then," even though the error has been pointed out to her numerous times. It can drive me nuts, but life's too short to get too concerned with it, so I've learned to just laugh it off and go on.

 

gotta be honest, it took me a while to figure out the proper usage of then & than. Now, would someone like to help me with affect and effect??

 

That's a toughie, since both are used as nouns and verbs. Simplified version: "Affect" as a noun refers to emotion; "affect" as a verb means "change", "alter", "influence", etc. "Effect" as a noun means "result"; "effect" as a verb means "cause".

 

Examples of usage:

 

Some pharmaceuticals can bring about changes in affect. That is, the drugs affect the emotions of the patient. This effect is not desirable. Perhaps a lower dosage will effect an improved outcome.

[Ro-bear]

If you can't get "lose" and "loose" correct, then I loose all respect for you.

 

I seen what you did their

 

I seen what you done their.

[Onyx]

My one little grammatical peeve is not with the misusers but with one aspect of the English language itself. Every time, even though I correct myself, I catch myself typing things like "-s and -es" in one sentence, with two words having these endings next to each other though I know it's wrong.

[BrotherJosh]

i could care less that your to picky

 

Oh god...

[OpheliaGinger]

I know how to work around the most common grammatical errors but knowing when to use choose, chose, lose, loose confuses me.

[GardenerGal]

My wife consistently uses "then" for "than" and "than" for "then," even though the error has been pointed out to her numerous times. It can drive me nuts, but life's too short to get too concerned with it, so I've learned to just laugh it off and go on.

 

gotta be honest, it took me a while to figure out the proper usage of then & than. Now, would someone like to help me with affect and effect??

 

That's a toughie, since both are used as nouns and verbs. Simplified version: "Affect" as a noun refers to emotion; "affect" as a verb means "change", "alter", "influence", etc. "Effect" as a noun means "result"; "effect" as a verb means "cause".

 

Examples of usage:

 

Some pharmaceuticals can bring about changes in affect. That is, the drugs affect the emotions of the patient. This effect is not desirable. Perhaps a lower dosage will effect an improved outcome.

 

Thank you! I am going to copy and paste this. It will save me time, instead of trying to reword sentences to avoid making the mistake.

[Blue elephant]

My pet peeve is the non-existent word 'youse'. eg 'I'll see youse all later.'

 

Is this just an Australian mis-use or do you hear it in the US as well?

 

Mind you, I actually used it myself recently, but it was to write a note to a friend about the second person plural of an Italian verb - it was useful in that situation.

[blackpudd1n]

I like to write with proper grammar and spelling all the time, to the best of my ability, as I find that both spelling and grammar are skills that need to be constantly practised. Even when writing text messages I don't use text speak.

 

I have enough trouble speaking due to being half-deaf, so I'd like to at least be understood in one form of communication. I can't say the name 'Gerard' for the life of me. I do all sorts of weird and wonderful things to pronounciation.

[marmot]

One of my pet peeves is fewer vs. less. I grumble occasionally when I see the "15 items or less" at the grocery store.

[marmot]

I love reading the OKCupid blog posts where they analyze society by looking at their user base. Here is a link to a story that cites one of their findings (religious people tend to care less about spelling/grammar).

 

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/02/grammar-nazi-then-youre-probably-an-atheist/

[Vigile]

i could care less that your to picky

 

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say "I could care less" when what they mean to say is "I couldn't care less".

 

That's actually a common phrase and is accurately used based on common usage. Like slang.

[Vigile]

Those are helpful pointers for writing, and yes, it's a quite useful skill to know how to communicate in standard English. However, to the extent that prescriptivist rules are invoked to 'correct' all speech or writing, I heartily disagree.

 

For one, the language's orthography has needed an update for awhile now...txtspk is a (somewhat-incoherent) response to a baroque system of spelling.

The written (or spoken) word can be formal or informal, and language evolves, but right and wrong still exist. Txtspk is a shorthand that evolved when a proper keyboard wasn't available for typing; similar shortened "words" evolved when the use of Morse code became prevalent. If people learned arithmetic to the extent many have learned spelling and grammar, they wouldn't be able to make change, know which coins to insert into a vending machine, or calculate a proper tip. Lazy speech and spelling have the effect of causing one to appear less intelligent; why handicap yourself needlessly?

 

I agree with both of you here. English does need a revamp on the spelling front. Other languages, such as Russian, Italian and Spanish are spelled exactly how they sound. This seems pretty logical to me.

 

OTH, there does need to be a distinction between words that sound the same but have different meanings. English has enough of these that can only be identified by context. Homogenizing the spelling of the there/their/s et al would really be confusing.

[LivingLife]

I actually saw online once where a poster had used there correctly and was corrected by a person claiming to be a teacher to rather use their.

 

When I post to fundies I have developed fundiespeek and tell them not two worry two much about their concerns. I guess it all comes from growing p with teh wurd of gawd written in KJV Engrish. The weird thing is KJVSpeek actually does not sound bad with an American accent. In the Queens English accent Shakespeare sound archaic as it should.

[Vigile]

I actually saw online once where a poster had used there correctly and was corrected by a person claiming to be a teacher to rather use their.

 

When I post to fundies I have developed fundiespeek and tell them not two worry two much about their concerns. I guess it all comes from growing p with teh wurd of gawd written in KJV Engrish. The weird thing is KJVSpeek actually does not sound bad with an American accent. In the Queens English accent Shakespeare sound archaic as it should.

 

It all comes from the fact that there is a correlation between fundamentalism and a lack of education I think.

[LivingLife]

It all comes from the fact that there is a correlation between fundamentalism and a lack of education I think.

I still find that hard to believe as this is the basics that gets taught in junior school or is supposed to be. Yet we find folk in their 30's making these errors consistently.

 

At HS I ess failed English as I only got a D symbol. A, B and C were considered distinction, credit and pass and D & E were symbols that denoted less than 45%. However spelling was not a problem for me, it was more advanced grammar and usage, writing compositions and précis; that I sucked at.

 

Oddly enough I have had many compliments over the years that I articulate myself well. I love writing as I am better able to construct my thoughts.

 

On one of the FB pages from my home town in Zimbabwe, the folk make spelling mistakes but no one uses the wrong words.

 

Between American and Brit English, simple differences like color and colour, realize and realise are non issues. Our keyboards in SA are US styled, I cannot type as fast on a Brit styled keyboard.

[Vigile]

I still find that hard to believe as this is the basics that gets taught in junior school or is supposed to be.

 

I agree, which makes me think the correlation also extends to brain horsepower.

[LivingLife]

Another pet peeve is ect. and etc. for etcetera <-- note the spelling

 

It is pronounced et-set-e-ra NOT ex-set-e-ra. Again this is a Latin origin word used verbatim.

 

Dunno if American schools teach basic Latin? We learned the simplistic forms of Latin as much English still uses Latin. The whole English language is very similar to Afrikaans in that it is a bastardisation of multiple languages. The Dutch can understand us but when they speak their dialect, you really have to listen hard and they have to talk slowly.

[JadedAtheist]

I don't remember any grammar that I learned in school. The only reason mine has improved at all is from a crash course in Bible college. The American missionaries often remarked at how poor Australians are with their grammar, and they thought Americans were bad! I try to be as accurate as I can be with my spelling and grammar, but I am not that good to be honest; I had to learn again recently (not too recently, when I was 19 or so) how to use commas, full stops and semi colons since I had no idea of how they functioned and would just write one long non stop sentence

 

Since I'm imperfect, I don't really get ruffled if others fuck up. It only gets annoying for me if their improper use of English leads me to not understanding what they're trying to say. The only thing I am somewhat quick to judge with is spell checking. Grammar is understandable, but with spell checkers in all browsers nowadays there is no excuse Without a spell checker, I'd look retarded Despite correcting some words many, many times I will still spell them incorrectly. Thank you spell check

[Thought2Much]

My pet peeve is the non-existent word 'youse'. eg 'I'll see youse all later.'

 

Is this just an Australian mis-use or do you hear it in the US as well?

 

Mind you, I actually used it myself recently, but it was to write a note to a friend about the second person plural of an Italian verb - it was useful in that situation.

 

You actually find that word used here in the States, but mostly in northeastern Italian American communities. Think My Cousin Vinny or Goodfellas if you want to find examples of the kind of dialect that would include the word (although it's not necessarily just used by mobsters). Use of the word "yous" (as in, "Any of yous have any questions?") is generally considered lower class.

 

EDIT: I'm actually surprised to find out that this word is used by anyone else in the world.

[Onyx]

Another pet peeve is ect. and etc. for etcetera <-- note the spelling

 

It is pronounced et-set-e-ra NOT ex-set-e-ra. Again this is a Latin origin word used verbatim.

 

Dunno if American schools teach basic Latin? We learned the simplistic forms of Latin as much English still uses Latin. The whole English language is very similar to Afrikaans in that it is a bastardisation of multiple languages. The Dutch can understand us but when they speak their dialect, you really have to listen hard and they have to talk slowly.

 

Hic, hoc, haec.

[freeasabird]

From another current thread:

 

You said your piece

[Legion]

They're, their, what seams to be the problem hear? Your all hyper-critical and you're condisentience is showing lurkers that were not grown from what we we're. Be better then that.

[PeaceOfMind]

Let's not forget the correct usage of 'few' and 'less'.

 

[jdog]

I know how to work around the most common grammatical errors but knowing when to use choose, chose, lose, loose confuses me.

 

Loose has nothing to do with the loss of anything it is when something is too loose like your pants are too loose. (rhymes with moose) so maybe that will help. create a visual to help remember. when you see that extra 'o' = extra room in the pants and makes them baggy and loose

 

Choose is an action word or verb. and is used to describe the present or something that is about to happen. "chose" is past tense. The action of choosing has been and gone. eg. Last week I chose chicken. ( The action of choosing has been and gone) This week I will choose beef. ( is about to happen) There is more to the word choose as it can be used in describing something that has already happened. eg. which one did you choose? and I have no clue how to explain that.

 

LOL. English is a funny old language isn't it?