Spelling and Grammar Lessons [Archive]

lost_momma

03-02-2006, 08:14 AM

I ran a search and couldn't find anything like this. I know I'm being anal, but I really MUST start these lessons for the spelling and grammar-challenged. These are simple, elementary things, folks. It only takes a second to correct them. Feel free to add to the list (and correct me if I'm wrong).

Why am I doing this? Because I find it very hard to read something like "I wuz comming up the road and ur cat wuz diging up my roz bush ur cat iz gon be ded if it dont stop."

Spelling:

coming (not comming)
"a lot" is two words
received ("i" before "e" except after "c" or when sounding as "a" as in "neighbor or "weigh." Learned that in elementary school.)
etc. = et cetera meaning "and so forth", not "ect."
"You're" stands for "you are." Always. "Your" is possessive. Don't mix them up. "Your cat is digging up my lawn." "You're standing in my light."
"It's" is always "it is." "Its" is always possessive.
awesome
crucify, crucifix and crucifixion (there was a thread today with questions on how to spell these words)

Grammar:

"would have" not "would of." You're thinking of "would've," a contraction of "would have." It SOUNDS like "would of" but it isn't. (And yes, the punctuation DOES go inside the quotation marks.)

Karen

03-02-2006, 08:18 AM

Great idea!

Why am I doing this? Because I find it very hard to read something like "I wuz comming up the road and ur cat wuz diging up my roz bush ur cat iz gon be ded if it dont stop."
I completely agree with you! There are lots of members on this forum that talk like that and I have given up reading some threads because of it.

received ("i" before "e" except after "c" etc.)
That isn't always the case but I see your point.

thefilmchick

03-02-2006, 08:22 AM

Before the thread gets locked or something: A-w-e-s-o-m-e. Not a-w-s-o-m, a-w-s-o-m-e, a-w-s-u-m, or some other unholy combination. I don't know why seeing this particular word misspelled unleashes high righteous terror in me, but it does.

Also!

D-h-a-r-m-a.

S-a-y-i-d. (Though it really should be 'Said,' you know half of the audience would have sat there and pronounced it as the past tense of 'say' and gone, 'That's a silly name for a character!')

C-l-a-i-r-e (Though this has variants, that's the one used on the show.)

Jack S-h-e-p-h-a-r-d (According to IMDB.)

A-n-a---L-u-c-i-a (Again, IMDB.)

Last, but not least:

A-d-e-w-a-l-e A-k-i-n-n-u-o-y-e---A-g-b-a-j-e (IMDB a third time, although I have plenty more sympathy for people who misspell this.)

lost_momma

03-02-2006, 08:30 AM

Eternal_Darkness

03-02-2006, 01:11 PM

A few mistakes here or there is fine with me, but when it comes down to the:

OMG lk i so ttly hte AnaL!! lke, wtf is hr prblm?!?!!!? lol!!!

That is just out of line, and impossible to understand at times. A few capital letters here or there would help, and actually spelling out the entire word would make it legible.

And, using "!!!" and "???" repeatedly at some sites can actually get you banned. (Not lying, I'm a member of a site that has a rule about punctuation in thread titles!)

Sean O

03-02-2006, 01:15 PM

Also, one huge pet peeve of mine is "loose" you can "loose" someone from their shackles, or make something "looser", but if you aren't good at what you do, you are a "loser." There is only one o in loser.

Can't believe so many people get this one wrong.

MasterMinion

03-02-2006, 01:20 PM

does this one come under grammar? but anyway, i can't stand it when people call someone 'gay' just because they don't share the same view. 'OMG! UR SOOOO GAY! LMAO!' is not an insult, i don't know how being homosexual is an insult or when it started, but please - just stop.

i myself have no problem with abbreviations, as long as they are well known, ie, LOL, WTF? etc. and obvious. things such as 'IDKWTHYGAOA' (I don't know what the hell you guys are on about) i find annoying. and yes, i did just make that up for the purpose of my argument.

Rachel1313

03-02-2006, 01:28 PM

Grammar:
"would have" not "would of." You're thinking of "would've," a contraction of "would have." It SOUNDS like "would of" but it isn't. (And yes, the punctuation DOES go inside the quotation marks.)
__________________

The punctuation does not always go inside the quotation marks.;)

neutralelement

03-02-2006, 01:35 PM

Great idea for a thread. :)

One thing that drives me crazy (tends to come with people who do a lot of "!!1!!!!1"s) is putting ".." instead of "..." or "."

Choose one or the other: a period or a "dot dot dot," otherwise it just looks crappy.

thefilmchick

03-02-2006, 01:45 PM

Which brings to mind:

"All ellipsis dots shall be repeated three times, and three shall be the number of the dots: two, thou shalt not dot, savest thou continuest on to three. Four is right out." :)

Karen

03-02-2006, 01:46 PM

Subterranean Ali

03-02-2006, 02:14 PM

"Your" - in relation of possession. 'Your face offends me.'

"You're" - simply the words 'you' and 'are' blended, with an apostrophe taking 'a's place. 'You're a right state, mate.'

Learn, love, use.

Ice Berg Legend

03-02-2006, 02:40 PM

don't be lazy with the following

- their
- they're (they are)
- there

juicyfruitgome

03-02-2006, 03:19 PM

Urgh, I can't stand it when people write "definately" or "defanitely". It's the word "definite" with an "-ly" attached to the end: "definitely".

Subterranean Ali

03-02-2006, 03:26 PM

Worst one I reckon is when people (normally yanks) say 'I could care less'.

NO!

"I couldn't care less", you're emphasising that you could not care any less than your present non-care for something.

Rachel1313

03-02-2006, 03:38 PM

Worst one I reckon is when people (normally yanks) say 'I could care less'.

NO!

"I couldn't care less", you're emphasising that you could not care any less than your present non-care for something.

Just calm down now, Furio. I think you've had a bit much to drink.

Subterranean Ali

03-02-2006, 03:45 PM

Sorry Rachel, but it just gets so wound up, you know?

Mamma mia ayatolla...

neutralelement

03-02-2006, 04:18 PM

Urgh, I can't stand it when people write "definately" or "defanitely". It's the word "definite" with an "-ly" attached to the end: "definitely".
Got to admit, I'm definately guilty of this one. I think I've probably written paragraphs where I changed my spelling of "definitely" several times within. "Definitely," is one of those few really simple words I can never quite seem to get.

Ooh, that brings up another grammar/spelling pet peave of mine. I hate it when people confuse:

Quite: to a degree, to the greatest extent, completely.
Quiet: making little or no noise.
and
Quit: to depart from; leave.

:nod:

thefilmchick

03-02-2006, 04:18 PM

neutralelement: G-r-a-m-m-a-r. (Sorry! I had to. ;))

The one word I can never spell right: Necessary. Even though I know that's spelled correctly, it still looks incorrect.

neutralelement

03-02-2006, 04:20 PM

neutralelement: G-r-a-m-m-a-r. (Sorry! I had to. ) Damnit! That's just sad. Wow.

All edited and purtiful now. :D

Eternal_Darkness

03-02-2006, 04:23 PM

neutralelement: G-r-a-m-m-a-r. (Sorry! I had to. ;))

The one word I can never spell right: Necessary. Even though I know that's spelled correctly, it still looks incorrect.

Oh, I know how that is! It happens in real life too, like when you say "swallow" a million times in a row, you start to doubt if you say it right cause it sounds so weird.

Rachel1313

03-02-2006, 04:24 PM

neutralelement: G-r-a-m-m-a-r. (Sorry! I had to. ;))

The one word I can never spell right: Necessary. Even though I know that's spelled correctly, it still looks incorrect.

I hear that's a common problem with people from Indiana. Is that true? Is it necessarily true?

thefilmchick

03-02-2006, 04:27 PM

Another word that also looks strange like that is 'blind.' Look at the word. It's just a very weird combination of letters that don't go well together. I discovered this when I was about 7 or so; Talking Heads have a song off of Naked called 'Blind,' and the chorus (which has about four runs through) is 'Blind, blind, blind, blind, blind, blind, blind,' repeated three times. (The verses are actually very interesting.)

I remember singing along to it and my brain shorting out and going, 'That's not a word anymore.' It happened every time I sang the song, because of all of the repetition. Thanks to that, I can never really parse the word as a word whenever I read it or say it.

ETA: Rachel, I'm not from Indiana. I'm just living here for four years for grad school and law school. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'm moving away as soon as I've got the JD in hand (I doubt I'm even taking the Indiana bar.)

Rachel1313

03-02-2006, 04:33 PM

Whoa, be easy on poor Rachel. She's had a rough day.

Anyway, here goes a dumb question...what does ETA stand for? I know it means like on a side note, but what is it exactly an abbreviation for?

I know, the Jersey smog is clouding my brain.

thefilmchick

03-02-2006, 04:35 PM

On forums: Edited To Add.
On Oceanic: Estimated Time of Arrival.

:D

Quiet Tempest

03-03-2006, 01:02 AM

I'm so lost

03-03-2006, 01:17 AM

*stares blankly into this thread of grammer and punctuation* ..... 0.0 O.O ........ *eye twitches* ... screw this ... *leaves thread*

Citizen Erased

03-03-2006, 04:25 AM

You know, I almost majored in English in college, and I must say, this thread has some great lessons. Well done kids!

AsHLeE

03-03-2006, 05:21 AM

"a lot" is two words

[/list]

For some reason that one gets me every time and I honestly can't work out why (wow, this thread is making me really aware of my spelling, because everyones looking at it)

Oh and...

its Because

not

Becuase (only I spell it that way almost all the time, never on purpose though, I do know how the word is spelt, but... it must the way I type, my fingers like to press the u before the e... it really bugs me.

and if your going to abbreviate it,

'cause is the correct way. Not coz or cos or cuz.

At least, I'm pretty sure thats how it goes.

Another word that also looks strange like that is 'blind.' Look at the word. It's just a very weird combination of letters that don't go well together. I discovered this when I was about 7 or so; Talking Heads have a song off of Naked called 'Blind,' and the chorus (which has about four runs through) is 'Blind, blind, blind, blind, blind, blind, blind,' repeated three times. (The verses are actually very interesting.)

I remember singing along to it and my brain shorting out and going, 'That's not a word anymore.' It happened every time I sang the song, because of all of the repetition. Thanks to that, I can never really parse the word as a word whenever I read it or say it.

Wow, just reading that made me look at the word blind oddly. A similar thing happens to me, in english we're going a topic on Changing Self at the moment, and at the end of each lesson I just can't register the word change as a word, it just ends up looking and sounding really odd to me and as though its almost foriegn.

Also, I have a question...

Can you start a sentance with the word and and have it be grammatically correct? Something tells me no, but its just one thing I've never been sure of.

Dennie_Hebels

03-03-2006, 06:38 AM

Why am I doing this? Because I find it very hard to read something like "I wuz comming up the road and ur cat wuz diging up my roz bush ur cat iz gon be ded if it dont stop."

That isn't really an example of people not knowing how to spell, but more of people being lazy ass idiots or thinking they are cool :cool:

But I fully agree with you. That kind of "spelling" pisses me off because it just sounds stupid. I expect people to write in normal English when discussing on a forum. If you write like that in your chat sessions that's your business, but other people would like to be able to read and understand your replies. When I see a post like that I usually don't bother reading it at all. I have a hard time taking people serious when they write like that.

It suprises me how many people spell badly and have trouble with their grammar. My English certainly isn't perfect, but sometimes I get the feeling I know more about spelling and grammar rules than people who's first language is English.

And here's an example of bad spelling Dutch people often have a problem with:

" Too" means also or excessive.

I ate too much chocolate. (excessive)
My little brother wanted some too. (also)

" To" is correct in every other context, except the number two.

Infinitive: to be or not to be. (in front of a verb)
preposition: Go to school.

From: http://www.geocities.com/grammardoc5/to.html

neutralelement

03-03-2006, 09:44 AM

Oh and...

its Because

not

Becuase Well, actually. It's Because, not becuase. :giggle:

Eternal_Darkness

03-03-2006, 11:13 AM

I have the same issue with the "because" "becuase" typing problem. Just like you, I know how to spell it, but the way I type, I can't get it right.

It's like with Jack. A lot of times I keep on typing, but don't take my finger off of the shift key fast enough, so almost 100% of the time it comes out as JAck. I have a joke with my friends now that if it comes out like that, it's a secret way of calling Jack a Jack-@$$. :rolleyes:

However, I don't really call him that. ;)

Becuase (only I spell it that way almost all the time, never on purpose though, I do know how the word is spelt, but... it must the way I type, my fingers like to press the u before the e... it really bugs me.

The problem you have is putting the u before the a, because the u is before the e anyway. ;)

Sorry, couldn't resist. And, I know I'll probably have someone correct this post. :rolleyes: :giggle:

Words for me that seem strange are swallow and follow. Especially swallow. I was trying to get my little sister to eat something, and she wouldn't swallo. So I kept saying it over and over. I finally just stopped and asked myself if I was even saying it right. I seriously thought I wasn't after saying it so much.

Quiet Tempest

03-03-2006, 11:35 AM

I'll throw one into the pot, too.

I'd: A contraction from "I would" or "I had". In the case of "I would", this contraction is not spelled I'ld.

ShadedSkies

03-03-2006, 04:09 PM

I appear to be pretty good at english grammar altough it isn't my native language. I already know most of these, but thanks for sharing them! :w00t:

nsmith12916

03-03-2006, 05:06 PM

Spelling and Grammar are both major pet peeves of mine also, though i do make mistakes when I am typing quickly.

It is "Spelled" not "Spelt," okay? Spelt sounds like somthing you'd buy in a Market in the middle of India.

It is "your" not "ur" and "please" not "pls." Though it might seem attractive to use both because they are net-abbreviations, they are just major pains in the ass to those of us who actually ENJOY not having headaches. The next person I see who shortens a word to speak with text talk is going to be backhanded across the face! Goodness, people. Yes, that is a thread.

Punctuation is KEY! Please, use commas AND periods...CORRECTLY! It helps people understand what you are saying a little bit more easily.

The letter "I" when used alone as a word is ALWAYS capitalized...no matter what!

And finally: Every first letter of every first word at the beginning of EVERY sentence should ALWAYS be capitalized. Please...

Save us Anal OCD-types some pain, would you? Use proper grammar.

Eternal_Darkness

03-03-2006, 05:17 PM

Spelling and Grammar are both major pet peeves of mine also, though i do make mistakes when I am typing quickly.

The letter "I" when used alone as a word is ALWAYS capitalized...no matter what!

Funny you should say that, Nick...

-points to first line of your post-

Ice Berg Legend

03-03-2006, 05:19 PM

Hey Nick, can I backhand you for using 'i' instead of I completely ignoring your own advice? :p

thefilmchick

03-03-2006, 05:22 PM

My English master's means I'm right (kidding!): 'Spelt' and ''cos' are both British variants on 'spelled' and ''cause' (for because) and so are valid and acceptable. :)

Subterranean Ali

03-03-2006, 05:31 PM

Funny you should say that, Nick...

-points to first line of your post-

ahahahashibgoinrouinrgg

Resist the American's rape of the English language everyone, it's 'favour' not 'favor' and 'colour' not 'color', amongst others.

Nothing is 'very unique'. Unique is a superlative (debatable to the pedantic people, but generally it is) and simply saying it means that the subject is in a class of it's own. Easy.

k thnx m8z

AbsolutelyCurtains

03-03-2006, 07:45 PM

Spelling:

coming (not comming)
"a lot" is two words
received ("i" before "e" except after "c" or when sounding as "a" as in "neighbor or "weigh." Learned that in elementary school.)
etc. = et cetera meaning "and so forth", not "ect."
"You're" stands for "you are." Always. "Your" is possessive. Don't mix them up. "Your cat is digging up my lawn." "You're standing in my light."
"It's" is always "it is." "Its" is always possessive.
awesome
crucify, crucifix and crucifixion (there was a thread today with questions on how to spell these words)

Grammar:

"would have" not "would of." You're thinking of "would've," a contraction of "would have." It SOUNDS like "would of" but it isn't. (And yes, the punctuation DOES go inside the quotation marks.)

Them to awlayz got me. w00t!<3<3<3

*J8~F8*

03-04-2006, 03:30 AM

It's "no one" not "noone".

I found this on LiveJournal, I don't know who made it, (wasn't me) but I thought it was pretty great.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/N_nw/randomness/haha.gif

Karen

03-04-2006, 04:29 AM

It's "no one" not "noone".
*Puts hand in the air and admits to being guilty of this.*

Although I usually put no-one.

Eternal_Darkness

03-04-2006, 10:53 AM

Them to awlayz got me. w00t!<3<3<3

Always. ;)

That's a very interesting icon, by the way! It fits the topic of this thread perfectly. :w00t:

UltraHyperShadow

03-04-2006, 11:23 AM

I often misspell definitely......sorry! :p

Eternal_Darkness

03-04-2006, 05:26 PM

I know, I was typing it earlier and then I remembered this thread, so I typed it perfectly. :w00t:

luminous

03-04-2006, 08:47 PM

So... my english is catastrophic. damn, I knew it. and I use too many commas... but that's an addiction, so I may have to get medical help.

AsHLeE

03-04-2006, 09:22 PM

So... my english is catastrophic. damn, I knew it. and I use too many commas... but that's an addiction, so I may have to get medical help.

Hehe, that's like me, I use too many '...' (I know there's a proper name, I just can't think of it right now).

Is it ok if I re-ask my question?

Is it wrong to start a question with the word and? As in... ok, I'll write an example.

I was walking down the street with my friend and we bought icecreams. And then later we went to the park.

Its just one thing I've never known, is it right or wrong?

(Please don't go pointing out all the grammar and spelling mistakes I've made Because I know there will be some).

Rachel1313

03-04-2006, 09:30 PM

Hehe, that's like me, I use too many '...' (I know there's a proper name, I just can't think of it right now).

Is it ok if I re-ask my question?

Is it wrong to start a question with the word and? As in... ok, I'll write an example.

I was walking down the street with my friend and we bought icecreams. And then later we went to the park.

Its just one thing I've never known, is it right or wrong?

(Please don't go pointing out all the grammar and spelling mistakes I've made Because I know there will be some).

I think today, it is sometimes acceptable to start sentences with And or But, although, when I was in school we were taught never to.

In the example you used above, though, it's not necessary.

I was walking down the street with my friend, and we bought ice cream. Later, we went to the park.

^^^ Do you see what I did? I omitted the 'And' and the 'then' and just started your sentence with 'Later'. Most of the time you'll see this works.:)

OR , you could re-arrange the whole thing and say: I was walking down the street with my friend. We bought ice cream, and later went to the park.

^^^ That one probably works even better.

bashveank

03-04-2006, 09:32 PM

I was walking down the street with my friend and we bought icecreams. And then later we went to the park.

Its just one thing I've never known, is it right or wrong?

In that particular sentence you would either replace the period with a comma: we bought icecream, and then later or ommit the "and then" we bought icecream. Later we went

edit: *shakes fist at Rachel* :p

One thing I've never been sure of is where to put the period when you're finishing a sentence with a quote, would it go like: A great man once said "the monkey likes bannanas". or A great man once said "the monkey likes bannanas."

thefilmchick

03-04-2006, 09:33 PM

In formal English, 'And' is incorrect in the start of a sentence, as it implies a connection to something else.

In fanfic/fiction-writing/informal paper-writing (maybe highschool, but not college), 'And' is all right to start a sentence. Same rules apply with 'But' and 'Because' if it is not followed by an independent clause (ie, 'Because I was sick, I took Tylenol' is an OK sentence because the taking Tylenol is independent, but 'Because I was sick.' is not OK.)

However, some of the greatest writers in the English language (James Joyce, Ezra Pound, e.e. cummings, etc.) threw out the rules entirely after they'd learned them, so if you are writing for yourself, feel free to do as you wish as long as you are aware of the rules and of the grammatical choice you are making.

AsHLeE

03-04-2006, 09:34 PM

Yeah... that was a pretty crummy example, but I was stuck for anything else.

Another question, anyone know any better ways to express laughter/humour apart from 'lol' (which I do use but I'm seriously getting sick of) and 'hehe' or 'haha'?

This really doesn't have much to do with grammar/spelling, but you guys seems to be far more intellegent than I am :p.

Rachel1313

03-04-2006, 09:37 PM

thefilmchick

03-04-2006, 09:37 PM

May I suggest the Oscar Wilde approach: "Pip pip! My eye! What a smashingly amusing post you made, old bean!"

bashveank

03-04-2006, 09:59 PM

May I suggest the Oscar Wilde approach: "Pip pip! My eye! What a smashingly amusing post you made, old bean!"

uhhh... while I go try to figure out what that means can someone tell me if I should quote the person I'm replying to even if their post is right above mine? (example: what I just did with thefilmchick)

Also what do the the abriviations i.e. and e.x. mean?

thefilmchick

03-04-2006, 10:07 PM

IE, I.E., ie, i.e., = id est, Latin for "that is."

Ex. (not e.x.) = "example."

In terms of when you see them on the forum, both mean the same thing. They actually don't, but unless you're dealing with them in a formal/business/academic setting, the difference in their usage is minimal.

As far as quoting the previous post, I tend to quote it if it's unclear to whom I'm talking, or if there are a lot of people on the thread (if I post before anyone else posts in the second circumstance, though, I generally go back and delete the quote.) I also tend to leave out insignificant portions, because nobody wants to scroll through a two-screen post, and then a two-screen quote of that post, if they don't have to.

AsHLeE

03-04-2006, 11:04 PM

As far as quoting the previous post, I tend to quote it if it's unclear to whom I'm talking, or if there are a lot of people on the thread (if I post before anyone else posts in the second circumstance, though, I generally go back and delete the quote.) I also tend to leave out insignificant portions, because nobody wants to scroll through a two-screen post, and then a two-screen quote of that post, if they don't have to.

Yep, thats kind of what I do (and what I'm doing now) if I'm replying to someone, I generally quote them, but only leave in the parts of their post I'm replying too.

But if I'm referring to a thread topic, I don't quote, unless the topic has chnaged slightly from the original (not that that ever happens here...)

Eternal_Darkness

03-05-2006, 10:15 AM

One thing I've never been sure of is where to put the period when you're finishing a sentence with a quote, would it go like: A great man once said "the monkey likes bannanas". or A great man once said "the monkey likes bannanas."

(This responds to both of your questions. I quote if I'm not replying to the person directly above me)

It would be the second one. I have the same trouble myself sometimes, but as the author of this thread pointed out the punctuation goes in the quotation marks. :)

Dennie_Hebels

03-05-2006, 11:46 AM

(This responds to both of your questions. I quote if I'm not replying to the person directly above me)

It would be the second one. I have the same trouble myself sometimes, but as the author of this thread pointed out the punctuation goes in the quotation marks. :)

I'm not sure if it's the same in English, but in Dutch, punctuation doesn't always go inside the quotation marks. If the part you're quoting is a whole sentence, it does. However, if you're just quoting a part of a sentence, it doesn't. For example:

She said: "I'm never selling this house to you." (inside quotation marks because it's an entire sentence)

She said something about "never selling the house". (outside quotation marks because it's only part of a sentence)

Eternal_Darkness

03-05-2006, 11:51 AM

In that particular sentence that bashveank posted, the punctuation goes in the quotation marks.

But, yes what you posted is right as well. :cool:

lost_momma

03-06-2006, 11:09 AM

Grammar:
The punctuation does not always go inside the quotation marks.;)

I've been dealing with my semi-annual "wipe-the-hard-drive" crisis. Been down for 4 days.

Anyway, with regard to punctuation inside quotation marks: always inside quotations with dialogue. My editor always insisted on punctuation inside no matter what. He's the one with the degree, so I didn't question him. There are some rare instances of putting punctuation outside the quotations. To maintain consistency in our writing, we all used the same style book: punctuation inside.

"Loose" and "lose" is one of my pet peeves, too. Forgot about that one. I don't know how to help remember the difference to those of you who can't, except that the double "o" requires the "s" sound as in "safe." "Lose" requires the "z" sound.

She said something about "never selling the house". (outside quotation marks because it's only part of a sentence)

See, we would put the punctuation inside that one. We always went with what looked better in a magazine. Punctuation inside looks better. It may only be the difference in writing for a magazine and writing your dissertation, or in what style book you use. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, you wouldn't put the punctuation inside the quotation if the phrase you're quoting doesn't end with that punctuation, or if it would confuse the sentence. The example they used was:

Why was Farragut trembling when he said, "I'm here to open an inquiry"?

Since the sentence requires a question mark but the quoted phrase doesn't, it goes outside. So that makes sense to me.

pftsobfreak

03-06-2006, 11:15 AM

OMG, I love you for opening this thread.

My Grammar Lesson of the Day:

I have a cousin who goes to college. NOT I have a cousin that goes to college. When dealing with people, it's who, not that. A human being is not a that. A human being is a who.

You would say that when dealing with animals and inanimate objects.

thefilmchick

03-06-2006, 11:18 AM

'I have a cousin whom the college has accepted,' as well. Not 'who the college has accepted.' Who for subjects either of the sentence or the clause they introduce ('I have a cousin who goes to college' is correct thus, as 'goes to college' is the clause in question, not 'I have a cousin.') Whom for objects of either.

honeyrabbit321

03-06-2006, 11:33 AM

seriously, who says 'whom'?

'whom says whom' just sound weird

parhelia

03-06-2006, 11:55 AM

to continue the punctuation discussion....

in american-style punctuation, you should almost always put the end punctuation inside the end quotation marks. as in: she said, "i'm going to the store."

but, as was mentioned earlier, if the end punctuation does not match the quotation, then it goes outside the end quote marks, as in: did she say, "i'm going to the store"?

the only other reason you would put the punctuation outside the quote marks is if you're quoting poetry or some other written document and consider it important to represent the punctuation of the original exactly as it appears. under normal circumstances, it's entirely acceptable to end your quotation of something with a period even if that period is not in the original.

also, ellipses CAN have four dots. the standard is three dots, but if you want to show that you're ending a sentence, then you use four dots. in typeset books, there is a space between each dot of an ellipsis, which looks . . . like that. at the end of sentence, it looks like this. . . .

but for writers outside of america, punctuation doesn't always go inside the quotation marks. i know it's the british style to use punctuation outside; i'm not familiar with other countries.

if anyone would really like more information about the various components of punctuation, i highly recommend the hilarious (no, really!) book eats, shoots & leaves by lynne truss. however, as the author is british, please note that british-style punctuation is used throughout. converting from british to american style can get confusing.

to the purists: sorry, but as a general rule i just don't use capitals on the internet. i do enough of that at work. :D plus i have mild tendonitis and it's just easier to type if you're ignoring the shift key most of the time. i have eye drops if you need 'em. ;)

pftsobfreak

03-06-2006, 12:06 PM

rock_on7210

03-06-2006, 12:12 PM

Subterranean Ali

03-06-2006, 12:52 PM

seriously, who says 'whom'?

'whom says whom' just sound weird

Stephen Fry says it a lot, because he speaks beautifully and should blatantly be our Prime Minister. Him, or Boris Johnson.

Ice Berg Legend

03-06-2006, 01:01 PM

Boris Johnson all the way, that'd be enough to make me start watching the parliment channel. I mean who wouldnt want this guy running your country?

http://www.nigelhaversalliance.com/pics/borispoint2.jpeg
"I put this to you, my right honourbale friend"

thefilmchick

03-06-2006, 01:39 PM

I've always had trouble figuring this out. Is it "realize" or "realise"? The books I read ("The Tales from Watership Down" and "The Kingdom by the Sea") all use "realise", but the online dictionary says realize. Which one, exactly?

Realise = British spelling.
Realize = American spelling.

Are you British or American? That should determine which you use. :)

I too would like to see Stephen Fry as PM, with barrister-general John Cleese (who is a Real Live Attorney, might I add.)

Eternal_Darkness

03-06-2006, 02:25 PM

Quiet Tempest

03-06-2006, 02:27 PM

Being such a grammar nerd, I am ashamed that I do not understand the concept of 'whom.' :(

Rule #1: Substitute “he/him” or “she/her”: If it's either “he” or “she,” then it's who; if it's “him” or “her,” then it's whom.

Examples:
Mrs. Dimwit consulted an astrologer whom she met in Seattle. (She met him in Seattle.)

Jones is the man whom I went fishing with last spring. (I went fishing with him.)

Joyce is the girl who got the job. (She got the job.)

Whom can we turn to in a time of crisis? (Can we turn to her?)
The delegates differed as to who they thought might win. (Not whom. Here the entire clause is the object of the preposition. Substitution is particularly helpful in cases such as this. They thought he might win.)

Who is that masked man? (subject) The men, four of whom are ill, were indicted for fraud. (object)

Rule #2: Every verb with a tense in a sentence must have a subject. And that word is always in the nominative case, so it's "who." For example: In this sentence, “I decided to vote for whoever called me first”:
• “I” is the subject of “decided”
• “he” (whoever) is the subject of the verb “called.”
In the sentence, “Give it to whoever deserves it”:
• The implied “you” is the subject of “give”
• "he" (whoever) is the subject of the verb “deserves.”
This rule supersedes the first rule as it relates to who” and “whom.”
Note: Related to this rule is one that says: The subject of a phrase is always attached to that phrase -- no matter what. For example:
Ask whoever reads that book to answer the question.
Break down the sentence thusly:
(You) ask him (he reads that book) to answer the question.
In the phrase “he reads that book,” you cannot separate the subject “he” from the phrase to which it is attached.
If you remember these two rules -- substitute “he/him” or “she/her,” and that every verb with a tense must have a subject -- you should solve the "who/whom" quandary every time.
If you apply those two rules and you're still not sure, apply the all-important Rule #3.
Rule #3: If it takes more than a 30 seconds to figure it out, pick the one that sounds best to the ear (read it aloud) and move on. Why? Because even grammarians are likely to squabble over which to use. But always -- always -- apply rules #1 and #2 first.

(http://www.ku.edu/~edit/whom.html)

Citizen Erased

03-06-2006, 02:27 PM

You are correct, film girl. I was an English major for awhile.

Deadman

03-06-2006, 02:34 PM

The only thing that bothers me is when people write OMG a million times. Yeah, I get it.

Subterranean Ali

03-06-2006, 02:38 PM

Anyone that uses 'lol' in a non-pisstaking way needs to be taken out the back and shot.

Don't quote this post with 'Yeah, lol.' please, it won't be funny.

Karen

03-06-2006, 02:53 PM

I never understood the reason for having multiple spellings for the same words. Like color and colour. Wouldn't it just be easier to have the same spelling? Is the u really that big of a deal? (Not to sound like I think we should drop it, I meant that is it really that big of a deal to have or not have.)
I personally think it should be the same everywhere.

It's the English language so technically all words should be the way they are spelt in England and the rest of the UK. :D

shred

03-06-2006, 02:55 PM

lol, SubAli.

When we talk about grammar and punctuation (and all) here, we are talking about standard English. The "grammar" of online discourse is another topic. Somebody go get Kate to explain discourse communities.

thefilmchick

03-06-2006, 03:15 PM

Hello hello.

I have no work, because I am on spring break. Thus, I am free to rant about academia. If you would seriously like an explanation, I can post it, but alas I do not have my linguistic books in the archives (From Alphabet to E-Mail is my favorite, eminently readable and interesting.)

I too think 'lol' is terrible, but I deal with it, as long as it's used properly, in moderation, and accompanies an otherwise properly written sentence - that way, I chalk it up to, as shred said, an online medium. If it's 'lolz taht saywer he iz sooo hot lolz!1! r u gon mari him??/ nevar not if i do furst!!1', however, then I start feeling like the Terminator, because that is not a medium of any sort of valid communication, online or offline.

Rakel

03-07-2006, 01:06 AM

very interesting thread. english is not my first language (i'm portuguese) so it'll be good to read it fully, might clear up some things for me. but the first thing i can remember as very annoying is the "you're and your". now i know i make alot of grammar mistakes and stuff but hey at least i have an excuse, but people whose first language is english, "i cant fokin underztand y they spell lik thiz".

Curly_Katie

03-07-2006, 12:50 PM

I know what you mean, I hate when people type like this:

how r u 2day, Im gr8t. alrite.

it sort of grates on me. and most of it I cant understand.

tui-iut

03-07-2006, 01:20 PM

yeah...and when people take out too many letters...
bcz t lks lk diz nd u cnt undstnd n of it!

Karen

03-07-2006, 01:30 PM

yeah...and when people take out too many letters...
bcz t lks lk diz nd u cnt undstnd n of it!
Maybe one of the admins or mods can tell us why they allow this type of talk in here? The vast majority of other forums don't allow it at all.

ericcoaster

03-07-2006, 02:53 PM

Which brings to mind:

"All ellipsis dots shall be repeated three times, and three shall be the number of the dots: two, thou shalt not dot, savest thou continuest on to three. Four is right out." :)

Why, it's the holy hand grenade!

"If she...weighs the same as a duck...she's made of wood!"

Anywho, I do not like reading misspelled words, it's a tiny pet peeve of mine. However, I do like creating words (see the first word of this paragraph). Nice thread topic, some people need it.

Rachel1313

03-07-2006, 02:59 PM

:giggle: I love it! (even though I'm quite fond of my ".........") *goes to buy a gift-wrapped Holy Hand Grenade for TFC*

Ok, first Sandy, and now Eric have mentioned the holy hand grenade. I didn't get it when Sandy said it and I still don't. Someone 'splain please.:D

georgiapeach81

03-07-2006, 03:09 PM

Looks like you guys do this one so I'll do it.

Saying I seen is baaaad. It's supposed to be:

I've seen or I saw

ericcoaster

03-07-2006, 03:13 PM

Ok, first Sandy, and now Eric have mentioned the holy hand grenade. I didn't get it when Sandy said it and I still don't. Someone 'splain please.:D

It's from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's a British humor film that mocks the story of King Arthur, and I love it. Definately recommend renting it, if you haven't already. (It came out in the 70s, I think)

Rachel1313

03-07-2006, 03:36 PM

It's from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's a British humor film that mocks the story of King Arthur, and I love it. Definately recommend renting it, if you haven't already. (It came out in the 70s, I think)

Ok, thank you. I don't know nothin' about the 70's ya hear. :shifty:

Eternal_Darkness

03-07-2006, 04:13 PM

LMAO, Rachel I was born in the early nineties, yet I know about the 70's. :p Just 'cause you know about it doesn't mean people automatically assume you were born in the seventies.

Just to get back on topic:

I've seen people who type perfect English, yet they are from another country. Why can't people whose native language is English put forth the same effort?

I will not take "lolz i lke to typ esy cuz i is lzy" as a good excuse. It takes me ages to type stuff like that out, and it's much simpler to type out the whole word.

thefilmchick

03-07-2006, 04:18 PM

I've seen people who type perfect English, yet they are from another country. Why can't people whose native language is English put forth the same effort?

Agreed. Dennie, a lot of the Scandinavians, Lostaddict, the Portuguese fellow who posted on this thread, all write with perfect grammar. Even those that don't - a recent poster from China comes to mind - at least avoid embarrassing themselves by their lack of grammatical correctness, because they try. I would much rather read something with a grammatical mistake that is otherwise coherent and interesting than "lolz sawyer iz sooo hot", which, while grammatically correct, causes an English teacher somewhere in the world to fall over dead.

I think it's the lack of effort in the American/British/Australian/Canadian posters that's the worse crime, and hopefully this thread will correct some of that. OK, it won't, but I can dream, can't I?

(Protip: Read your posts through, gang. If they sound more like Sawyer than anyone else on 'Lost,' please grammar-edit. Thanks! :D)

Marystat

03-07-2006, 04:24 PM

I am not all that great with grammar, being it English or my native language Norwegian. However I am much better in English grammar than my own language. Why is that? I have always wondered about why that is.

Dennie_Hebels

03-07-2006, 04:47 PM

I will not take "lolz i lke to typ esy cuz i is lzy" as a good excuse. It takes me ages to type stuff like that out, and it's much simpler to type out the whole word.

Yeah that kind of typing is really terrible. It makes me a little sick to my stomach :sweat: Fortunately, I don't see many people typing like that and the mods really shouldn't tolerate it. Is it too much to ask for people to write in normal English that everyone can understand?

The difference between adjective and adverb forms is also a very common problem.

For example:

It's "I try to spell correctly" not "I try to spell correct"

Actually it's a very simple rule that I learned in my first year of high school:

Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. You can recognize adverbs easily because many of them are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. Here's a very informative site about this rule:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esladjadv.html

Still, I make mistakes because sometimes it doesn't sound wrong. For example the sentence "He is breathing normal again" sounds pretty good to me even though it should be "He is breathing normally again." (because normally is an adverb that modifies the verb breathing).

ericcoaster

03-07-2006, 06:35 PM

Lol, this reminds me of the thread with someone expressing their frustration of people that type like "LoLz!!!!11!!!!11@", ect. Just kidding! It's etc.

Dae-en-Naur

03-08-2006, 04:46 PM

You guys all rock. :D My biggest pet peeve is that Blond (with NO e) is for guys. Blonde (with e) is for gals. It's that masculine/feminine thing. So, yeah. That just drives me up the wall.

Rachel1313

03-08-2006, 04:54 PM

You guys all rock. :D My biggest pet peeve is that Blond (with NO e) is for guys. Blonde (with e) is for gals. It's that masculine/feminine thing. So, yeah. That just drives me up the wall.

Riiiiiight.

Subterranean Ali

03-08-2006, 05:08 PM

Rachel1313

03-08-2006, 05:10 PM

We spell it blonde, too, I think.

Subterranean Ali

03-08-2006, 05:11 PM

Yeah well you would, bloody awkward!

I wait in car.

Alright Rachel131313131313313131313325423636366sdgnhjjgj

nsmith12916

03-08-2006, 05:15 PM

Looks like you guys do this one so I'll do it.

Saying I seen is baaaad. It's supposed to be:

I've seen or I saw

Egzacli! What are you going to say for past tense: I seeneded?

I too enjoy making up words. 'Tis fun. You'll see me doing it often online.

georgiapeach81

03-08-2006, 05:31 PM

Egzacli! What are you going to say for past tense: I seeneded?

I too enjoy making up words. 'Tis fun. You'll see me doing it often online.

Hehe, ok.:p

Broken_Dreamer

03-08-2006, 06:10 PM

Looks like you guys do this one so I'll do it.

Saying I seen is baaaad. It's supposed to be:

I've seen or I saw

Argh, you sound like my friend. Haha.
I hate it when people use "MSN Language/Grammer/Spelling".
I'm sure we all have brains, so let's use them. :)

georgiapeach81

03-08-2006, 06:12 PM

^hehe.:p

Broken_Dreamer

03-08-2006, 06:14 PM

Haha.
My friend always yells at me if I say something "incorrectly".
I swear...she's a walking dictionary/thesaurus/encyclopedia. :rolleyes:

georgiapeach81

03-08-2006, 06:15 PM

Aww, lol.

Broken_Dreamer

03-08-2006, 06:18 PM

Hehe, yeah.
But if she messes up, we bug her about it for a while. :p

georgiapeach81

03-08-2006, 06:28 PM

Haha, keep bugging her! lol, j/k.:p

Broken_Dreamer

03-08-2006, 06:33 PM

Haha, I do, but then she gets all ticked off.

georgiapeach81

03-08-2006, 06:37 PM

Aww, darn! lol

Broken_Dreamer

03-08-2006, 06:38 PM

Haha yeah.

Rachel1313

03-13-2006, 05:26 PM

I have a question regarding my son's homework. I need to know if the word obsidian is singular or plural. The sentence begins Obsidian ( form,forms) etc., etc..... I don't know whether he should choose (form )or (forms) without knowing if obsidian is singular or plural.

Obsidian is the result of volcanic lava coming in contact with water.

Thank you.:)

Brisbane_rob

03-13-2006, 06:06 PM

from my reckoning it is Singular

The Sentence would be

Obsidians form by rapid cooling of lava.

Rachel1313

03-13-2006, 06:08 PM

Thank you, Rob. That was my thought, but wasn't too sure.

thefilmchick

03-13-2006, 06:26 PM

Actually, it depends on what you're talking about. Does this obsidian come in pieces?

If so, then Rob is correct. If you are talking about general obsidian, then it would be plural: "Obsidian forms..." just like you would say, "Water forms..." or "Ash forms..." or what have you. I'd need to know the full sentence first, though, to determine.

Rachel1313

03-13-2006, 09:51 PM

thefilmchick

03-13-2006, 09:57 PM

Obsidian forms when volcanic debris cools quickly in the air. You are talking about the property of obsidian, not of individual outcroppings.

Rachel1313

03-13-2006, 09:58 PM

Thank you! :)

nightskiesfading

03-13-2006, 10:09 PM

Grammar is a big thing for me, I get on my friends about it all the time and literally cringe when someone says "good" instead of "well"

My pet peeve? lolz i 2 lzy 2 typ reel wrds :blank:

I, proudly, speak full gramatically correct sentences (to the best of my ability) on AIM and forums, etc.

The way you speak is one of the first impressions of your intelligence on a forum because there's no outward appearance to base it on, and I think you would want people to think you can atleast form a sentence correctly, not "oMg plz rite mOrE"

:blank:

Brisbane_rob

03-13-2006, 11:01 PM

actually i think you are wrong there. most experience people on the internet relaise people are generally lazy so dont rate peoples intelligence by their posts.

another reason not to judge is also that most things on the internet are done for fun anf boredom relief not a way of expressing how intelligent people are, it can be quite the reverse some people may be thought of as just faking their intelligence with some clever postings.

Rachel1313

03-13-2006, 11:08 PM

it can be quite the reverse some people may be thought of as just faking their intelligence with some clever postings.

That's what I do.

nightskiesfading

03-14-2006, 07:02 PM

Yes I know, I'm a member of several forums and have experienced the whole "chat speak" thing quite often, I'm just saying it does nothing to help you look intelligent, if you wrote this brilliant scientific theory out in chatspeak, 1. I wouldn't read it 2. I would probably still think you're not that smart.

No one looks smart taking the vowels out of every word. For me it takes MORE time to type in chat speak "lolz i rly luv ur story"

I know several people who talk in chat speak who ARE smart, I'm just saying on first glance, they don't look it.

neutralelement

03-14-2006, 07:07 PM

I just found another one of those words that doesn't look right: Marriage. Marriage, marriage, marriage. :eh:

Eternally

03-14-2006, 08:49 PM

*hangs head in shame* I just spelt entertaining with an i, as in intertaining. :no: *is hit by tomatoes*

October Sky

03-14-2006, 09:11 PM

Lol, filmchick, why am I not suprised to see you in this thread?

Come on now, bi*** and twix rhyme, admit it:p

nightskiesfading

03-14-2006, 09:13 PM

Oct. Don't. Even. :shifty:

:crackup: We beat that topic to death.

neutralelement

03-14-2006, 10:42 PM

*hangs head in shame* I just spelt entertaining with an i, as in intertaining. *is hit by tomatoes* Don't beat yourself up too bad over that. My friend emailed me this morning using 'threw' instead of 'through,' 'where' instead of 'were' (more than once,) and spelling 'figure' as 'figger.' She's 16. English is her first language. :no:

SouthernComfort

03-14-2006, 11:50 PM

Hey Eternally - I reckon you may be onto a new word there..."Intertaining" - as in pertaining to internet entertainment...:w00t:

never be afraid of creating new words for the English language. After all, the idiots in management/business invented "corporatese", and now it's taking over the way we speak...

mission statements. Strategic directions my a$$...

Eternally

03-14-2006, 11:53 PM

^ Whoa that e-mail must be *terrible* :eh:

And i like that word...intertaining...I think SouthernComfort is onto something. (unto? or onto? AHH) :boogie:

Brisbane_rob

03-15-2006, 06:56 PM

Ok here is my two cents.

The dictionary has become a developing thing, new words and new spellings are added almost daily.

Now you may not like changes to our language, but it is too late it is still an evolving language

And for all you americans (yes i lazy and cant be bothered holding th eshift key down whilst typing on an interent fourm and so therefore dont always use capitals , also i tpye too fast and therefore hit hte worng keys and again i too lzy to spend the time going back to corect them,) the word is spelled Colour not color but of course times ahve moved on...

here is dictianry.coms instructiuonso nhow to spell Spelled (Spellt)

spell1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (spl)
v. spelled, or spelt (splt) spell·ing, spells
v. tr.
To name or write in order the letters constituting (a word or part of a word).
To constitute the letters of (a word): These letters spell animal.
To add up to; signify: Their unwise investment could spell financial ruin.

v. intr.
To form words by means of letters

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 02:43 PM

I have actually gotten better with my grammar online over the past year.
For example, I used to type like this:

"Can u come over 2 my house 2night. can u ask if u r allowed?"

And now, I can't stand typing like that. It just, annoys me.
My friend types like that, and it drives me insane.
Anywho, I'll be quiet now. *runs off*

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 02:45 PM

I have actually gotten better with my grammar online over the past year.
For example, I used too type like this: *cough*wrong 'too'*cough* :giggle:

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 02:59 PM

*cough*wrong 'too'*cough* :giggle:

Haha, I made a typo, and I didn't realize it. :D
Thanks, I'll fix it.

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 03:05 PM

Suuure. Typo. That's what it is. :rolleyes: Pfft.

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:06 PM

Haha, I swear, my finger slipped. :p

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 03:08 PM

Mmmhmm.

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:09 PM

I'm not lying. :rolleyes:

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 03:10 PM

I can hear your nose growing. It squeaks. :eh:

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:11 PM

*pokes nose* It's...still normal size. :blank:

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 03:14 PM

Maybe it's already reached it's maximum size. Can't stretch any farther. :giggle:

http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/images/rhino/rhinoplasty2_2.jpg

:crackup: Poor thing.

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:15 PM

Maybe it's already reached it's maximum size. Can't stretch any farther. :giggle:

http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/images/rhino/rhinoplasty2_2.jpg

:crackup: Poor thing.

:blank: That's one big nose.

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 03:17 PM

^^Soon it'll be you if you don't hurry up and admit to using the wrong "to." :raspberry
C'mon now. Not that hard to do.

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:18 PM

But, I didn't. :(
Fine, I'll just say it so we can stop arguing.
"I used the wrong "to."
Happy now? :(

neutralelement

03-17-2006, 03:19 PM

Happy. :D

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:22 PM

Okay..

LOST_arbiter

03-17-2006, 03:31 PM

Okay, this isn't so much a spelling or grammar issue, but does this annoy anyone else? When I read a post that is typed in bright colors, I usually get a minor headache. And it's sometimes hard (for me, anyway) to read.

No offense to people that do post like that, I'm just saying that I'm not a big fan of it. :shifty:

Broken_Dreamer

03-17-2006, 03:33 PM

Moya

03-17-2006, 03:35 PM

Here's a litte trick

NECESSARY - Never eat chips, eat salad sandwiches and remain young.
Also EMBARRASSED. I can't remember the little rhyme for that one! It's doube r double s though that's how I remember it.

I have to confess I often say 'cos' and 'LOL'.

I'm from the north west of England so sometimes I accidentally end up typing something how I would say it.

E.g. "I'm fromt north west of england so sometimes I'll type sommert how I'd say it."

Or sometimes you'll see "owt", pronounced "out", meaning "anything". Or "Nowt" meaning "nothing". Luckily I've not managed to do this on here yet!

jpl56

03-18-2006, 06:08 PM

Grammar on this forum is pleasant to read. There are very few mistakes. In general, I find less mistakes in English forums than in french ones.

One of the most annoying (to me) mistake in French id that the infinitive (manger, to eat), the past participle (mangé, eaten) and plural 'you' (vous mangez, you eat) sound the same. That bring horrible mistakes, sometimes making the sentence difficult to understand.

In French, we also have the "you're / your" mistake (t'es / tes). Bonus mistake : "you've / your" (t'as / ta), bringing also ugly posts...

"ta mangez t'es gato" instead of "t'as mangé tes gateaux" is common (of course, we also have "text-message-style" grammar). I just skip the post. Too bad for the guy if that was a question I could have answered.

I asked why people write like that. The most common answer is linked to the new reading method (I don't know since when), badly derived from your american one. Teachers associate whole words to images in order to make pupils recognize words in a text. Later, pupils learn syllabs and letters. The mistake in France is that the second part is badly done, with the consequences I described.

When my generation learned to read (I'm 39), we began with syllabs, then with words. I don't understand why we changed that.

Finally. I'm sorry, but I had to do it :

Anyone that uses 'lol' in a non-pisstaking way needs to be taken out the back and shot.

Don't quote this post with 'Yeah, lol.' please, it won't be funny.

Yes Enjoy At Home Lots Of Liquids ! :)

Moya

03-19-2006, 10:39 AM

I'm pretty sure that when I learned to read, you first learned to sound out the letters, then combinations of letters, so you could break down words into managable syllables and then put them together into full words.

Like I was doing some of my neice's homework with her the other week and she had to learn the word 'going' which is really easy once you've got 'go' and then 'ing' on the end. but if you don't know how to sound out letters and break down words then you're not gonna get anywhere. Especially when you get to trying to spell a word that you've never seen before.

The other week me and my Mum came home from shopping and some little scrotty kids from down the road had posted a little post-it note on our front door saying "Yoar haous is gowing to blowe up!" made me laugh. I actually thought of making one to post on their door saying "fukk orf"

Moya

03-19-2006, 10:39 AM

double post madness!

Mayfly

03-19-2006, 02:18 PM

And for all you americans (yes i lazy and cant be bothered holding th eshift key down whilst typing on an interent fourm and so therefore dont always use capitals , also i tpye too fast and therefore hit hte worng keys and again i too lzy to spend the time going back to corect them,) the word is spelled Colour not color but of course times ahve moved on...

The word is "color" in America. Correct American English is different from correct U.K. English. We aren't wrong if we write "color", "neighbor", "realize", or "theater." (Yes, I was correct in putting those commas outside the quotation marks. :p) In fact, if we used the British spellings in school (at least, in the schools I've attended), they would be considered wrong. It would be as if I had randomly started writing in French.

Hurray for peeves! ^_^ Here are a few more:

* "At least" is two words.

* Adverbs end in '-ly.' You didn't run quick; you ran quickly.

* "None" is actually an abbreviation for the words "not one." Therefore, the sentence None of us were there. is incorrect. The sentence should read: None of us was there. It looks and sounds weird, but it's right.

* And finally, I'm pretty sure no one but me bothers to obey this one online, but...the titles of books, movies, and T.V. shows should be italicized. (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Brokeback Mountain, and yes, even Lost.) The names of specific episodes should have quotation marks around them ("Maternity Leave").

Exie

03-21-2006, 04:02 PM

Okay, I have to put in my two cents.

For the most part, I type using relatively good grammar. Now, speaking...that's a different story. I have a very Southern accent, and I have very poor grammar when speaking to a friend, but when I'm trying to explain something or I'm talking on the phone or to my boss, etc, I use much better grammar. So why does it annoy me when people spell things wrong? LOL (Yes, I use that one a lot) That being said, I also use Southern words or phrasing in my posts on purpose, for emphasis. I know that drives some of you crazy! :D Also, if I'm actually writing a paper or something official, I am EXTRA careful about my grammar. So, in my post, there are probably a lot of dropped participles or whatever they're called. :D And misplaced commas. And fragmented sentences. :giggle: So, since I'm basically talking to friends/acquaintances, I am not nearly as careful. As you can see. :D

The ONLY place I use txtspk is on my cell phone, or when I'm sending my husband a message through the cell service website. The reason why is when I'm typing it, it takes too long, and when I'm sending one, the screen on the phone isnt but so big. (That's something else I do when typing online a lot is leave out apostrophes.:p ) So, I would be sending my husband messages like this:
what do u want 4 dinner
r u coming home on time 2day?
call me @ wk plz
plz pick up pkg @ ofc
That is just about the only time I use that type of language. Rarely anywhere else. <<FYI: sentence fragment :D

So, on to my pet peeves:
Please, someone correct me if I am wrong. It annoys me when people say, "I was weary of buying from that company" instead of either of these: "I was wary of buying from that company" or "I was leery of buying from that company." The first sentence is technically correct but not in the way I meant it to be. Weary is tired. Wary is cautious. Leery is suspicious. I have heard the last two sentences misspoken, using the first sentence instead. I think people just hear it said, and then mispronounce it. *shrug*

Rachel1313

03-21-2006, 11:47 PM

Execute You bring up a good point about typing better than you speak. I am very aware of proper grammar and I try my best to use it when typing. I also use it in real life when I want to sound relatively intelligent.
I know how to; let's put it that way.

That being said, when I speak on a regular basis to family, friends, everyday regular people, I speak nothing like everyone on here sees me type. I am always thinking so fast and my words come out so fast, that they are always cut off at the end. I very rarely say a complete word. If anyone on here ever spoke to me in person, I think they'd be shocked.

For example, instead of saying "instead of", I will say "insteada".
Instead on saying " a lot of", I will say, "alotta".
I don't think I ever pronounce a "g" at the end of a word "goin', comin',etc."

At least I know I can pull it all together when I have to (hafta). ;)

Exie

03-22-2006, 07:08 AM

I also use it in real life when I want to sound relatively intelligent.
Exactly! Sometimes you just dont care how you sound. :giggle:
I am always thinking so fast and my words come out so fast, that they are always cut off at the end. I very rarely say a complete word. If anyone on here ever spoke to me in person, I think they'd be shocked.
For example, instead of saying "instead of", I will say "insteada".
Instead on saying " a lot of", I will say, "alotta".
I don't think I ever pronounce a "g" at the end of a word "goin', comin',etc." Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly what I do! It's funny--my brain works faster than my mouth. Sometimes. :p But I talk that way because I'm from the South and we have our whole own dialect. :D

ehsteve

03-22-2006, 08:06 AM

i'm not sure if this has been said yet, but it really annoys me

To

In a direction toward so as to reach: went to the city.
Towards: turned to me.

Reaching as far as: The ocean water was clear all the way to the bottom.
To the extent or degree of: loved him to distraction.
With the resultant condition of: nursed her back to health.
Toward a given state: helping minority women to economic equality.
In contact with; against: their faces pressed to the windows.
In front of: stood face to face.
Used to indicate appropriation or possession: looked for the top to the jar.
Concerning; regarding: waiting for an answer to my letter.
In a particular relationship with: The brook runs parallel to the road.
As an accompaniment or a complement of: danced to the tune.
Composing; constituting: two cups to a pint.
In accord with: job responsibilities suited to her abilities.
As compared with: a book superior to his others.

Before: The time is ten to five.
Up till; until: worked from nine to five.

For the purpose of: went out to lunch.
In honor of: a toast to the queen.

Used before a verb to indicate the infinitive: I'd like to go.
Used alone when the infinitive is understood: Go if you want to.

Used to indicate the relationship of a verb with its complement: refer to a dictionary; refer me to a dictionary.
Used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate exclusivity or separateness: had the plane to ourselves.

adv.
In one direction; toward a person or thing: owls with feathers wrong end to.
Into a shut or closed position: pushed the door to.
Into a state of consciousness: The patient came to.
Into a state of action or attentiveness: sat down for lunch and fell to.
Nautical. Into the wind.

Too

In addition; also: He's coming along too.
More than enough; excessively: She worries too much.
To a regrettable degree: My error was all too apparent.
Very; extremely; immensely: He's only too willing to be of service.
Informal. Indeed; so: You will too do it!

Two

Is a number, only a number
an integer which comes after 1 and before 3
it is the sum of 1+1
"i think so two" makes no sense
"there were two of them" does make sense

bbthtree

03-22-2006, 01:51 PM

It is crazy how people just butcher the English language these days... geez, ever heard of spell check?!?

ShannonBoone4evr

04-01-2006, 04:57 PM

Lera

04-01-2006, 05:51 PM

Whoa! I learned a lot today. :)

I hate it in Finland too when people are spelling like this: "NiiQ ZiiZ IhQd44h!" >__> So annoying. But I have to say this: my English isn't always that good because I'm not from US or from England! I'm sure that some people have that problem too. So please, don't kill us?

NotoriousFIQ

04-05-2006, 03:17 AM

I hate it in Finland too when people are spelling like this: "NiiQ ZiiZ IhQd44h!" >__> So annoying. But I have to say this: my English isn't always that good because I'm not from US or from England! So please, don't kill us?

well, at least you're at the west side of the world. Try asia, south-east asia. That's where I am, Malaysia!! So on the behalf of the Asian LOST fan, i appologize too, u guys. That is if i ever made any wrong English usage or something...

And I agree with LOST_arbiter with the bright font thing.

Mithrandir

04-06-2006, 04:15 AM

"Its" is always possessive.

Or plural for many ITs :O ..Whatever that is. Heh, English isn't even my mothertongue but still my spelling is better than that of many of my American, Canadian and British friends. :D

* Adverbs end in '-ly.' You didn't run quick; you ran quickly.

Haha, Locke reminded Kate of that in some lost episode :D

bashveank

04-09-2006, 08:31 AM

I think I use too many quotation marks, ex. my second post in this thread (http://lost-forum.com/showthread.php?t=35013), am I right?

coolpinkdiva

04-09-2006, 04:42 PM

This was quite good the 1 thing that annoys is when they spell characters names wrong like
S-A-W-Y-E-R not Soya, Soyer, or Soier
E-K-O not Ekoe
L-O-C-K-E not lock

The only other thing that i have to do is to re read some posts as i'm British and not American that gets a bit confusing oh and text/sms talk. For those people please go back to school and learn how to spell properly.

AliceDoesntKnow

04-11-2006, 09:21 PM

Sadly, the people who need to read this thread most, are the same who will scoff "dis aint skool", then proceed to torture us with butchered and mangled english. :no:

orgygiver

04-17-2006, 02:50 PM

BeerFilter

04-17-2006, 05:45 PM

Colour vs. color, favour vs. favor, theatre vs. theater, centre vs. center, etc.

The Brits just spell it like that because they're all bloody French over there. :-)

Less vs. Fewer

There are fewer apples in my basket because we got less rain this year.

Fewer refers to a quantifiable amount (one can say "10 apples or 3 apples").

Less refers to unquantifiable amounts (one cannot say while I was out walking I got hit by 50 rains).

Well vs. Good

Well is an adverb (it describes a verb). Good is an adjective (it describes a noun).

She runs well.

She is a good athlete.

C

thefilmchick

04-17-2006, 05:50 PM

She runs good = She is in charge of the Justice League's Department of Good.
She is a well athlete = Paging Baby Jessica; Baby Jessica, please come to the front desk.

:angel:

Camins

04-18-2006, 01:54 PM

hey I don't know if I should post this here or not,.. but I have a question :)
Well I'm doing an essay for my english class and I don't know where the hell 'mainly' must be written.. :s
Look this is the sentence:
Domestic violence mainly affects women .. OR Domestic violence affects mainly women.

Thanks.. And sorry if I shouldn't have posted this here

thefilmchick

04-18-2006, 02:02 PM

What do you want 'mainly' to modify, the effects or the women?

That is to say:

Are you discussing the effects (which are mainly on women = Domestic violence affects mainly women), or are you discussing what domestic violence does (which, mainly, is affecting women = Domestic violence mainly affects women)? The proper usage will vary based on what you're trying to convey.

PS thx for not screwing up 'affects' and 'effects.'

Camins

04-18-2006, 02:11 PM

hey thank you VERY much! you've saved my life :)
It was the second one :) =)
I love this post :D... Someday, I'll be able to speak/write english well thanks to this lol ^^

*Shell*

04-19-2006, 07:38 AM

My grammar sucks.

xploitwarez

04-20-2006, 10:34 AM

This thread is awesome. I hope all members take the lessons from here and apply them when posting in the forum.

Jade1021

04-20-2006, 11:00 AM

I don't really see why incorrect grammar and spelling bothers people so much(people including me) I geuss since it bothers so many of you I'll make an efort to pay a bit more attention to that kind of thing.
The one that I can't for the life of me keep strait is when to put an apostrophe in its or it's. Like is it when its in the posesive case or a conjunction?

thefilmchick

04-20-2006, 11:18 AM

Apostrophe is when it's is a contraction for it is, not a conjunction (conjunction being words like 'and,' 'but,' 'or.')

It's 10:15 here in Central Time.
I am watching the clock. Its hands say 10:15.

bsteve74

04-27-2006, 02:38 PM

OK, I have a question that's been bugging me a lot lately. I'm sure that I learned this in English 101 way back when, but it has completely flown out of my mind.

Why do they say someone pleaded guilty? It seems like it should be that they pled guilty. Same with "he was hanged". Why is it not hung? Of course, it may just be the whole thing that the English language has rules that don't make a lot of sense, but I'm hoping there is a reason somewhere...

Rachel1313

04-27-2006, 02:42 PM

thefilmchick

04-27-2006, 02:46 PM

"Hanged" is thus because the sentence is "hanging" (in a legal sense) instead of "to hang" - the verb shifts there slightly, because you're talking about the sentence/death, not the actual act of swinging from a rope (if you are actually talking about swinging from a rope, then you do say "hung".)

"Pled guilty" is informally correct but, in legal terms, incorrect. Again, this goes back to "pleading" (in a legal sense) being the verb instead of "to plea." Same logic applies.

bsteve74

04-27-2006, 02:51 PM

Betty- I thought pled guilty was correct, no?

I thought so as well, but then with all of the threads about Michelle Rodriguez and jail time, I noticed they all said "she pleaded guilty."

"Hanged" is thus because the sentence is "hanging" (in a legal sense) instead of "to hang" - the verb shifts there slightly, because you're talking about the sentence/death, not the actual act of swinging from a rope (if you are actually talking about swinging from a rope, then you do say "hung".)

"Pled guilty" is informally correct but, in legal terms, incorrect. Again, this goes back to "pleading" (in a legal sense) being the verb instead of "to plea." Same logic applies.

I knew you'd be the one to be able to answer this :)

Your answer does make sense. I guess it's one of those things that you have to look at from a legal point of view, and that's just not the way that I think. Thanks for the heads up!

chocolate

05-02-2006, 12:30 PM

Charlie not Charli!

:D
I'm from Poland and I don't know English very well so I can do mistakes.
Forgive me :P

AbsolutelyCurtains

05-04-2006, 11:25 PM

Heehee. I found this today and thought it was so damn funny. It is a fake Magic:The Gathering card....

http://members.gamedev.net/fruny/forums/magic/grammar_ninjas.jpg

::strong:

coolpinkdiva

05-06-2006, 07:20 PM

Rakel

05-27-2006, 12:56 AM

ive seen this is another thread and id like to ask which is correct

"the light shimmered off of the masts" is grammatically correct English English.

"the light shimmered off the masts" is American English.

Both are correct.

It's like saying "Please write to me" versus "Please write me".

sillyya

05-27-2006, 01:00 AM

As a person from England they do make us right longer words then the Americans why can't we spell color this way and not colour and donut and doughnut i swear they want to make our lives a lot harder with spelling added unnescessary letters in words.

Us Candians too! But most teachers don't care too much, but I did have this one English teacher who was from Britain and HATED American culture.. it was kind of hard to remember to stick the" u" in there.

Broken_Dreamer

06-01-2006, 11:05 PM

As a person from England they do make us right longer words then the Americans why can't we spell color this way and not colour and donut and doughnut i swear they want to make our lives a lot harder with spelling added unnescessary letters in words.

I write/type colour with the "u". I never used to do that, but to embrace my Canadian-ness, I've been using it. :p

Shelly

06-02-2006, 12:43 AM

I always spell colour with the u...

Adelheid

06-02-2006, 01:00 AM

Yeah, I guess colour and favourite are like non-American things, 'cause I've never spelled them like that.

Netspeak really bugs me. Does it really hurt to type out real words? And I also hate it when people spell things wrong. I mean, sometimes you just don't know/can't help it, but sometimes it's so obvious. I used to see 'Clair' all over, and I was freaking out screaming, "IT'S CLAIRE WITH AN E!" :p

Vickity

06-02-2006, 05:38 AM

This topic has definitely taught me a lot, I often get the whole 'your' and 'you're' mixed up, along with 'it's and 'its'. Does that full stop belong after an apostrophe? I'm really thinking about everything I type now, well more so than before.

realityshowhater

06-02-2006, 11:41 AM

I love this thread! I don't know if this has been mentioned or not, but it's "supposedly" and not "supposebly".
My old English teacher told me that "Where is she at?" wasn't correct due to the lack of the object for the preposition "at". My new English teacher, though, said that when a preposition is at the end of a sentence, it is no longer a preposition, but a word she couldn't remember. So is it a wrong usage of a preposition or a proper usage of a _______?

johnny_sack

06-12-2006, 01:57 PM

I write/type colour with the "u". I never used to do that, but to embrace my Canadian-ness, I've been using it. :p

Spelling colour with a "u" is correct as per Canadian spelling. Just like "neighbour" and a bunch of other examples.

It's odd that you say "to embrace my Canadian-ness" - you should have been spelling it this way all along if you are Canadian. Some Canadians probably don't even realize that Americans don't have a "u" in there.

That is what you would have been taught and your teachers would have flagged a spelling mistake if you left out the "u".

trillian2

06-13-2006, 03:55 AM

Thank you for all your posts on this thread. This is very interesting and usefull to me.

(A french speaking Belgian)

The island

06-27-2006, 06:20 AM

Ooooh man I love this thread!!

Hurrah for Pedants!

miffers

06-28-2006, 12:42 PM

i feel awful now! i havnt been writin properly, ive just been using short hand! i want to apolgise as lot of people didnt understand what i wrote! :giggle: sorry everyone!! xxx

verily

07-01-2006, 09:09 PM

I really enjoyed reading this thread. More forums should include a topic on spelling and grammar.

I try to adhere to the basic rules for the most part, but by the end of the day, I'm flat out tired from proofreading and editing what I write. I'm in email technical support, so my job entails writing forty to fifty messages a day to customers. As a result, I tend to get lazy and make mistakes in public forums.

The Chicago Manual of Style is the bane of my existence. I completely disagree with the usage of punctuation within quotation marks, but I follow its rules closely or else I risk the wrath of my coworkers. (Isn't it pathetic when your coworkers spend long hours arguing about grammar?!) I place the comma or period within the quoted passage unless I want to call attention to the exact spelling of a single word or phrase.

I enjoy when people misspell the word misspell in a misguided attempt to correct the spelling sins of others.

I get frustrated when people spell or pronounce frustrated as fustrated.

LiaHazelEyes

07-14-2006, 08:34 PM

Okay, so after reading this thread I felt a bit guilty. I'm Brazilian, I'm thirteen years old, and I learned English by watching movies and TV shows (Thank you Friends). Since I didn't take lessons, I have probably made many mistakes when writing.
I always use:

Cuz instead of "Because" (I know how it's spelled, I just got used to it after years of IMDB)
Gonna instead of "Going to" (again, I know how it's spelled)
And I hardly ever know when to use "At" "In" or "On"

But I HATE when people use
iz instead of "Is"
U instead of "You"
Ur instead of "Your"
2 instead of "To"
No instead of "Know" (I swear I've seen it)
Where instead of "Wear"
Wear instead of "Where"

And can I ask? It's "Ok" or "Okay"? lol, it's probably a stupid question, but I'm brazilian, so I guess it's understandable (was the spelling right? haha...)

annie182

07-15-2006, 08:42 PM

it reallys annoys me when people get no and know mixed up

JakieMC

07-16-2006, 04:44 PM

It really bugs me whn people don't know how to use their own language correctly. I go to a Grammar school in England, and us being the "clever" people we are (or meant to be), we though this was quite funny when we arrived at our Leavers' Ball:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/Jakie/Odd/Retardswhocantspell.jpg

gundek

07-20-2006, 05:18 PM

I'm more annoyed by people at work who have Master's degrees but can't spell or use proper grammar. Did they pay someone to do their papers?

aoikotora

07-21-2006, 11:57 PM

"If you want to be possessive, it's just i-t-s, but if it's supposed to be a contraction, it's i-t-apostrophe-s. Scallywag."

-Strong Bad's Its v.s. It's song.
(Strong Bad Copyright of HomestarRunner.com.)

That song has helped me since 4th grade. I never again will get confused.

I really hate it when people write/say wanna, gonna, woulda, shoulda, etc. It's want to, going to, would have, should have, etc.

Chatspeak is one of my banes. Unfortunately, I got stuck with friends who love it. Annoyed the heck out of me, until I was reading my friends english paper and noticed that he put "2" instead of "to". That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Now, I yell at my friends if they use chatspeak and their Instant Messaging grammar (and english grades) have improved.

My philosophy is that if you can't turn it in for a B or higher in school, don't use it. Except when I make up words (Byeas, I'mna, Kk, Yeahpu, Nyu?, etc.). Then, I'm just a hypocrite.

-Torie

Ev0LuTioN

07-24-2006, 03:35 AM

This is the best topic I have ever read. Well done. I hate people who talk "lyk diz". I don't see the point in talking otherwise ... I really don't. Also, 80% of people on MSN talk like complete idiots. I hate it. I talk with proper grammar everywhere. I don't care. It's the right way to talk. And I do agree with the poster above me. People that use "gonna, wonna, woulda, shoulda etc ..." is just pathetic.

Anyways, keep up the good topic guys. I love it.

Alex-

keep out

08-16-2006, 03:25 PM

Hey guys, interesting thread, read some useful things in here.

I personally see words "though" and "although" typed incorrectly almost every day. The most common misspelling is "tough", although it has a completely different meaning, heh.
Oh and the word "character". Not "charactor" or "caracter".

+ As it is international board, it's kind of weird to speak about grammar because you know there is an ancient Chinese saying which says, “Every stick has two ends.” Like British / American english. If I got it correctly then in British school teacher would count the missing "u" in a word "color" as a mistake, and in US school the teacher would do exactly the same in with a word "colour". So you can't just say to American person that "colour" is the only right version, they actually write it as they were taught to. :/

My case is even more difficult, I can't just say: "I am from England/US, so I'll just spell it like this" because I'm from Latvia. In my school, we sort of learn British English, but there always are some exclusions, really depends on the teacher.
For example, I once wrote "In the center of the town [...]" in my test, then I walked out of the classroom and thought: "Damn it, I must have misspelled the word, I think it was "centre"." When the teacher gave our tests back, the word wasn't corrected. So I was, like, "huh? alright..."
It gets very hard sometimes... sort of "choose yourself which one you like best" thing, and I haven't even started talking about the accent stuff (when you watch a movie in English, learn a new word, and say it exactly like you heard it).
And then you feel like you are becoming a one big walking mixture of different accents/spelling. :blank:

ShadedSkies

08-21-2006, 09:45 AM

I don't know if this was posted before but I saw this the other day and thought I'd share it here:

You should definitely spell definitely definitely.
A lot is 2 words. Allot means to distribute.
Your throws of ecstasy send me into throes of amusement.
I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbour and weigh. Unless it's weird.
Rouge is a colour. Rogue isn't.
Et cetera does not abbreviate to ect, ecc, or ec. It is etc.
You can defuse a bomb, but diffusing it might be a bad idea.
Thru is only a word if you're referring to getting a hamburger in your car.
Per se means of itself, per say is only how you pronounce it.
E.g means for example, I.E means that is. I.E, always be correct.
Yours is not mine. You're means you are.
Fire is fierty. Burns all misspellings.
If you had a D, you wouldn't deserve congratulations.
Never enter your pin number on an ATM machine, you could get HIV virus.
"Your stupid!". My stupid what?
If you did have a baited breath, you would smell rather fishy.
A horde is a large group, often unruly. To hoard is to gather and often references dragons.

I thought it was funny. :D

Marie

09-17-2006, 05:32 PM

Anyone who want to explain when to use: Girls, girls', girls's, girl's....?

PsychodelicS

09-17-2006, 05:38 PM

I'm not sure, but I think it's like this (not english myself)

correct me if I'm wrong :giggle:

girls = more then one girl (three girls where standing by the tree)

girls's isn't used, because there's allready an s at the end of the word,
so it becomes girls' = girls theirs.. or something. (girls' world)

girl's = a girl her.. (a girl's world)

Marie

09-17-2006, 05:42 PM

What? My english teacher said it was girls's. I thought it was wrong too, but i've been wrong before...:P

PsychodelicS

09-17-2006, 05:45 PM

Really? Weird. Maybe we should wait untill someone that's actually english helps us out :p

georgiapeach81

09-17-2006, 05:50 PM

I've always learned it as girls' so I don't know.

JakieMC

09-18-2006, 03:59 PM

Generally, if there's an S at the end of the word you don't need another one after the apostrophe. It's not wrong to put one, it just looks neater I guess.

Captured

09-18-2006, 04:02 PM

What? My english teacher said it was girls's. I thought it was wrong too, but i've been wrong before...:P

It's not girls's. That would be girlses. It's just girls', which is plural possessive. If the word ends with an 'S' and it is possessive then you leave the additional 's' off.

Marie

09-18-2006, 04:08 PM

ok.... thanks :)

Razor

10-13-2006, 04:46 PM

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/19Razor61/253903310_m.gif (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/19Razor61/253903310_m.gif)

I've always wanted to use that! :giggle:

Found1985

10-17-2006, 09:44 PM

I am English - can I get away with the odd "mum" instead of "mom"?;)

JakieMC

10-18-2006, 08:34 AM

Hope so because I'm English as well! Stuff like that shouldn't be any problem because we're still spelling it correctly. Mum/Mom, colour/color, grey/gray... they're all correct!

ALL THE WAY

11-08-2006, 07:56 PM

Worst one I reckon is when people (normally yanks) say 'I could care less'.

NO!

"I couldn't care less", you're emphasising that you could not care any less than your present non-care for something.

what are u a stupid redneck? "i reckon.." i reckon ur a dumass and "yanks" are a lot smarter than you.

Gabs

11-08-2006, 08:00 PM

what are u a stupid redneck? "i reckon.." i reckon ur a dumass and "yanks" are a lot smarter than you.

Rudeness is not tolerated here. You've been warned.

JakieMC

11-09-2006, 09:25 AM

They also can't spell dumbass... :giggle:

Millancad

11-22-2006, 12:33 AM

I'm a complete grammar freak, so I love this thread. My favorite book for grammar is Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies, by June Casagrande. It's a bit unorthodox; it wholly allows starting sentences with "and" or "but," and is pretty lax on some things. My biggest problem might be "i.e." because I always thing it stands for "in exemplo," and not "id est." Since I know the Latin, I try to figure it out that way.

I mainly want to mention not ending phrases with prepositions. It's a rule from Latin. So, in example, and this example is a bit preposterous, but it is from history, and I can't think of any others:

"This is the type of treatment I will not put up with." This is incorrect