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Grammar peeves
Starting a new thread so Tweed won't think we're all gossiping about her.
Mike wrote: The mistakes that bother me the most are the use of SEEN where SAW would be correct and the incorrect use of THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE. Grammar peeves are like... well, you know. Everybody has one. I certainly do. The writing mistake that bothers me the most is "could of, would of, should of." AAAAAAAgh! When I see that, it's like taking a popsicle stick and moving it back and forth along the edges of my teeth. You know how unpleasant that is. That's what it's like when I see that, it's a real visceral reaction. (Yeah, I know, they have medication for that... ) The other mistake I hate is "between John and I" and the like. I now see that construction in professional writing such as marketing brochures, so I guess it's "arrived." We're stuck with it - oh, god, NOOOO! Make it go away! Other writing errors: If you don't like the there/their/they're problem, you probably also hate your vs. you're mistakes. (Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) -- Joyce Mother teach me to walk again Milk and honey, so intoxicating -- Sarah McLaughlin |
#2
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Grammar peeves
"Bastette" wrote in message
... Starting a new thread so Tweed won't think we're all gossiping about her. Mike wrote: The mistakes that bother me the most are the use of SEEN where SAW would be correct and the incorrect use of THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE. Grammar peeves are like... well, you know. Everybody has one. I certainly do. The writing mistake that bothers me the most is "could of, would of, should of." AAAAAAAgh! When I see that, it's like taking a popsicle stick and moving it back and forth along the edges of my teeth. You know how unpleasant that is. That's what it's like when I see that, it's a real visceral reaction. (Yeah, I know, they have medication for that... ) The other mistake I hate is "between John and I" and the like. I now see that construction in professional writing such as marketing brochures, so I guess it's "arrived." We're stuck with it - oh, god, NOOOO! Make it go away! Other writing errors: If you don't like the there/their/they're problem, you probably also hate your vs. you're mistakes. (Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) -- Joyce Yes, all of those grate on me too, along with "her and I" and one I hear a lot from a dear friend, "Myself and Linda went ...". I read once that we should pick our friends by their faults, not their virtues. IOW, choose people with faults you can bear. I manage with him, barely, but he really is a good friend, so I grit my teeth and say nothing. Joy |
#3
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Grammar peeves
"Bastette" wrote in message ... Starting a new thread so Tweed won't think we're all gossiping about her. I won't! Mike wrote: The mistakes that bother me the most are the use of SEEN where SAW would be correct and the incorrect use of THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE. Grammar peeves are like... well, you know. Everybody has one. I certainly do. The writing mistake that bothers me the most is "could of, would of, should of." AAAAAAAgh! When I see that, it's like taking a popsicle stick and moving it back and forth along the edges of my teeth. You know how unpleasant that is. That's what it's like when I see that, it's a real visceral reaction. (Yeah, I know, they have medication for that... ) The other mistake I hate is "between John and I" and the like. I now see that construction in professional writing such as marketing brochures, so I guess it's "arrived." We're stuck with it - oh, god, NOOOO! Make it go away! Other writing errors: If you don't like the there/their/they're problem, you probably also hate your vs. you're mistakes. (Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) My ex-manager could never grasp the difference between their, there, and they're. It used to drive me mad if I got an email from her saying "Their is something I would like to discuss.." Aargh! The difference between using I or me is easily sorted. Remove the other person from the sentence and you'll see what you should use. We were so firmly instructed at school in English language. We had lessons in it every day. |
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Grammar peeves
Christina Websell wrote:
My ex-manager could never grasp the difference between their, there, and they're. It used to drive me mad if I got an email from her saying "Their is something I would like to discuss.." Aargh! The difference between using I or me is easily sorted. Remove the other person from the sentence and you'll see what you should use. We were so firmly instructed at school in English language. We had lessons in it every day. Well, except for your ex-manager, I guess. Your way to figure out whether to use the subject or object pronoun is exactly what I tell people who don't easily see the difference - remove the other person, and it's obvious. So if you're tempted to say, "This was a gift for my husband and I," just take the husband out of the sentence and see how that sounds: "This was a gift for I." If you say that, you sound very silly. Rule of thumb: if it's wrong for one person, it's still wrong when you add other people to the sentence. Here's where I fall down on the job. I simply refuse to use a subject pronoun after a comparative word such as "than" or "as," even though I know it's correct. It sounds insufferably pretentious to me. I will not say, "She is a friendlier person than I" - and you can't make me. If you say that in the US, you'll get a lot of funny looks, unless you hang with very precise and formal speakers. (In a pinch, when correct grammar is absolutely required but I still don't want to come off sounding pretentious, I can always say that she is a friendlier person than I *am*. ) -- Joyce Hi, this is the Sylvia stress reduction hotline. At the sound of the beep, repeat after me: "This week, let someone else strive for excellence." -- Nicole Hollander |
#5
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Grammar peeves
"Bastette" wrote in message ... Christina Websell wrote: My ex-manager could never grasp the difference between their, there, and they're. It used to drive me mad if I got an email from her saying "Their is something I would like to discuss.." Aargh! The difference between using I or me is easily sorted. Remove the other person from the sentence and you'll see what you should use. We were so firmly instructed at school in English language. We had lessons in it every day. Well, except for your ex-manager, I guess. She was a bit younger than I ;-) probably the rules in school had relaxed by then. They relaxed so much even later that sometimes I despaired at the level of literacy in English language that was achieved by some 16 year olds. I coached my 2 much younger brothers and they are now both almost perfect in English. They did not appreciate it much at the time but they do now as they have good jobs. I taught them to read from the age of 3 by using flash cards. By the time they went to school at 5 they were way ahead and continued to be so. They could also tie their shoelaces and use a knife and fork correctly, oh, and tell the time to the nearest quarter hour. Tweed |
#6
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Grammar peeves
"Christina Websell" wrote:
"Bastette" wrote in message ... Starting a new thread so Tweed won't think we're all gossiping about her. I won't! Mike wrote: The mistakes that bother me the most are the use of SEEN where SAW would be correct and the incorrect use of THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE. Grammar peeves are like... well, you know. Everybody has one. I certainly do. The writing mistake that bothers me the most is "could of, would of, should of." AAAAAAAgh! When I see that, it's like taking a popsicle stick and moving it back and forth along the edges of my teeth. You know how unpleasant that is. That's what it's like when I see that, it's a real visceral reaction. (Yeah, I know, they have medication for that... ) The other mistake I hate is "between John and I" and the like. I now see that construction in professional writing such as marketing brochures, so I guess it's "arrived." We're stuck with it - oh, god, NOOOO! Make it go away! Other writing errors: If you don't like the there/their/they're problem, you probably also hate your vs. you're mistakes. (Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) My ex-manager could never grasp the difference between their, there, and they're. It used to drive me mad if I got an email from her saying "Their is something I would like to discuss.." Aargh! The difference between using I or me is easily sorted. Remove the other person from the sentence and you'll see what you should use. We were so firmly instructed at school in English language. We had lessons in it every day. I don't need to be driven mad, it's close enough to walk. ;-) Another thing that irritates me, is text speak, even when it is a text, it's usually easy to say what you want without abbreviations. -- Adrian |
#7
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Grammar peeves
Adrian wrote:
Another thing that irritates me, is text speak, even when it is a text, it's usually easy to say what you want without abbreviations. In fairness, sometimes those abbreviations are necessary. When I send an email to my friend's phone number (which she receives as a text), there's a limit of 100 characters. So unless I want to send her 10 messages, I abbreviate a lot so I can get more info into one message. -- Joyce A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead. -- Leo Rosten |
#8
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Grammar peeves
On 8/17/2012 6:40 PM, Bastette wrote:
Starting a new thread so Tweed won't think we're all gossiping about her. Mike wrote: The mistakes that bother me the most are the use of SEEN where SAW would be correct and the incorrect use of THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE. Grammar peeves are like... well, you know. Everybody has one. I certainly do. The writing mistake that bothers me the most is "could of, would of, should of." AAAAAAAgh! When I see that, it's like taking a popsicle stick and moving it back and forth along the edges of my teeth. You know how unpleasant that is. That's what it's like when I see that, it's a real visceral reaction. (Yeah, I know, they have medication for that... ) The other mistake I hate is "between John and I" and the like. I now see that construction in professional writing such as marketing brochures, so I guess it's "arrived." We're stuck with it - oh, god, NOOOO! Make it go away! Other writing errors: If you don't like the there/their/they're problem, you probably also hate your vs. you're mistakes. (Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) The one that bugs me is "lay" and "lie". Lay refers to an object. Please lay your things on the table. People lie I'm going to lie down for a while. I moved so often as a child (usually in the middle of a school year) I never knew what to expect in English class. Sometimes a school would combine "English" [language] with "literature" and I'd arrive at a new school the semester after they finished the language part of the class. I can't tell you anything other than the basic parts of speech. Diagram a sentence? Not likely! I'm sure I make a lot of grammatical errors. Blame the military Somehow I never managed to make it to a geography class, either. Ironically, I was too busy moving from place to place. Jill |
#9
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Grammar peeves
Bastette wrote:
Starting a new thread so Tweed won't think we're all gossiping about her. Mike wrote: The mistakes that bother me the most are the use of SEEN where SAW would be correct and the incorrect use of THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE. Grammar peeves are like... well, you know. Everybody has one. I certainly do. The writing mistake that bothers me the most is "could of, would of, should of." AAAAAAAgh! When I see that, it's like taking a popsicle stick and moving it back and forth along the edges of my teeth. You know how unpleasant that is. That's what it's like when I see that, it's a real visceral reaction. (Yeah, I know, they have medication for that... ) The other mistake I hate is "between John and I" and the like. I now see that construction in professional writing such as marketing brochures, so I guess it's "arrived." We're stuck with it - oh, god, NOOOO! Make it go away! Other writing errors: If you don't like the there/their/they're problem, you probably also hate your vs. you're mistakes. (Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) Yes, it's misuse of apostrophes that's really irritating to me. -- Adrian |
#10
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Grammar peeves
Adrian wrote:
(Person A: "Your stupid." Person B: "My stupid what?" ) Yes, it's misuse of apostrophes that's really irritating to me. I know, its so annoying when people don't pay attention to English and it's rules. -- Joyce A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead. -- Leo Rosten |
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