As Seen On Facebook

[red750]

I saw this posted on Facebook today.

 

 

I will add number 11. Check any dictionary, you will not find the word "alot", it does not exist. If you mean "many", the expression is "a lot" - note the space. "Allot" is a contraction of allocate.

 

To help know which to use in number 3, "there" is related to "here" (here and there), "they're" is a contraction of "they are", and "their" means "belongs to them".

 

No. 8 depends on the context, both can be either noun or verb depending on how they are used.

 

Another contradiction of the English language is the IE/EI rule. Schools used to teach "I comes before E except after C" (relieve/receive). However, this does not hold true in words like weight, height, reign, etc.

 

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[Guest aviatrix27]

hey Peter, my 6th grade teacher taught us the FULL rule for the ie/ei question. It is I before E except after C IF THE SOUND IS E

 

 

[red750]

Thanks Kaye. I must say, I don't recall that (Alzheimer's onset?). There are many more, but these are the most common. The curse of texting I guess. Teachers seem to make many of these mistakes, so we can't really blame the younger generations. It astounds me the number of errors you see on TV, particularly those news tickers at the bottom of the screen - real howlers.

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

Not many add the bit to the end of the ie/ei rule. Most of my pet hates are in that list, I'm an apostrophe nut - I cannot stand their incorrect usage! Proper nouns are always a totally different case, but the general rule applies with plurals - no apostrophe unless the name ends with 's' like Coates plural is Coates', pronounced Coateses. I don't know many who get that right. I did see a howler on a sign at an airport too - I think it was Ceduna, I'm pretty sure it was "accept" instead of "except". Same at the local child care centre "no parking, child care centre business accepted" - oh dear! It's pretty easy to remember which one, if you could use excluded, then it is excepted.

 

 

[willedoo]

I sometimes wonder if it's caused by people reading less these days. The theory being that even if you don't know the rules of grammar, you can still recognize what a word looks like in normal useage. If you read the right word enough times, it should be easy to pick one that just doesn't look right. Not everyone is good at spelling, but it's expected with books, newspapers, signs, official letters etc., but it's getting worse. Even government publications are starting to read like Pidgeon English . ( hope I got my apostrophes right, Kaye.)

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[siznaudin]

Yes - bad spelling really effects me - makes me quite rapable.

 

FOUR YORE ICE ONLY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eye have a spelling chequer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it came with my pea sea,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it plainly marques four my revue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

miss steaks eye cannot sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wen eye strike a quay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ore rite a word

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eye weight four it two say

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

weather eye am wrong ore write.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It show me strait a weigh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

as soon as a mist ache is maid:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it nose bee fore two late

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and eye can putT the error rite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

its rarely rarely grate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve run this poem threw it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m shore yorE pleased two no

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

its letter perfect in it's weigh -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me chequer tolled me sew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest DWB]

My favourite bugbear apart from those above is the use of the abbreviated form of etcetera. Many type ect instead of etc. At the end of the day I except that alot of people dont' no how too spell proply or yuou's correct grammer & shouldnt be criticized for it. It is still readable 99.9% of the time. In a perfect world we would all be good at everything. I notice as I get older, when once I used to be an excellent speller, I too, am now making mistakes. Of course using Google Chrome underlines incorrect spelling & prompts with correction words & of course being American it doesn't always agree with our English.

 

 

[red750]

The problems with spell checkers are 1) as Dex mentioned, they usually originate in the US, where they make up their own spelling, (color/colour, theater/theatre, etc), and 2) they do not check for context, so that although you may have used a word which is spelt correctly, it may be the wrong word in the context of the sentence, but sounds the same. Therefore you have to read each word aloud and listen to how the sentence sounds to understand what the writer meant. Not only does this make reading slower and more difficult, but tends to make the reader question the education of the writer. At least I think that applies to us old f*rts over 60.

 

The other thing is those predictive typing programs where you key in the first few letters and the program inserts the rest, whether correct or not. This applies mainly to (not so) smart phones, which people use more frequently these days. Comedians get a lot of mileage from the hilarious results of these devices.

 

 

[mnewbery]

So where do I send the bill when I see a job ad from a federal government department or one of their contracted recruiters with this sort of mistake in it?

 

Makes one wonder if it's worth applying.

 

I agree with the smart phone comment above. With aviation terminology, the smart phone word suggest feature is not my friend. Best to actually take a moment to read what I write here before sending, rather than after...

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

I used to run the grammar checker instead of spell check in Word, until I realised it didn't understand the difference between its and it's. Then, I gave up!

 

 

[octave]

i get irritated by those who like to correct other peoples grammar or spelling especially on the net. I am with Mr Fry on this issue.

 

 

 

[siznaudin]

I suspect Peter may have started something here ... :D

 

BTW, this http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe might prove useful.

 

*not sent from my iPhone

 

 

[willedoo]

My favourite bugbear apart from those above is the use of the abbreviated form of etcetera. Many type ect instead of etc. At the end of the day I except that alot of people dont' no how too spell proply or yuou's correct grammer & shouldnt be criticized for it. It is still readable 99.9% of the time. In a perfect world we would all be good at everything. I notice as I get older, when once I used to be an excellent speller, I too, am now making mistakes. Of course using Google Chrome underlines incorrect spelling & prompts with correction words & of course being American it doesn't always agree with our English.

Yes Dexter, it's a common one. A lot might depend on where it's used. Posting or replying on a forum, a lot of people just use etc instead of etc. or etc., or etc.. Mainly out of expediency, otherwise we would probably be here all night. On the other hand, websites, publications, documents should be written correctly in my view. Might be a bit off topic, but I have a bit of trouble getting my head around some of these new American based pronunciations that are hitting our language in force. Like the word innovative, even our PM pronounces it innavittive. Going by that, why don't they pronounce innovate as innavit & be done with it.

 

Call me old fashioned, but the English language is slowly being degraded by things like texting etc., & I can understand the American theory of simplifying the language, but there must be a point where we revert back to grunting at each other.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[siznaudin]

We're just too vunerable* to those outside influences which impact on what was once a great language... yes, language does change with time, but sheer b****y ignorance on the behalf of its users should not validate such change.

 

*listen carefully next time you hear it pronounced thus, on (even) the ABC :eek:

 

...still not sent from my iPhone.

 

 

[siznaudin]

I know, I know ... I'm obsessive - no need to tell me, but just last night I heard yet another from Auntie ABC, who really should know better.

 

US worker airlifted from antartic by wheeled aircraft. God, I hate that.:mad:

 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/australians-airlift-american-from-antarctica-for-emergency-treatment/story-e6frg6nf-1226447878015

 

[ATTACH=full]1315[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]18249[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

[red750]

Not sure where the misspelling occurred Geoff, couldn't find it in the linked article. Probably a typo not picked up, but the word was spelt correctly in a number of places in the story.

 

The aircraft is an Airbus A319, VH-VHD, owned by Skytraders and operated by the Australian Department of Environment and Water Resources for personnel and supplies transport to the Australian Antarctic Division. It is not fitted with skis like the C-130 Skibirds. Here is a link to a copyright photo of the aircraft:

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Airbus-A319-115LR/1889480/&sid=3a8948d78f92b5bb6253be6f582ea608

 

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[siznaudin]

Not sure where the misspelling occurred Geoff, couldn't find it in the linked article. Probably a typo not picked up, but the word was spelt correctly in a number of places in the story.The aircraft is an Airbus A319, VH-VHD, owned by Skytraders and operated by the Australian Department of Environment and Water Resources for personnel and supplies transport to the Australian Antarctic Division. It is not fitted with skis like the C-130 Skibirds. Here is a link to a copyright photo of the aircraft:

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Airbus-A319-115LR/1889480/&sid=3a8948d78f92b5bb6253be6f582ea608

 

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Whoops - a bit of confusion here, and 'twas me responsible for not "spelling" it out (very punny).

The antartic goof was on ABC radio, AKA "Auntie".

 

Apologies..

 

 

[willedoo]

The antartic goof was on ABC radio, AKA "Auntie".

Always been a big fan of ABC radio. It's basically the only one I listen to, but it's also one of the worst offenders. And you're right, siz, they should know better. Once upon a time the BBC, and hence the ABC by proxy, set the standard. Nowdays they seem to be following the pack a bit ( the ABC, that is ).

 

Cheers, Willie.