Wrongly used words - a pet hate

Yeah it's one of -those- words.
I could never quite remember one c or two until I saw a kids' English programme on tv once where they said just think of the sentence, "It is necessary to wear one Collar and two Socks."

--
Aes

Another spelling peeve: stationery vs stationary

Easy way to remember: stationery is paper. Both words contain the letters "er"...

I always stop with those to decide whether or not I'm meaning the verb or the noun

mnemonics are great...when they work.

I can never remember:
The principal *is* your "pal".
or
The principle is *not* your "pal".

Personally, I've always hated mine and feelings have been mutual, but dunno if that helps or hinders.

You and me both. I know exactly which ones to use without even thinking about it, but I often edit my posts to correct the "their" and "there" ones.

I haven't time to read the whole thread right now, but I hope someone addresses the contemporary and extremely grating misuse of "myself" as though it's a more formal way of saying "me." It's not. Stop it.

I hate to say this, as I wince at grammar myself, but it's all so much linguistic evolution. English has no equivalent of l'Académie française, and to be honest, even they are fighting a losing battle with their language.

The goal should be mutual comprehension, and to that end, I have little trouble with then/than and such. Said goal is not served by strings of uncapitalized gibberish that force me to stop and spend time deciphering them ("u no wear i go 2 git that" or such).

On the other hand, I cannot breeze through Chaucer, either (and let's not even talk about the Great Vowel Shift). Perhaps in a few centuries, English will resemble chat speak more than anything else.

Fortunately, we'll all be dead by then

When I came back to the states after living in England for awhile I remember reading a list of hints for Brits coming to the States. "Don't ask for a fag."

I did my best on post 75.

This is great! THANK YOU!



The principal is your pal, in this situation anyway. And you want more dessert while things are scarcer in the desert.

Picky picky, I know, but I have to refer you to: http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/oriented.
It depends where you're from. I think 'oriented' implies you're turning Japanese!

hehe. Apart from not quoting it correctly, you still don't understand it? It's plain english. I'll refresh you memory - "many, perhaps most" - never did, and never will mean a majority. I means many, perhaps a majority. Got it now?

no, no, no...that's Orientation.

For a couple of paragraphs anally criticizing the usage of words, Phil, you sure have failed.





Your use of the numeral two here, is poor and the phrase, "wrongly used very common words" is awkward grammer.




Unclear agreement, careless use of a dash....



It could be said, that you are are missing a reciprocal dash here. You should have just ended the sentence.



O have you now? Poor grammer.




Using the parentheses here is confusing, because it would imply that, "Than" = (is equal to) "then."



You should have capitalized "American."




Another questionable dash, a run-on sentence and improper typography. Your sentence stucture tends to overuse a passive voice.




Caps problem again.





"many or most" ?? A caps problem again.





It is due to the sound of the contraction "should've," as it is usually spoken.



Cap again...awkward again.





Use "from" instead of "to."-- "differently from how they are spelled." Shame on you.






The sentence needs re-writing. Very awkward and childish in construction.

It is usual for two spaces to be used between sentences. Your failure to do so- makes me think you grew up in the wrong part of town. This, coupled with your heartless exploitation of the economy, further reinforces this view of your past, environmental deficits and bad moral training.


Although you may think you are fighting, your way out of your slums, this is no excuse.

Wow...and this is quite the personal attack. Retract the claws, Rebecca.

Incidentally, there is no comma after "fighting". The use of two spaces after a period has nothing to do with "the wrong part of town". It was used in typesetting days. Now, the use of two spaces creates a word processing nightmare, and more "experts" are recommending the use of one space.

Oh, my; it's not grammer...it's grammar.

No problem with recognizing irony or intended humor here?

Phil is attacking people as uneducated and needs a taste of his own medicine.

This has been deprecated even in some print publishing because of the ubiquity of html and the fact that it ignores duplicate whitespace.

Benefit of the doubt. You don't have to pay royalties, the doubt is your own. By giving someone the benefit of the doubt, you are saying that you think the person is probably guilty/wrong/mistaken/stupid/an asshat, but that you admit there is a possibility you might be wrong.

As a professional word wrangler, I have to say this is a lovely thread. Thank you, Phil.

Regional idioms don't bother me; they give flavor to the language. Out-and-out grammatical errors and misspellings are irksome. One of my current peeves is "bored of", as in "I'm so bored of SL." Please substitute "SL is very boring", or "I am bored WITH SL."

I might could say more, but I'm fixin' to make a few phone calls.

I disagree, but I often specifically use numerals when I know that people who are not native english speakers are going to read it. It can make it easier for them - imo. For english speaking people, I use nemerals for 10 and above, but there is no right or wrong about it.

No it's not. It may be usual where you are, but that's just whee you are

I didn't find your post either ironic or humorous. As a matter of fact, I'm quite tired of seeing you go after Phil and Marcel with your claws out. Perhaps you could put them both on ignore?

Good job. Let's get anal until there is nothing left.

You don't read too well, Rebecca. Go back to my post and tell me where I attacked anyone. And if I need a taste of my own medicine, you need to ensure that what write is absolutely perfect - but it wasn't

oh yeah, thanx for the reminder Lindal. Since we're discussing language...WTF is an "asshat"??? Anyone know the entomology of that "word"?

Hehe...that's over in the deviant thread!