A brush-up on phonics, shall we?
 

Time to air an anal-retentive pet peeve of mine, which is surely hypocritical, as I am far from faultless.

Let's take a look at our spelling tendencies.

"Weird." NOT "wierd."
"Friend." NOT "freind."

Repeat after me: "'I' before 'e' except after 'c,' or when sounding like 'a' like in 'neighbor' and 'weigh,' or except when a word is 'weird.'"

Yes, those crazy rumors are true: "it's" and "its" are two different words. "They're," "there," and "their" are also not interchangeable. The same applies for "two," "too," and "to," "your," "you're"...well, you get the idea.

There are a number of tiny spelling/grammar issues I could harp on, but the point is, while I can certainly understand typos and misspellings, I firmly believe that errors of the above ilk are due to pure laziness, and should be corrected immediately upon detection. You learned these lessons in grammar school, about the same time you learned it wasn't socially acceptable to wet your pants, and you don't go forgetting that lesson, do you?

Practice some self-discipline, folks! Communication, especially in its written form, is one of the most powerful tools you possess as a human being. The way others perceive you, as well as your formulation of your own mentality, is shaped by the way you express yourself.

The OED is your friend. Get in bed with Roget's. They're here to help you. Hone your vocabulary, so that the next time you pass some uneducated, flea-ridden, plaque-laden transient, you can laugh in derision free from hypocrisy.

yipeeeee!!!!

let me add a few:

"you're" not "your" when it means "you are" (as in "you're practically illiterate")

"separate" not "seperate" in every fucking case

"sense" not "sence"

other pet peeves to follow soon

could have instead of could of.

*runs

^^^ yes yes that one too!

This thread is rediculous

wow. i have a hero.

grammar issues piss me off royally. one of my personal favorites is ending sentences with prepositions . . . i take great pains, even in spoken language, not to transgress those boundaries. "that is a rule of english up with which i WILL put," to paraphrase churchill (and diametrically change his meaning).

i won my school spelling bee twice in middle school, and i once lost at the next level on a word that doesn't exist ("vicosity" was the word given -- presumably he meant "viscosity"). the kid who ended up winning spelled "validity" "velidity" in the first round, but the pronouncer, who was apparently a dumbass, didn't catch it.

eh, i'm easy on the preposition rule you speak of.

some times it's much harder to make a comprehensible sentence by following it. that's a rule we can easily do without. :D

I do hope you're being facetious.

Amyvega, good call, that one drives me MAD!

And, aprogeny79, if I were you, that experience would corrode my soul until the day I died.

Ooh, here's another one that vexes me beyond words: "irregardless."

she sells sheep cells by the seep shore

You know, the worst thing is, I find myself using improper grammar at times because I think I'll be less intelligible if I observe the formal rules. Aprogeny79's example of ending sentences with propositions is a good example of that. I also do that with pronouns - for example:

(This is random, mind you, I don't have any violent tendencies. At the moment.)
"If I saw an intruder in my home, I'd shoot them."

NO.

"If I saw an intruder in my home, I'd shoot him/her."

or

"If I saw an intruder in my home, I'd shoot him."
(PC bullshit aside, the grammar bible allows one to use the male pronoun when generalizing in a sentence like the above.)

However, I tend to just use the plural generalization, because it seems 'easier' and more 'universal.' I suppose that makes me partly responsible in perpetuating such crimes.

Aprogeny79, I hate typing numbers in names, so I'm going to call you Huey, if you don't mind.

the "your"/"you're" one drives me up a fucking wall. people have got to know better!

just use "yr" and don't worry your pretty head

eh.... the "they" is acceptable as a singular pronoun when the gender is not specified--- i forget in what manual i read this. i use it every now and then.

oh and if it's not "official", it should be accepted

one of the great things about the english language is that there's no "academy" attempting to regulate its use, and therefore it can evolve faster.

It makes me wonder what people are doing when they diculous and why they would want to do it again.

Not pretty.

"Them" is beginning to be a recognized gender neutral term for "him/her" or "s/he." It's only a matter of time.

They're
There
Their

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE LEARN THE CORRECT CONTEXTS FOR THESE WORDS!!!!
Also, misplaced apostrophes give me the angries.

Ha.....I'd like to add that if you start a thread than for Christ's sake spell it right or I will fail you!! This happens EVERYDAY! Thank you for yr generosity.

In this context, "Every Day" is a two-word phrase.

"Happens every day" is different than "Everyday people."


"Than" would be "then" in this context as well.
Sayin'.

Ooh I second that!

I could be mistaken, but I thought that according to the MLA, it was generally frowned upon to use the plural as a gender neutral term. You see what college does for you? Dick (I don't mean that literally).

Stirling, I breathe a sigh of relief. I didn't think you were the type, and now I feel affirmed in my belief. One never does know, however.

I'd like to note that there is a difference, even if it is subtle, between abbreviations or grammatical relaxations in the interests of expediting communication or writing in an informal setting, and basic grammar fucktardedness.

Like that there, see? I know 'fucktardedness' isn't a word. YOU know 'fucktardedness' isn't a word. It expresses the proper sentiment, however, and I'm smart-like 'n that, so YOU know that I know better (that was tongue in cheek for the record, but you catch my drift).

Yeeahhhh, you take that beotch to SKOOL yo

You see what I did there? Dual reference? Eh? Eh?

MLA still doesn't dig it, but the winds are a-blowin'.

I also predict "whom" will exit common usage sometime in the coming decades.