Should of, could of but in the end just couldn't

pinkduvetdiva

wigglebeena wrote: »

The worst thing is a misplaced apostrophe in the main sign over a shop. There's one on the bus service into a local town. You just think about what they spent on it, and if anyone pointed it out...

OMG and I know a stationery shop that advertises itself - on the shop-length
sign outside - as a stationary shop.

Well, I suppose it's not such a bad thing if the shop is stationary as opposed to mobile.... :rotfl:

wigglebeena

pinkduvetdiva wrote: »

Well, I suppose it's not such a bad thing if the shop is stationary as opposed to mobile.... :rotfl:

Where do they think they are, Diagon Alley? Flying shops?!

Backbiter

One of the most common errors is when people write 'lead' (the metal) when they mean 'led' (the past tense of the verb to lead). I see this all the time in the press.

Another is one most people make but are unaware they are making it:

If I'd have known I would have told you.

The 'have' just should not be there. The correct form is 'If I'd known'.

There is no such form as 'had have' in the English language.

Some people claim that 'If I'd have known' is a contraction of 'If I would have known', but that is also incorrect, as correct English does not use the conditional 'would' after 'If', but uses the pluperfect instead, as in 'If I had known'.

Americans often use 'If I would have known', which comes from the influence of German, which does use the conditional after 'If'. There are other examples of German influencing American English, such as the phrase 'What gives?', which is a direct translation from the German 'was gibt's?, which is an idiomatic phrase meaning 'What's going on?' Another is the way Americans use 'already' in exclamations, as in 'Enough already!' This comes from the German use of 'schon', which does mean 'already' but is also used very frequently to add emphasis to a phrase but doesn't actually mean anything.

oldagetraveller

It's reached the stage now, with so much poor spelling and grammar around, that I have to check my own spelling on some words to make sure they're correct. The incorrect spellings are so common now I'm beginning to think they're correct when I see them!
How about advise instead of advice, there and their, recieve/receive. And the "of" really does do my head in!
And why do some people in the U.K. think it's "cool" or correct to use U.S. incorrect spelling?
I'm really glad I found this thread, the illiterati are at least conspicuous by their absence.

pantherblackfocus

Using their instead of they, example "their went to the shops". Also the improper use of there, their and they're. Drives me nuts.

joegib

Some are both irritating and amusing:

'bare with me'

'bare in mind'

Ugh. I've seen otherwise literate people make these mistakes. Don't they think about what they're writing?

'rediculous' — People don't generally pronounce the word in this way so why spell it like this?

'appauling' — Another mildly amusing error. The user is normally having a rant about something so it's nice to reply that their spelling is appalling.

Joe

wigglebeena

Oh! Practice when what is meant is practise, and vice versa. One I have to think about myself before using. (It's funny how it's more annoying when other people get it wrong as opposed to when you slip up yourself...)

And now the spell-checker is telling me that 'practise' is not a word and does not exist.

fluffnutter

In the late 70s through to the 90s, there was a specific educational directive to move away from 'unduly penalising those with poor grammar and spelling'. Instead teachers were encouraged to give marks for comprehension and original ideas and to not return essays with corrected spelling, grammar etc. The result is a whole generation or so of people with poor grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Most frustratingly, not only is their grammar poor, but 15 years of education has given them the belief that it doesn't matter. I have an ongoing good-natured debate with one of my work mates about his grammar/spelling in emails. His response is always the same: a shrug and the words 'But you knew what I meant so why does it matter?'. He's not being obtuse; he has genuinely been taught that the content of written communication is the only thing that's important.

I can't help but make a judgement about someone's overall intelligence; I assume that someone is stupid if they can't spell or punctuate properly. I'm sure that wasn't the intention of those government education advisors! But that's what I think, and if I'm reading their CVs...

PS. My bugbear? Affect/effect.

lizzielondon

faithcecilia wrote: »

I used to invariably spell future wrong, until an English teacher at school told me that the way I spelt it was French for fart - never made the same mistake since!

Aitch annoys me too, as does debt when people mean debt.

That said, I am guilty of spelling definitely wrong, spelling has never been my forte:o

Am I being thick? Lol ???

Brought/Bought is a mistake which really makes me cringe

As is 'Where was you?' Argh

pantherblackfocus

Another one. The mix up of advice and advise