What is your pet peeve of the day?

[travelover]

My pet peeve: Lazy kids and parents who coddle them.

 

[NW-Bound]

The use of the word "your" for "you are" or the contraction "you're."
"Your" is possessive like in "your house." "You're" is a contraction for "you are happy" (or whatever).

Also, they're, their, and there.

Many people who do not make the above mistakes still confuse its and it's, and I find this really perplexing. Many are good writers otherwise, such as some bloggers that I like to read. Why?

The difference between it's and its was taught first thing to me as a non-native English speaker at the age of 12, long before I learned about dangling participles. They are but 3-letter words, and not that hard to remember and distinguish.

 

[Mulligan]

Too true.

One version, attributed to Socrates:

Well we are back a few millennia's now. I bet if we dug deeper, we may be able to trace this close to Adam and Eve complaining about lazy, idle, disrespectful youth.


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[samclem]

Many people who do not make the above mistakes still confuse its and it's, and I find this really perplexing. Many are good writers otherwise, such as some bloggers that I like to read. Why?

I think it is because it would be normal that the possessive form of personal pronouns would have an apostrophe (just like the noun it replaces). Why not?
"The whale's back glowed in the moonlight"
"It's back glowed in the moonlight."


Indefinite pronouns get an apostrophe when they are possessive (Everbody's home is their castle). Why not personal pronouns?I don't think it is as confusing with other personal pronouns because they just "look wrong" with an " 's (his's, her's, etc). But since "it's " is a legitimate construction and people see it all time, it is less likely to look out of place.

 

[NW-Bound]

It looks so wrong to me when they write "the dog wags it's tail".

In my mind, I see "the dog wags it is tail" because that's how I was taught, and it irks me the same as fingernails scratching on a blackboard.

...people see it all time, it is less likely to look out of place.

Yes, particularly when they see more and more writers committing the same mistake. It becomes de facto. Argh!

 

[NW-Bound]

I learned to read and write English long before I had anybody to converse with. I think that must be the reason grammatical errors and mispellings, particularly my own when I later spot them, bother the hell out of me.

To a native speaker, he may think that if two words are pronounced the same, their different spellings are just superfluous.

 

[John Galt III]

Had another "incompetent phone rep" episode with a health insurance co. She was disagreeing that I had coverage for biannual routine eye exam. I had the 2015 booklet in front of me and I was telling her what page I was on, and that it clearly stated x,y,z. She kept saying I didn't have coverage. I called back the next day, got someone else who said I did have coverage.

 

[splitwdw]

Lots of driving this holiday and lots of people that shouldn't be driving. The people that won't pass in the passing lane, the people that are weaving...wonder if it's drunk drivers or cell phone drivers, the people that creep up to a traffic light, the people that stop and leave several car lengths between the car in front of them at the traffic light and then slowly creep up while the lights red, the timid driver that can't merge into traffic, no turn signal. I'm looking forward to the self driving cars for other people!
Driving a truck you can see into the smaller cars that are in the passing lane. Can't tell you the number of people that think they can text/talk and drive.
I was with someone that I think is an exceptional driver. All of a sudden they were starting to drift out of their lane. I asked what had happened. They said one of those electronic bill boards caught their eye. They had started to read it....it was something about distracted drivers cause accidents!

 

[aja8888]

I'm looking forward to the self driving cars for other people!

Now that is the best use of self-driving cars I have heard so far!

 

[Car-Guy]

I learned to read and write English long before I had anybody to converse with. I think that must be the reason grammatical errors and mispellings, particularly my own when I later spot them, bother the hell out of me.

To a native speaker, he may think that if two words are pronounced the same, their different spellings are just superfluous.

Try this test. It's another simple one....

Words that are spelled differently but sound the same | Learn English

 

[aaronc879]

Try this test. It's another simple one....

Words that are spelled differently but sound the same | Learn English

That test is clearly too easy. I got 100%. I never get 100% on a test.

 

[Theseus]

It looks so wrong to me when they write "the dog wags it's tail".

In my mind, I see "the dog wags it is tail" because that's how I was taught, and it irks me the same as fingernails scratching on a blackboard.

DW and I chuckle at this sign in our neighborhood. I picture a horror movie someday on the subject of possessive flora overpowering unsuspecting homeowners.

My grammar peeve is "loose" being used in place of "lose." I never saw that until just a few years ago. At first I thought it perhaps a regional usage, but it seems to have become prevalent around the country.

 

[REWahoo]

I never saw that until just a few years ago. At first I thought it perhaps a regional usage, but it seems to have become prevalent around the country.

An observation along the same lines, I've seen cloths used for the term clothes many, many times over the past few years. Makes me crasy.

Almost as bad as using the term tread when referencing a thread on the forum.

And than there is the is the incorrect use of the term then...

 

[braumeister]

Also the use of quotation marks to emphasize a word on a sign, usually implying something like the opposite meaning to those with better English.

"Original" art for sale

"Homemade" pies

etc.

 

[NW-Bound]

Try this test. It's another simple one....

Words that are spelled differently but sound the same | Learn English

Grade school students should pass this with a 100% score.

An observation along the same lines, I've seen cloths used for the term clothes many, many times over the past few years. Makes me crasy.

Almost as bad as using the term tread when referencing a thread on the forum.

And than there is the is the incorrect use of the term then...

A subtle joke...

I have caught myself mixing up then and than occasionally when making a post, and have to hurry up to correct it before too many readers see it. Of course I know the difference, but I fear old age is catching up with me. And yes, I have written tread instead of thread at least once.

Recently, I wrote Ebinizer Scrooge instead of Ebenezer, and when I later saw that it did not look right it was too late to correct. Arghh!

Alzheimer cannot be too far ahead.

 

[Mulligan]

Grade school students should pass this with a 100% score.


A subtle joke...

I have caught myself mixing up then and than occasionally when making a post, and have to hurry up to correct it before too many readers see it. Of course I know the difference, but I fear old age is catching up with me. And yes, I have written tread instead of thread at least once.

Recently, I wrote Ebinizer Scrooge instead of Ebenezer, and when I later saw that it did not look right it was too late to correct. Arghh!

Alzheimer cannot be too far ahead.

That is one of the mysterious things that confound me also. I can understand misspelling "Ebinizer" or any word for that matter. Usually my spelling is pretty good, but I have to proof read for using wrong words such as their and there. In theory proofreading should not help that. I don't know why I do that and have to correct it when I clearly know it is wrong to begin with.
Maybe you need to send the Alzheimer meds my way instead of using them yourself, NW.


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[NW-Bound]

I don't know why, but I do not think I have ever mixed up it's and its, or their and there. If I ever catch myself doing that, I may have to shoot myself. On the forehead.

With a rubber band.

And I should have written "Grade-school students should pass this with the 100% score".

PS. By the way, 100% is what I believe my two children would get on this test back when they finished grade school.

PPS. I do not think they would be able to tell which of the two words principle and principal to use when talking about investing. They knew nothing of investing at that age.

 

[Winemaker]

It's just the principle of the thing to know how to spell principal.

Be glad that you don't live in Libya or anywhere in that region; as long as the name is phonetically correct, it is acceptable. Qadafi, Gaddafi, Qaddafi to name a few.

 

[Meadbh]

Be glad that you don't live in Libya or anywhere in that region; as long as the name is phonetically correct, it is acceptable. Qadafi, Gaddafi, Qaddafi to name a few.

Good luck Googling anything!

 

[braumeister]

It's just the principle of the thing to know how to spell principal.

Or as many elementary school teachers would say:
"Basically I like the school, it's just the principal of the thing."

 

[NW-Bound]

Or as many elementary school teachers would say:
"Basically I like the school, it's just the principal of the thing."

Is it because their principal has no principles?

About investing, I have been told this quote that supposedly came from Buffett: "Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1."

I think Buffett's principle is not to lose principal.

 

[samclem]

Be glad that you don't live in Libya or anywhere in that region; as long as the name is phonetically correct, it is acceptable. Qadafi, Gaddafi, Qaddafi to name a few.

I think the spellings are standardized in Arabic, it's just the translation (really, the transcription) of proper nouns into English where a lot of latitude is permitted.

 

[NW-Bound]

The above is a phonetic transcription, same as Peking which is now Beijing.

By the way, an American tourist may have a tough time finding a train bound for Naples if that is what he looks for. The Italians call it Napoli. Venice is really Venezia.

 

[Mulligan]

The above is a phonetic translation, same as Peking which is now Beijing.

That was an interesting one to me... In the 70s it was Peking... Then some years later it just disappeared and became Beijing. I remember it took a while before I knew it was the same city.


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[NW-Bound]

Peking duck is still one of my favorite dishes. Beijing duck just sounds wrong, and probably tastes bad too.