81 replies to this topic

[dragonlady7]

OK, here's a big one for me:

Homophones. If you're not sure, look it up. Substitute a synonym and see if it makes sense. If not, you're probably using the wrong word.

Peek the interest of your potential customers! Or, just as bad, peak their interest!
The word is PIQUE . It means many things, not least of which is "provoke." Provoke their interest. That's what you mean, right? Not summit their interest, or look surreptitiously [at] their interest.

Another good one-- when someone says or writes something of which I approve, i might write "here, here"-- if I weren't me. If I were me, I'd write "Hear, hear!" meaning, "hear what this person has to say!" instead of the nonsensical "in this location"!!

Any more good ones? Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. I've been told I take the English language a little too seriously. Perhaps I should cut back on my caffeine consumption. But it really gets my goat. It's so easy not to make those mistakes-- just substitute a synonym for the word you used, and make sure it makes sense. If you're not sure what it means, then don't use it.

Does anyone else have any particular one thing that you see frequently in "professional" publications-- on and offline-- that really bothers you?

[qwerty]

I've got a few that tick me off all the time.

Everyday is not the same thing as every day. Everyday means mundane and unoriginal, like "your normal, everyday meal" Every day indicates that something occurs each 24 hour period.

The same thing goes for maybe and may be. They mean more or less the same thing, but the usage is different: "I may be leaving pretty soon. Do you want a ride?" "Maybe. I'm not sure yet."

And then there's every one and everyone. Everyone is all people. Every one can involve groups of something other that people: "I made hundreds of snacks, but every one of them is gone now, and everyone is clamoring for more food."

Of course, I still go nuts over its vs. it's. It's means "it is" or "it has", whereas its is the possessive of it.

[sheriw]

Hmmm, at last count, surfing the net, there were 5 billion, 650 thousand grammar errors and incorrect usages of words. This doesn't include the misspellings, which could not be calculated...putting the average grammar and spelling errors per web site at roughly ten...

Okay, I made up this statistic , but I'll bet it would be true if you went around and actually COUNTED. Maybe Google should do that, except search engines can't tell if "peak", "peek" or "pique" were misused, since they are all correct spellings of words often used for one another, incorrectly.

When the Internet made it easy for the average person to go online, it also made it easy for them to share with us their grammar and vocabulary. Knowing that I live in a country where the average reading level has been calculated at the seventh-grade level, it makes sense that these problems abound.

Irritating? Yes. Part of the freedom we enjoy online, to post and say whatever we like, with only seconds between brains and keyboard (and for some, much less time elapsing)? Oh, yes. Viva the freedom of the Net. I will never, ever be out of work editing web pages as a result. And sometimes these homemade pages have a certain character and vibrancy that more erudite ones can't match.

My only beef in this area is when large corporations (who should know better, and so should their copywriters!) spout errors like those mentioned above. Shame on them, because they do have the money and resources to create excellent content.

Sheri

[dragonlady7]

Well, that's what bothers me.
If a forum poster talking about something highly technical misspells something and is generally not very polished, I don't mind-- I'm getting the information I need.
When he's writing an article, I mind a bit more.
When he's selling me something, I definitely mind, a lot.
As I mature I find spelling errors to be more and more quaint. My cousin can't spell to save herself and I think it's just adorable. Because she doesn't write for a living, and could care less. It doesn't matter if she can spell. I know what she means.
It's pros doing it that bug me.

[polarmate]

Dragonlady, you hit upon one of my pet peeves. The really common ones are:
by and buy
their and and there
and then there is:
than and then (which are not really homophones)

"Here! Here!" is simply amazing and I have never been able to get over it. Sometimes I wonder if the person using it in that manner even knows what s/he is saying!! I saw it on this forum not very long ago!!

I think a lot of it has to do with what I call a seismic disconnect between the spoken word and what it looks like when it is written and the ability to relate the two. It also has a lot to do with the tools allowed in schools today. Who can add / subtract / multiply to save their life anymore? Let's not even consider divide!! I saw calculators as part of the 'required supplies' for 5th grade students. We were first allowed to use calculators when we were in the 12 grade. (I did not study in the United States.) We also 'hand-wrote' our papers and homework - no printed or typed papers were ever accepted. Spelling and grammar were critical in every assignment - be it literature or history or geography or ... Most school-kids today use word-processing tools to write their papers. They don't need to bother with spellings or grammar. Nor refer to a dictionary or a thesaurus.

It also has to do with the inherent nature of the Internet. Everyone is a publisher. Everyone has a web site. No-one needs anyone else's 'approval' to get their article published.

[Bernard]

l33t jargon -

corporate buzzword speak -

poetry in advertising -

language abuse by non-native speakers/typers -

[Scottie]

And why can't people learn how to spell optimization? It's not optimisation!!

(I'm JOKING!)

[BrianR]

Scottie

Who was it that said of America and England that we are 'separated by a common language' ? (or was it 'common tongue'??)

BrianR
(Speaking up for optimisation!)

[Jill]

The reasons above are why I have a proofreader for my newsletter.

I know much of those rules, but it's easy to do it wrong without even noticing.

I agree with DL that forum posts are one thing, not meant to be grammatical works of art. But newsletters and articles, etc., should always be proofed. It's amazing how many people won't pay for a proofreader.

If anyone needs one, I know of a good one who can always use more work. She's the best kind...nice and anal!

Jill

[mcanerin]

If anyone needs one, I know of a good one who can always use more work. She's the best kind...nice and anal!

Those are the best ones - even though it's really hard to stop yourself from strangling them at first. I'm an "it's / its" abuser and ashamed. I'm proud to spell it "optimisation" though!

It is (see? I just avoid it now) really important to get someone who doesn't think and write like you to look at your work. It is OK to disagree with them on some things, but spelling and punctuation is always helpful.

Some of the best nitpickers I know also try to write everything as "corporate jargonese" and I usually ignore those helpful hints (like I want my stuff to sound like it was written in commitee! sheesh!)

The best of the best, of course, are professional copywriters who are also nitpicky. Golden if you can find them.

Ian

[Scottie]

I'm an "it's / its" abuser and ashamed.

LOL- Jill just sent my article back to me with edits... I had 3 its/it's/its' issues...

[Jill]

And that was before the proofreader even got to it...

[copywriter]

I know what you mean! I don't ever proof my own stuff. Too dangerous. I start reading what it is supposed to say and not what it really does say.

Almost everything I write goes to my proofer.

However... I'll have to say she's not perfect. She missed the pique/peek/peak thing on something I wrote.

My big nerve buster is punctuation and quotes. Periods, commas, etc. go INSIDE the quote marks... not outside. I used to be guilty as sin of putting them in the wrong place.

What's the saying? Nothing worse than a convert?

[qwerty]

I've proofed a lot of other people's work. I am, as we say in Boston, wicked anal. (Although of course I often miss my own errors.) That was the biggest thing I had in common with one of my old bosses. He loved having me proof his work, because he couldn't stand the thought of anyone ever seeing anything with an error and his name on it.

He and his partner would go back and forth over their coding styles -- one did everything by the seat of his pants, while the other would comment everything, including his partner's work.

[leftbrain]

This is not really a grammar beef, but twice in the last week I have come across someone referring to difficult-to-learn software as having a "steep learning curve." This makes me want to throw things, and lately my wife won't even let me get cranked up about it before telling me to keep quiet.

Since the learning curve is a graph of proficiency over time, the steeper the angle, the more quickly proficiency is gained. Some people seem to equate a steep curve with the effort involved in climbing a steep hill - at least I assume that's the source of their thinking.

I just remembered that I have started seeing some supposedly authoritative web sites where the writer used "loose" when "lose" was the proper word. Oh, well. More work for us.