Is there anyone left who knows the difference?

[fan1080]

The thing that drives me nuts is the misuse of your and advice.

Your blouse is pretty.
You're going to the mall. You are is written you're not your. It is a contraction.

I need advise.
You need advice. I advise you to review your English lessons.

Your retarded!

 

[mmtska]

LOL this was a question one year at interviews for summer camp. It drives me BANANAS, among some other staff members, so we added it. It was my special question

 

[itchin2go]

How about this one:
"I could care less."
I NEVER hear that one the right way anymore.
It's COULDN'T, people. I couldn't care less.
Ahh, thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Not necessarily. Someone could be saying that they "could care less". Meaning that they could care less. I'm southern, and I say this. It might be a southern thing.

No - If you COULD care less, that means that you do care. If you COULDN'T care less (which was the original phrase that has been garbled over time), that means you don't care at all. You could not possibly care less than you do.

If you COULD care less, then you must care some. Get it?

Think about these sentences:

"I could care less about my kids."
"I couldn't care less about my kids."



Anyway, the one that drives me nuts lately is due vs. do, as in "Do to cutbacks, Fantasmic is not being shown every evening anymore."

 

[eliza61]

--------------------------------


There

Their

They're


--------------------------------


This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you.

You must be psychic!! I spent 30 mins last night correcting my 10th graders English paper on this very same thing.

 

[lexmelinda]

English majors unite!

Did anyone mention:

to

two

too

 

[winterman]

Eh, there will always be people who don't know the difference between their, there and they're and they have as much right to ask questions or chat on message boards as anyone else.

And I have the right to not waste my time trying to figure out what they are saying.

I'm glad to know that I am not alone. There is a clear difference between the occasional error and someone who is making no attempt to use proper grammar.

 

[RMulieri]

I know the difference. I also know the difference between TO,TOO, and TWO

 

[yarlenna]

The house is over there.....

I believe you just took their stroller......

They're going to WDW in April......

And OMG that drives me insane too!!!!! its hard to take someone seriously when they can't spell!

Please know that some of us cannot spell - for me it is from 3 strokes. For some others it is because English is not their first language. I (and others like me) do the very best they can.

 

[MareSINY]

That's right up there with...

Too
To
Two

and lets not forget...

We're
Where
were

Oh I could go on and on... LOL

 

[Wall-E1]

Please know that some of us cannot spell - for me it is from 3 strokes. For some others it is because English is not their first language. I (and others like me) do the very best they can.

And so the thread continues, completely ignoring this poster who is gently trying to hint that this thread may hurt people's feelings.

 

[DVCowner2009]

Disclaimer. My complaint relates to poor teaching, not strokes, dyslexia or any other malady...

While I am not a perfect grammarian by any means, the following error drives me nuts, particularly when folks such as news anchors, politicians, radio hosts, etc. get it wrong.

Since when did the word "me" become so wrong? I think we were all taught never to start a sentence with me ("Me and Jay went fishing"). We're now afraid to use it at all. "That's between him and I" or "Give it to he and I."

It drives me absolutely bonkers to hear ("smart") people think they're being so grammatically correct by avoiding the objective use of "me" in favor of the nominative use of "I" at the end of a sentence. It's a minor error, I know, but it's so rampant in the news, etc.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent! This really has been bugging my wife and I.............

 

[Carriemel]

Another one that gets me is the use of "Iam" for "I'm", or "I am".

 

[TLinden16]

Since this has nothing to do with trip planning or Disney World, I'm going to move it over to the community board.

 

[LAH LAH]

am
is
are
was
were
be
being
been
have
had
has
do
does
did

This was something I had to memorize in second grade. Anyone know why? When my kids entered second grade I asked their teachers. No one seemed to have a clue.

 

[Geoff_M]

Ah, I just love "teachers" who focus on one tiny little thing that they can very likely figure out anyway, instead of focusing on the subject they are being paid to teach....

Well, actually it was my English composition class, so it wasn't all that out in left field. Also, I don't recall anyone actually violating the usage after she issued the warning. This is how I remember the correct one to use, so it certainly was a very effective teaching technique!

 

[punkin]

I'm also bothered by "ensure" vs. "insure" and "affect" vs. "effect."

Living in PA, I have been surrounded by the overuse of "got." Isn't "got" the past tense of "get"? Thus, the old PA slogan, "You've got a friend," was always the object of interstate teasing.

Also, I was taught that, no matter what, periods and commas go inside quotation marks (see my examples above). English teachers: is that still true?

Thanks!

There is nothing wrong about "you've got a friend". It's a contraction for "you have got" and is perfectly correct usage. "You got a friend" is another story.

 

[si-am]

Disclaimer. My complaint relates to poor teaching, not strokes, dyslexia or any other malady...

While I am not a perfect grammarian by any means, the following error drives me nuts, particularly when folks such as news anchors, politicians, radio hosts, etc. get it wrong.

Since when did the word "me" become so wrong? I think we were all taught never to start a sentence with me ("Me and Jay went fishing"). We're now afraid to use it at all. "That's between him and I" or "Give it to he and I."

It drives me absolutely bonkers to hear ("smart") people think they're being so grammatically correct by avoiding the objective use of "me" in favor of the nominative use of "I" at the end of a sentence. It's a minor error, I know, but it's so rampant in the news, etc.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent! This really has been bugging my wife and I.............

I've noticed this too. Mostly in relation to the rampant misuse of "myself."

Here on the boards you see it every day:

Myself, my husband, and my kids went to Disney World.

Here's a picture of myself, my sister, my mom.

*cringe*

 

[georgina]

Yep, the misuse of there and here bug me too, and so does the improper use of possessive form instead of plural - a plural does not contain an apostrophe!

 

[georgina]

And so the thread continues, completely ignoring this poster who is gently trying to hint that this thread may hurt people's feelings.

There are lots of threads on this board that hurt my feelings. People complain about things that I do, clothes that I wear, things I let my kids do, etc, etc, etc. I don't scold posters for their mistakes in other threads, but this is a poor spelling and grammar thread, and I think we can post here!

 

[Pigeon]

My fourth grader does.