General Discussions

**JeremyMiller** · 06:27 AM

[rant]
Pretty much all of us have passed elementary school, but some reminders seem way too apropos:

"Your" means something related to you.
"You're" is a contraction of "you" and "are".

Example: "You're going to start spelling your sentences correctly." is the same as "You are going to start spelling your sentences correctly."

"To", "two", and "too". The second is a number, the third means also or quite a bit, and you can use the first in all other cases.

Example: To see the two people, you'll have to open your eyes too.

"alot" is not a word, so erase it from your minds. It's two words: "a" and "lot", so try to get that right a lot.

"Our" and "are" are only pronounced the same if you don't take the time to enunciate correctly. They are totally different words and should not be treated as homophones. "We're" and "where" are another such example.

"it's" is a contraction of "it is". In all other cases, uses "its" -- it's the possessive form of "it".

Firefox and Chrome (most likely other non-IE browsers) have spell check. If something gets randomly wiggle-underlined in red, you should probably right click on it to see what the intended spelling ought to have been.

A little bit of time learning your own language -- yes, that means that this rant does not apply to non-English-as-a-first-language posters -- makes a world of difference between appearing like you're a remotely-educated individual and someone who has not yet graduated from elementary school (typos excepted!)

Speaking of which, "accepted" and "excepted" are also not homophones!
[/rant]

**chrishirst** · 02-25-2010, 07:01 AM

Ah Jeremy, a man after my own heart,

I am "Mr Angry" on grammar and spelling

**chrishirst** · 02-25-2010, 07:06 AM

Another common one is whether and weather

"I do not know whether to go out, as the weather looks like rain"

A wether is a male sheep, usually a castrated one.

**rolda hayes** · 02-25-2010, 07:45 AM

Not forgetting:

"My friends have invited me round their house this evening."
"My friends live in that house over there."
"They're great friends for inviting me round..."

**chrishirst** · 02-25-2010, 08:11 AM

Or the good old;

They're married, and their house is over there

**wayfarer07** · 02-25-2010, 08:40 AM

The other one that bothers me is "then" and "than". These words have totally different meanings, but many people tend to use "then" all the time.

"I am a better chess player then you" is not a proper sentence people!

I went to the store, then I bought some ice cream.
I like ice cream better than cookies.
I wrote my HTML, then I added some CSS.
I like PHP better than Java.

It's not that complicated.

**edgray** · 02-25-2010, 10:21 AM

the whole "your" and "you're" thing gets to me too... it's the only one though, I'm pretty sure I leave a trail of nasty typos behind me, wherever I go...

**serandfae** · 02-25-2010, 11:46 AM

You beat me to it, Jeremy; I was going to make a thread like this one.

The one that seems to bother me the most is textese when not texting. Ones like LOL or ROTFLMAO don't bother me so much (so long as it's typed and not spoken and done in an informal setting). But use of it in any business communication should be met with public ridicule, preferably by pillory in the town square.

tim

**NullPointer** · 02-25-2010, 01:39 PM

Sometimes I think some people just choose between they're, their and there at random. I admit though, there is one that I always screw up: affect and effect.

**JeremyMiller** · 02-25-2010, 01:42 PM

Oh, you all are good -- I was wondering if I was missing some as I was doing it off the top of my head. You've caught a number of other ones that bother me too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

A wether is a male sheep, usually a castrated one.

That one was new on me. Now, if I catch someone using it, boy can I have some fun... lol.

**Giselle** · 02-25-2010, 02:48 PM

According to my dictionary Jeremy, it's and its has two meanings.

A child proud of its drawings.

It's - means it is or it has

Abel then and than is very broad, muddled according to my dictionary definitions, confusing. Ain't happens to be in my dictionary with definitions, but suggested not to use.

Darren that would be an error which my husband would make, a speller wouldn't pick round up along with some other errors, due to very poor eyesight even with glasses on. Might add the Optometrist just increased the power of this 76 year old man's glasses.

I assume you all have Doctorates in English Literature, just out of curiosity what Universities/Educational Establishments are you tenured in?

As far as the English language goes, it stems from the British which we as Americans have slaughtered, with slang and no doubt will continue as time goes by.

**JeremyMiller** · 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giselle

According to my dictionary Jeremy, it's and its has two meanings.

A child proud of its drawings.

It's - means it is or it has

With the exception of the contraction of "it has", that's basically what I said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giselle

Abel then and than is very broad, muddled according to my dictionary definitions, confusing. Ain't happens to be in my dictionary with definitions, but suggested not to use.

May I offer some de-muddling?

Then: For time, listing by order, to imply "also", consequential actions (e.g. If you code, then it's a good idea to comment).
Than: For comparisons.

This one also bothers me when people speak and do not enunciate well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giselle

Darren that would be an error which my husband would make, a speller wouldn't pick round up along with some other errors, due to very poor eyesight even with glasses on. Might add the Optometrist just increased the power of this 76 year old man's glasses.

If your husband makes a typo, that's one thing as no one is exempt from making uncaught typos, but if the meanings of the words aren't known, then what's wrong with learning them?

"they're" is a contraction of "they" and "are" (perhaps some other contractions, but that's the most common).
"their" implies that something relates to one or more people (or other living things).
"there" refers to a location.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giselle

I assume you all have Doctorates in English Literature, just out of curiosity what Universities/Educational Establishments are you tenured in?

As far as the English language goes, it stems from the British which we as Americans have slaughtered, with slang and no doubt will continue as time goes by.

I learned all these things in elementary school, actually, though I do have a BA. My daughter, 10yo, is learning some of those now (she had a whole spelling list of words like this in 4th grade). These aren't esoteric aspects of the American English language and I'm pretty sure they apply to British English as well, but Chris is more qualified to correct me if I'm wrong about British English (and forgive me if that's not the correct way of referring to English as spoken by the British

).

**wayfarer07** · 03:18 PM

Another way to remember, is if it has a comma before it, use then. Then will usually be after a comma.

If you like proper grammar, then you're less annoying than most people.

The their, there, they're mistakes are very annoying also. Didn't we all learn that around the 2nd grade?

**JeremyMiller** · 02-25-2010, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayfarer07

The their, there, they're mistakes are very annoying also. Didn't we all learn that around the 2nd grade?

I was in public education, so I had to wait a couple more years. :P

**chrishirst** · 02-25-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

According to my dictionary Jeremy, it's and its has two meanings.

Yep, they have one meaning each.

Quote:

A child proud of its drawings.

It's - means it is or it has

Nope "it's" is only the contraction of "it is". It could not be a contraction of "it is" and "it has"! Otherwise how would you differentiate between;

"My dog is a Labrador, it's a pup" meaning: "My dog is a Labrador, it is still a young dog"

and

"My dog is a Labrador, it's a pup" meaning: "My dog is a Labrador, it has a pup"

**JeremyMiller** · 03:41 PM

I'd have to disagree about the "it has", Chris. For example: It's been a very interesting thread.

To differentiate, context clues are the only hint.

Edit: I do see your argument. Must apply to only one definition of "has."

**chrishirst** · 02-25-2010, 03:57 PM

Yeah, context makes things "interesting" and common contractions in speech as opposed to contractions in print being accepted as different.

such as "It's been fun"! meaning "Don't ever call me again, because I've deleted your phone number"!

**Giselle** · 02-25-2010, 04:47 PM

Learning is great, provided you have a long term memory. My husband has a short term memory, I have lost count of how many times I had to explain about the usage of there and their. Son is a young man, but always had a short term memory. He's holding two Master's Degrees, works and has his own office at the Pentagon on behalf of his company, and makes big bucks. The point here is if a person has a good memory.

Enunciation, we have people from the North, South, East, and West that will pronounce/enunciate differently, depending on where they live. I have listened to Senators/Congresspeople talk with their different twangs or different pronunciations/enunciation's of words. I have received mail from people from different parts of the states with spelling a bit different from what I grew up with in school.

I have a link to the differences in our spelling and the British spelling of words, something like color - colour.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm

**JeremyMiller** · 02-25-2010, 04:52 PM

@Giselle To be fair, you have to give me that this thread wasn't started to attack your husband or anyone who's specifically older. Most people who commit these errors, in fact, aren't committing them due to byproducts of age.

And, thanks for the link!

**chrishirst** · 02-25-2010, 05:39 PM

Quote:

I have a link to the differences in our spelling and the British spelling of words, something like color - colour

Two nations separated by a common language

As for short term memory, I can rival a goldfish, and always have done from about 25 onwards. For some odd reason that has always irritated the ladies that have shared my life??