I was just being facetious, ddcanz!Point taken HH
You are right - this is a review board, first and foremost
Fellow sapiophiles and spelling/grammar 'enthusiasts'..
- Thread starter xo Heidi Hayes xo
- Start date
You are right - this is a review board, first and foremost
OK, so this old professor of English starts having an affair with one of his pretty young students. One day his wife of 50 years comes home early and catches them naked in the act. She is dumbfounded but manages to stammer out "I, I, I am so surprised!", to which the professor, always a stickler for words, replies "No my dear, we are surprised. You are astonished".
FB
FB
the use/misuse of apostrophes is another issue.
In school I gave up making sense of its and it's, I just decided to remember that it's has to mean it is
The cat chased its tail, tail belongs to the cat,but no apostrophe,that's English.
also,signs in bars,restaurants,etc. that say MENS instead of MEN'S or LADIES with no apostrophe
I've been to a cpl bars in Gastown with logos/symbols on the W.C. door where I had to ask which was which,but I digress.
when a card or invitation arrives signed the Ferguson's..should that not be the Fergusons?as in, more than one Ferguson?
from a family named Jones...the Jones's.again,doesn't the apostrophe indicate possession?
yet, the Joneses somehow looks odd, at least to me.
while I'm on a head of steam,how about ways to write "I would have."
I doubt anyone would object to..I would've" or I'd have" but what about "I'd've"....looks strange yet that's how we say it.
the English, she be strange,lol.
In school I gave up making sense of its and it's, I just decided to remember that it's has to mean it is
The cat chased its tail, tail belongs to the cat,but no apostrophe,that's English.
also,signs in bars,restaurants,etc. that say MENS instead of MEN'S or LADIES with no apostrophe
I've been to a cpl bars in Gastown with logos/symbols on the W.C. door where I had to ask which was which,but I digress.
when a card or invitation arrives signed the Ferguson's..should that not be the Fergusons?as in, more than one Ferguson?
from a family named Jones...the Jones's.again,doesn't the apostrophe indicate possession?
yet, the Joneses somehow looks odd, at least to me.
while I'm on a head of steam,how about ways to write "I would have."
I doubt anyone would object to..I would've" or I'd have" but what about "I'd've"....looks strange yet that's how we say it.
the English, she be strange,lol.
my pet peeves are your vs you're, there, their and they're and the one i HATE...
I should OF ...
I should OF ...
agree with BS Detector re should of instead of should have.
when we say "should have" I think it sounds like "should of" but no reason to write it that way.
another one is "try and" when "try to" is what is meant.
somebody mentioned "willn't".I can see where an English-learner would make that mistake.does not=doesn't,is not=isn't, so will not=willn't,right?wrong...English strikes again,lol.
when we say "should have" I think it sounds like "should of" but no reason to write it that way.
another one is "try and" when "try to" is what is meant.
somebody mentioned "willn't".I can see where an English-learner would make that mistake.does not=doesn't,is not=isn't, so will not=willn't,right?wrong...English strikes again,lol.
Here is an awesome post about new punctuation marks that we need. Maybe these would clear up a lot of the problems we encounter. My favourite is the Hemi-Demi-Semi-Colon, because lots of folks struggle with semicolon use. (Kurt Vonnegut wrote that the only reason to use a semicolon is to show that you went to college.)
http://imgur.com/gallery/2nOJR
http://imgur.com/gallery/2nOJR
There, their and they're is definitely my pet peeve, closely followed by "your" and "you're" and "weather" and "whether". It's really hard for me not to correct people sometime, but nobody likes that guy lol
I totally agree. Though...
I don't always say 'sometime' when I meant to say 'sometimes'...
But when I do, I usually say it in my failing attempt at a Chinese accent when I am taking a playful dig at my beloved Chinese friends
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Interesting to find this thread where sapiosexual and spelling/grammar "inspectors" intersect ... I certainly qualify for both.
Thought I'd share my favourite punctuation mark, the interrobang: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang
Never thought of it before but I guess "interrobang" could be "interrogating" someone while you're, well ... banging ... hmmm. I'm imagining a wild woman right now: "Do you want me to ...", "Will you put that in my ...", "Can't you do that harder ... faster ..." ...
OK, back to work ... in an interesting, and unexpected, state of mind now.
Thought I'd share my favourite punctuation mark, the interrobang: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang
Never thought of it before but I guess "interrobang" could be "interrogating" someone while you're, well ... banging ... hmmm. I'm imagining a wild woman right now: "Do you want me to ...", "Will you put that in my ...", "Can't you do that harder ... faster ..." ...
OK, back to work ... in an interesting, and unexpected, state of mind now.
I completely agree with exhibiting good grammar and correct spelling, but what I find annoying are those people who use obscure words to try to show off. Often these words have fallen into obscurity because there are close synonyms or words with exact meanings that have replaced them. Furthermore, people who do these things also tend to misuse the word, or convolute a sentence so that they can somehow get the word in. I can't stand pompous types like these.
I prefer those who can say something with as few words as possible because they've used the exact words to get the message across. In my opinion, that's what a good communicator truly is.
I prefer those who can say something with as few words as possible because they've used the exact words to get the message across. In my opinion, that's what a good communicator truly is.
Not sure if this is already in here (long thread) but one that REALLY drives me crazy is the expression "sticktoitiveness"
A perfectly good word, perseverance, already exists. Means exactly the same thing. Why the wacky sticktoitiveness people. Come on. Really?
Argh.
OK, I feel better now
sofine
A perfectly good word, perseverance, already exists. Means exactly the same thing. Why the wacky sticktoitiveness people. Come on. Really?
Argh.
OK, I feel better now
sofine
It doesn't happen on this board, but what drives me crazy is the new catch phrase "compete level' used in sports by coaches, the media etc. to describe an athlete's or a team's effort ( eg. "We need to raise our level of compete to be successful"). Why not just stick to "competitive"? (eg. "We need to be more competitive....")
To me "compete level" just "dumbs down" the conversation- makes it look like the user has an 8th grade education.
Mind you, with a lot of hockey personnel it's probably not too far from the truth!
To me "compete level" just "dumbs down" the conversation- makes it look like the user has an 8th grade education.
Mind you, with a lot of hockey personnel it's probably not too far from the truth!
I hear ya on that one.
who the hell makes up all these catch phrases anyway?
the ones I can't stand, and has been in vogue for some time now are:
• accountability
• transparency
• tipping point
• it is what it it
