Beauty

[WenGirl42]

On 5/18/2014 just bee said:

The end of Western civilization. Better-half and I exchange these "interesting" uses of grammar and punctuation from the forums. The spelling always intrigues me. Was it intentional or do they simply not know how to spell? The last one I saw was defiantly for definitely. The next day someone did the same thing at work.

Clearly, this is contagious.

That one I attribute to autocorrect/autocomplete and people thinking it's spelled "definately," which has been common for years. I've actually heard people say "pacific" for "specific" though, so they might not see it as a misspelling.

[mewsmomtoo]

Maybe he wants you to be more peaceful....

[Harpa]

On 5/18/2014 WenGirl42 said:

On 5/18/2014 just bee said:

The end of Western civilization. Better-half and I exchange these "interesting" uses of grammar and punctuation from the forums. The spelling always intrigues me. Was it intentional or do they simply not know how to spell? The last one I saw was <em>defiantly</em> for <em>definitely</em>. The next day someone did the same thing at work.

Clearly, this is contagious.

That one I attribute to autocorrect/autocomplete and people thinking it's spelled "definately," which has been common for years. I've actually heard people say "pacific" for "specific" though, so they might not see it as a misspelling.

Could be either faulty mispronunciation on the part of the instructor/speaker or faulty hearing on the part of the student/listener. Could be that English is a second language for the offender. (Could be other things, too, only I'm too polite to mention.)

Just saying there may be other reasons.

But of course, I didn't mean "we" are the ones at fault for the impaired listening. Often it is word usage problem.

But I do hate misusing homonyms!

One of my honor students (college) was turning in a project. He simply used music (the class I teach) for his English paper. The only consultation I had with him was which piece of music, the characteristics of the music, etc. When I saw the finished paper (heartily approved by his English prof) I noticed a misuse of a homonym. By that time it was too late to bring it to his attention. I noticed all kinds of other glitches, too, but I had nothing to do with the English side of his project. Appalling to say the least!!!!!

eta: Appalling, not from the student, but that the English professor let it slip by!

[Annabellethecat66]

I was beginning to think I was the only person who was disgusted at the way the English language (written correctly and spoken correctly) was being slaughtered.

I don't claim to be correct all of the time. I don't even claim to be correct some of the time. However, I do know the basics of the English language.

I specifically mention English because that is my spoken language. I don't know any other languages......just English.

I am disgusted at reading and hearing people who have gone through our schools and do not know the basics of grammar.

I don't blame the teachers. As my hairdresser said to me, "I do the best I can with what I have to work with".

I blame the parents and society. The parents are lazy. The time to correct a child (as far a grammar goes) is when they first begin to put sentences together. A young child does not see these corrections as an insult; but rather as a learning experience. Once the child gets a little older they become insulted if you say, "Please don't use the word ain't!" Incidentally, that word causes me to cringe.

I enjoy listening to a variety of music as well as talk radio. One of the radio stations I listen to is FM 106.7 in Washington D.C. The former Redskin player LaVar Arrington is a co-host on that radio show. I love listening to him. However, I sometimes have to change the station because his language skills are terrible. I know he's well educated (Penn State). However, he's famous for saying things like...."I was wanting to see where he was going". Ugh!

As a person who strives to achieve mediocrity, I have never, nor do I now, claim to be knowledgeable about the use of the English language.

I do, however, still have my middle class education to call upon when reading or listening to something or someone.

Come on people!!! There is spell check!

Some misuse of words are almost criminal. Perhaps sad would be more appropriate.

P.S. Please note. I apologize here for any misspelled or incorrectly applied words used here.

[pinkskates4]

You could respond, "I'd like to be - what do you recommend - meditation, yoga, what?

[dionline]

OP might be the "grammarqueen" but I could be the "grammarprincess" and I'm NOT a retired teacher, just a better student than I thought I was. Poor grammar, diction, spelling and punctuation drive me up the proverbial wall.

A good friend of mine (who is an RN with an MBA!!) has such poor spelling & diction. My heart sunk when I saw some of her e-mails. I couldn't help but wonder, why, with as many years of school she attended, why it's so poor.

Then I couldn't help but wonder at what point will the people I'm interviewing with think I'M the one with the poor spelling because this is becoming SO commonplace.

Don't even get me started on the use of apostrophes when none are needed!!! (The number of patient's we see every day is NOT possessive...) Aarrgghhh!!!!

(I'm sure I missed some faux pas in here somewhere...Murphy's Law!!)

[misspammie]

as a joke, my family would use the 'word' "sapific",,,maybe he'd understand that?!

[just bee]

On 5/18/2014 WenGirl42 said:

On 5/18/2014 just bee said:

The end of Western civilization. Better-half and I exchange these "interesting" uses of grammar and punctuation from the forums. The spelling always intrigues me. Was it intentional or do they simply not know how to spell? The last one I saw was <em>defiantly</em> for <em>definitely</em>. The next day someone did the same thing at work.

Clearly, this is contagious.

That one I attribute to autocorrect/autocomplete and people thinking it's spelled "definately," which has been common for years. I've actually heard people say "pacific" for "specific" though, so they might not see it as a misspelling.

Good point. But I was watching my coworker type out defiantly and I corrected her. She had asked for help because defiantly looked wrong. But then, she also thought definitely looked wrong.

You're right -- another coworker insisted it was definately. And he was definate about it. Well, maybe more defiant. People just need to remember the word "finite."

It's like "separate" versus "seperate." Just remember: There's a rat in separate.

[WenGirl42]

On 5/18/2014 Harpa said:

On 5/18/2014 WenGirl42 said:

On 5/18/2014 just bee said:

The end of Western civilization. Better-half and I exchange these "interesting" uses of grammar and punctuation from the forums. The spelling always intrigues me. Was it intentional or do they simply not know how to spell? The last one I saw was <em>defiantly</em> for <em>definitely</em>. The next day someone did the same thing at work.

Clearly, this is contagious.

That one I attribute to autocorrect/autocomplete and people thinking it's spelled "definately," which has been common for years. I've actually heard people say "pacific" for "specific" though, so they might not see it as a misspelling.

Could be either faulty mispronunciation on the part of the instructor/speaker or faulty hearing on the part of the student/listener. Could be that English is a second language for the offender. (Could be other things, too, only I'm too polite to mention.)

Just saying there may be other reasons.

But of course, I didn't mean "we" are the ones at fault for the impaired listening. Often it is word usage problem.

But I do hate misusing homonyms!

One of my honor students (college) was turning in a project. He simply used music (the class I teach) for his English paper. The only consultation I had with him was which piece of music, the characteristics of the music, etc. When I saw the finished paper (heartily approved by his English prof) I noticed a misuse of a homonym. By that time it was too late to bring it to his attention. I noticed all kinds of other glitches, too, but I had nothing to do with the English side of his project. Appalling to say the least!!!!!

eta: Appalling, not from the student, but that the English professor let it slip by!

I think part of it is also a decline in reading...if you've never seen certain words in print and are just going by how you've heard them, it's going to be a lot harder to distinguish them. Spellcheck was dangerous enough, but in this age of "helpful" autocomplete and autocorrect, this is becoming a cycle that seems to spread faster and more widely than before.

[WenGirl42]

On 5/18/2014 just bee said:

On 5/18/2014 WenGirl42 said:

On 5/18/2014 just bee said:

The end of Western civilization. Better-half and I exchange these "interesting" uses of grammar and punctuation from the forums. The spelling always intrigues me. Was it intentional or do they simply not know how to spell? The last one I saw was <em>defiantly</em> for <em>definitely</em>. The next day someone did the same thing at work.

Clearly, this is contagious.

That one I attribute to autocorrect/autocomplete and people thinking it's spelled "definately," which has been common for years. I've actually heard people say "pacific" for "specific" though, so they might not see it as a misspelling.

Good point. But I was watching my coworker type out defiantly and I corrected her. She had asked for help because defiantly looked wrong. But then, she also thought definitely looked wrong.

You're right -- another coworker insisted it was definately. And he was definate about it. Well, maybe more defiant. People just need to remember the word "finite."

It's like "separate" versus "seperate." Just remember: There's a rat in separate.

Yes! There are words like that which are always harder to spell than they should be, because they sound different than they look. I will admit, though, that I get a tiny chuckle out of seeing "defiantly" in place of "definitely," because it's usually not wrong, per se...it's just much more emphatic than the writer likely intended "I am defiantly going to go see this movie!" Well, all right...who's trying to stop you?!