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Pet Peeves.
I can understand typos. For example, "out" for "our". Fine, the t and the r, they are spatially quite close to each other on the keyboard, as the Manolo might say. It is the same finger that is required to type them.
It is idiocy that drives me mad.
"Shear" when you mean "sheer." They're not stockings that have been cut off a sheep's back, they're see-through.
Achilles' "heal" when you mean "heel." He wasn't a doctor, that was his vulnerable spot.
"Are" when you mean "our." Do they even sound the same to you?
Posted by Duff at October 20, 2005 07:46 AM Posted to peeves. | strunk&white.
One of the typos that drives me most crazy is "loose" instead of "lose" and I know so many people who do that!
Posted by: jackie at October 20, 2005 09:56 AM
"there" "their" "they're". the confusion between these three drives me nuts! Idiocy AND laziness. Ugh.
Posted by: amanda at October 20, 2005 10:56 AM
what really annoys me aren't so much that they are typos, but the misspellings. jackie i think gives people who type loose instead of lose the benefit of the doubt. i don't think most of those are typos -- i think they're misspellings. people just don't know any better and don't care to know any better.
one that bugs me is "tounge" instead of "tongue" -
Posted by: maryse at October 20, 2005 11:07 AM
The confusion of "it's" with "its" is disturbing, but not nearly as bad as people screwing up "your" and "you're." That one really pisses me off.
Posted by: ddj at October 20, 2005 11:13 AM
you're/your drives me nuts. and its/it's.
i love that you have a whole blog category called strunk & white. ha!
Posted by: jen at October 20, 2005 11:45 AM
what does s&w say about should have instead of should of?
Posted by: lynette at October 20, 2005 11:54 AM
Dude. Misused apostrophes bother the shit out of me. And you see them on signs ALL the time, like
BEER AND CHIP'S HERE!
or something awful like that. Gah.
Posted by: Carrie at October 20, 2005 12:25 PM
If you grew up in (for example) Buffalo, "are" and "our" do indeed sound much the same.
Posted by: J Strizzy at October 20, 2005 02:01 PM
Really love the of instead of the have/'ve scenario.
Posted by: Cathi at October 20, 2005 03:24 PM
Ugh. Discrete/discreet. I also hate it when people mix up i.e. and e.g. The absolute worst, though, is when people misuse I/me, e.g.,
"He spoke to my husband and I."
Oh, and why, by all that is holy and good, is there a book on grammar called _Woe is I_? Does the dumbass author not know that "is" forms the perfect tense in archaic English? Therefore, "Woe is me" means "Woe has [befallen] me." "Woe is I" only makes sense if you're some some overdramatic goth kid.
Um, thanks for letting me rant to the choir, Carolyn.
Posted by: Sun at October 20, 2005 06:00 PM
one that's very common in NZ -- writing "alot" when you mean "a lot". As in, "I hate this alot". drives me absolutely nuts.
have you read that book "eats, shoots and leaves"? if not, you should get it .. i think you would love it ..
Posted by: Jessica Williams at October 21, 2005 03:43 AM
as a non-native speaker i am now too terrified to comment.
btw, update your address book! that email address you're using for me is so, like, last year, innit.
Posted by: kris at October 21, 2005 09:20 AM