Most Misused Words in the English Language

[linderlizzie]

Grammar girls! I am so with you all. I used to cringe when I heard a grammar mistake.  I got over that.

I almost always can spot typos, and find it amusing when I find it in books or on billboards where the whole world can see them. 

I am one of the ones who enjoyed diagramming sentences when I was in school.  They don't even do that anymore.   

I love words and hate when they're mispronounced. I cringe when I hear the word 'realtor' pronounced 'realator.' 'Nuclear' pronounced 'nucular' is a cringer too.    I'm lovin' this subject.

[loulizlee]

I like Facebook as a means of keeping up with family and friends, but I shudder when I read some of the posts.  Slang is slang but it doesn't mean it's correct.  If your intention is communicating so others can understand it, write it correctly.  So much that I read defies understanding.

[demaina]

I think my biggest issue is when people are posting something that is relatively short and yet they don't spell check it.  I understand if you write a long, 5 page post that missing a few words in there is easy, but when it's one sentence and you spell something wrong, it sorta frustrates me cause it's so easy to check.

Irony is one people seem to just throw around.  "It's so ironic that my boyfriend is at the same movie I went to see."  No, that's a coincidence, not irony.

[lvstephanie]

I am one of the ones who enjoyed diagramming sentences when I was in school.  They don't even do that anymore.   

Yeah, I also enjoyed diagramming sentences. That was so useful to see how proper sentences are constructed, which words modify what other words, etc. I still remember that for extra credit, we could diagram the Preamble to the US Constitution. It's too bad that they don't teach it anymore... I think our class was one of the last in our school to teach it; when my sister was in the same English class (with the same teacher) 4 years later, the school had stopped teaching it. 

[loulizlee]

I didn't realize schools don't teach diagramming sentences anymore.  How do they teach sentence construction now?  No wonder kids can't read and write nowadays!  As was pointed out, you can check misspellings easily, right on this post form.  A squiggly red line appears under misspelled words. 

One word usage mistake I noticed this morning:  Threw and through - threw means something is tossed, and through means in between or it could mean finished, as in, I am through with this book.

[linderlizzie]

diner and dinner!!!! i have a friend that always texts me and says "diner was good" or "catch you later, time for diner" i always text him back and say "*DINNER" OR " hope you enjoy eating the whole building" 

LOL. Good one.

[linderlizzie]

Okay. Riddle me this. Why do people say small, little at the same time? "It was a small, little house." I hear so many people using both words together. It's redundant. Init?

[loulizlee]

It is redundant.  I also hear a lot of "each and every one" of you.  Some redundancy must be because people can't think of enough words to fill in.

[jmccaskill]

Is there a spell check thing on this posting system? I find all manner of editing tools but don't see one for spell checking... just wondering if there is one here somewhere that I don't know of...

[linderlizzie]

The only thing more annoying than improper grammar is people correcting improper grammar.

Ha, ha. You're right. I do this all the time to people and it's SO not appreciated.  

[tashamjoy]

I would have to agree that "affect vs. effect" are very common mistakes !!! I make them to =( And when people say "my mom and me" not "my mom and I"

[loulizlee]

It depends on how you are saying something about you and your mom.  You say "My mom and I went shopping" or "My friend went shopping with my mom and me."  In other words, you would say it the same way you would if you took "my mom" out,  I.e.; "I went shopping" or "My friend went shopping with me."

Also, this site has a sort of built-in spell check.  If you spell a word wrong, a red squiggly line will appear under it.  However, it still might be misspelled since some words sound alike but are spelled differently.  My favorite spell check is proofreading.

[jiuchan]

does spelling count?

like people put than instead of then or their instead of they're and stuff..

[loulizlee]

Does spelling count where?  I think spelling always counts.  But if you are asking if your posts are deleted because of misspellings - the answer is no.  You can always check for the red squiggly lines underneath a word.

I do think punctuation is important.  I hate reading comments with several lines and no punctuation.  However, today I found an example of punctuation in the wrong place that made me laugh when I should not have been laughing.  It was in an online obituary notice where the funeral home had provided a guest book.  The obituary was for a relative of a friend of ours.  Part of it read:  "I cannot conceive, your being gone from us now."  Is that something like laughing from nervousness at a funeral?

[2getherwewin]

Weather, Whether - Weather is what the meteorologist always predicts wrong, Whether is used when making a choice.