Its' it's its, dammi't!

[UnlikelyGrad]

OK, fine, they're spelling errors.

As someone who's keenly aware of foreign phrases, other misspellings I can't stand are:

ect.--You know, at the end of a list. Puhleeze people. It is short for "et cetera"...how do you get "ect." out of that?

Viola!--Unless you're referring to the string instrument that plays in the range between the violin and the cello, this should be spelled Voila! (If you don't know how to make the accent mark it doesn't bother me. Technically I believe it's Voilá! Or maybe the accent goes the other way...not sure...) Some people also leave off the v and spell it "Wala" or "Wahla" etc. (shudder)

I think the problem is that people don't read enough--if you seen these in (properly-edited) print enough, you understand how they are supposed to be spelled.

[wtncffts]

OK, fine, they're spelling errors.

As someone who's keenly aware of foreign phrases, other misspellings I can't stand are:

ect.--You know, at the end of a list. Puhleeze people. It is short for "et cetera"...how do you get "ect." out of that?

Viola!--Unless you're referring to the string instrument that plays in the range between the violin and the cello, this should be spelled Voila! (If you don't know how to make the accent mark it doesn't bother me. Technically I believe it's Voilá! Or maybe the accent goes the other way...not sure...) Some people also leave off the v and spell it "Wala" or "Wahla" etc. (shudder)

I think the problem is that people don't read enough--if you seen these in (properly-edited) print enough, you understand how they are supposed to be spelled.

Wow, I've never seen those particular examples. I think I would literally burst out laughing if I saw "Viola!" in a paper. Although I can't see many circumstances where even the correct word would be used in an academic setting.

[hopelesslypostmodern]

You might appreciate The Oatmeal's take on this:

http://theoatmeal.co...ics/misspelling

If you need a humorous coping mechanism, there is always this Hyperbole and a Half: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

[UnlikelyGrad]

Wow, I've never seen those particular examples. I think I would literally burst out laughing if I saw "Viola!" in a paper. Although I can't see many circumstances where even the correct word would be used in an academic setting.

Are these limited to academic papers? I see these more on discussion forums, actually...or in real life. There's actually a beauty salon called "Wa La!" down the street from where I live.

[Herbie]

Maybe texting has some influence - short hand, lack of typing another key?

I used to have annoyances. Now I don't particularly care, unless I'm aiming/adiuming with someone as it starts to affect my quick typing.

[wtncffts]

Are these limited to academic papers? I see these more on discussion forums, actually...or in real life. There's actually a beauty salon called "Wa La!" down the street from where I live.

No, not at all, any examples are great. I was talking about papers because that's where these sorts of things annoy the most. I certainly understand a more casual attitude on the internet and in less formal settings.

[MoJingly]

I agree with newms on the your/you're thing.

And, for those of you that are having confusion over English because it is not your first language, don't worry. English IS my first language and I can still barely understand it. Such a stupid language.

[Katie Brady]

your vs. you're

when people spell ridiculous like "rediculous"

Misuse of semicolons

Misuse of good v. well (this one BUGS me)

Overuse of commas or parenthesis

When people don't know how to properly make something possessive when it's singular but ending in an "s". For example, I attend Johns Hopkins. When someone says something like Hopkins is going to acquire a new lab, but they say "This will be Johns Hopkins' first lab of this type" or whatever......PEOPLE. It's "Johns Hopkins's. Hopkins is NOT plural. GAH!".

But, I agree with the person who said that English is tough, even for people who have it as their native language, so I give much space to those who grew up elsewhere.

[Cashmere]

I think the problem is that people don't read enough--if you seen these in (properly-edited) print enough, you understand how they are supposed to be spelled.

This. It's disconcerting how many people I come across on Facebook who explicitly note that they hate reading and/or have not read a book for leisure in a decade or more. In many respects it's impossible to know that you're butchering certain idioms when you never see them in writing.

For instance, "all intensive purposes" rather than "all intents and purposes", and "mind as well" in lieu of "might as well". These drive me insane, as it's painfully obvious that the individual has never seen such phrases in written text.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Cashmere

[UnlikelyGrad]

This. It's disconcerting how many people I come across on Facebook who explicitly note that they hate reading and/or have not read a book for leisure in a decade or more. In many respects it's impossible to know that you're butchering certain idioms when you never see them in writing.

For instance, "all intensive purposes" rather than "all intents and purposes", and "mind as well" in lieu of "might as well". These drive me insane, as it's painfully obvious that the individual has never seen such phrases in written text.

Oooh, yeah, I've seen both of those, too, as well as other similar phrase butcherings. I will post here when I think of them.

[Katie Brady]

"all intensive purposes" drives me INSANE.

Glad to see fellow grammar nerds around here.

[wanderlust07]

"On the other hand" used to transition when one has not already used "On the one hand." They come as a set...

[MoJingly]

"On the other hand" used to transition when one has not already used "On the one hand." They come as a set...

I guess I never thought of that one. I'm sure I've been guilty of this a few times.

I need to start watching how I type around here. I just need to keep telling myself, "Your going to remember their grammar nerds and its not going to effect you."

[Katie Brady]

I guess I never thought of that one. I'm sure I've been guilty of this a few times.

I need to start watching how I type around here. I just need to keep telling myself, "Your going to remember their grammar nerds and its not going to effect you."

hahaha touche.

...must...not...twitch....

[qbtacoma]

Excellent poke MoJingly. Well done indeed.

[phdgoingcrazy]

I cannot STAND it when people use the phrase "could of" instead of "could have" or "could've." I just don't get it, what do they think "I could OF done ___" means? Of does NOT WORK in this phrase. I actually have to stop talking to someone when I see them type that online because it bothers me so much.

And this isn't really a grammatical mistake, but one of my friends recently told me that he doesn't understand the difference between the meaning of qualitative and the meaning of quantitative. Even after I explained it to him several times. I had to put my head down in shame.

[Roccoriel]

loose vs lose. I swear, I almost lose it sometimes (pun somewhat intended) when people use loose instead of lose.

My grandfather's DOCTOR once wrote him a note to "loose 40 pounds". He immediately jiggled his tummy and said "it can't get much more loose than that."

I would like to say, however, that the way people write in places like boards and Facebook and whatnot is often different than how they would write in a formal setting. I go elliptical-crazy and forget to capitalize and use a billion exclamation points in emails to friends, but I am very careful and proper in emails to professors and in papers. Also, I can't spell (I think I learned how to spell "definitely" within the last couple of years) and English is my first language

[amandacarol1215]

your vs. you're

when people spell ridiculous like "rediculous"

Misuse of semicolons

Misuse of good v. well (this one BUGS me)

Overuse of commas or parenthesis

When people don't know how to properly make something possessive when it's singular but ending in an "s". For example, I attend Johns Hopkins. When someone says something like Hopkins is going to acquire a new lab, but they say "This will be Johns Hopkins' first lab of this type" or whatever......PEOPLE. It's "Johns Hopkins's. Hopkins is NOT plural. GAH!".

But, I agree with the person who said that English is tough, even for people who have it as their native language, so I give much space to those who grew up elsewhere.

I'm so happy I'm not the only person that is driven up a wall when people spell it rediculous. It makes me want to cry. Every single time.

[dant.gwyrdd]

Interesting. Can you elaborate on the difference? In my OP, I was sort of using 'grammatical' in a loose way, but I really would be interested to hear from someone in linguistics on this. The "its/it's" mistake: spelling or grammar? From my lay perspective, I'd say a spelling mistake is when a word is correctly used but just spelled incorrectly, where it is a grammatical mistake when the wrong word is used altogether (though most of these are homonyms).

EDIT: I also wouldn't call it a matter of 'word choice', which I see more as an error in which there is some kind of semantic difficulty; someone meant one thing but used a word which doesn't quite capture what they presumably intend or is awkward/vague/ambiguous in some way.

I'd say the highlighted part is more or less what I think. To take its/it's as an example--say someone writes:

Its a nice day today.

If that is really a grammatical error, then that would mean that the grammar of whoever wrote it allows (1) possessives which don't modify anything, and either (2) entirely verbless sentences or (3) sentences with an omitted copula (essentially a special case of (2)) in much wider contexts than allowed in standard English. (For examples, see (1), (2), (3).) Granted, in isolation one couldn't really tell whether the sentence above contains a spelling or a grammar error, but I think we can agree that it is far more likely that native speakers who write things like the example above don't really intend to use a possessive form of it, but are, in fact, trying to write the contracted form of it + is and think that the way to do it is to write 'its'. Otherwise, they would be using a really funky way to write a nice day today belongs to it... whatever 'it' may be.

Edited February 25, 2011 by dant.gwyrdd

[skeedy]

If you need a humorous coping mechanism, there is always this Hyperbole and a Half: http://hyperboleanda...everything.html

Edited February 25, 2011 by skeedy

[pinot noir]

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