Loosing vs. Losing

I wasn't at school that long ago, but this was one that was definitely taught.

Why do people "nowadays" keep mucking it up!?!?!

Am I just getting too old? Does anyone else have a particular grammatical/spelling error that irks them?
 
The loose/lose thing is the most common one I see, but a few others that regularly get confused are:

peak/peek/pique
affect/effect
lie/lay
sort/sought
your/you're
who/whom

GP
 
The one I hate is the three "theres". Ie there, their and they're. As mentioned previously, the "yours" come in a close second. Ie. your, and you're.
 
Now dat tis better ight. No ned ta chek me spelin cuse I no how ta spel yeh ;) I evin finushed skool.... I jus think every udda persin cant spel... like... how hard is it realy??? ;)

Welcome to the world of 'whole of language'..... I have been struggling (with my son) through this nonsense in recent years. Technology definitely has not helped the younger generation with spelling or grammar either. :(
 
I wasn't at school that long ago, but this was one that was definitely taught.

Why do people "nowadays" keep mucking it up!?!?!

Am I just getting too old? Does anyone else have a particular grammatical/spelling error that irks them?

Quit trying to pressurize me.
 
We were always taught rhymes for that stuff. I still remember

"lose lost an o"
"Q is a crybaby, because it always wants U", i.e. quarry, quay, quotient
"i before e except after c"

Colorization vs colourisation, basically anything that is an American way of spelling really ticks me off; we speak the Queen's English.
 
Now I know English is not the easiest language and some of the grammar (and spelling) is confusing but there are some basics that everyone should know. You don't realise how silly our spelling is until you start teaching it to little kids. It's very confusing. Why do we need 4 ways to say ai/ay/ae/ei?

That's why I loved learning Indonesian. Only 7 different vowel sounds and no exceptions to the rules.

I've also noticed the then/than thing lately.

And dinning (dine- drop the E, add ING = dining)

I hate when people put "at" at the end of a sentence unnecessarily.

eg ":It doesn't matter where you are at".
 
Yeah, I can be a bit of a grammar nazi, as well... My assistant hates it, but she's learning quickly. :D

That said, I do have a few linguistic quirks of my own, but, most of these (I think!) are deliberate and I know full well that they are wrong. Curiousity is deliberately misspelt, 'bye the way' picked up an extra e somewhere along the line, and, no doubt there are more than a few others as well. Commas and semi-colons are also used liberally, but, this has a lot to do with writing in the same way that I speak; well-placed pauses, added emphasis, and often, sentences that are perhaps a little longer than they really need to be.

I love languages, and well-written English prose is a beautiful thing.
 
What gets me unstuck is the - i before e except after c :eek:
I love languages, and well-written English prose is a beautiful thing.
I love languages too, but I'm not a real fan of english. There're too many rules, then excemptions for some rules.. and you know what they say, "English is just French, but badly pronounced".
 
Personal irks - apostrophes and their overuse - they are everywhere! You don't need to apostrophise a plural.

Also plurals per se - the plural of stadium is stadia not stadiums (although currently accepted as 'normal use' ) and the plural of cannon is cannon.
 
mine is when people say "haitch" instead of "aitch" aaaarrrgghh! If you can't even get the alphabet right what hope is there for society??:eek:

note: most of my children's teachers have said it incorrectly.
 
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