I've seen it in writing 5 times now....

Do you realize that if you wait long enough, the words and word usages that were sooo wrong, so unacceptable, become - over time - not only commonplace, but they are actually adopted as acceptable in newer editions of your standard dictionary!
Is anyone old enough to remember when "ain't" was not in the dictionary - in fact, its use was forbidden by educators and parents alike?
Read and weep:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ain't
They embrace it by merely including it.

I heard on the radio yesterday that they are adding a new word to the english dictionary every 90 minutes!!!

I used to deny it, even fight it.....but I am getting more and more (here goes): "what-ever!" about it!!

If ya cain't beat em; join em (,y'all)!

ooo. should that be a comma, or a semicolon between 'em' and 'join'?(old habits die hard!)

"Ain't" was in our dictionary when I was lad, as we pointed out to the shock of our neighbor mom who was shocked to see it.

Two points:

1) There isn't "the dictionary" not even "the Webster's dictionary"
Many dictionary publishers use a variation of Webster.

2) The purpose of a dictionary is to document and define words used in the language, not to act as a gatekeeper for proper words to include, although you have to wonder how they usually choose to exclude "dirty" words.
 
Do you realize that if you wait long enough, the words and word usages that were sooo wrong, so unacceptable, become - over time - not only commonplace, but they are actually adopted as acceptable in newer editions of your standard dictionary!
Is anyone old enough to remember when "ain't" was not in the dictionary - in fact, its use was forbidden by educators and parents alike?
Read and weep:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ain't
They embrace it by merely including it.

I heard on the radio yesterday that they are adding a new word to the english dictionary every 90 minutes!!!

I used to deny it, even fight it.....but I am getting more and more (here goes): "what-ever!" about it!!

If ya cain't beat em; join em (,y'all)!

ooo. should that be a comma, or a semicolon between 'em' and 'join'?(old habits die hard!)

Generally, you won't see grammar changed and defined within a dictionary so much as you'll find new words added.

For example, if it is not in a dictionary yet, I expect "truthiness" to be in one soon.
 
Oooh! I just thought of another one or three.

First: "photo dot jif" (photo.gif). GIF stands for Graphic Interchange Format. So it's "gif" as in "Gifford". If it was dot "jif" like the peanut butter, then it would have to be "Giraffic Interchange Format." And I've never heard even the Jif-ers pronounce it that way.
.

In the early years it was easy to distinguish between IBM personal computer users and Macintosh users - Macs pronounce it "gif", PCers pronounce it "jif".

Let's not even get into the JPG v JPEG argument....

Other misused words and phrases:
different than
each and every one
hopefully
however
irregardless
 
True, but I've never heard anyone say "an istoric occasion." In fact, most of the people who use that phrase seem to really emphasize the HHHHHHHissssss-toric occasion. Which makes "an" wrong.
Only because you have never had occasion to hear me speak of an historic occasion.
 
I happen to be a jiffer, not a giffer. Reason being? Any "g" followed by an "i" is a soft g, not a hard g.

That said....I break that tradition to say "gigabyte" because I'm not a Back to the Future nerd. I'll note that I've only ever heard Mac users say "gigabyte" with a soft g.

Wrong! Some examples:

gibbon - an ape
gibbous - astronomy reference
giddy/giddier/giddiest/giddily - lighthearted/dizziness
gift - a present
giggle - to laugh
gilded - covered with gold
gill - how a fish breathes
gilly - hunting guide
gimlet - a tool or cocktail
gimmick - a trick
gimp - to limp
gingko - a tree
girder - used in construction
girdle - worn by insane women in the 1800s
girl - female
girth - what Nick has :D
give - to bestow upon
gizzard - what rednecks eat
 
Wrong! Some examples:

gibbon - an ape
gibbous - astronomy reference
giddy/giddier/giddiest/giddily - lighthearted/dizziness
gift - a present
giggle - to laugh
gilded - covered with gold
gill - how a fish breathes
gilly - hunting guide
gimlet - a tool or cocktail
gimmick - a trick
gimp - to limp
gingko - a tree
girder - used in construction
girdle - worn by insane women in the 1800s
girl - female
girth - what Nick has :D
give - to bestow upon
gizzard - what rednecks eat

+18! :thumbsup:
 
Wrong! Some examples:

gibbon - an ape
gibbous - astronomy reference
giddy/giddier/giddiest/giddily - lighthearted/dizziness
gift - a present
giggle - to laugh
gilded - covered with gold
gill - how a fish breathes
gilly - hunting guide
gimlet - a tool or cocktail
gimmick - a trick
gimp - to limp
gingko - a tree
girder - used in construction
girdle - worn by insane women in the 1800s
girl - female
girth - what Nick has :D
give - to bestow upon
gizzard - what rednecks eat

How's that Mac treating you, Ed?
 
How's that Mac treating you, Ed?

Havent touched a mac in 18+ years. And its GIF as in....

quagmire-3865.jpg
 
I happen to be a jiffer, not a giffer. Reason being? Any "g" followed by an "i" is a soft g, not a hard g.

Not true, as Ed pointed out. And it's supposed to relate to the pronunciation of the words that the acronym stands for anyway.

That said....I break that tradition to say "gigabyte" because I'm not a Back to the Future nerd. I'll note that I've only ever heard Mac users say "gigabyte" with a soft g.

WHAT??? I've never heard anyone say "Jigga-byte".
 
Ok - so its not "Should of" its "Should've." I think most people have gotten past that.....

"All the sudden."

no....

"All of a sudden."

Please....please, don't make me lose more hair.
And you say, "anyways" instead of "anyway". Drives me batty it does, like nails on a chalkboard.
 
I bet none of you have heard on a regular basis, "My rockwilder was spayded, right after she come down with provo (virus)"
 
COLLEGE Profs are getting papers written in LOL OMG. We're gonna see some fun court brief filings soon.
This last winter I had the pleasure (?) to review numerous resumes with smiley faces and other emoticons and chatroom acronyms liberally plastered on the paper. Straight to the round file.
 
One's :))) that bug me:

loose/lose
there/their/they're
to/too/two
its/it's
you all/y'all/y'alls/youse alls :)
could care less :dunno:

I insure you there are other examples which bug people. No matter how hard you try to assure that words are used correctly, people get them wrong. If only there was a way to ensure other's use of words, we could profit from this problem.
 
Here's another: The use of the singular "is" where the plural "are" belongs. "There is many ways..." or more commonly, "There's many ways..."

This sort of thing is heard on TV and seen in print all the time. I think it arises from the popular use of conjugations such as "there's", while the more correct "there're" is harder to say or maybe not even being taught in school.

"Irregardless." A double negative and therefore wrong. Someone else already mentioned it. Some use it because it's a big word, used to impress. Some get the words "infer" and "imply" mixed up. You imply something in your speech; I infer something from that speech. Elicit and illicit are another pair of mixed-up but unrelated words, as are elude and allude.

We find these things annoying because we know what the words mean and realize that the user of the wrong word is a pretender who might not know nearly as much as he claims. The comments and opinions at the end of online news articles often carry no weight because the posters reveal a certain ignorance in basic composition, and so we tend to categorize the opinions as ignorant.

A real standout, once it's pointed out to you: The use of "What..." phrases as introductions to some subject or activity. "What we are going to do now is..." or "What needs to happen is..." are spectacularly common yet such a waste of space and time. "What we will do now is..." should be "We will...". So much simpler, shorter, and direct. Even well-educated folks use these phrases and I think they're being used just to prolong the speech and fill time. (As if we had lots of time to fill.) Kids pick it up and it has become a plague. Emily Carr, the famous Canadian artist who took up writing late in life and studied under a master author, was told that brevity is the essence of good writing. It shows in her books; small books that are fascinating reading. Her writing has all the more impact for being so brief and direct.

Dan
 
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I insure you there are other examples which bug people. No matter how hard you try to assure that words are used correctly, people get them wrong. If only there was a way to ensure other's use of words, we could profit from this problem.

Arrrgh!! You did that on purpose!! :nono:
 
All the sudden??? I haven't heard that one before.

One flying-related error that really bugs me is referring to the thingy that moves the ailerons and elevator as a "yolk." It sure would be messy in that cockpit!!
 
One flying-related error that really bugs me is referring to the thingy that moves the ailerons and elevator as a "yolk." It sure would be messy in that cockpit!!

And "hanger" when referring to where we park our airplanes...
 
"I could care less." OK, so care less. See if I care. I couldn't care less.
 
All the sudden??? I haven't heard that one before.

One flying-related error that really bugs me is referring to the thingy that moves the ailerons and elevator as a "yolk." It sure would be messy in that cockpit!!
Supposebly, the pilot was making an omlet.
 
People who use "then" instead of "than."
 
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From the Red Board:

Default Re: Spell Check?
Quote:
Originally Posted by aterpster View Post
A great feature for this forum would be the option to spell check a message before it is posted. Yahoo Mail has a nice spell check tab, which shows it could be done in this forum's operating software.end of quote


A spell-checking program, regardless of its publisher, is often a useless tool. So many words that are used incorrectly in speech or text are correctly spelled and, therefore, won't be highlighted by the program.

Their are, of coarse, many instances out they're wear such eras will not be flagged because there spellings are not incorrect, only having been used improperly. In such instances the program looses it's effectiveness witch shall only be cot by an other program witch wood catch the eras, such as a grammar-correcting software.


Within my red text, above, not a single spelling error was flagged by the program within this forum. And I butchered 15 "uses." Each spelling was correct; only having been used incorrectly.

HR

HR(Yes, it is I)
 
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Fun, though!

I'm convinced that spell checkers have increased the number of typos appearing in print because they don't catch instances of the wrong word spelled correctly, yet people allow the spell checker to lull them into not proofreading.
 
Fun, though!

I'm convinced that spell checkers have increased the number of typos appearing in print because they don't catch instances of the wrong word spelled correctly, yet people allow the spell checker to lull them into not proofreading.
I agree. So, using that same logic, could we expect more accidents as technology makes it easier to pilot a plane?
 
My new one - "What happen?"

For a long time, I thought people were making AYB references, so I usually responded with "Somebody set up us the bomb." Then I figured out that they were unable to recognize that the phrase is "What happened," because spoken, people often leave off the "ed."
 
Nick is just proving he is still around. Funny, not much has changed.

Let me add to the list. The overuse of text or internet slang in forum posts get me going. Why is it necessary? And when the post goes to 1,000 words (not including the shorthand) it really drives me nuts. It's not like you are paying per character and you've already proven you are not trying to save money.
 
Nick is just proving he is still around. Funny, not much has changed.

Let me add to the list. The overuse of text or internet slang in forum posts get me going. Why is it necessary? And when the post goes to 1,000 words (not including the shorthand) it really drives me nuts. It's not like you are paying per character and you've already proven you are not trying to save money.

OMG i h8 tht 2!
 
The overuse of text or internet slang in forum posts get me going.

The thing that is making me crazy lately is using the wrong word completely. I was trying to talk someone through a mechanical repair and we weren't getting anywhere so I started running the symptoms back toward the beginning of the sequence. The conversation got to this point:

"Does this part do what it's suppposed to do?"
"That part is bad. Still can't figure it out."
"Well, fix the bad part and you're done."
"It's still broke."
"Ok good. You found the problem. Replace the bad part with a good part and it'll start."
"Why do you keep going on that I should replace that part? That part is bad. What could be causing this to not work? Don't tell me to replace the bad part because there's no reason to. What else is could it be?"

This went on for two days. It turns out that "bad" now means "fully functional and operational as designed with no defects." Bad does not mean defective anymore.
If you want to communicate with me, I'm old school. The words used must match the definitions in a real dictionary, not some made up nonsense pretend dictionary.
 
Written "shorthand" if you want to call it that doesn't bother me to much. Most of the time, I think the people who are doing it realize they are cutting corners. I misuse words all the time on a forum.

However if I am going to write a technical paper, or a letter to a publisher for something, I am going to make damn sure it's grammatically correct. The ones I hate are the spoken mistakes, that you know people say because they don't know any better. The ones that bother me the most, because intelligent people that I know use them all the time, are:

"I seen the movie last night. It was good"
"You don't need to buy those. I will borrow you mine"

The first one, I have even seen written in an email.
 
The thing that is making me crazy lately is using the wrong word completely.
If you want to communicate with me, I'm old school. The words used must match the definitions in a real dictionary, not some made up nonsense pretend dictionary.

I've snipped some of your above post. However, re your first sentence I'm reposting my comment of May 31:

"A spell-checking program, regardless of its publisher, is often a useless tool. So many words that are used incorrectly in speech or text are correctly spelled and, therefore, won't be highlighted by the program.

Their are, of coarse, many instances out they're wear such eras will not be flagged because there spellings are not incorrect, only having been used improperly. In such instances the program looses it's effectiveness witch shall only be cot by an other program witch wood catch the eras, such as a grammar-correcting software.

Within my red text, above, not a single spelling error was flagged by the program within this forum. And I butchered 15 "uses." Each spelling was correct; only having been used incorrectly."

HR

HR(Yes, it is I)

(( And I'm aware that on numerous occasions I, without having been named, have been included within references to grammar nazis. )) I've not lost sleep re the subject matter; however, I do loose mentle patients with the in correct treatment of the written English. Yes; I know that the previous sentence has two incorrect words(though spelled correctly). Also, that I threw in "mentle" and "in correct" just for the "hail" of it, to see if those examples would be flagged. They weren't.

Now, back to raking leaves up here on the hill. :eek:))

HR
 
Within my red text, above, not a single spelling error was flagged by the program within this forum. And I butchered 15 "uses." Each spelling was correct; only having been used incorrectly."

At least the words there can be figured out by listening to someone say them without looking at the spelling. Their vs there, two vs too, kind of stuff. That's bad enough and quite irritating. Now people are not even using a word that sounds vaguely close. Bad=good. Racetrack=holding pattern. Flavors=variations. (Flavors of electricity. It's idget terminology. It makes me want to put a 440VAC wire against their tongue and ask them how it taste different than 660VAC)

Imagine someone bringing a broken camera to you and saying "it won't take pictures because the lens is missing." Then you look at the camera and the lens is there however there is no film in the thing. Then you say it's the film missing. They say the film is bad. So they walk out the door leaving you with a crackpot camera problem and after two weeks of talking to them and doing a full camera teardown/reassembly, you find out the real problem is they were taking a picture set to f22 1/4000th asa 100 in a cave with no lights. So you tell them it has a new lens and they go away happy taking cave pictures with a flashlight that's not even attached to the camera. That's the kind of crap we are going to be dealing with in the next decade.

In a society of ever increasing specialization, it looks like people would use more precise communication and not trending toward extreme vague and misdirecting use of words.
 
This went on for two days. It turns out that "bad" now means "fully functional and operational as designed with no defects." Bad does not mean defective anymore.

We're doomed!
 
Wow, the grammar police are out in full force these days. I was actually PM'd by a member here recently to correct my spelling.

Listen folks. I type fast, I sometimes mispell words or use incorrect grammar, but I think I get my point across. Get over it! :D

Yes, I know "misspell" has two s's. I did that for comic effect. :)
 
He's not being a grammar nazi - he is simply hoping that some of you would actually use the King's proper English. One can not be a conservative and an idiot at the same time [down there, Ben, down].

Your and You're and all the similar grammar problems - don't you have any PRIDE in your use of your own language? When people butcher the language it makes you seem like you dropped out of public high school in the deepest darkest woods of the holler and have no education and moreover, no concern for using the edumacation you do have.

It does not take much to use proper grammar. If you don't want to use the proper contraction of 'should have' then use shoulda and be hip instead of appearing ignorant. . . . fair enough?

Edit: There is ZERO excuse for typos involving incorrect spelling any longer. Moving on to the using the wrong word or homonym or whatever . . . . it is a LOT easier to understand what you are saying when you make even a modicum of effort to use the correct word in the right context spelled correctly. There are numerous too many to count posts that I never finish because this forum is supposed to be about fun, learning and entertainment and not work - you should not make your reader work hard to understand how you are insulting them in a thread! :hairraise::eek::goofy:
 
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just read the first page, but it's should have not should of - i mean, come on.
 
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