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Topic: Grammar Pet Peeves
no photo
Tue 01/31/12 10:45 AM
Top Ten Grammar Pet Peeves

1. It's "I couldn't care less." "I could care less" means that you actually do care.
2. An apostrophe is never used to form a plural.
3. "Literally" means it actually happened, not that it figuratively happened.
4. "Loose" and "lose" are two different words.
5. "You're" and "your" are also two different words.
6. "Their," "there" and "they're" are actually three different words.
7. "Nonplus" does not mean what you think it means.
8. "Affect" is a verb. "Effect" is a noun.
9. "It's" is short for "it is" and "its" means "belonging to it."
10. "Irregardless" is not a word.

What are yours?

TxsGal3333's photo
Tue 01/31/12 11:10 AM
Actually I don't have any.........well except for one that is when others correct everyone on their grammer........

As long as I can read it or understand what they are saying I'm good..

Just because one can not spell as well as others does not mean they are not smart in many other ways....whoa

no photo
Tue 01/31/12 11:21 AM
I'm not singling anyone out, or saying someone isn't smart. I just saw that today, as someone shared it with me and definitely agreed with it.

oldhippie1952's photo
Tue 01/31/12 12:08 PM
#10 is wrong.

I see grammer and spelling errors, and make my share, all the time. As long as I can understand it.

TxsGal3333's photo
Tue 01/31/12 12:21 PM

I'm not singling anyone out, or saying someone isn't smart. I just saw that today, as someone shared it with me and definitely agreed with it.


Ohh not saying you are at all...Many times I have seen it happen. Just because someone is a bad speller they assume they are not smart. And many times I have seen it that the one that was a bad speller was a wiz at certain things many could not even do..

no photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:25 PM

#10 is wrong.

I see grammer and spelling errors, and make my share, all the time. As long as I can understand it.
So what does it mean?

Regardless = without regard

Irrespective = without respect.

Irregardless . . . ummm ummm.

Irregardless is an informal term commonly used in place of regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since it first appeared in the early twentieth century. Most dictionaries list it as "nonstandard" or "incorrect".
From wiki, I tend to agree if its supposed to mean something, then it seems it is not needed.

no photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:30 PM

#10 is wrong.

I see grammer and spelling errors, and make my share, all the time. As long as I can understand it.


Does it mean something other than regardless?

Seakolony's photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:32 PM
Don't sweat the small stuff...........that fact that people are anal enough to have pet peeves

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Tue 01/31/12 01:36 PM

Top Ten Grammar Pet Peeves

2. An apostrophe is never used to form a plural.


This is a real pet peeve of mine, as I see "There were two dog's chewing on bone's by the tree's in the back yard," etc., all the time.

Possessives and contractions, not plurals!!

Having said that, there are some sources which will allow for apostrophes in plurals in very limited circumstances, such as "She had two A's on her report card." While I don't really like it, I think it might be clearer than "She had two As on her report card," which just looks like a miscapitalized "as," even given that the sentence makes no sense that way.


no photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:37 PM


4. "Loose" and "lose" are two different words.


The standard dating site usage is "Tired of dating loosers." I have seen this one far more often than I would have thought possible.


no photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:40 PM


5. "You're" and "your" are also two different words.
6. "Their," "there" and "they're" are actually three different words.

What are yours?


Yeah, misuses of these are extremely annoying.

A similar one would be "accept" and "except." Few people seem to recognize the distinction. "Looking for someone who can except me and my son." OK.


no photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:48 PM


1. It's "I couldn't care less." "I could care less" means that you actually do care.



This is one that bugs me. I hear it all the time in real life as well.

RainbowTrout's photo
Tue 01/31/12 01:58 PM
Grandmother not Grammar.

andrewzooms's photo
Tue 01/31/12 02:05 PM
Trying to learn the English language would be tough. For example B, Bee, or Be sound the exact same. And Sea, See and C sound the exact same.

patsfan64's photo
Tue 01/31/12 02:15 PM
Pea and pee are two different words...

Bravalady's photo
Tue 01/31/12 02:15 PM
You've got the top ones, all right. (And it's not alright.)

I understand how some people think spelling errors don't matter if you can get the gist anyway, but the problem for me is that they just stop me in my tracks and I DON'T understand as quickly as I would if the correct word had been used. I read, "Were are we going?" and I do NOT think "where" until I've gotten through the sentence twice.

I also have no patience for people who admit that they have typos in their writing but just don't bother to fix them.

Some others that drive me crazy:

are for our
lead for led
to for too
the total extinction of the past perfect tense (have saw, have went)
of for have

So you can call me a grammar nazi or anal or any insult you like, but the thing is, I will NEVER mention this to anyone unless they specifically ask. What I think and what I say are two different things. Also, the fact that a person's grammar annoys me does not make me like them any less.

yellowrose10's photo
Tue 01/31/12 02:26 PM

Actually I don't have any.........well except for one that is when others correct everyone on their grammer........

As long as I can read it or understand what they are saying I'm good..

Just because one can not spell as well as others does not mean they are not smart in many other ways....whoa


I agree with this (where is that darn "like" button laugh

My only real pet peeve is text talk. I'm not much of a texting person so it's hard for me to figure out sometimes. Maybe if I texted more, it wouldn't bother me ohwell

no photo
Tue 01/31/12 03:20 PM

My only real pet peeve is text talk. I'm not much of a texting person so it's hard for me to figure out sometimes. Maybe if I texted more, it wouldn't bother me ohwell


I don't even like text talk while texting. :tongue:

Now I use voxxer anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter much anymore. But, I especially hate seeing it written in places outside of text.


1. It's "I couldn't care less." "I could care less" means that you actually do care.


This one always aggravates me.

motowndowntown's photo
Tue 01/31/12 04:07 PM
English, unlike Latin, is a living language.

Things change over time.

If enough people do it, it becomes common.

If it becomes common enough, it becomes acceptable.

If it becomes acceptable, it becomes grammatically correct.


no photo
Tue 01/31/12 04:07 PM
People can write however they'd like. However, I can choose not to waste time trying to decipher what people are saying if it's written that badly. I've received emails on here where every word in a sentence were abbreviated. I just don't have the patience for that.

As much as people would like to think that the way you write on here doesn't mean much, it does. It can make a good or bad first impression depending on how the person writes. I prefer making it easy for people to understand what I'm saying.

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