Once again it is time for the There, Their, and They're thread.

[Greyhound]

People please, it isn't really hard and it detracts from any credibility your ideas might have.

We don't want to look like morans do we?

[skypilot]

1. You don't want to go they're.

*

[Hav]

11. .

Wow, you know what? You just lost all credibility..like totally!

[skypilot]

13. What killed my cred?

Was it my use of a played-out buzz phrase or is their something else?

[Greyhound]

27. LOL!

:rofl:

[RebelOne]

2. I've totally given up on trying to correct those mistakes.

Also, lose, loose, loser and looser.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Their's a great idea.

[lvx35]

4. hey! blame the bad spellers, its there mistake, not mine! nt

[tandot]

5. Their actually DUers who do that???

:evilgrin:

[dysfunctional press]

6. while we're on the subject, there's also your, you're and yore...

and maybe were, we're, where, wear and ware.

[Lautremont]

32. Ah, for a return to the days of you're

when nights would where suites of armor.

[thecrow]

33. Hear here!!!!

[Guaranteed]

51. I can't remember the last time I saw someone actually type "you're."

Although people use the word constantly.

[Mythsaje]

I want to address MY pet peeve, language-wise.

"It's" is a contraction of the words "it is." "Its" is a possessive form of the pronoun "It."

Those posters who make this mistake shouldn't feel TOO bad, however, since I have seen a lot of signs posted at various work-places, posted by people who should know better, that highlight this mistake.

Makes me want to grab someone by the collar and tell him or her "Hey! I'll proofread if I have to, dammit! Anything to keep from having to see these stupid erroneous signs and "official" documents all the time!"

Can you tell that errors like these make me crazy?

[hvn_nbr_2]

34. Grammar: Its too bad it doesn't get it's due

And its all so simple. Just deal with "it" as you do other pronouns.

The dog wears it's collar just as the boy wears hi's hat and the girl wears her's too. When its done with it's business outside and wants to come back in, hes supposed to open the door to let it back in. If hes busy, shes supposed to open it.

See how simple it is.
:toast:

[TexasLawyer]

59. interesting language trivia

The possessive apostrophe began its existence as a contraction apostrophe.

In the olden day people would refer to, say, "the king his crown." Over the years, "king his" was shortened to "king's".

[karlrschneider]

60. Did you forget the sarcasm smilie?

...

[Mythsaje]

63. Arrgh!

You trying to give me a brain cramp?

LOL

[hvn_nbr_2]

69. It gave me a brain cramp trying to write it.

Trying to get every use wrong was hard.

[Kelly Rupert]

56. Self-delete

[novalib]

131. Its OK!

Each thing has it's own reason to exist.

[rhiannon55]

7. It seems so simple

There: a place
Their: a plural possessive
They're: a contraction of "they are"

[Vanje]

42. Their loosers

Loosers pay no attention to there grammar.

[Guaranteed]

52. I believe that's "grammer." nt

[TallahasseeGrannie]

8. Now their's a really good ideal

and I don't they they're be much argument that there posts could used some help, huh?

[Fierce]

Try being a professional copy editor.

It makes you hate people.

[Hand]

31. Roger that...

I've been doing that for quite a few years. Aside from the usual atrocities, I'm waging jihad against "comprised of". I'll probably lose. :hi:

[coalition_unwilling]

83. I've declared my own personal jihad on corporate execs who

use "enhance" when they mean "improve" (with apologies to Joseph Heller :)

[Sweet Freedom]

108. And "over" instead of "more than". /nt

[tenshi816]

119. I hate that one too.

I also hate the usage of the word "impact" as a verb.

One that also drives me crazy in the UK is when I hear newsreaders use the term "protest against" (when referring to whatever the protest is about). The word protest, by definition, is speaking against something. I don't care if they say "protest about" or simply that someone is protesting something, just don't say protest against.

I don't even want to get started on the expression "déjà vu all over again." It's like fingernails on a blackboard to me.

Don't you hate it, as well, when you run across people who say that grammar doesn't matter because our language is always changing and evolving? I'm often told I'm too pedantic when it comes to the English language.

[RebelOne]

44. I know the feeling. I am a copy editor. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

92. 5 years ago, I couldn't even spell "copy editor"

Now I are one.

[Greyhound]

64. I can see how that would happen. BTW, what is up in the profession?

Like you (I think it was you) pointed out, these elementary errors are much more commonplace in all media than they used to be. Does this indicate that there are openings in this field? I'm asking because I want to transition my career from the technical development side to the writing/support side, where my talents lie and are apparently needed, especially in the internet community.

[Fierce]

70. No. It means newspapers owners don't give a good goddamn

about how anything looks, just whether it's making a decent "profit margin". It means that newsrooms are painfully understaffed and underpaid. It means...but I'm getting wound up. (Breathe, breathe.) And as far as online content and blogs are concerned, people don't want to pay for something they think they can do themselves ("I've got spellcheck, what else do I need?"). They'd rather get it out, noticed and commented on than have it be good.

Uh, not that I'm bitter, or anything. As I said, the business fills you with hate.

[Greyhound]

71. Really sorry to hear that. It's no better in IT, cheap is all that matters,

speed, accuracy, and functionality be damned.

[Hav]

75. .

Do you work as a programmer?
I've been studying for 5 years now and I guess I can be happy to earn something like 25k a year after taxes.
I don't want to be greedy but I chose informatics for two reason: I thought that I would have better chances to find a job and I also believed that the wages would be higher. Seems I was wrong and it's really frustrating.

[Greyhound]

85. Not for over six years now.

Many of my friends do (sorry, make that a few of my friends still do) and their tales of woe are legion. It breaks my heart to see how badly the truly amazing hardware we have today is utilized.

[Hand]

122. Know what you mean...

I'm something of a technical writer--in my case, a writer who obtained technical knowledge. At one place where I worked, the VP for development actually said that he didn't care if we sent out accurate documentation--it just had to be documentation.

We truly did not get along. :grr:

[Greyhound]

124. What kills me most is that these assholes have no concept of the

inevitable consequences to their attitude. We are no longer innovating, merely maximizing short-term profits.

Look at Vista for a prime example. :grr::banghead:

[puebloknot]

103. Yes, hate people! :)

I train people to do editing for court reporters. I get resumes all the time through e-mail, and I just cringe. They're looking for a job or a new career. They *should* be putting their best foot forward. I read the crap and send it flying across the room, to my round file over there.

"I have excellent english skills."

"I look forward to you're response."

"Your invited to call me at my home or on my Cell."

"I have been a Legal Secretary for 3 years, and am now Homeschooling my three Children, who are 3 months, two years, and 5 year's old. I am a Polished person, and will be a credit to your Business."

Oh, oh, oh! Thankfully, some really talented people come my way!

Funny thing, years ago I worked in the physics department of a university, and had to type and edit papers for the professors there. I was shocked that many of them (American profs) knew their physics (I had to assume), but they didn't know their English very well.

[Sweet Freedom]

109. One of our department managers was looking for a new editor

The manager was so shocked that none of the professionals could pass the test, he finally asked his fellow co-workers if they knew ANYONE who could simply read and write. (Out of the 35 applicants tested, only two passed.)

Oh, and BTW: I work with doctors and, like your professors, none of them can write.

[puebloknot]

126. Well...

...the world is just going to hell in a handbasket! Or is that hand basket? And what is a .... Oh, never mind!

I can't enjoy reading the Great American Novel as much as I used to because there are so darned many grammatical errors and misspelled words.

[Kazak]

9. Thank you!

One of my biggest peeves. I know it's petty, but this common mistake bugs the hell out of me.

Also, your/you're, then/than, and...worst of the bunch...it's D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y!!!

[jilln]

10. Please please please

Address the idea that the plural can only be formed by use of an apostrophe.

We all have rich fantasy lives, but in the real world, "chair's" and "stereo's" don't own anything.

[JudyM]

133. Who's idea is that?

O8)

[Sugarcoated]

12. I must confess I get confused when to put the apostrophe

after a plural. What really annoys me is when people don't use commas and when they put a space before punctuation ! <---

I'm gonna go read up on plurals now.


Edit: Of course I screwed up a sentence on this post. :blush:

God knows I would suck as a proofreader.

[RebelOne]

45. You use an apostrophe when it is a possessive plural. n/t

[patricia92243]

14. I have trouble re-writing a sentence so it will not end in a preposition. I know not to do the

obvious one "Where's it at?" But I've been guilty of writing other awkward sentences.

[flowomo]

25. as the famous saying goes:

Ending a sentence with a preposition is an error up with which I will not put. (and usually the correct form is a "to which," "for which," "with which," "in which," etc. construction prior to the verb phrase. "That's the gun I shot him with." = "That's the gun with which I shot him." I think Dick Cheney said that.

[Lautremont]

67. There's only one man who can get away with that kind of thing,

and his initials are YODA.

[petgoat]

101. Olberman makes it work. nt

[Vanje]

49. Avoid sentences which end in preposition.

Wrong: "Where's it at?"
Correct:"Where's it at, asshole?"

[A Simple Game]

61. Thanks, my eyes are still wet from laughing.

Who says you can't learn anything from reading DU?

[fishwax]

115. That's not really a rule anyway, so you don't have to worry about it too much

sometimes it may offend people who don't know as much as they think they do, but the fact is that the ending a sentence in a preposition "rule" isn't really a rule at all. It was introduced into English grammar around the end of the 18th century by a scholar who thought English (a Germanic language) would be elevated by following the rules of Latin. But with respect to the preposition rule, he had an inaccurate understanding of the latin rule in the first place. So the preposition "rule" as it stands today is a misapplication of a misunderstood rule that shouldn't have been applied in the first place.

It rarely results in confusion or misunderstanding, it's difficult and inelegant (though sometimes entertaining) to work around it, and it has no logical basis anyway, so for all these reasons I recommend people don't stress themselves out about the preposition rule :)

[nomo]

15. You misspelled "moron"

[tandot]

18. No, he didn't. It is freeper spelling:

[Bake]

23. You must be new around here ...

"Moran" is the proper spelling of "moran," when used in reference to freepers. Comes from the "Get a brain, Morans!" sign held up by a freeper at a giant freeprally. Somebody will doubtless post the pic.

Bake

[Arugula Latte]

38. !

:rofl:

(I'm sorry to laugh, but you don't know how many times someone has posted the "correct" spelling of "moran." Moran and confusion over its use here at DU is a long-running joke ... )

[Lautremont]

16. I suppose people will call you a "grammar nanny" for starting this thread.

Maybe even a "grammar nazi." That's okay; they can call me one too. It's generally a way of covering up "they're" own intellectual insecurities.

Why people think the quality of communication is irrelevant to a medium whose sole purpose is communication is beyond me. There are all sorts of reasons for bad grammar of course, and it's unfortunate that poor education and outright stupidity are bound up with such otherwise unrelated issues as language barriers and lapses in memory or dexterity. But, on the receiving end at least, they are.

I think the purpose of threads like this is to try and take simple carelessness off the table, if possible. Like it or not, egregious misspellings do affect your post, given that the entire value of the post is in what others think of it. That's the nature of the medium. Grammar only wouldn't matter if we were all sending these messages to ourselves alone.

I've probably misspelled a word or two in this post. Chalk one up to a typo and the other up to ignorance.

[yellowcanine]

17. Their, they're, don't get in a tizzy. Their are worse things to get excited about.

[flowomo]

19. it's not only that DUers make a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes..

but then you see so many "those dumb freeper" threads picking on their spelling/grammar mistakes. A tad hypocritical -- and if such mistakes make them stupid, then the shoe fits here, too.

[LisaM]

20. What about an it's its thread? Or, an implying/inferring thread?

Just wondering......

A few years ago, there was a guy on local radio who proclaimed himself a grammar maven and solicited calls from people. He himself kept saying, "the reason is BECAUSE, the reason is BECAUSE". In our house, you were corrected if you said that because it's redundant. We were told to say the reason is THAT. I called in and corrected him, and he refused to acknowledge his error.

Another one that gets me is buying a home. You buy a HOUSE. You MAKE it a home. You cannot buy a HOME.

My boyfriend's mother always used to say "the cake is done. You are FINISHED".

[hvn_nbr_2]

37. House and home

There's one instance of this one that really steams me. Our local paper's real estate section has separate columns for condos/duplexes/etc and for single-family dwellings. The heading they use for single-family dwellings is "Homes." As if people who live in condos or apartments don't have homes. I guess in their view, half the county is "home-less."

[LisaM]

43. Proving my point that "buying a home" is a real estate term!

Unfortunately, the masses have drunk the Kool-Aid.

[harlinchi]

21. Sez Safire:

William Safire's Rules for Writers:

* Remember to never split an infinitive.
* The passive voice should never be used.
* Do not put statements in the negative form.
* Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
* Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
* If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
* A writer must not shift your point of view.
* And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
* Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
* Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
* Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
* If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
* Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
* Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
* Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
* Always pick on the correct idiom.
* The adverb always follows the verb.
* Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives

[BadgerKid]

28. Winston Churchill

reputedly answered "Madame, that is a rule up with which I shall not put."
:evilgrin:

[hedgehog]

22. It's crept into the printed word . I see this mistake and others like it

in newspapers and magazines all the time. Spell Check can be a friend, but don't trust it to know which word you meant to use.

[seabeyond]

24. you caught my their when it should have been there huh. oooops

so sorry. mistake. i know the difference and god forbid we look like the morans that we tease. but it was too late for me to edit it to there. i almost chopped off my fingers. but then decided to forgive me.

[twilight_sailing]

26. It was a time where....

Somehow time has become geographical.

[Greyhound]

29. Sadistic bastards, all of you!!!

Argh!:rofl::kick::hi::rofl::rofl::kick::hi::rofl::rofl::kick::hi::rofl::rofl::kick::hi::rofl::rofl::kick::hi::rofl::rofl::kick::hi::rofl:

[BadgerKid]

30. Oblig. Bob Angry Flower

[The Witch]

35. Its really simple. A Web site should watch it's spelling.

Oh, it physically hurt me to write that.........

:stares at subject line:

must... post... must... not... correct.

[Greyhound]

39. LOL!

:rofl: See # 29 :rofl:

[troubleinwinter]

97. Don't you mean "web sight"? Ugh.

[Oeditpus Rex]

100. 'Web site'

Two words.

Marry me.

:hi:

[The Witch]

129. Already engaged...

but I WAS hoping you'd respond to this thread!!

[Oeditpus Rex]

135. I know

I think I congratulated you when you announced it. If not... :hug:

I'm just glad you're keepin' the faith. :thumbsup:

[novalib]

132. Its Web Cite....

Its web cite, isn't it?

[Oeditpus Rex]

136. Web site

Two words, with the 'W' up, because "Web" is part of "World Wide Web," which is a trademark.

[Arugula Latte]

36. Agreed.

:thumbsup:

[meisje]

40. your so screwn

[Guava Jelly]

41. I say quit being so petty

[Greyhound]

46. I choose to take this as a humorous comment. I hope that is how it was intended. n/t

[Guava Jelly]

48. It was humorous

No worry's
As the king of rotten grammar it does get old seeing people gripe about it though.
(I wasn't accusing you of having no dick)
:)

[TahitiNut]

47. It's the Dreaded Homonym Virus! Spell-checkers are helpless before it.

:dunce:

[never cry wolf]

50. Take The Commonly Confused Words Test

This was posted in the lounge a few weeks ago.

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170

blush........



English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 86% Expert!
You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

[Goblinmonger]

72. I got the same score as you

and I still strongly disagree with the "a while/awhile/for a while" question. Those are NOT the same. "Awhile" is an adverb and "a while" is frickin' NOT. OK, I'm over it now. Really.

[Greyhound]

89. 92%, 92%, 86%, 93%

I usually read too fast and miss some details.

[mainegreen]

53. Their, their: they'res nothing to be upset about. There learning as they go!

:P

[yellowcanine]

54. Its almost as bad as it's and its. Not to mention effect and affect.

[yellowcanine]

62. you're and your.

[eppur_se_muova]

114. I've just about given up on affect/effect. It's even worse than insure/ensure. nt

[praeclarus]

55. let's toss in loser, looser. their are people who...

... just have a reel problem with those. I hope
your not one of them.

[flowomo]

58. oh, yes, I agree.

[Kelly Rupert]

57. And now my list.

The airplane is a twentieth-century invention, not a twentieth century invention. There were far more than twenty inventions that century before the airplane coame around.

If you disagree, you can say there were fewer inventions. You may not say there were less inventions.

Also, you can end sentences with prepositions and split infinitives. Anyone who disagrees is not someone to whom talking is worth. Letting your modifiers dangle, however, I'll kill you.

[yellowcanine]

66. My favorite "ending sentence with preposition" story/joke.

A visitor to the Universtiy of Virginia stopped a student and asked, "Could you tell me where the library is at? The student puffed up his chest and retorted, "We students here at the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, do not end sentences in prepositions." The visitor paused a moment and then said, "Could you tell me where the library is at, asshole?"

[coalition_unwilling]

84. When my wife says she woke up "with a jerk," I'm never sure whether

she's actually referring to me :)

[Individualist]

65. When I see "marshall law", I cringe.

[NorthernSpy]

68. Yeah, it's MARTIAL law, kids! Not "marshall law", not "marital law"...

... although "marital" law could just be a typo.

That one bugs me too, notsodumbhillbilly.



(edit: added missing word)

[Captain Hilts]

77. I think we need more marital laws, to be frank. To protect it and all. nt

[Greyhound]

74. I know what you mean, that Sheriff Marshall is one mean son-of-a-bitch.

:scared:
:hi::kick:

[phylny]

102. Our daughter's high school English teacher wrote something on the board

for all of the parents to mull over as he was urging us to make sure our teens read SOMETHING every day. He said, "What is this word?":

romodel

We scratched our heads and had no clue. He answered, "This is what happens to students who don't read. They hear a word, and don't see it in print, and therefore make up the spelling."

The word was supposed to be "role model."

:)

[KansDem]

73. While we're on the subject (kinda), when did the verb "to go" replace the verb "to say?"

As in:

"Well, I go 'why don't you come over to my house?' and he goes 'I can't, I have to clean up my room'"

or...

"I went 'let's go to the park,' and she went, 'O.K., right after I eat!'"

...like icepicks in my ears...

[omega minimo]

88. 1970

That's a new one? Just wait til the wave of "I'm all" (replacing "I go") reaches your neck of the woods!!

:yoiks: "I'm all like, ya know."

[Hand]

123. Few things are more ghastly.

However, "So I'm all like (blah blah) and then he's like (blah blah)"...

[Captain Hilts]

76. Someone needs to fund a public service TV ad to explain this.

It makes people look stooooooooooopid!

[ecstatic]

78. I admit- I forgot the rules for WHO vs. WHOM

and WHO's vs. WHOSE. :rofl:

Maybe I'll google-up a refresher course when I'm really bored. If I'm ever caught mixing up the other stuff it's simply a typo, and I apologize in advance.

[fishwax]

121. A quick rule for who/whom

Speaking grammatically, "whom" is (like "him") an object, whereas "who" is (like "he") a subject.

So if the word is a subject (where you would normally use "he"), use who: "Who is the winner?" = "he is the winner.").

If the word is an object (where you would normally use "him"), use whom: "Whom are you talking to?" = "you are talking to him."

[madinmaryland]

79. You loosed me on this one!!

:evilgrin:

I guess we're screwn!!

[coalition_unwilling]

80. Hopefully we won't (yuk, yuk, yuk) -n/t

[treestar]

81. And it is not "we're screwn," it's "we have been screwn."

[flowomo]

82. this may sound fishy to you....

but the past tense pluperfect of screw is schrod.

[eppur_se_muova]

113. Scrod = young cod for those who aren't familiar therewith.

I've forgotten many things I learned in college, but not that.

[omega minimo]

86. Thair's also a need for a "CU**FACE" thread

[Taxloss]

87. And it's Gandhi, not Ghandi. n/t

[Kelly Rupert]

111. And Buddha, not Bhudda.

[RiverStone]

90. Karma or Kharma? Whatever you say, it was meant to be (:

[Hand]

125. Well, it's Sanskrit.

However, "Karma" is the correct transcriptive spelling--at least it's the most commonly recognized. "Dharma" is the correct spelling for a closely related term. They actually do reflect subtle differences in the original pronunciation.

[bigwillq]

91. UT OH!

The spelling police is here.






:hide:

[Mr_Spock]

93. I hate when I make an idiot mistake and it's beyond the edit period

I've made the there, their, they're mistake a few times when typing quickly.

[roguevalley]

94. its, it's, see, sea, si, uh ... lose/loose, uh ...

[bobbieinok]

95. between you and I (this is EVERYWHERE)

He is who they saw or He is whom they saw

[upi402]

96. those misused words scream "FREEPER TROLL" to me

Freeps ain't got no good spelin gramer mostly

It's the eloquent ones that worry me.

[spooky3]

106. Here's a really helpful site

Common Errors in English

by a Washington university professor

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

[Robbien]

134. Now that is one of the best cheat sheets I've seen

Thanks. Bookmarked.

[Hippo_Tron]

98. Morans...

[troubleinwinter]

99. I fixed my supervisor's computer WORD program so that he was utterly

unable to use the word "witch" (as in "Witch way shall we go?").

I figured the likelyhood that he'd ever need to type a Halloween message was small.

[spooky3]

105. uh, it's "likelihood"--sorry

[nicknameless]

104. I'm curious about the origin of "screwn". Where did that come from?

I started seeing it on election night. I'm guessing it has a freeper origin too.

[Sweet Freedom]

110. Yes, it's from a freeper thread, but I do not have the link /nt

[LWolf]

107. The degree that we as a society value literacy

is evident in our grammar. In my opinion, of course.

[Sweet Freedom]

112. alot

It's two words--a lot--not one.

(Now, allot is a word, but that means something different.)

[leftchick]

116. ware, oh wear, oh where has my brain gone?

:crazy:

[porphyrian]

117. Their's no problem with what there saying, is they're? - n/t

[Recursion]

118. Also, it's "hypocrisy", "definitely" and "separate"

Not "hypocracy", "hipocrisy", "definately", or "seperate".

[emcguffie]

120. Please add "It's" and "its"? nt

[BootinUp]

127. your baying rally annul about this. n/t

[Sequoia]

128. There were three girls with glitter in their hair. Now they're at the movies.

[novalib]

130. THEIR, THEIR!!! ITS not THAT Bad!

Their, their, greyhound1966, its not that bad.

Everyone should have there own viewpoint.

And each should have it's own opportunity.

And it makes me nauseous when a person can't get they're one ideas rite.