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Why You Hate Me [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-20
Yes, I’m one of those people here at DKos who often corrects spelling or other errors. I annoy you and you let me know: I’m a teacher and you no longer wish to be in class. I’m trying to prove I’m superior to you. Sheesh, a spelling error is what I got from your diary/comment?
Consider this scenario:
I have been invited to a conference that really interests me. I arrive for the first session, striding across the room. All of a sudden, I’m flat on my face. What happened? Oh, there’s a wire stretched across the way and I tripped.
That’s what happens when I’m reading something and come across a misspelling or a gross grammar error. I’m stopped cold. There’s a feeling of disappointment and sometimes even disgust, because the writer was so obviously careless.
Another way of explaining this is to talk about a restaurant known for its excellent food. You go there and the food is, indeed, wonderful. But the tables are sticky and the whole place is kind of grubby. Ugh, what a turn-off!
Here at DKos, we mainly communicate via writing. Yes, there are cartoons and photos, but our main way of communication is in writing. My plea is to be careful. Care-full. Take care of what you’re writing and how you write it.
I hear from folks complaining about fat fingers, dyslexia, and just plain being in a hurry. DKos is not a place for PhD dissertations; we are casual here and so we shouldn’t worry about something as humdrum as English errors. Well, we are casual and I agree that there’s no need for formality. But being casual and being careless are very different.
The main reason I care so much about correct English is this. First, some background:
I left high school in the U.S. in ninth grade and continued in Germany (i.e., a German school). I left at 17, which means I didn’t really graduate (which happens at 19). I went on to translating school for three years. None of my education placed a high value on English spelling or grammar, but emphasized translation. So, what I’m trying to show you is that my education is less than stellar and I sure don’t feel superior to anyone.
So where did I learn “good” English? From reading, reading, reading. Books and newspapers, but pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I live to read.
Most books and newspapers (in the old days) have copy-editors to make sure that there are no spelling or grammar mistakes, so I unconsciously learned what is correct. I didn’t set out to learn, it just happened because I was exposed to it.
Remember in the late 70’s and 80’s, when everybody was saying irregardless? Double-negative, but it sounded good. And many folks said it, so it must be fine. Just as with Trump’s lies, if you say it or hear it often enough, it must be correct.
You know that the internet is full of folks who either don’t know or don’t care about English. Horrible spellings have become the norm. One that really makes me shudder is adding an apostrophe before the “s” when making something plural (letter’s). And I recently found myself doing it! Why? Because I had seen it so often. Gah!
My plea is for all of you to be more careful. When I post a comment, I read it two or three times before I post it. That’s your edit feature! Read before posting. Be careful, take care of what you are writing.
Nobody’s perfect, including me. An example of one of my comments: ‘I should used that on my "holiday" cards.’ Snort! Yep, missing an entire word. If you make a mistake, add a comment to correct it. Typos happen!
What I would love is for us to subconsciously teach each other correct English, rather than being one of the many vehicles that drives us into dumbness. That’s my humble request. If you feel defensive, remember “covfefe” and “moran.” Don’t be like that!
Here are some common mistakes:
Per se, not per say. This is Latin.
Ad nauseam, not ad nauseum. Latin again. Think nauseated.
Toe the line, not tow the line. A sports thingie.
Shoo-in, not shoe-in. Absolutely no shoes involved.
Piqued my interest, not peaked my interest. Comes from the French and means to prick. (Please not jokes here).
Yeah, yea, yay – Yeah is the casual yes. Yea is an old word found in the Bible and used mainly when our Congress votes. Forget yea, don’t use it. Yay is an happy cheer.
Lead/led – Lead is a metal. To lead is a verb. The past tense of to lead is led.
Rouge/roque – No need to explain, but it’s a common typo. Careful, please!
Noone – That is not a word. It’s no one.
Alot – Also not a word. It’s a lot.
Chockful – Not a word. It’s chock full. (“Chock full o’ Nuts”)
Harebrained, not hairbrained. It’s all about the bunny’s brain.
Boarder/border – The first is someone renting a room, the second is what divides two countries.
Tenant/tenet — Ditto on the first. The second is a belief or a principle.
Statue/statute – The first is art, the second is law.
Fazed/phased. The first means to bother or disturb. You all know what a phase is.
Golf/gulf – Everybody should know the difference, so it’s just a matter of carelessness.
Whose/who’s – Whose means it belongs to someone. Who’s is short for who is.
Who vs whom – It really grates when whom is used incorrectly, and we rarely use it in casual conversation, so not a problem in my opinion if it’s never used. Who says “whom should I call”? Very few folks. But I like to use whom when writing. When in doubt, I used this trick: Turn it around and use he/him in a sentence. “Whom should I call?” “I should call him.” “Whom do I love? I love him.” Careful, though. “Whom should I say is calling?” Wrong! “He is calling.” So it's who. “Whom at this time looks to be rich. . .” Wrong! “He looks rich.”
Common words that are sometimes nouns and sometime verbs, and many folks spell them as one word when they are verbs, which is wrong (spellcheck doesn’t know this):
Breakthrough – He had a breakthrough. Did he break through the ice?
Everyday – That’s an everyday occurrence. I eat every day.
Setup – That chef has a nice setup. His life is set up to succeed.
Anyway – Can we do this anyway (not a noun, but hey). I don’t think there’s any way to do this nicely.
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