Grammatical/spelling errors that most annoy you.

[Hillary]

Maybe it's just me, but I can't help getting cross when people constantly fuck up on the simplest grammatical or spelling rules.

I just wondered what everyone else was annoyed by.

I'll start the ball rolling

People should know the difference between to, two and too.

Likewise there, their and they're.

Also, it's "should HAVE", not "should OF".

And it's "I did" or "I have done", not "I done"

Final one for the moment, effect and affect - get it right.

If this one's been done before, apologies - I had a scroll through and couldn't see it.

[Elheru Aran]

'Conceed' instead of 'Concede'. 'Your'/'you're'. I could go on. Gah!

[kheegster]

It's 'different FROM', not 'different THAN'!

[RedImperator]

Also, it's "should HAVE", not "should OF".

"Should of" is the phonetic spelling of how people in several regions say "should've". In Philadelphia, almost everyone pronounces it "should of". It's still wrong written like that, but it's an understandable mistake.

"They" as a singular pronoun drives me crazy. And I'm getting more and more tight-assed about ending clauses in prepositions.

[The Grim Squeaker]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr; also any form of texting shorthand makes my eyes bleed

[Danny Bhoy]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr; also any form of texting shorthand makes my eyes bleed

The missing "u"s get my goat as well. SMS shorthand is fine when SMSing. But not when writing letters and emails and shit.

[Mange]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr

The missing "u"s get my goat as well. SMS shorthand is fine when SMSing. But not when writing letters and emails and shit.

But "armor" instead of "armour" and "color" instead of "colour" is American spelling (i.e. -or instead of -our and also for example -ze instead of -se).

also any form of texting shorthand makes my eyes bleed

Yeah, I dislike that as well.

[Hillary]

any form of texting shorthand makes my eyes bleed

Ah, yes - txt spk

[Eris]

I must admit, I'm not particularly a grammar/spelling whore. So long as the ideas are accurately and clearly conveyed language has served its purpose and I'm usually fairly happy (or not depending on what was conveyed, but that's contentual displeasure). That rules out right off the bat text speak, 'cause no one can freaking understand it clearly. ur is not a word dammit!

And all that being said, "I wish I was" instead of "I wish I were" just gets under my skin. Likewise, despite my supposedly not caring, you'll notice I take great pains to be fairly accurate in regards to both spelling and grammar; figure that one out.

[Bounty]

Folk's who abuse apostrophe's.

Too many comma's,,, or people who type like Shatner...with pauses,,,that really pisse's me off...

[drachefly]

Discretely shoplifting and discreet mathematics.

Aside from that, they seem to be covered already...

[Lord Revan]

leet speak (no I'm not gonna even try spell it "correctly") and over use of acronyms.

[Gil Hamilton]

"They" as a singular pronoun drives me crazy. And I'm getting more and more tight-assed about ending clauses in prepositions.

That's why in grammar you should always be a top.


Mostly what ticks me off is people who don't know how to use punctuation and half-ass simple words.

Is it really so much harder to type "Hey, could you tank a Scholomance run?" that you have to resort to "hey could u tnk scholo??" Seriously, it actually took me longer to type the second because it was unnatural.

[The Grim Squeaker]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr

But "armor" instead of "armour" and "color" instead of "colour" is American spelling (i.e. -or instead of -our and also for example -ze instead of -se).

Irrelevant, it's still a mutilation of the correct form and is simply being lazy, I could vote for a move to short hand on the "it's eaZier" route .
Concerning that, did anyone read the vodafone plan to offer cell phone summaries of great plays/works (Romeo and Juliet for example) in ultra short hand sms speak? The picture on the paper made my eyes bleed, I can't understand why people can't add two letter out of five

[Big Phil]

alot of what pises me of is people who cant spell or use apostrophe's, puntuation or, other grammatical symbols correctly. Their a bunch of fuckers witch should be burnt at the steak.

[Xenophobe3691]

When people spell "rogue," "rouge." GODDAMMIT it pisses me off!

[Captain Cyran]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr

But "armor" instead of "armour" and "color" instead of "colour" is American spelling (i.e. -or instead of -our and also for example -ze instead of -se).

Irrelevant, it's still a mutilation of the correct form and is simply being lazy, I could vote for a move to short hand on the "it's eaZier" route .

According to you, and maybe some others, but I guess the people who grade things and decide grammar think you're wrong. Or else I'd think every single essay I've handed in that says color or armor would have been marked wrong. In other words, it's not irrelevant. It is the legitimate spelling of those two words within America, don't like it tough. You're over-reacting to an evolution of a language over time and geographical area.

Concerning that, did anyone read the vodafone plan to offer cell phone summaries of great plays/works (Romeo and Juliet for example) in ultra short hand sms speak? The picture on the paper made my eyes bleed, I can't understand why people can't add two letter out of five

This however, totally legit. I fucking hate sms speak, especially when it slaughters the old works.

EDIT: Fixing tags.

[drachefly]

As for the dropping the 'u', blame Webster for altering the language.

That said, I cannot figure out where I'm supposed to put the 'u' sound in 'colour' or 'armour', or what other phonetic rule it is supposed to be activating.

[Guardsman Bass]

Any grammatical error involving a missed 't', or a mispelled 't', seems to really piss me off.

[Mange]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr

But "armor" instead of "armour" and "color" instead of "colour" is American spelling (i.e. -or instead of -our and also for example -ze instead of -se).

Irrelevant, it's still a mutilation of the correct form and is simply being lazy, I could vote for a move to short hand on the "it's eaZier" route .

Yes, but languages evolves. Take my native language for example (Swedish, which is a tiny language). Finland was part of Sweden up until 1809 and Finland is still bilingual today with a Swedish speaking minority. There are some differences between "rikssvenska" (=national Swedish, the way Swedish is spoken in Sweden, including the various dialects) and "finlandssvenska" (the Swedish dialect spoken in Finland). The differences are mainly phonetical in nature, but there are also other differences as well. For example, eighteen ( 18 ) was earlier "aderton" in Swedish before it was simplified to "arton". Today, "arton" is rikssvenska while "aderton" still is used in finlandssvenska. Does that mean that we who speak rikssvenska are lazier? No, languages evolves.

[Jawawithagun]

The mess people tend to make of were - ware - wear - we're - where

[Alyeska]

armOr instead of armour, colOr replacing the correct coloUr

But "armor" instead of "armour" and "color" instead of "colour" is American spelling (i.e. -or instead of -our and also for example -ze instead of -se).

Irrelevant, it's still a mutilation of the correct form and is simply being lazy, I could vote for a move to short hand on the "it's eaZier" route .
Concerning that, did anyone read the vodafone plan to offer cell phone summaries of great plays/works (Romeo and Juliet for example) in ultra short hand sms speak? The picture on the paper made my eyes bleed, I can't understand why people can't add two letter out of five

Bullshit. Its a recognized and offical spelling of the word. Insulting Americans because thats how its spell is nothing more then arrogance on your part.

[Alyeska]

"They" as a singular pronoun drives me crazy. And I'm getting more and more tight-assed about ending clauses in prepositions.

If and when a singular genderless word is invented for people to use, I will stop using they. As it stands, I get tired of dealing with various instructors who can't make up their mind on how I should write. One nails me for being sexist in my language (so I use They and he doesn't mind), then another grades me down for using the grammar wrong and encourages me to use the very language that got me in trouble with the first instructor.

[General Soontir Fel]

What really annoys me is when people mix up British and American spellings (i.e. Red is my favorite colour). Doesn't happen too often, but it crops up.

Oh, and when people don't proofread and you see 'her' when it should be 'here', or vice versa. Now that, you do see all over the place.

[SCRawl]

But "armor" instead of "armour" and "color" instead of "colour" is American spelling (i.e. -or instead of -our and also for example -ze instead of -se).

Irrelevant, it's still a mutilation of the correct form and is simply being lazy, I could vote for a move to short hand on the "it's eaZier" route .
Concerning that, did anyone read the vodafone plan to offer cell phone summaries of great plays/works (Romeo and Juliet for example) in ultra short hand sms speak? The picture on the paper made my eyes bleed, I can't understand why people can't add two letter out of five

Bullshit. Its a recognized and offical spelling of the word. Insulting Americans because thats how its spell is nothing more then arrogance on your part.

Recognized by...the Americans.

Look, the differences between the english language in the U.S. and everywhere else basically came from a post-revolutionary dislike of things British. Things like the retarded pronunciation of the letter "z" came from this mindset. (This is one of those things that annoys me, though I can't get too upset, because it isn't strictly speaking incorrect in the U.S.) Noah Webster's 1783 "Elementary Spelling Book" is chiefly responsible for the differences between British and American english, and I've read quotes from him which state that establishing an American language was as important as the revolution. This is silly, really, and if you want some more silliness from Mr. Webster, read on:

In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed.… No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.

I recognize that this would be an ad hominem argument, I'm just trying to give some background on this guy whose version of the language you now defend.

In the end analysis, there isn't a very significant difference between the languages, and it takes a pretty thin skin to get too worked up about it (except for the "z", that's just dumb). From a publishing point of view, the American spellings make sense, since they almost invariably require fewer letters to get the same words across. In my experience, the Americanized spellings, pronunciations, and word replacements tend to make more intuitive sense -- "plow" instead of "plough", "lOOtenant" instead of "lEFtenant", "truck" instead of "lorry" as examples -- even though, as a Canadian, I still tend to stick with the non-American versions.