Things that bug me
I was reading a magazine in the doctor's office the other day and they kept referring to the Eastern Sea Borg.
I thought to myself.. WTF is a Sea Borg? Then coincidentally on the History channel I heard the narrator clearly say Sea Borg. I thought maybe they were talking about the Eastern Seaboard.
Here are some others that often get past the editors.
Quite instead of Quiet
Loose instead of Lose
Very Unique (either it is or isn't)
"Irregardless" (an illogical double negative)
"Loafs" instead of loaves
"Saleing" instead of selling.
"for sell" instead of "For sale"
"midevil" instead of medieval
CURVE YOUR APPETITE (grrr)
Door Jam instead of Jamb
Grin and bare it instead of "bear". Bare is naked. I guess they could grin and bare it..
I know I know... I'm being an ass. I write conversationally and use many slang words. I'm sure I mess things up from time to time.
However, if I'm paying money for professionally written articles and books, I want it done right.
I was reading online about an air emergency a few weeks ago. The author wrote that, "passengers slid down the emergency "shoot" to safety."
I wrote an E-mail to the editor regarding the error and in his response he wrote that he saw no problem with the article.. So again, I wrote and asked if he had ever jumped out of a plane wearing a "parashoot"..The article was fixed within the hour.
Yeah I'm an ass.
Labels: Rants
posted by Bill Rowland @ April 20, 2009
33 Comments
33 Comments:
Our local advertising is constantly guilty of such mistakes. Even the news outlets misspell and misuse from time to time. My guess is because we are a cat's toss from the Mexican border that a lot of the media isn't quite up on the English language. Doesn't excuse it, though.
I'm picky.
I could understand if it was rednecks doin' the writin'....we rednecks have one hell of a time converting redneck think into good American English
Door jam... guilty. And probably guilty of many more spelling and grammar errors than I realize. When you read my blog just assume I made those mistakes on porpoise :)
I suck at writing... Just saying...
Oh hell yes. And then "your" and "there" instead of "you're" and "they're."
And don't even get me started on the growing use of the apostrophe to indicate more than one, as in, say, "I scored some good cheap 7.62 NATO. 1000 round's for 400 buck's plus sale's tax."
Yeah, I know we are all probably guilty from time to time of spelling errors but dang, I don't have someone editing my posts (or comments) to see if I have an error that, plus I do have spellchecker which sometimes does alert me to a really obvious error in my spelling. That doesn't however pick up on words used incorrectly but spelled correctly. Rats! But some of the errors you mentioned should be fairly obvious to writers/editors for publication. One thing I would like to know though -where is the deli located that is selling Chicken Parmesan made with "Monster" cheese anyway? I want to make damned sure I don't hit that establishment! Although, that ad really did get a big chuckle from me. As did the "parashoot" vs parashute. Now, why are both those coming up as errors?
I was just in Target on Saturday, looking at some plates and platters, and noticed the directory sign at the end of the aisle.
Imagine my surprise, I was in the "Dinnerware and Bows" aisle.
It was posted that way at both ends of the aisle. (I took a picture to show the girls at work.)
Our local news has very bad spelling on their website, too.
And then all the texting short-cuts!!
(Sorry for butting in, BUT spelling and misuse is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. And I, too, wanted to know what is monster cheese? Or do they just mean huge quantities thereof?)
Kath
No! You're not. We are entitled to better writing from so called professionals.
I emailed our local television station's website over the same type thing, Hammer. I told them how ignorant they sounded and how their site (how many times have you seen that as "they're sight"?) was a blight on the entire South and added fuel to the stereotypical idea of Southerners not being able to speak correctly.
The entire site was down a few hours and came back proofed & polished.
Maybe they think we're too dumb to notice?
With the advent of the computer, people stopped reading books as much, and with that, lost their abilityb to spell and comprehend the context of words within a sentence. That's why there are so many mistakes like the ones you mentioned. We sadly have an illiterate society to a great extent.
*gigglesnort*
... and people tell me I am too picky about these things - HRUMPF!
If it were not for spell check I would be screwed. I don't spell check by blog, because I have an attitude problem with perfection. I sometime write in Texan and most don't understand.
Your two dammed chewsy with you're righting. Why loose sleep over it? Chute man, its just words, write?
I always have a problem where and were. I don't know why but those two always give me problems.
Others that also annoy me are:
"hone in on" - Until just a few years ago this was correctly used as "home in on." I don't know who started it, but it's wrong.
"baited breath" - Should be "bated breath," as in breath that has been abated (interrupted), not as in breath that smells like something you put on a fish hook.
And my most hated word: vet. Until maybe 10 years ago, this was a slang term that meant "to perform a veterinary examination." And then suddenly someone decided it sounded cool to use it instead of "evaluate." Still, every time I hear that some political appointee has been "vetted" I get the image of some government goon with a horse thermometer up his @ss, so it's not all bad.
I'm always shocked at the crap that gets printed. Good for you for calling someone on their goof.
i hate when people say saLmon in stead of samon. The l is silent. It bugs me.
a few years ago, the HS my daughter was attending held a student/parent swap day. now, i've been in combat zones. i still was not prepared for that experience.
i day in a local HS, and you will no longer be confused as to why English is a mystery for most folk.
students don't mind, because it doesn't matter to the adults.
I don't think schools teach grammar and spelling anymore. Just showing our age I guess.
You're not an ass. Just because so many things are on a downhill slide in this country doesn't mean we shouldn't fight it.
you may be an ass, but at least you can spell!
(you're not an ass)
My parents learned Standard American English, for if their immigrant parents caught them talking like they just got off the banana boat, they'd get whipped. Do things right, or don't do them at all.
And if you think Hammer and I are just being more aware nowadays than when we were younger, go to the library and get a newspaper from 20-30 years ago and try to find a grammatical or spelling error. Or a book from 20 years ago. You will not find any mistakes.
In addition to the mistakes you pointed out, some of mine are people who write definately, or use myself instead of me for the direct object, as if that sounds classier because it has twice the syllables.
Extra credit: if you really want to curl up in a corner for a good cry, tell a kid to make change. No, not what the computer says to give a customer. Here's the bare naked change drawer; the bill is $5.67, and I hand you a $20. Put the $20 in the drawer, then go about making change. No subtracting allowed, go with the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars method.
Watch their faces freeze in a gaped mouth stun, and listen to the urr's and uhh's. Remember, these people will be in charge when you're in the old folk's home.
Hammer,
I read a local chat room. I really love it when someone gets all in a huff and call another chatter "stoopid". Kinda ironic.
Spelling errors in supposedly professional publications (online or on paper) are particularly annoying to me.
Especially if these ass clowns want us to believe they know what the hell they're talking about.
It reminds me of a Gunsmoke episode when Festus was explaining why he didn't know how to read.
"Well Matthew, if I was to learn how to read all that writin', how would I know the feller that was a'doin all the writin' knew what he was writin' about?"
Makes sense to me.
Long live the Ass.
an old friend of mine used to say, "let's go have a PINATA colada!" and i used to correct her and she still kept it up.
We must speak up about these things, if no one complains, eventually what we read will be incomprehensible. I blame spell check programs-a spell check can't distinguish between past tense and present tense in a sentence, and it's up to people to double-check the spell check. I guess it's too much trouble for some people. I see errors all the time, last week a huge background graphic the local news anchor was standing in front of read "prosection" when it was supposed to read "prosecUtion". Good Lord, you'd think they'd check something that was going to be in giant letters.
"Yeah I'm an ass."
Nah... you jist want all us folks ta better ourselfs! Dat stuff be buggin' me to.
Munster cheese maybe? Blasphemy!
axed=asked.. my biggest pet peeve.
Answer me this.. if they are sitting around idly watching TV are they loafers? Do they loafs or loaves? lol sorry
One of biggest pet peeves is poor spelling and grammar. It's a sign of laziness to me.
Most times I don't say anything when I see the mistakes in a post, newspaper, etc, but catch me in a bad mood and all hell breaks loose!
TAURUS
April 20-May 20
You aren't interested in the hustle and bustle today -- you would much rather do your own thing in your own way. It's one of those days when you really need to make sure that you're not distributed.
This was on Astrology Horoscopes today -- I know, I know, what the heck am I doing on there -- but once in a while . . . . anyway, Taurus is not mine, but it's one I check on, so I really hope they won't be "distributed" today!!
This is one of my pet peeves also. I can't seem to read a novel, newspaper article or magazine without finding an error. And I hated english class when I was in school. But I at least try to spell and get the right word.
The one that pisses me off and seems to be the most misused is your instead of you're. I see that nearly every day somewhere.
I know I'm kind of late to the party, but with the release of the latest Star Trek movie, one of my peeves has once again reared it's ugly head:
"The latest Star Track movie was released today..."
Post a Comment
Welcome back
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home