Most hated grammatical error [Merged]

javaboy · 05-12-2008 3:03pm

Smart Bug wrote: »

Data is a plural noun, a collection of facts or statistics. Datum is one item, i.e. a point of reference. Use of datums to refer to a collection of facts or statistics is also correct.

Media is another one. The meeja is biased. Grrrrr! :mad:

05-12-2008 3:08pm

I'm sure these have been covered already but I hate people who misuse "its" and "it's".

Also hate the One Direct car insurance that goes "if you have two or less penalty points..."

Last one is "I do be". I think it's a midlands thing. "I do be very thirsty when I finish playing with the sheep".

Grr, I say.

Smart Bug · 05-12-2008 3:28pm

javaboy wrote: »

Media is another one. The meeja is biased. Grrrrr! :mad:

If you're talking about one newspaper is the 'medium'?

Judging some of the standards of 'news reporting' out there I might be right...

gustavo · 05-12-2008 3:51pm

your instead of you're - very common on this board

should of instead of should have

using apostrophes in plurals i.e there's a lot of car's on the road

Not knowing the difference between there / their / they're

Sam Vimes · 05-12-2008 3:54pm

gustavo wrote: »

your instead of you're

should of instead of should have

using apostrophes in plurals i.e there's a lot of car's on the road

the word "there's" should be "there are" :P

kiffer · 05-12-2008 3:56pm

dh2007 wrote: »

I was once corrected for saying, "That belongs to me and John" (I know technically it should be John and me), but the retard who was correcting me was trying to tell me that I should have said, "I bought a drink for John & I". When I told him he was incorrect he was having none of it. It's just so bloody infuriating!! :mad:

I thought "me and Jack" vs. "Jack and me" was more of a style issue.
Which reminds me, I hate it when people correct stylistic "errors" in the same manner as they correct actual grammatical errors.
It's possible to create a sentence that is correct in terms of grammar but just sounds bad in terms of style.

Yes the sentence could be better but it's not wrong.

What also annoys me is when people use 'Myself and John are going to the shops'. Would you say, 'Myself is going to the shops'? No! so don't use it then thickos. Why do people have such a strange aversion to using 'John and I are going to the shops' in this country?

I think it's because people think they will sound too posh if they use it.

Oh god ...overuse and incorrect use of 'Myself' and 'yourself'

"I think myself and yourself should go to the shops"

gustavo · 05-12-2008 4:07pm

Sam Vimes wrote: »

the word "there's" should be "there are" :P

I'm not too sure if you're right there :pac:

dh2007 · 05-12-2008 4:15pm

kiffer wrote: »

I thought "me and Jack" vs. "Jack and me" was more of a style issue.

Yeah, it could be a stylistic issue. But I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you have to put the other person first. It being more polite to put others before you and all that jazz

kiffer wrote: »

Oh god ...overuse and incorrect use of 'Myself' and 'yourself'

"I think myself and yourself should go to the shops"

e.g. 'I'm grand, yourself?' GRRR

hullaballoo · 05-12-2008 4:20pm

dh2007 wrote: »

Like the 'loaves and the fishes' parable in the Bible.

not technically a grammatical error, but why on earth are some people addicted to using ellipses all the time?? And do people not know there are only supposed to be three 'dot dot dots', not two, not four but THREE...

Actually, it's four where the missing text includes a full stop.

E.g. From my sig: 'I woke up yesterday....[e]verything was the exact same, but there were no cats!?'

shellyboo · 05-12-2008 4:30pm

hullaballú wrote: »

Actually, it's four where the missing text includes a full stop.

E.g. From my sig: 'I woke up yesterday....[e]verything was the exact same, but there were no cats!?'

Really? I thought in that case, where an ellipsis indicates omission after a full stop, the ellipsis goes within square brackets so as to minimise messiness and confusion. Or at least that's what I've always seen and been taught. So, when partially quoting your sig:

"So, today, I posted a comment ... calling him a Nazi"

but

"I woke up yesterday morning in a parallel universe. [...] So, today, I posted a comment on the Schrödinger wiki page calling him a Nazi"

javaboy · 05-12-2008 4:35pm

shellyboo wrote: »

Really? I thought in that case, where an ellipsis indicates omission after a full stop, the ellipsis goes within square brackets so as to minimise messiness and confusion. Or at least that's what I've always seen and been taught. So, when partially quoting your sig:

"So, today, I posted a comment ... calling him a Nazi"

but

"I woke up yesterday morning in a parallel universe. [...] So, today, I posted a comment on the Schrödinger wiki page calling him a Nazi"

The square brackets is correct and makes for easier reading but is not required.

shellyboo · 05-12-2008 4:37pm

javaboy wrote: »

The square brackets is correct and makes for easier reading but is not required.

Yeah, I've just never come across the four dots thing before so now I'm curious!

hullaballoo · 05-12-2008 4:38pm

shellyboo wrote:

Really? I thought in that case, where an ellipsis indicates omission after a full stop, the ellipsis goes within square brackets so as to minimise messiness and confusion. Or at least that's what I've always seen and been taught. So, when partially quoting your sig:

"So, today, I posted a comment ... calling him a Nazi"

but

"I woke up yesterday morning in a parallel universe. [...] So, today, I posted a comment on the Schrödinger wiki page calling him a Nazi"

That's correct, but you see, you've already included the full stop outside of the brackets. Where your quotation continues right through the end of a sentence and picks back up in the middle of the next (or another) sentence, you should ensure that there is an extra '.' in your elipse.

At least, that's what the law department in UCC are preaching.

mandysmithers · 05-12-2008 4:40pm

Another one I hate is when people use 'thought' instead of 'taught', eg. I thought him everything he knows. Dickheads.

shellyboo · 05-12-2008 4:41pm

hullaballú wrote: »

That's correct, but you see, you've already included the full stop outside of the brackets. Where your quotation continues right through the end of a sentence and picks back up in the middle of the next (or another) sentence, you should ensure that there is an extra '.' in your elipse.

At least, that's what the law department in UCC are preaching.

Really? That makes my brain itch. I no likey

Smart Bug · 05-12-2008 4:47pm

mandysmithers wrote: »

Another one I hate is when people use 'thought' instead of 'taught', eg. I thought him everything he knows. Dickheads.

Well, they could be inferring some type of knowledge transferral through telepathic transmission...

dh2007 · 05-12-2008 4:55pm

mandysmithers wrote: »

Another one I hate is when people use 'thought' instead of 'taught', eg. I thought him everything he knows. Dickheads.

That annoys me too! Why do so many people have such a problem with the 'th' sound?

some irritating examples:

when 'thongue' is said instead of 'tongue'
'throath' instead of 'throat'
'threadmill' instead of 'treadmill'
'thighland' instead of 'thailand' (with a silent 'h' in the latter)

I suspect it's more prevalent in the country though, with Dubs dropping the 'th' sound more often than accidentally including it.

kiffer · 05-12-2008 5:00pm

dh2007 wrote: »

Yeah, it could be a stylistic issue. But I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you have to put the other person first. It being more polite to put others before you and all that jazz

More polite but not more correct.
Still the whole "me, myself and I" situation seems to be a minefield of mistakes and confusion for some people.

*sings*
You and me, me and you, lots and lots for us to do!

Does any one remember that childrens programme? I think it was on Channel 4 about 20 years ago

dh2007 · 05-12-2008 5:05pm

kiffer wrote: »

More polite but not more correct.
Still the whole "me, myself and I" situation seems to be a minefield of mistakes and confusion for some people.

*sings*
You and me, me and you, lots and lots for us to do!

Does any one remember that childrens programme? I think it was on Channel 4 about 20 years ago

did the tune go to, 'with a knick, knack, paddy-wack, give-a-dog-a-bone, this old man came rolling home' by any chance?! :pac:

kiffer · 05-12-2008 5:17pm

dh2007 wrote: »

I suspect it's more prevalent in the country though, with Dubs dropping the 'th' sound more often than accidentally including it.

They're over compensating.
They don't want to drop 'th' sounds from words that have them so they cram in the extra 'h' where ever they think it might fit.

The same thing happens when people try avoid sounding common. Every word that starts with a vowel sound has a 'h' stuck on the front.

"Ello, 'ow are you today? Do you like your new office?"

Becomes

"hello, how are hayou today? Do hayou like hayour new hoffice?"

Of course this only happens to comic house keepers these days.

quad_red · 05-12-2008 5:21pm

A woman I work with says 'pacifically' allot.

If she didn't say it so much it wouldn't be an issue. But she does. And she's a Dub who will happily mock the way anyone else speaks.

SPECIFICALLY, damn you!

kiffer · 05-12-2008 5:24pm

dh2007 wrote: »

did the tune go to, 'with a knick, knack, paddy-wack, give-a-dog-a-bone, this old man came rolling home' by any chance?! :pac:

I don't think so...
This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb?

kiffer · 05-12-2008 5:35pm

quad_red wrote: »

A woman I work with says 'pacifically' allot.

If she didn't say it so much it wouldn't be an issue. But she does. And she's a Dub who will happily mock the way anyone else speaks.

SPECIFICALLY, damn you!

Maybe she wants people to calm down and be more peaceful... Or to speak like people from the pacific islands. You should change accents each day till you get the right one. Also buy some grass skirts and pineapples. All information should be presented through the the medium of hula dancing.

blackbox · 05-12-2008 6:31pm

You'd be surprised at the number of contributors to the "Motors" forum whose cars have "breaks".

ashyle · 05-12-2008 7:15pm

Oh so many!

-The greengrocer apostrophe!! (There's a sign outside Arnotts of all places that says "LADIE'S WEAR" just... ugh...

- ALOT

-CHOOSE / CHOSE

- LOOSE / LOSE

- Saying should of rather than should have

- You're / Your

- their there and they're (just say it aloud people, it's easy!)

- It's /Its (admittedly it took me a while to understand it; it's means it is and its is possessive :pac: )

I should be a proofreader or something because I'm great at spotting other people's mistakes (just not my own..)

Nolanger · 05-12-2008 7:20pm

Waterford Film Festival always state some of their screened movies are World/Irish premiers.

Sam Vimes · 05-12-2008 7:33pm

gustavo wrote: »

I'm not too sure if you're right there :pac:

i haven't found a definitive source but have a look at these:

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=there+are+a+lot+of&btnG=Search&meta=

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=there%27s+a+lot+of&btnG=Search&meta=

all the ones with "there's" have a singular after the "lot of", e.g "it" and "rubbish" and all the ones with "there are" have plurals, e.g "women" and "monkeys". you had the plural "cars" so it should be "there are"

Tzetze · 05-12-2008 7:49pm

kiffer wrote: »

*sings*
You and me, me and you, lots and lots for us to do!

Does any one remember that childrens programme? I think it was on Channel 4 about 20 years ago

Yeah, I remember it. It was a BBC show... UB40 sang the theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBbx9akJKjw

And on-topic... should/could/would of is particularly annoying.

nlgbbbblth · 05-12-2008 9:57pm

Is it impolite to correct a colleague's spelling or grammar?

The three usual situations are:

1) Letters that they intend sending to customers. Four of us share one printer so I often pick up correspondence that they have typed.

2) Internal emails sent to everybody in the office.

3) Conversations with me or other colleagues.

Some people think it's a petty thing to do and 'it doesn't really matter once the meaning is clear'.

Worst offences are stray / unnecessary apostrophes, badly constructed sentences and misuse of 'revert'.

Pherekydes · 05-12-2008 9:59pm

hullaballú wrote: »

That's correct, but you see, you've already included the full stop outside of the brackets. Where your quotation continues right through the end of a sentence and picks back up in the middle of the next (or another) sentence, you should ensure that there is an extra '.' in your elipse.

It's an ellipsis. And it only ever has three dots. It is used to indicate missing text. If the missing text contains the end of a sentence then the full stop is omitted, like the missing text.

Most hated grammatical error [Merged]

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