Pocaloca

I've made up for it since!

Rambling Rose

[QUOTE=jimenato;10233595] That's very clever - isn't language wonderful, which is why it's a shame if the teaching of modern languages is in decline.

I'm mortified to see that I misspelt rein as reign.

Lion in Winter

Being understood is certainly important, but it's often possible to be understood even though a bit of prose is ugly, poorly constructed, and impoverished in vocabulary. And I think that's what annoys me most about poor language skills, be it a matter of grammar or vocabulary - they impoverish the beauty and power of a language and greatly reduce the effect one can have with it. It is part of the unfairness of receiving a poor education if it leaves people unable to express themselves well and fully. Shakespeare didn't have this trouble, obviously, even though grammatical rules were clearly different in his time. On the other hand, many people now forming a plural with an apostrophe do.

Shakespeare's "mistakes" didn't impoverish or reduce the language, whereas simply not knowing anything else does.

In my humble opinion, of course.

Pocaloca

Do people think the rules of grammar should be adapted to follow to popular usage, or that usage should follow the rules?

There is no Real Academia for English, like there is for French and Spanish, so who should make those rules?

Dick Dasterdly

[QUOTE=Rambling Rose;10233696] Lazy sods like myself have a good excuse.
I occasionally dictate instead of typing on the keyboard, so I can blame the limitations of modern technology for not being fully aware of which sense of a particular word I meant.

Fred James

Interesting point.

The English language is a living language and every year new words get entered into the OED.

I'm not sure what the "official" source of correct Grammar is these days. Possibly Fowler's - A Dictionary of Modern English Usage or possibly The Oxford English Grammar - but I am not sure how either of these react to colloquial changes in modern grammar.

Rambling Rose

I agree with all of that and I think it can also be a question of context. Poor grammar and spelling annoys me most when I see it in offical documents or when someone is trying to sell me something.

Lion in Winter

It most annoys me when my CEO who makes 180k a year does it.

jackytoo

The higher up you are the less you need grammar and spelling as long as you get someone else to redo everything.

I had a personal e-mail from someone who has just paid £2 million for a golf course, one bit said "I won't loose site of it"

cricketman

Grammar and spelling mistakes or even typos are often used as a weapon by those who are looking for ways to exert their supposed superior status over others.

The irony of status anxiety is you only worry about those immediately above and below you. Meaning that the salt of the earth working class and the upper class are normally much more confident and pleasant people

As for the rich guy with "loose", he's probably far too busy to check whether he spelt it properly, and too rich (or satisfied) to care!

lmj50

What I dislike is the use of "there" when it should be "their" and "your" instead of "you're". However the use of the word "of" where is should be "have", really gets to me for some reason!!!
For example "could of", "should of" etc.
How did that come about? Is this poor spelling or just poor education?

Pocaloca

It's phonetic - when you are speaking they sound the same. Many people learn more easily by listening than by reading.

lynnxa

I don't remember changing my username to lmj50 & writing that


totally agree


it's nothing to do with spelling - it's just poor education

Lynn R

I don't like it either. Nor hearing people say "I was sat" when it should be "I was sitting" or "I sat".

lmj50

I don't think it is phonetic. There is an "H" in have.
I will agree that if you had a Birmingham accent or from Dudley you may be right though.