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80 replies

How to Spell

ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
Another one of those darned off-season topics...

We all have words that give us trouble. One for me is restaurant (I had to go look it up just now to spell it correctly).

Some of the most common mispellings I see here are with the homonym there/their. The word there is a place or transition whereas the word their is possessive and generally refers to people or ownership. Also, just now had to go look how to spell the word possessive (one s or two in one location or two crazy )

My favorite one I see is the word lose. For instance, we will lose the game if we do not score that run from third. I most often see it spelled loose however. Loose means like a tie that is too loose around your neck (rhymes with noose - like a noose made out of rope).

Anyhoo, this is designed as a fun topic. Without calling anyone out, what are some of the common spelling or grammar problems that people see out there Smile What words give you problems and why?
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fillsfanfillsfan1,000+ posts
Good points CD. I am always looking for a spell check as, and after, I type something. I hait it when I miss a mispilled word when I proof read, than see them after I poost it.

Often tymes I am russing to reply, like it matters how fast I respond, and I make a mess of thinggs. Aslo, they're awlways seems to be a few words I go brane dead on and can't remember.

Haapy Nu Yer
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by infidel_08:
I use the Firefox browser on my own computer. It spell-checks my posts automatically. I wish I could load it on my office computer. I don't think it will fix grammar mix-ups like their, there, and they're.

Good points.

Here is a tip for people. Microsoft Word has a spell checker and grammar checker that can check while you type. Thus, in another window, open a blank office document on your desktop and type your post in the document first letting the spell checker and grammar checker do its work. You can then select all (cntrl-A) (or contrl-C to copy selected text) in the word document, and paste (contrl-V) into a blank thread in which you have opened and desire to post.

Search engines are an easy way to check more difficult words to spell. Type what you think is the word and the search engine will find the alternative or correct spellings for you. Another advantage to using a Word document is I have typed long posts before and had them wiped out for one reason or another before actually getting them accepted with the post now button.
Last edited by ClevelandDad
H Homerun041,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by ClevelandDad:

Here is a tip for people. Microsoft Word has a spell checker and grammar checker that can check while you type. Thus, in another window, open a blank office document on your desktop and type your post in the document first letting the spell checker and grammar checker do its work. You can then select all (cntrl-A) (or contrl-C to copy selected text) in the word document, and paste (contrl-V) into a blank thread in which you have opened and desire to post.


Very helpful hint, a life saver other than wrong word usage, but for those who may not know you mean the (ctrl) key...
Last edited by Homerun04
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by Homerun04:
The one I have been seeing hear a lot is "teh"

More good points. Homonyms (e.g., hear, here) and transposition errors (e.g., teh, the) are probably the most common kind.

Another tip for new posters. If you look down at the bottom of your post, there is an erasure button that allows you to reopen the post and correct errors while you are logged in. Some do not realize this and thus generate another post to announce their mistake and that they have discovered the correction. No need to do that
O Orlando1,000+ posts
I invariably have trouble with 'guarantee' and 'immediately'. Darn thing is, with as often as I misspell them, without spell-check I probably would have remembered how to spell them properly by now....

My aggravation is the widespread misuse of the apostrophe. It seems as if people have a certain number of them they need to use every day, so they just throw them in wherever there's an 's'. Or not. They're even on printed signs and labels. And lots on message boards Wink.


Banana's .69 lb

Looking for roommate's.

Here is it's box.

Make sure the door lock's (on the back door of my office building)
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by Orlando:
I invariably have trouble with 'guarantee' and 'immediately'. Darn thing is, with as often as I misspell them, without spell-check I probably would have remembered how to spell them properly by now....

My aggravation is the widespread misuse of the apostrophe. It seems as if people have a certain number of them they need to use every day, so they just throw them in wherever there's an 's'. Or not. They're even on printed signs and labels. And lots on message boards Wink.


Banana's .69 lb

Looking for roommate's.

Here is it's box.

Make sure the door lock's (on the back door of my office building)

I wondered how long it would take someone to suggest all the nuances of the apostrophe!

First we have the contraction apostrophe:
it's = it is, they're = they are and so forth. BTW, it takes more typing effort to type they're than they are imho. its without the apostrophe refers to some thing and is a word unto itself.

Then we have the possessive apostrophe:

When referring to someone or some characteristic belonging to someone:
Look at John's car!
My, doesn't (notice contraction) Orlando's (notice possessive) fingernail polish shine in the sun!

For plural words like Jones, we simply add the apostrophe without adding another s:

We are going over to the Jones' (pronounced Joneses) for dinner.

Then there is just plain plural - no apostrophe.

Meaning more than one never gets an apostrophe:

bananas
grapes
roomates
etc.
Last edited by ClevelandDad
FungoFungoHighly Regarded and Beloved Old Timer
Mine is exists and exits. Restaurants get me too. What gets me is going back at a much later date and re-reading one of my old post and finding typos. What about the bananas' brown peelings? Or the grapes' succulent flavor? Shouldn't they be aposterfeized to show possewssion?
Fungo
coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
The mistake that really irks me is when someone puts "should of" when they mean "should've" for the contraction of should have. Just crawls over my skin for some reason. Just because it sounds like "of" doesn't mean it is.

I have trouble with receive on spelling. I usually type it out and stop to look at it and then run through the I before E except after C mantra.
20dad20dad1,000+ posts
having completed (in it's entirety) the entire 9th grade.(that being my lone acedemic achievment.) i am quite thrilled that any one can decode what i'm writing. all the while pecking with one finger of my left hand,even though i'm a righty.

we all measure our success differently.
i have trouble with capitals,the one finger thing.



what's this spell check thing?
Last edited by 20dad
RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
I'm glad someone finally axed about spelling. Probably most posters have seen the example passed around the internet of no matter how bad the spelling is, if key consonants are in the right place it's not hard to read.

But if you think this statement is rediculous, it's not. It's ridiculous. It's a mistake I often make if I don't proof read posts since it sounds like RE, not RI.
Last edited by RJM
MN-MomMN-MomHSBaseballWeb Owner
I was one of those spelling bee champs about 4 decades ago, but lately I notice a lot of typos in my posts! It's a relief that we can edit posts here, but ooooh, I hate it when I send an e-mail at work and then notice a few misspellings because I typed too quickly and didn't proof.

This isn't a spelling or grammar issue, but here is a related pet peeve of mine:

It grates on my literary sensibilities when someone incorrectly translates the word "wherefore" in this familiar quote:

"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"Wherefore art thou" does NOT mean "where are you?"

Do you know what it means? Wink

Julie
MN-MomMN-MomHSBaseballWeb Owner
floridafan,

Yes, "wherefore" meant "why", not "where". Just as "therefore" can be paraphrased "for that reason", "wherefore" can be paraphrased "for what reason?". Poor Juliet was despairing over her dear Romeo's name... why must he be Romeo, a Montague, member of a family at war with her family? Why couldn't the man she loved be anyone else but Romeo? Their young love could never be, and so they both were doomed to die! I confess, I was a bit of a Shakespeare fan in HS and college. What a nerd, LOL!

Julie

P.S. Sorry, what were we talking about? Big Grin
Last edited by MN-Mom
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