<p>A third excuse is that they weren’t taught properly in school, and/or their parents reinforce incorrect speaking patterns. And, yes–I have the utmost compassion for people who have grown up with such a disadvantage, because I do feel strongly that it can limit them in the professional world and in social settings.</p>
<p>Too formal can be off-putting as well. It really depends on the audience. </p>
<p>I got this mug set for both Ds last year for Christmas, who are also grammar/spelling perfectionists:
<a href=“Grammar Grumble Mugs Set - The Literary Gift Company”>http://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/grammar-grumble-mugs---set-of-all-six-14140-p.asp</a></p>
<p>^^^^I love those, teriwtt! That would be a perfect gift for my sister.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you who got a good laugh because of peopl
e like me that aren’t educated. I have always been self conscious when posting, I know my grammar isn’t proper. At least now I know now how stupid I am. Thanks.</p>
<p>GA2012MOM, anyone who has read your posts knows you aren’t stupid. And, based on how you present your ideas and opinions, no one would ever think you were uneducated.</p>
<p>I agree that formal, stuffy language can be a big turnoff to people. I just think having decent language skills allows people to hold their own in a variety of situations, and not be “disqualified” on the basis of something they might be able to change.</p>
<p>I could have used you all today. One of my managers made a training manual with screenshots for new employees on how to get through our software. Great idea, well organized, but I spent 3 hours this morning editing nearly every sentence. Lots of “you” in the instructions…next you click on this button, etc. She ended many sentences with prepositions, lots of please be sure to this or that… I sent it back, complimented heavily and just said I made minor changes. </p>
<p>It makes me really wary (lol) of how the public schools in my county don’t serve the population that doesn’t go on to college or votech. The written and verbal skills of most of my office employees is horrendous. My latest thing that they all say that drives me nuts…hisself. And someone just said “writ” as the past tense of write in a meeting. </p>
<p>Down here in Texas, we still hear a lot of " might could’ve" and " I just need to brag on" ( instead of bragging about). I blame it on people wanting to sound folks-y. </p>
<p>I once had a co-worker who used to write “Defiantly” instead of “Definitely” in emails. (Not just a typo – a regular thing.) Drove me nuts!</p>
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<p>Wow, I’ve never heard anyone say “might could’ve” that I remember! I have heard the other one many times.</p>
<p>DH will often begin speaking in the same manner as the person he is conversing with, and it seems to be unconscious. In his business, he communicates with many “country folk,” who regardless of their formal education are usually incredibly sharp and business savvy. Sometimes I don’t think he even realizes he’s doing it. He was brought up in a rural environment, so maybe that plays into it.</p>
<p>I swear I have heard my husband say Christmas reef. But when I ask him to repeat himself he says wreath. Maybe it is my hearing.</p>
<p>^ A few weeks ago H was interviewed for a segment on our local NPR news program. He thought he was only on background and was trying to put things in terms a layperson would understand and didn’t want to get too technical. At one point he used the word “stuff” to describe something. He was mortified when he found out interview wasn’t just for background. Interestingly, in the written transcript of the interview NPR took out the word “stuff” I told him it was fine and didn’t make him sound stupid and doubted anyone would think twice about it - but he was still upset. </p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here is trying to disrespect any other poster or hurt anyone’s feelings. We’re all guilty of grammatical errors or misspellings some of the time. We are talking about pet peeves.</p>
<p>I also think there’s a difference between people who care about their grammar/spelling and people who don’t. My undergrad degree was in journalism, so I have no excuse for mistakes, even though it’s been 30 years since I worked in that field. However, what separates the wheat from the chaff is that there are many people who have not attained college degrees, but know that can’t possibly know all the grammar/spelling rules from middle school/high school; and they know when they need to look something up because it’s not at the tip of their tongues. I could sit here and tell you all what my deficiencies are, and have you explain the rule that pertains to that situation, but for some reason (and it seems to happen more as I get older), it just doesn’t stick with me. So when I want to use something (like affect and effect), I have to look it up every time - and I take the time to do it so that my writing comes across as credible. </p>
<p>But there are people who do not care how they come across and those are the people who have five mistakes in one paragraph. They don’t take the time to look up what the correct usage or spelling might be. Those are the people who annoy me. And it has nothing to do with formal college education or not. There are plenty of Ph.D.s out there who can’t write a proper sentence with correct spelling, and there are plenty of non-college educated people out there who probably know more than I do. </p>
<p>It’s about what you want to make a priority in your communication. </p>
<p>I took a continuing ed class and the powerpoints were riddled with grammar errors. You better believe that I commented on that in the evaluation. I don’t expect message boards to have perfectly grammatical posts, and I know I post lots of cringeworthy things. I often go back and find s’s that are missing so my tenses are wrong, apostrophes in those places that I hate when other people do them. There are some that I know are just typos, some you can tell that English is not the poster’s native language and can be forgiven, but some I’m pretty sure people really don’t know that they are wrong. Some thing bother me much more than others. I am not bothered at all by starting sentences with “so” for example.</p>
<p>It really bothers me when I see mistakes of BASIC grammar principles made in news articles or books. These people are making their living through the written word. I do not think it’s too much to ask for these people to proof their copy or their articles. And has the job of editor become a dinosaur in the business? Sometimes I just shake my head at the mistakes made by people who SHOULD be displaying the best writing! </p>
<p>^^ This!</p>
<p>My mother has a graduate degree in linguistics. When I miss a comma or misspell a word, I think of it as my teen rebellion that refuses to die :)</p>
<p>As first mentioned in post #72, MYSELF!</p>
<p>The biggest violator? Our president, B. Obama! How many people do you think read, correct, re-write his speeches before they are loaded on the telepromter? At least 3? Maybe 6? Not ONE of those people can correct “Michelle and myself were proud to welcome the Queen to the White House?” Not one? Really?</p>
<p>I have heard him make this mistake 100 times. I’m only half as annoyed when he is speaking without a teleprompter, but I know SOMEONE has to be reading these speeches before he gives them. Help the man out!</p>
<p>twoinanddone, I don’t think the speechwriters THINK it is a mistake to use “myself” like that–that’s the point. </p>
<p>Another peeve of mine is when someone is addressing me in an email in which they can clearly see the spelling of my first name in the address field–and yet they still misspell it.</p>