10 Flagrant Grammar Mistakes That Make You Look Stupid

Soldier4Real

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Oct 15, 2008
Messages
2,487
#1: Loose for lose

No: I always loose the product key.
Yes: I always lose the product key.

#2: It's for its (or god forbid, its')

No: Download the HTA, along with it's readme file.
Yes: Download the HTA, along with its readme file.
No: The laptop is overheating and its making that funny noise again.
Yes: The laptop is overheating and it's making that funny noise again.

#3: They're for their for there

No: The managers are in they're weekly planning meeting.
Yes: The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.
No: The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and their not happy about it.
Yes: The techs have to check their cell phones at the door, and they're not happy about it.

#4: i.e. for e.g.


No: Use an anti-spyware program (i.e., Ad-Aware).
Yes: Use an anti-spyware program (e.g., Ad-Aware).
Note: The term i.e. means "that is"; e.g. means "for example." And a comma follows both of them.

#5: Effect for affect


No: The outage shouldn't effect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't have any effect on users.
Yes: We will effect several changes during the downtime.
Note: Impact is not a verb. Purists, at least, beg you to use affect instead:
No: The outage shouldn't impact any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage should have no impact on users during work hours.

#6: You're for your


No: Remember to defrag you're machine on a regular basis.
Yes: Remember to defrag your machine on a regular basis.
No: Your right about the changes.
Yes: You're right about the changes.

#7: Different than for different from


No: This setup is different than the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is different from the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is better than the one at the main office.

#8 Lay for lie


No: I got dizzy and had to lay down.
Yes: I got dizzy and had to lie down.
Yes: Just lay those books over there.

#9: Then for than


No: The accounting department had more problems then we did.
Yes: The accounting department had more problems than we did.
Note: Here's a sub-peeve. When a sentence construction begins with If, you don't need a then. Then is implicit, so it's superfluous and wordy:
No: If you can't get Windows to boot, then you'll need to call Ted.
Yes: If you can't get Windows to boot, you'll need to call Ted.

#10: Could of, would of for could have, would have


No: I could of installed that app by mistake.
Yes: I could have installed that app by mistake.
No: I would of sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Yes: I would have sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.



Another of my pet peeves is people who use alot. There is no such word as alot it is a lot. Also the next idiot who calls me a looser instead of a loser will be throat punched. That is all.
 
Grammar Nazis all over the world approve of this post:

grammar_nazi2.jpg
 
I said it before, get a copy of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Woe-Grammarph...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274106234&sr=8-1

41BmuOp64VL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg



Edit: I took a graduate level grammar class and was getting my ass kicked. Believe it or not, this is the book that made the other grammar books make sense. It's written in "layman's" so to speak, is easy to understand for anybody and provides great examples. Besides, being a book lover like I am, I found this to be a very enjoyable read as well as educational.
 
Sorry man, it's been a long time since I been to school. Not to sound like a looser or anything.


I'm not doing it to belittle anyone but if you can't even write your own language then how can you expect anyone to take you seriously. The fact that people are embarrassing themselves every day and don't even know it blows my mind.

And you'll never sound like a looser to me :p
 
One could question the true intellectual capacity of a rigid conformist. You can after all pay an egg heads to proofread & fact check among other things. But it's 1000 times more expensive to buy creative individual thought. A parrot can repeat back everything you told it, a monkey can imitate anything you show it, but you can't teach true creative genius. Since the purpose of most Internet discussion forums is the free exchange of ideas. We need not worry about having our ideas written and formatted to be passed down through the ages (or Oprah's Book Club). So we are free from the bondage of the red pen and we should concentrate more on sharing creative ideas/viewpoints to shape a better here and now. Yes, I would hate to see the worlds languages devolve into text speak and net lingo. But personally I feel sorry for individuals who get so bent out of shape over poor grammar that they miss out on or dismiss perfectly good or even revolutionary ideas. So really who should be more embarrassed over poor grammar? The writer or the person who wastes time thinking about the errors in question question? Remember it's more important to go out and do something rather than worry about whether or not your account of the event was grammatically accurate. I personally prefer voice dictation over typing. Unfortunately I suffer from a lazy eye and to make matters worse my mind sometimes sees what it thinks should be there rather than what the voice dictation software actually wrote. So some of my posts will look rather strange. But hey, if you are smart enough your brain should look right over mistakes like: Where the wild things are versus Were the wild things are. Those who can do do, those who only wish they could make themselves feel better about themselves by correcting others.

So free yourself from the Red Pen Pocketed Grammar Nazis my creative thinking brothers and sisters, free yourselves now I beseech you!!!!
FYI: I also enjoy reading
read.gif

(Note: this post represents my contribution to a constructive dialogue & not a personal attack on anyone or their beliefs)
 
While you make valid points, no one around here is having their creativity stifled by me. As long as people refuse to try to better themselves I will correct them, that's just the way it is. Oh and it isn't conformity it is OUR language.
 
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