Who doesn't love a typo!?

[Thrak]

People should really learn when to use "I" and when to use "me". So often people use "I" when they should really use "me". It's one of the simplest rules of grammar. Just leave the other person out of the sentence and see if it makes sense.

 

Would you like to go to the store with Susan and I?  > Would you like to go to the store with I?  Nope, nope, nope.

 

Would you like to go to the store with Susan and me? >  Would you like to go to the store with me?  YES

 

Susan and me are going to the store. >  Me am going to the store. Nope, nope, nope.

 

Susan and I are going to the store. > I am going to the store. YES

Edited October 9, 2020 by Thrak

[ischeer]

How about the "fewer/less" confusion ??

Candidate A got fewer votes (not  less votes) than Candidate B.

Emerald P. carries fewer passengers than Royal P., because Emerald P. weighs less.

The "rule": fewer for things that are counted; less for things that are measured

[ischeer]

Thrak:

I recently heard a local news commentator repeatedly say : "Me and my colleagues sat down to discuss..."

Since this was part of a repeated promo for a future program, I have to assume it was written that way.

 

[donaldsc]

How about this for a good typo.  Our local election board upgraded their voting machines and put out a statement in the newspaper telling how the machines worked.   I was a polling place coordinator that year so I was going to be among the first group to use the new machines.

 

The machines had 2 counters so that they knew how many votes were done on each machine - one was called a "private counter" and one was called a "public counter".  You all know what is coming next.  They left out the letter "l" in public and of course the word passed the spell checker because the new word was a real word.  All of us who worked that year discussed how we were going to do "pubic counting".

 

I would like to add that it should be legal to practice bodily harm to any of the many people who use the word "myself" incorrectly.

 

Two last  things.  Our rabbi is from England and he was talking about seeing several football matches at several different "stadia".  I sent him a text message congratulations on his proper usage of English or maybe I should say British.   My final comment.  I once saw a woman wearing a Vassar college which stated that she was a Vassar Alumna"

 

DON

Edited October 9, 2020 by donaldsc

[DCGuy64]

12 hours ago, Thrak said:

People should really learn when to use "I" and when to use "me". So often people use "I" when they should really use "me". It's one of the simplest rules of grammar. Just leave the other person out of the sentence and see if it makes sense.

 

Would you like to go to the store with Susan and I?  > Would you like to go to the store with I?  Nope, nope, nope.

 

Would you like to go to the store with Susan and me? >  Would you like to go to the store with me?  YES

 

Susan and me are going to the store. >  Me am going to the store. Nope, nope, nope.

 

Susan and I are going to the store. > I am going to the store. YES

If it weren't for the expectation of adults not correcting adults in my society, I'd be enforcing that all of the time. It is absolutely staggering to me how often people get this wrong. In my experience, it's done incorrectly MOST OF THE TIME. I can't even recall the last time someone said something correctly like "the lack of cruises has been really depressing for my wife and me." It's always "for my wife and I." ARRRGHHHH!! I'm tempted, the next time I go to a restaurant with a group, to say, when the waiter brings my food and says "who ordered the steak?" I'll say, "oh, that's for I." 😂 Another, related error is when attributing possession to two people and using "I" instead of "my." Example: "Tomorrow is my wife and I's anniversary," or "our next cruise will be my wife and I's 40th one." When would you ever use "I's?" It's "my." it should be "Tomorrow is my and my wife's anniversary," etc. It hurts my brain sometimes...  (side note: I was brought up by a father who insisted that we speak correct English, and I've spent a great deal of time learning foreign languages, so correct spelling and grammar have been my passions for the last 40 years. When I've goofed up a word in French or German, for instance, I've tried to learn from it and not become belligerent about it, which is typically how people react when you correct them online)

[d9704011]

57 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm tempted, the next time I go to a restaurant with a group, to say, when the waiter brings my food and says "who ordered the steak?" I'll say, "oh, that's for I."

It’s scandalous and absolutely demoralizing to see sentences structured the way you did the extract.  For goodness sakes man, don’t force us to read your screeds and have us absorb the debilitating shock of poor sentence structure.

 

.... even if it was an innocent error.

Edited October 9, 2020 by d9704011

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

It’s scandalous and absolutely demoralizing to see sentences structured the way you did the extract.  For goodness sakes man, don’t force us to read your screeds and have us absorb the debilitating shock of poor sentence structure.

 

.... even if it was an innocent error.

LOL. I'm not sure how I should've written it, but your reply got me laughing! 🤣 Thank you.

[CineGraphic]

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

one was called a "private counter" and one was called a "public counter"

 

An associate of mine many years ago bought several pallets of slightly used 16mm movie projectors from a school surplus auction. The case of each projector was stenciled, "Newport News Pubic Schools".

For years, I kept asking him what they taught.

[DCGuy64]

50 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

An associate of mine many years ago bought several pallets of slightly used 16mm movie projectors from a school surplus auction. The case of each projector was stenciled, "Newport News Pubic Schools".

For years, I kept asking him what they taught.

Sex education, one presumes.

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

When I've goofed up a word in French or German, for instance, I've tried to learn from it and not become belligerent about it, which is typically how people react when you correct them online)

 

I am far from perfect and appreciate it when I'm corrected (if the person doing the correcting is, in fact, correct) and take it as a learning experience. It's a good day when one can learn something.

 

When my wife was working on a degree she taught a semester of English Composition for freshman at the local university. I read a number of student submissions. Wow. I wrote better when I started high school. Of course English isn't really taught in schools anymore. Often high school "teachers" want students to draw a picture about the book they read (seriously!) rather than write a book report. Then they are graded on the picture - which is, as far as I'm concerned, grading art rather than teaching English. I would likely have failed English if I was graded on art. I know this sounds like a bunch of BS but it's true. Spelling, grammar, sentence construction, etc. are not taught. I'm guessing that it's considered "not fair" to grade on such things. Hey! You showed up so here's your trophy (diploma).

[DCGuy64]

2 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

An associate of mine many years ago bought several pallets of slightly used 16mm movie projectors from a school surplus auction. The case of each projector was stenciled, "Newport News Pubic Schools".

For years, I kept asking him what they taught.

I attempted to reply but my reply was (and is) hidden. Apparently because I used a dirty word that begins with "s" and ends with "x." Go figure! 😂

[Thrak]

14 hours ago, ischeer said:

How about the "fewer/less" confusion ??

Candidate A got fewer votes (not  less votes) than Candidate B.

Emerald P. carries fewer passengers than Royal P., because Emerald P. weighs less.

The "rule": fewer for things that are counted; less for things that are measured

 

This is a huge annoyance. My wife and I cringe when we see or hear this.

[gotta cruise again]

14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I once saw a woman wearing a Vassar college which stated that she was a Vassar Alumna"

 

DON

Her shirt had the correct usage of “alumna” as it the the singular feminine. A group of woman who graduated from Vassar would be “alumnae” the plural feminine.

 

A male graduate is an “alumnus” and a group of male graduates or a group of male & female graduates are “alumni”.

 

I had to learn all of these differences in my Greek organization in college.

[donaldsc]

9 minutes ago, gotta cruise again said:

Her shirt had the correct usage of “alumna” as it the the singular feminine. A group of woman who graduated from Vassar would be “alumnae” the plural feminine.

 

A male graduate is an “alumnus” and a group of male graduates or a group of male & female graduates are “alumni”.

 

I had to learn all of these differences in my Greek organization in college.

 

That was my point.  I knew that she had the correct usage.  However, you would expect that from a Vassar graduate.

 

 

DON

[gotta cruise again]

Just now, donaldsc said:

 

That was my point.  I knew that she had the correct usage.  However, you would expect that from a Vassar graduate.

 

 

DON

Ahh, I get it now!! 

[DCGuy64]

30 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

That was my point.  I knew that she had the correct usage.  However, you would expect that from a Vassar graduate.

 

 

DON

Had to chuckle as I recalled the famous remark made about Vassar women by Dorothy Parker.

[Thrak]

How about the word unique?  I often hear people say "most unique" "very unique" "especially unique", "more unique" "kind of unique", etc. Unique is a stand alone word. You can't be "more one of a kind". Unique doesn't fit with modifiers.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Thrak

[bandgbasset]

Here’s another one of my gripes, people who say “should of” instead of “should have”.

 

I see this everyday.

[donaldsc]

I will add one more to the pile.  How many people are aware of the subtle difference between "can" and "may" as in "you can throw a pie in my face but you may not"

 

This thread has gotten really interesting.

 

DON

Edited October 9, 2020 by donaldsc

[Thrak]

32 minutes ago, bandgbasset said:

Here’s another one of my gripes, people who say “should of” instead of “should have”.

 

I see this everyday.

 

GAH! Yes, that one is horrible. Of course it's due to contractions being misheard or misunderstood. "Should of", "would of", "could of" are all common mistakes for "should've", "would've", and "could've". Perhaps contractions should not be used so often.

 

23 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

I will add one more to the pile.  How many people are aware of the subtle difference between "can" and "may" as in "you can throw a pie in my face but you may not"

 

This thread has gotten really interesting.

 

DON

 

I worked for the Department of Rehabilitation (not the prison system) and had a boss for a while who didn't understand how the language works. She would read a regulation that said "may" and construe it as "must" as in "the Department may..." and she would construe it as meaning that "the department must". She once made a short quiz for folks applying for a position and asked, "What do you consider an conducive environment". I was wondering "conducive to what?" I pointed out that conducive isn't a stand-alone word and she said, "That's part of the test - to see if they know what conducive means". It was obvious she still didn't understand my point. She's the also the one who said something "wouldn't pass mustard". 🙄

Edited October 9, 2020 by Thrak

[Tedferg]

Wonderful thread, thank you all. Then versus Than drive me crazy but I do understand it is a case of mishearing - but how do they not understand the difference between Then and Than ??? No idea how 'That' gets dropped into these phrases.

 

I have longed to make comments about this but DW says that would be impolite, so once again, thank you !

 

Along the lines of 'Most Unique' how about 110%, 1000%

Edited October 10, 2020 by Tedferg

[generichandle]

A preacher, a priest, and a rabbit walk into a bar. Bartender looks confused. Rabbit says "I don't know either, I am only here by autocorrect".

 

[brisalta]

14 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

An associate of mine many years ago bought several pallets of slightly used 16mm movie projectors from a school surplus auction. The case of each projector was stenciled, "Newport News Pubic Schools".

For years, I kept asking him what they taught.

 

Lower level anatomy 😉

[brisalta]

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I will add one more to the pile.  How many people are aware of the subtle difference between "can" and "may" as in "you can throw a pie in my face but you may not"

 

This thread has gotten really interesting.

 

DON

 

They are not so subtle.  Can refers to physical ability to do something.

May is regarding permission to do an action.

 

[brisalta]

I wonder if this comment will disappear.

Most people confuse gender and s*x.

It annoy me when forms have a field for s*x when it should be gender.

Male and Female are genders.

S*x is more to do with reproduction and in some species pair bonding.

Unfortunately over the years I have seen this error even occurring among persons that have been trained in a profession that should have correct knowledge of this matter.

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by brisalta