Ok, Folks. This is as much for me as it is for others, because I have been guilty of misspellings and poor usage myself. However, here are a few spelling and usage errors that have been bugging me:

Their and There: He went there. Their daughter is on the swim team.

Affect and Effect: I have affected an English accent on occasion. The drug had a bad effect on my system.

To, Too and Two: I went to the divorce attorney. My wife went, too. We two went to the divorce attorney.

I have made my own mistakes for sure! Please, can anyone else think of other common errors of usage and spelling?

<small>[ July 16, 2002, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: c++_guy ]</small>

The one that kills me is the improper use of "I" and "me". There is a manager at my job who continually says "bring it to Joe or I"----I want to stand up and scream 'JOE OR ME!!! JOE OR ME!!!'

People just can't seem to grasp that 'and I' is not ALWAYS correct.

This is funny. I was just griping yesterday about the widespread misuse of 'effect' and 'affect'. It is rampant.
I also hate lay and lie. Chickens lay. People lie. "I am going to lie down." "Please lay the book on the table."

"Separation" not "seperation"
"Judgment" not "judgement"

Just my two peeves!!

To more: (ha ha, just being funny C_++!)

"I COULD care less."
and
"Irregardless."

I feel that . . . .

what does that feel like?

<small>[ July 16, 2002, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: WhenIfindthetime ]</small>

Here is one more........"Different than..." is incorrect. The correct forms are "Different from" and "Other than".

"Judgement" is an ex^H^Haccepted variant of "Judgment".

I find the ac^H^Hexpression "I could care less" tw^Ho be occasionally useful when I wish too^H convey the message that I do not care much about something. In other words, to be perfectly precise, I actually could care less than I do about an issue, but I don't care enough to argue about it.

Fou^Hr su^Home reason, the conflation that bothers me most is "loose" vs. "lose".

"It happened by accident." Accidentally? Incidentally? What?

This is going to be a case of "those who are without sin should throw the first stone", lol. I just don't want anyone correcting my spelling or grammar. Whenever I'm using a word I'm not sure of, I always open up Word and check the spelling. I try to take advantage of all the tools at my disposal not to look silly. I'm not always successful.

The other thing to remember is that there are a lot of people here who do not speak English primarily. Thank God for Foster's commercials to explain Aussie idioms to the American audience.

Or, hitting close to many of our homes, "It just didn't work out" as opposed to "One or both of us just didn't work hard enough."

I could care less if he/she leaves.

This means you DO care some because you could care less than you actually do.

The proper phrase is, "I couldn't care less."

It is a mute point.
Proper is a moot point.

All of you have been reading my posts. O.K., I confess. LOL
Stay Strong!
Wallace

My pet peeve is the misuse of advice and advise, because it is a very common word at this site, and so it happens all the time. Correctly used below:

I need some advice.
My advice to you is....

I advise you to.....
Please advise me.....

Also the incorrect use of the appostrophe. It is used to denote abbreviation or ownership, thus:

It's = it is
let's = let us

Karen's = belonging to her
dog's kennel = the kennel belonging to the dog (Edited <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> cos I am a doofus - see Hanora's post below:D )

Also plurals can get my goat.

trees, not tree's
cars not car's

And the use of your and you're

Your dog = for possession of object
You're a good friend = abbreviated you are

My take on misspellings is that there are some international differences. Certainly that is the case with me, being Australian:

behavior = behaviour
neighbor = neighbour

You get the idea.

Now the could care less is another thing I agree with, and every time I read "I could care less" it jars. Chris is correct when he says that if we say it like that, it means we DO care, and we COULD care a little less. Saying "I couldn't care less" makes the meaning much more obvious.

I have a few words I continually struggle with, so I am NOT perfect, by any means. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Okay, getting out of teacher mode now, and stepping off the soap box....

NEXT!!!!!

<small>[ July 16, 2002, 07:38 PM: Message edited by: Nina too ]</small>

How about taking "a different tact" or "the wrong tact", when what is really meant is a tack.

<small>[ January 26, 2005, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: hanora ]</small>

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

You are so right!!!!!!!!!

AND it is one of my big peeves!!!

Well, my excuse is that I had only just got out of bed when I did that post, LOL!

HERS HERS HERS HERS HERS!!!!

Got it now!!!!!!!!

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

(slinking away now to the doofus corner)

Going back to edit that now....I am soooooooooo embarrassed, hehehehehe!!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

<small>[ January 26, 2005, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: hanora ]</small>